Platform Extensions
Of course a key component to all viewers’ lifestyles these days is their desire to access programming when and where they want it, and the ability to more deeply connect with the brands and talent that speak to them.
To that end, Z Living is in the process of launching its own OTT play, soon to be available on the website and other platforms. “This will deliver the network to a broader audience, including those who don’t always experience TV in a traditional way, and are digital natives,” Kheror says.
Ovation is evolving new ways to embrace the digital landscape as well. Jamie’s American Road Trip will be available first on the company’s JOURNY, from July 4-October 31, before it migrates to the television on Ovation in November.
Digital engagement is top of mind at Bravo, whose .com content is led by its army of “bravolebrities” and heavily complements its on-air offerings. “Our talent is very socially engaged, and all of their social media is popping in the summer,” Levine says. Also highly trafficked are verticals around the net’s lifestyle passion points, she says, particularly in the travel, real estate and fashion realms.
Discovery’s lifestyle networks, too, are activating all over the digital landscape with a recent Food Network original debut on Apple TV, and new entries in the app community. With digital extensions, “we can translate the brand into something even more useful for people who watch television, and even for those who don’t,” Finch says.
Another important platform, Finch notes, has nothing at all to do with a screen. “Live events are incredibly important, especially among millennials,” she says, noting the popularity, for one, of the Brainfood events staged by Spoon University, which Scripps acquired last year.
“We’ve been having really good luck, especially with Food Network where our millennial audience was up 15 percent in May. A lot of that has to do with getting the brands off the television and out in the real world,” Finch says.
