Television has always managed to hold its audience’s attention for much longer than other media, and this despite the major upheavals it has had to contend with in recent years, including image digitisation and the new prospects opened up by IP. Segmentation of the TV offer has made it possible to maintain consumption levels on the small screen, although
generalist channels’ prime time audience is shrinking.
TV channels are investing massively in the internet to be able to take advantage of ever-increasing online ad revenue, using a variety of strategies: a “second market” approach to maximise revenue generated by their programmes, control over distribution to viewers, diversification to high audience services in tandem with their ad management business.

The challenge for the channels is to have a strong hand in the new forms of TV viewing, rather than being passive players, and to thus be able to act as central aggregators as they face competition from telcos and the top internet portals.
This new positioning requires them to examine the specific role that television plays, re-focusing on what makes the broadcasting model distinctive.
Based on interviews with some of the TV industry’s leading players in the United States and Europe, IDATE offers a detailed analysis of TV channels’ online distribution strategies, the main business models being used and the resulting diversification and vertical integration strategies.
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1. Evolution of the TV industry
1.1. Television, the ultimate mass medium 11
1.2. New TV viewing patterns 12
1.2.1. Segmentation of the TV offer has made it possible to maintain overall viewing figures 12
1.2.2. …but is cutting into the top commercial channels’ audience 13
1.2.3. Prime time losing audience, but still the flagship slot 14
1.2.4. On-demand and time-shifted viewing on the rise 15
1.3. TV market revenue: fundamentals remain stable, for now 17
1.3.1. Pay-TV driving growth, as the video sector loses steam 17
1.3.2. Traditional TV market nearing maturity 18
1.3.3. The internet does not, however, currently pose a direct threat to the TV advertising
market 19
1.4. IP: driving changes in media distribution 20
1.4.1. Players on the production side: increased negotiating power? 20
1.4.2. Channel operation and aggregation businesses and revenue under threat? 22
1.4.3. Multiplication of TV distribution channels 23
1.4.4. The growing role of the device 25
1.4.5. New uses 25


2. Leading TV network strategies
2.1. Case studies: the top television networks 26
2.1.1. NBC 26
2.1.2. Fox 34
2.1.3. ABC 38
2.1.4. Groupe TF1 44
2.1.5. Groupe M6 51
2.1.6. ProSiebenSat.1 Group 56
2.1.7. Groupe Antena 3 68
2.2. TV channels’ positioning: a summary 73


3. Outstanding issues for TV channels
3.1. A change in the distribution sequence? 79
3.2. Reducing dependence on TV advertising and monetising new television offers? 81
3.2.1. Emergence of new advertising models on the web 81
3.2.2. Taking advantage of the market driver: pay-TV? 83
3.3. Will TV channels need to alter their schedules? 85
3.4. A new strategy for controlling content? 86
3.5. Taking control of TV aggregation services? 87


4. Guidelines
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Table 1: Breakdown of media consumption in the US 11
Table 2: Channel TF1 indicators 44
Table 3: Channel M6 indicators 51
Table 4: Indicators for ProSieben and Sat.1 channels 56
Table 5: Channel Antena 3 indicators 68
Table 6: Fee-based diversification strategies employed by commercial TV channels 84
Figure 1: Daily TV viewing time in the US 12
Figure 2: Daily TV viewing time in a selection of European countries 12
Figure 3: Segmentation of the TV offer in the US 13
Figure 4: Viewing share for the top five channels in the big markets , 2000-2006 13
Figure 5: Drop in prime time viewership in the US, 2000-2006 14
Figure 6: Breakdown of viewership by time of day in the big markets 14
Figure 7: Most watched broadcast and cable TV channels in prime time in the US (October 2006 - May 2007) 15
Figure 8: Growth of personal TV in the US, 2003-2010 16
Figure 9: Growth of personal TV penetration rates in the major European markets, up to 2012 16
Figure 10: Growth of media market revenue (excluding radio) in the US (in million EUR) 17
Figure 11: Growth of media market revenue (excluding radio) in Europe 18
Figure 12: Breakdown of advertising spending in the US, 1996 vs. 2006 19
Figure 13: Evolution of the TV distribution chain 20
Figure 14: Estimated change in Hollywood studio revenue, by segment, 1990 vs. 2000 22
Figure 15: Breakdown of the leading TV companies’ revenue in 2006, by business area 22
Figure 16: Penetration of TV distribution networks in France 23
Figure 17: Multiplication of internet video devices 25
Figure 18: NBC’s prime time schedule for 2007-2008 31
Figure 19: Example of a Fox prime time schedule in late November 2007 34
Figure 20: ABC’s prime time schedule for 2007-2008 39
Figure 21: Structure of channel TF1’s annual programming schedule 44
Figure 22: Structure of the annual M6 schedule 51
Figure 23: Breakdown of the ProsiebenSat.1 group’s revenue, by source 56
Figure 24: ProsiebenSat.1 group structure 62
Figure 25: Breakdown of ProSiebenSat.1 turnover, by business area 63
Figure 26: ProSiebenSat.1’s digital services at the end of 2006 66
Figure 27: Teleporlared portal home page, with links to other Antena 3 group online video services 71
Figure 28: Content distribution strategy 73
Figure 29: RTL group’s multiplatform positioning strategy 74
Figure 30: TV channels’ internet business models 75
Figure 31: TV channels online branding strategies 76
Figure 32: TV channels’ online content strategies 77
Figure 33: Expansion of TV showing windows 80
Figure 34: Example of a generalist TV channel’s dependence on advertising: the case of ProSiebenSat.1 81
Figure 35: Example of an overlay on YouTube and interactive product placement in the series 24 82
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