Max received a lot of afterglow from the Big “Hacks” Best Comedy Emmy win this fall, but series producer Universal TV would also appreciate part of that halo. “Ted Lasso” is the biggest hit of Apple TV+, but give some honor to the company behind the show, Warner Bros. TV. And yes, “The Boys” was a game changer for Amazon Prime video, but Sony Pictures TV ensures that you know that that is actually a Sony feature.
TV studios bend their brand muscle more than ever in the streaming age. Studios have been more aggressive in getting their names and ensuring that viewers learn which company actually produces their favorite series.
Most programs now start with a vanity card that the production company announces at the start of each episode. Those messages – such as “A Sony Pictures Television Studios Production” or “A Warner Bros. Television Production” – previously appeared at the end of an episode, after the credits.
“Films have done this for years,” notes CBS marketing chef Mike Benson, who worked closely with CBS Studios Head David Stapf to record branding at the start of the Studio productions. “Much of what we had to go through is really informing people about why. So whether it is a CBS Media Ventures show and whether it will be distributed on a FOX station in another market, or it is a CBS Studios show that is distributed on Netflix or Amazon, we want that representation. There was not much pushback from the other platforms, as soon as they understood what we did, from a B2B perspective, with the integration of the messages and the vanity cards. “
Studios have also campaigned more actively for their shows at the Emmy. For example, Sony has created several brand extensions for “The Boys” during the four seasons of the show-inclusive a “Vough-A-Burger” pop-up last year in West Hollywood.
That message strategy has even reached entertainment journalism. In recent years, studios have often asked that their company names are included in news stories about TV shows – in addition to the name of the network or the streamer she runs. They even push reporters to include more detailed business structure in the language: it is not enough to say “universal television” or “20th television” – the studios prefer that you “Universal Television, a part of Universal Studio Group “or” 20th television, part of Disney Television Studios “.
During most of the television history, studios were great to be in the background, while the networks were given all the credit. “MAS*H ”was a CBS show, and that credit rarely extended to the studio that produced the legendary series, 20th Century Fox TV. “ER” and “Friends” were part of the “Must -see TV” arrangement of NBC, but recently Warner Bros. TV recovered brand ownership of those hits.
There is a reason why the branditialization did not bother the studios in the past: certainly, they did not get the honor, but they got what really mattered: Syndication Back End.
But these are very different times. Syndication is no longer the endgame, and studios have realized that they need much more control over how a show is used in the long tail.
“We want our shows to succeed. What has evolved is that we are now really multi-platform marketers, “says Benson.
One Studio -EXEC notes that this new wave came from attribution after cable networks and streamers started to burn their shows more aggressively with opening salvos such as “A Netflix Original” – something that even started to emulate the linear networks. There is nothing wrong with that because they perform the shows they perform to stimulate subscriptions. That is when Studios had the feeling that they too had to take the action.
“We produce it, and we ultimately have it downstream,” says the studio -sexec. “You want the network or the platform to claim your show, they are the people who have given you the money to get it and tell the world about your show. So they earn the spotlight. But I don’t think that is at the expense of the studio that has a place in that story. “
Studios of course also have an established interest in keeping their shows alive – even on their sister streamers or networks. That is why studios have spent more money at FYC events, and ensuring that they are a supplement to every marketing of the streamer or network.
And in this competitive environment they also want to ensure that talent sees who they do business with. That is why it has become a priority for studios to get their names in stories, their managers at industrial events and attributing for all those prices. As linear disappears and studios become ‘arms traders’, because execs industry describe it for different streaming platforms, there is a strategy to ensure that they are in the conversation.
“We want to make sure that when buyers are looking for something specific, they think of us,” says an Exec. “That is what we try to get into the story, and we do that through traditional marketing tools such as social media, sponsorship and branding. And we use a price season a lot to bring it home and to retire those titles to our brand. The key is, in this busy market – and while you see a contraction in the industry that you are trying to define as a seller of content – you want them to know who you are with. “