This week's Future of TV Briefing looks at how Axios' entertainment division is looking to move physical production in-house and tap into the scripted programming market.
Axios only officially announced its entertainment division in January, but the news publisher is already looking to expand into producing original shows and movies.
“Eventually, I would like to bring production in-house and run my own production in the non-fiction space, and eventually branch out into scripted programming.” , Axios head of original programming Erika Winograd said during the stage session. At the Digiday Publishing Summit held last week in Vail, Colorado.
Axios Entertainment currently has external production companies, such as Campfire Studios, handle the physical production of the show in collaboration with the publisher's editorial director Raisa Zaidi. From 2018 she worked on the documentary series “Axios on HBO'', which aired in 2021 and was central to the publisher's editorial video strategy. I am participating in the production. She is responsible for filming, including key interviews, and typically acts as a liaison between the publisher and the production team.
But bringing production in-house could make programs even more profitable for publishers.
“Frankly, you just left a lot of money on the table.” [by outsourcing production]” Winograd said the publisher will continue to work with outside production companies as needed. When asked how much money is left over, he says that 50% of a show's production costs are paid to outside producers, and that “there is also a way to amortize the physical production infrastructure across different productions.” It's called a billback, and you'll earn a little extra money there. So I think once we get a few more shows, it'll become a natural progression. [bring production in-house]”
However, Axios Entertainment isn't necessarily rushing into producing its own programming and efforts to produce scripted shows and movies. For now, Winograd, Zaidi and his team of three, including development director Juliet Bartz, who also worked on HBO's Axios, are primarily focused on producing nonfiction programming. The impact of the NCAA's name, image, and likeness policy from the perspective of college athletes at Louisiana State University.
“Before you run a lot, we talk about walking. For those of you here who work in the television or film industry, step one of walking before you run is: [nonfiction programming] is much faster.I don't want to say easy, because it's not easy, but it's easier. [than scripted programming]. Programming without scripts and programming with scripts are simply much more time-consuming in terms of cost and time. It's much more expensive. It will take years,” Winograd said.
For comparison, Axios began production on “The Money Game” in January 2023. After he pitched Amazon on the show, the publisher had to get him on board with LSU, which it did last summer. Production on the show could then begin in the fall, in time for LSU quarterback Jaden Daniels to win the Heisman Trophy as college football's Most Valuable Player. Production is expected to wrap up in May, and the show is scheduled to premiere in the fall.
“This took a year and a half. I think it usually takes a year to go from pitch to screen. [for nonfiction shows]” Winograd said.
However, this does not include the informal part of the pitch process. Given how difficult the market for pitching shows to streaming services and TV networks has become as cost-cutting continues across the entertainment industry, show pitches begin before formal meetings with potential buyers. .
“What's important to me now is building really good relationships with the people who buy, and not doing a lot of front-end work or deep development. [but instead] I picked up the phone and said, “Hey, is this interesting to you?” If so, I will continue,” said Winograd, a former Quibi executive who previously served as head of development at Refinery29 and Vox Media. “Frankly, in these times when it's so hard to sell things, I'm just going to do my smart job, but I'm going to do a little less work on the front end until I see that there's some interest. ”
One thing that works in Axios Entertainment's favor is that the division has fairly broad remit regarding the programs it can develop and produce. Rather than being limited to adapting shows and movies based on Axios articles, the portfolio must simply fit into Axios' “Smarter, Faster” philosophy and the news publisher's coverage.
“Something touches on business, media, politics, technology, sports (which is pretty much everything these days) in some way, and it makes you smarter, faster, and gives it an old-fashioned feel. As long as we continue to do so, we can develop in that field.” Winograd.
As a result, Axios may enter the scripted programming market faster than the physical production business. “If the right script or book lands on my desk tomorrow and I feel like it's a great Axios project, we'll immediately figure out a way to get us involved in it,” Winograd said. Ta. “And obviously we're not going to physically produce a scripted piece because it has to be a studio. That's a whole other can of worms.”
what we heard
“Although our installs and active users have exceeded some of our goals, they are still a fraction of the website's audience.”
— Publishing executives evaluate their company's year-old CTV app during a private town hall session at Digiday Publishing Summit
Numbers you need to know
twenty two%: Percentage of national TV ad spending expected to shift to streaming this year.
~750,000: The number of YouTube creators who received revenue through the platform's Shorts revenue sharing program.
-7%: YoY decline in traditional TV ad spending in February.
What we covered
Media agency investment executives weigh in on Amazon's ad-supported tier.
- Amazon Prime Video's more reasonable ad pricing makes it more attractive to small and medium-sized advertisers.
- But other ad buyers said Amazon's ad prices remained high and the inventory launch was at the wrong time.
Learn more about Amazon.
Agency spending on TikTok is plummeting:
- According to a study by Digiday+ RESEARCH, more than half of agency clients use TikTok.
- However, 41% of agency professionals surveyed said their clients spend no marketing dollars on the platform.
Click here to learn more about TikTok.
what we are reading
Candidates for Disney's first female CEO:
According to CNBC, longtime television executive Dana Walden is one of the front-runners to replace Bob Iger as Disney's chief executive officer and co-chair of Disney's entertainment division. The chairman will be the first woman to hold that position at the company.
Amazon Sports Emperor:
Jay Marin, Amazon's global head of sports and vice president of Prime Video, is at the heart of the e-commerce giant's foray into live sports, adding NBA rights to its portfolio, according to Insider. It is possible that he is trying to do so.
NBC News Crisis Director:
Following NBC News' hiring and firing of former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, The New York Times featured a news department chair with a background in business, not journalism.
New YouTube aesthetics:
According to the Washington Post, the fast-paced, high-volume editing style of YouTube videos popularized by Jimmy “Mr. Beast” Donaldson is giving way to a slower, longer-form approach. Donaldson is said to be its most important supporter.
Difference between JIC and MRC:
The U.S. Joint Industrial Commission and the Media Ratings Council are both important parties to measurement reform in the television industry, but it is unclear what the relationship is between them. So, according to AdExchanger, the two groups are trying to clarify their differences, but the difference ultimately seems to be that a measurement provider needs to be approved by both the JIC and the MRC. It is said that