For TV executives and decision-makers, examining the audience demand data for a TV show such as "The West Wing" can be crucial in many ways. Here are some key insights from the demand data that can inform content, acquisition, and programming decisions:
Content Valuation:
- By using the demand data measurement system, executives can determine the value of the show, which in turn can guide decisions such as how to monetize the IP of the show or how much they should pay to license the content for their platform.
- One can understand how popular the show is relative to others in the market and what the implied value of the show might be.
Acquisitions:
- When deciding which shows to acquire or license, demand data can help execs determine which shows would appeal most to their existing and potential subscribers.
- Executives can also use the data to compare the performance of different shows, helping them determine which shows are more valuable to their platform.
Programming Decisions:
- Demand data enables executives to evaluate a show's performance in real-time and flag when specific content is trending, thus understanding how a show is performing against audience interest and industry benchmarks, as well as the competitive intensity of a specific slate of titles.
- The data can also inform executives if a show has declining demand or is in danger of being canceled and can help identify opportunities to either shift the show's time slot, market the show more, etc.
Distribution Decisions:
- The data can guide distribution decisions, such as whether to distribute a series locally, regionally, or globally.
- Decision-makers can also identify the most successful distributors for such content among multi-national players.
Other applications of demand data:
- By understanding the audience's taste clusters and mapping local whitespaces, executives can produce or acquire content that best fits their audience's preferences and keep them happy, consequently retaining their subscribers.
- Knowing the demand enables executives to optimize their release strategy, such as knowing the best time to release the show to generate maximum engagement with the audience.
- Executives can make decisions around spin-off potential or how to further monetize a show, depending on its franchisability.
- Additionally, by using demand data, one can measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns around a certain show, compare the performance of their show against other titles available on the market, and reveal opportunities to increase engagement, reach, and monetization possibilities.
In the case of "The West Wing" - The show has excelled in maintaining its audience demand over time, indicating strong longevity, and its momentum or the pace at which its demand is increasing is likewise excellent. It also provided some essential insights into franchise potential and reach. Its peak demand may have decreased over time, but its popularity has increased, resulting in excellent global demand. Executives can learn from it that timeless storylines, drama genres, and strong character development aspects can resonate with audiences long after the show has gone off the air. Further, as it has outperformed in multiple international markets, a distributor with a vested interest in expanding beyond domestic markets can ponder over capitalizing on these markets as well.
