Media companies with iconic TV characters like Don Draper, Rick Grimes and Walter White want advertisers to make a strong impression on first glance.
Recognizing that many fans don’t watch a TV series when it first becomes available on terrestrial television or streaming video, AMC Global Networks suggested to advertisers that even if the show they’re watching has been available for several seasons or years, the first dip in a series is more valuable to them and should be viewed as premium inventory.
“One of the things we’re bringing to market this year from the digital side is the ability for advertisers to buy what we call ‘first streamers,'” Evan Addleman, executive vice president of commercial sales and revenue operations at AMC Networks, said in a recent interview. “So now we have a package where someone can actually buy the first slot in the first pod of the first stream.” AMC defines first view as the moment a particular device first registers to watch one of its shows. That show could range from the current series “Dark Winds” to past shows like “Halt and Catch Fire.”
In another era, NBC ran a promotion that told viewers, “If you haven’t seen it yet, this is new” as part of an effort to draw people to its summer reruns. The effort drew mild derision, but perhaps the people running the network in 1997 were ahead of their time. In fact, recent or older series can find new footholds with modern audiences who have never seen them before. HBO’s “The Sopranos” has been given new life amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Friends” became popular with a new generation when the series became available for streaming.
AMC’s proposal focuses on efforts many traditional media outlets are making to monetize digital inventory, which is rapidly becoming commoditized by new technologies.
More marketers and agencies are relying on so-called “programmatic” advertising. The ads rely on algorithms that identify ad times that are viewed by very specific types of viewers, such as consumers looking to buy a new car, Spanish-speaking consumers, or consumers living in a specific region. Such transactions take some of the leverage away from the seller’s control over the transaction. But TV companies hope to gain some of their pricing power by identifying moments when viewer interest is likely to increase.
Last year, Paramount Skydance announced new ad formats for Paramount+ streamers aimed at creating new value for streaming inventory. Advertisers who purchase new “Streaming Fixed Units” can run the same ads on new episode premieres of top shows like “Tulsa King,” “The Landman” and “The Mayor of Kingstown.” When an advertiser buys a unit, they also buy a guarantee that Paramount will run the ad in a fixed location, such as the first spot during a commercial break, for the first seven days after an episode’s release.
Paramount said at the time that the new units were being purchased by financial services companies, alcoholic beverage distributors, consumer goods giants, AI backers, app publishers, car dealerships, casual dining chains, and even Western lifestyle brands such as Bootburn, which hopes to reach audiences for the series, which is directed by producer Taylor Sheridan.
AMC’s new concept could help it generate more revenue from series that take time to establish with viewers. “What streaming has provided is the opportunity for great shows to become evergreen shows,” said Kim Kelleher, president and chief commercial officer of AMC Global Media. “People are finding Gangs of London in Season 3, and Season 1 and Season 2 are performing better on AMC+,” she says. The industry may want to consider “redefining premier.” Premieres, as we know them, are no longer something you have to watch on TV on a Thursday night. Or in our case, the original premiere on Sunday night,” Kelleher added. “It’s really the first time someone is watching a show, and I feel like marketers and advertisers are really starting to understand that.”
According to AMC’s vision, the first encounter with the program will occur when the connected device sends a signal that the user is “sitting down on AMC+ and pressing ‘play'” during the first session of the series, Adleman said. Or “Press (play) on VOD on either a virtual or traditional distributor.”
More series will be available for years in ad-supported slots on Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, and other streaming venues. If AMC has its way, Madison Avenue will likely choose a second pass based on the value of the consumer’s first encounter.
