Non-Terrestrial Broadcasters Best For Masthead TV

Magazine publishers are most likely to find effective partnerships with cable, satellite and digital broadcasters, according to a new report from the PPA entitled From Page To Screen and launched at the Magazines ’97 conference (see last week’s Newsline).

Following the ITC’s announcement in March that publishers will not be permitted to develop their magazine brands into programming for core terrestrial channels, the report suggests that many have and will work most successfully with independent producers and broadcasters, using their expertise in delivering highly targeted content in the newly emerging world of niche broadcasting.

One third of publishers surveyed by independent TV consultant Inside Broadcast have projects in pre-production or under discussion. A total of 97% of respondents welcomed masthead programming as a new dimension to brand extension for their titles. Other findings include:

• 77% believe a TV version of their magazines would boost sales
• 53% believe that a broadcaster should pay them for the use of their title in a programme
• Publishers would rather work with a production company (33%), than with a broadcaster (23%)

Digital TV will, the report says, hugely enhance the capacity of television and the opportunities available to publishers. It goes on to say that publishers are ideally placed to provide magazine-inspired programmes for titles which already have huge reserves of information, research, pictures and ‘experts’ for niche programmes, commonly known as ‘narrowcasting’. Publishers of small circulation magazines, especially where a large proportion of a magazine’s readership is by subscription and those which contain ‘must read’ information, will be able to charge a premium fee for their television extension.

The report concludes that in the last years of the decade, publishers will derive revenue from masthead programming from:

• Selling programmes/material to broadcasters
• Advertising and sponsorship both from TV alone and in combination with magazines
• ‘Copy sales’ in the form of monthly subscriptions, initially offered as an add-on to magazine subscriptions
• Pay-per-view on a per-hour/per-minute basis
• Carriage fees from cable operators to give customers a reason to select/subscribe
• Transaction charges – such as for entering a competition, buying goods etc.

…Another survey from the PPA appears to prove what many in the industry already believe: that advertisers who use magazine along with television advertising will achieve the greatest results for their brand. It found that there was likely to be a brand share gain of 11% from an index of 98 up to 109 for those who used integrated TV and press campaigns. TV advertising alone produced a share increase of 4%.

PPA: 0171 404 4166