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What does the exclusive Vikings screening deal with LOVEFiLM signal for TV market?

By Ruth Cartwright

May 20, 2013 | 4 min read

Last week, subscription movie and TV streaming service LOVEFiLM premiered the pilot episode of its new series Vikings, produced by MGM and written by the producer of The Borgias and The Tudors Michael Hearst, to invited members of the media. The series, already commissioned for a second run having proven a success in the US, will run in the UK exclusively through LOVEFiLM rather than BBC or Sky. So what does such a content deal mean for the TV marketplace? Ruth Cartwright, broadcast director for media agency Maxus UK discusses.

Did anybody spot Viking longboat complete with Viking raiders sailing down the River Thames last week? Don’t worry, we’re not being invaded, it was just a promotional stunt by LOVEFiLM to publicise the news that it will exclusively broadcast US mini-series Vikings when it launches in the UK.

While LOVEFiLM might like us to think the deal is going to significantly impact on the TV market, I for one, am not buying into this latest round of pessimism. The effect of a one-off deal such as this (and yes, there will be many more) is but a drop in the ocean of the wider TV market.

Moves such as this (and already this year, we’ve seen House of Cards launched as a Netflix exclusive), are simply part and parcel of the way things are moving, and certainly won’t impact on advertising revenues for major broadcasters like Sky, ITV or Channel 4.

For starters, while a show like Vikings may have gone down very well in the US, we just don’t know how it will perform in the UK yet.

But the big issue here is that content still is, and should remain the key driver of any media decision. At Maxus, we encourage clients to view TV and VoD as complementary components of one campaign. Content is the common thread that weaves throughout all channels, and as such, the more excellent content out there that we can utilise, the better. In today’s climate, it’s more about understanding the opportunities across all platforms.

Naturally, every time a story like this breaks, the conversation over whether the UK TV market is being eroded by different platforms rears its head. It’s a perennial debate, but I can say hand on heart that TV isn’t dying in any sense. Yes, people are choosing to consume it differently, but broadcasters are adapting to that and as agencies, we simply have to grow and adapt, embracing the new opportunities coming our way.

I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing LOVEFiLM and Netflix going down this route plenty more in the coming years, but longboat stunts aside, programmes like Vikings will be but a drop in the ocean relative to the investment the major broadcasters are making into their own content.

More relevant now is the question of how to adapt and integrate VoD and all the other emerging technologies into TV, so as to present as many different opportunities to clients as possible in this space.

The way it’s moving now means that we’re buying VoD as an extension of TV campaigns. In fact, with all the research to support the extra reach VoD offers, we’re at a stage where clients need to justify why they wouldn’t use VoD rather than why they would.

Whether somebody is viewing Coronation Street on their TV, via their mobile or on-demand, the fact remains that they are watching Coronation Street. The more platforms and touchpoints that can be embraced, the better.

So as the Vikings invade London and no doubt provoke another debate on TV vs on-demand, let’s attempt to stay focused on the value of content without being distracted by the periphery. Regardless of platform, content will always be king.

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