Brian Joyce,
SVP, National Ad Sales, A&E and History worked his way up to sales
management from an assistant at CNN in the 1990s. His career path took him to
A+E Networks in the early years of History, to SONY syndication and then back
to A+E at a time when History was gaining in distribution and audience. Now his
responsibilities include managing the sales teams of both A+E and History
networks in a media ecosystem that contains linear, digital, cross platform,
programmatic and addressable elements.
Charlene Weisler: What does the
History brand represent today?
Brian Joyce: History is a premium brand and advertisers love to
attach to our high profile series and specials across all platforms. We also know that brands still matter in
today’s environment, maybe more than ever.
This year once again History ranked as the #1 entertainment brand
measured by Yougov.
We believe that History is not just about looking back but understanding
where we are today and where we might be headed. We aim to humanize the past, reflect
on the present and illuminate the future. We deliver a premium content
environment that not only entertains but leaves the viewer feeling smarter and
more educated about a person or a subject. We have a couple of events coming up
in 2017 - The Human Journey and The Valley that are two that will back up this
brand position. The Human Journey looks at migration over the past 200 to 300
years. Why did people migrate? Well, it was primarily because of war and floods
and finding riches. This topic is very relevant today just look at the past
year and the refuges flooding into Europe.
The Valley explores the build out of the internet over the past 30
years, but also debates and predicts what the next 30 years will bring. History not only entertains but leaves the
viewer feeling smarter and more educated about a person or a subject
Charlene Weisler: Can you tell me
about your branded and native content efforts?
Brian Joyce: People have struggled with a definition for
programmatic and now we are struggling to best define branded and native
content. In my mind at the end of the day, no matter what which term you use, its
custom content created in partnership with our advertisers. We created an
Enthusiast Block called “WILD HISTORY” that runs on the weekend from 11a-1p. We
collaborated with YETI on a truly authentic, branded-content experience while
giving our rabid, enthusiast fan-base the reduced commercial loads that they
demand. Instead of running standard
commercials, the enthusiast block will offer limited ad interruption and weave
in content from marketers. Some of the marketers' native content will be
created by us, but much of it will be content that brands have already created
to run on their own sites or on YouTube. This will give marketers another home
for ancillary content and open it up to more eyeballs.
Charlene Weisler: What are your
thoughts about data initiatives, programmatic, addressable advertising and
targeting our audiences?
Brian Joyce: The industry is yearning for better data in two
separate but connected phases. The first is better measurement – who is
watching what, when and on which platform.
Both Nielsen and Rentrak/ComScore are promising better analytics in this
area, but there’s still more work to be done. The second is, better targeting.
Once we can capture the basics of all video viewing, the push will be to break
down the audience characteristics and purchasing habits of these viewers. We
launched our programmatic video offering back in 2012 on the digital side using
a series of marketplaces and SSPs. We
recently built out a DMP and use data when selling direct and though our
programmatic unit. On the Linear side we
rolled out our Ad Optimizer tool last year and are testing audience-based
buying. We optimize a schedule across
all our networks, not just History, to reach a client’s strategic target. All of these advanced audience targeting
capabilities fall under our A+E Precision platform which delivers unparalleled
audience solutions to our partners.
Charlene Weisler: Where do you
see History in the future?
Brian Joyce: History is synonymous with Premium and I don’t see
that changing. Moving forward I see us working with advertisers on more brand
focused and themed packages such as Innovation and Leadership. I’m excited to see how these packages will
build out across all our platforms. Scripted
series like Vikings, Six and Knight Fall as well as our Premium Docs are proven
platforms that deliver an upscale viewer. There are areas where we have a stake in the
ground – areas we own and will not give up such as telling the stories of our
brave men and woman of the armed forces.
This December will be the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor
and September is 15 years since the 9/11 attacks and we will deliver new
stories about those historic events. I also see us expanding deeper into the
Auto category with a themed Car Week in July 2017 to continue to tap into that
enthusiast-type programming I spoke about earlier. More and more we are
breaking the clock and delivering content in all sorts of lengths – some
stories require 8 hours to tell and others a minute. We devote as much time as
is needed to tell a compelling and engaging story that lives across all our platforms.
Moving forward I see us working with advertisers on more brand focused and
themed packages such as Innovation and Leadership. I’m excited to see how these packages will
build out across all our platforms. History
is not just about the facts. It is about the people and their stories.
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