Viacom Inc.'s TV Land cable network is set to announce a new programming strategy this week -- scaling back its traditional emphasis on nostalgia in pursuit of younger viewers.The new programming plan, which the network plans to present to advertisers this week, will more than triple the number of hours of original programming on TV Land's prime-time schedule. By the end of 2009, TV Land -- which has for years served baby boomers a diet heavy with shows from their youth -- wants to fill half its prime-time lineup with original programming, up from about 15% today and 4% in 2007.
Aimed primarily at people in their mid-40s -- the younger end of the boomer spectrum, which spans those born from 1946 through 1964 -- the new slate includes reality shows like "The Cougar," in which a fortysomething woman picks among younger bachelors, and series pilots like "First Love/Second Chance," which reunites long-lost lovers. The channel's also importing reruns of more recent shows, like the '90s-era "Friends." And it is exploring creating its own sitcom.
Viacom's investment in the new programming comes as TV Land has put in a robust performance in a challenging advertising climate. Viacom posted disappointing U.S. ad-revenue growth of only 1% in the second quarter. But TV Land's ad revenue grew faster than that of younger-skewing Viacom channels like MTV, in part, the company says, because TV Land has benefited from viewers shifting to cable networks from broadcast TV.
When it started in 1996, TV Land found quick success as a 24-hour network dedicated entirely to TV throwbacks like "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "M*A*S*H." But in recent years, old reruns have become old hat. The entirety of "The Andy Griffith Show" is available on DVD; "The A-Team" streams free on hulu.com. And classic-TV viewers have been getting older, pushing the median age of TV Land watchers in prime-time above 55 in 2007, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's relatively high even for a network targeting baby boomers.
The new strategy, approved by Viacom brass in a series of long-range planning meetings earlier this summer, is intended to help the channel expand its audience, lower its viewers' median age by increasing the number of shows that attract people in their mid-40s, and pursue new advertisers that will pay higher prices for original fare.
"Putting more original television on a channel dedicated to classic television is a risk in some ways," says Doug Herzog, president of MTV Networks Entertainment Group, which includes TV Land. "But the idea is to bring new people into the tent."
With the new series, Jeff Lucas, who oversees TV Land's ad sales, says he's targeting companies like videogame publishers, fast-food restaurants and movie studios, which are a contrast to some of the low-cost advertisers TV Land has attracted in the past. In recent years, those have included companies that sell mobility scooters often used by senior citizens. In 2007, MTV, which airs more original content and targets a younger audience than TV Land, had 24-hour average ad rates per viewer more than four times TV Land's, according to estimates in a report from SNL Kagan last month.
TV Land had gross advertising revenue of about $213 million in 2007, according to Derek Baine, a senior analyst at SNL Kagan. Viacom's media networks had a total of nearly $4.7 billion in ad revenue in 2007.
Slowing ad growth at channels with younger audiences didn't affect the decision to invest in TV Land, says Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman. "The move to TV Land is not because we think one [demographic] is going down. It's an opportunity to do more," he says. The expansion of original programming is part of a broader Viacom strategy to invest in smaller brands that have "a lot of room to grow," he adds.
"We go through economic cycles -- you get slowdowns and accelerations. This is more long-range thinking," Mr. Dauman says.
TV Land's president, Larry W. Jones, has pushed to add more original series for a few years. Adding original hours has already helped lower the channel's primetime median age slightly in 2008, according to Nielsen. One big focus of the new original shows will be dating and romance. ("Your libido doesn't leave you after 35," says Mr. Herzog of MTV Networks' entertainment group.)
Though most boomers still fit in the audience of 25- to 54-year-olds that TV Land sells to advertisers, the network now plans to avoid the moniker altogether. "Boomers don't like to be called 'boomers,'" says Mr. Herzog.
By: Sam Schechner
Wall Street Journal; September 2, 2008
