MAXIMIZE CONTENT WITH SELF DISTRIBUTION?

Oct 4, 2024

3 min read

If your ambition is to head down the broadcast television route, think about self distribution. But first things first if you stubbornly and ambitiously want to continue on the broadcast route. The development and commissioning process (or the greenlight) for film and television differs in many ways as films are often devised for a specific audience whereas television is much broader entertainment that is created to appeal to the largest number of viewers possible and as there are television regulations that vary in each territory, its aim is largely to not cause offense. Any aspect of a tv production that could be deemed as insulting (use of profanity, for example) will otherwise be reversioned-out when sold to broadcast areas with different moral codes. At the end of the day, television is driven by advertising revenue and so is bound by a brand or brand sponsor's own ethos that must be abided by or in-line with.

There are four key factors to look at when developing your own television ideas in order to increase the probability of broadcast and distribution for your “content” (to use an all encompassing word that is more corporate than creative): 1) a minimum of 50% of the budget is paid for by you, a brand sponsor or private investment 2) Known (and even better, globally-recognised) talent is attached 3) Exclusive access to a business or institution 4) Film or TV Rights obtained for a successful book/podcast/adaptation.

In an ideal world, all four boxes would be ticked but that of course is not realistic in most cases. Should you only tick one box, then the sale of your idea to a broadcaster will likely result in reduced or no percentage ownership in exchange for it being financed and produced. In order to arrive at the stage where a broadcaster will consider your project, you will need to be paired with a production company with an established track record with the broadcaster. In order for this deal to go through, most of the rights will need to be signed away. Any money you will receive will be in the front end only, that is you will be paid a percentage for every episode made. You will not receive any back-end royalties, ever. Exposure and promotion on television will be the primary and sole remuneration in addition to any appearance fees. Any production company or broadcaster backing a project will demand the lion’s share of profits. Even higher concept ideas with an attractive format for global sales, are still required to be produced (with the exception of big entertainment) in high volume and at low cost per episode. This is a broadcast trifecta. With 24 Hour Flip I co-created, negotiations were fraught even with a high concept/high volume/low cost appeal. I had good legal representation and still did not win any back end. That’s how dog eat dog the industry is.

There are likely a hundred thousand unscripted reality, documentary and factual entertainment projects in development at any one time across the world and of these, only a very small fraction ever make it into a broadcaster’s pipeline for consideration let alone being greenlit and commissioned into production. Despite these odds, there are valuable considerations at play to help overcome the statistics and make your tv series a reality. In two words…the internet.

The most affordable and effective approach is to develop your project for a dedicated channel (such as YouTube). This will enable you to track a growing audience, establish copyright and ownership, and retain a greater percentage of IP if & when the series is sold to a broadcaster or streaming platform. This “beta” period may also attract brands to sponsor your series and bring immediate return of investment whereas in television distribution, should you have any royalties, the payout cycle is every 18 months at best. There is, of course, the value of developing an audience for your tv series, the broadcasters are always desperate to migrate across to their channels. The free content model will arm you immediately with data and analytics (fun stuff for accountants!), to bolster the value of your concept and illustrate there is a growing audience out there for it. In this scenario, the biggest challenge is to get it seen and shared with minimum investment in paid advertising. This approach is time and time again, what broadcasters suggest for those without television production experience. Either way, this way will prevent the need for a sales team to perform a “sales forecast” on the viability of your idea.

In short, to maximize your content or stories self distribute your own show and show it on a free platform with total creative and financial control. Traditional television will likely be only tears and disappointment.