Pay TV rebrands Arena: Bravo!
Apr 17
Subscription television channel Arena will be rebadged with the logo, livery and programming content of US pay-TV’s Bravo channel in the first instance of a wholesale channel import. The arrangement will involve Arena adopting almost everything from Bravo, including the “Watch What Happens” branding, bar its name.
The deal also signals a solid pre-emptive strike by Foxtel ahead of the launch of the free-to-air standard definition channels on January 1.
More significantly, though, Foxtel’s separate programming and branding deals with NBC Universal International Television Distribution and Bravo Media solve one of the platform’s longstanding and unresolved questions: How do you solve a problem like Arena?
The channel appeared to float aimlessly under XYZ Management, with little programming clarity or brand identity, despite a number of relaunches.
Foxtel has taken over management of the channel and provides clear direction by targeting the female 16-to-39 demographic.
“Arena’s very much the showcase platform for that demographic,” said Brian Walsh, Foxtel’s executive director of TV and marketing.
The key programming title on Bravo, America’s fastest growing cable entertainment network in prime time among adults aged 18 to 49, is Heidi Klum’s fashion design reality program Project Runway. The show and format have been chased aggressively by the FTA networks here.
The NBC Universal output deal secures Bravo programming, including Top Chef, starring the next Nigella Lawson, Salman Rushdie’s former wife Padma Lakshmi, as well as Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, The Real Housewives of Orange County and Millionaire Matchmaker. With some of these programs rolling into their fifth seasons, Arena will not be short of content.
The deal also ensures Arena has format rights to such Bravo shows while separate deals have secured product made by other producers, including Entourage, Celebrity Apprentice and Janice Dickinson’s Modeling Agency.
Chief among them is the Bravo hit Project Runway. Arena will launch an Australian version with Kirsty Hinze hosting.
It is expected to spin off a local format and also produce a local version of the new US hit , possibly as a vehicle for Jonathan Pease.
“Clearly the Australian marketplace is very competitive and we need to position ourselves with exclusive long-term product deals,” said Mr Walsh.
Source: News Limited
Splashmo April 17th 2008