Priya Dogra, Sky’s chief advertising, group data and new revenue officer, who joined the broadcaster less than a year ago, has settled into her remit with two takeaways in mind: that collaboration is key and the backing of Comcast gives Sky a leg up.
Comcast invests on a global level “and we benefit from that on a Sky level”, Dogra told the audience on the second day of Connected TV World Summit.
“Media is becoming more global and scale matters,” she highlighted, with Sky able to rely on “the stability and balance sheet” of its parent.
Referencing The Day of the Jackal, which became Sky’s biggest-ever series launch, she offered that its release “was a global event because Comcast made it that way”, noting that Comcast also rolled out the show on Peacock to expand its appeal.
Collaboration game
Asked how TV collectively can grow the revenue pie, Dogra said: “Collaboration and thinking about solutions for the industry, rather than individual solutions, is the way to do it.”
At the start of this year, Comcast launched Universal Ads in the US, with the aim of making TV easier to buy. While there are not yet plans to roll this out in the UK, Dogra conceded: “It’s something to aspire to on a collaborative basis.”
Pointing to the “rich history” of collaboration in the UK market, such as through Thinkbox, Barb and CFlight, she believes “the willingness is there” to make the UK TV landscape “as vibrant as it could be”.
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Sky is soon to launch Sports Marketplace, a “mini version of Universal Ads” that seeks to “democratise access to sports inventory”.
Aside from making sports on Sky easier to buy, Dogra stressed that the move is also about pushing sports forward, citing that Sky is the biggest investor in women’s sports in the UK and Ireland.
Need for connections
Sports Marketplace was announced during November’s upfronts, where Sky also unveiled a new positioning: “Connections mean everything.”
“It’s what underpins our approach to market, our proposition,” Dogra said. “We don’t just reflect the culture; we form the culture.”
She highlighted that while Sky is one of many major TV players in the market, “our connections are deeper and broader” as the only broadcaster that also offers broadband and mobile, arguing it has a much deeper understanding of consumers.
Sky’s previous strapline, “Believe in better”, was about choice and that has now evolved, she explained. “It’s less about choice — there’s so much choice,” she continued. “It’s about ease — how we put all of that in a package that fits people’s lives.”
Pointing to the fact that 20% of Sky content is viewed on demand — and the figure “doubles” if you look at only 16-34s — Dogra added: “Our job is to make it easier for them to watch on TV, to stream on the go.”
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Rebuilding relationships
During the discussion, Dogra also addressed Sky’s advertising underpayments problem, which occurred before its acquisition by Comcast but was only discovered late last year.
“Once Sky found out these issues, it proactively told partners,” Dogra stressed. “That’s the mark of an organisation with integrity.”
She added: “It’s also about what you do after that.” To that end, she has been busy rebuilding relationships with partners in recent months: “Not just from a back-end systems perspective but front end — be on the front foot with our partners.”
Dogra was interviewed on stage by The Media Leader senior reporter Jack Benjamin.
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