Top Factual Buyers & Commissioners Talk Trends

Nat Geo’s Hamish Mykura, Foxtel’s Hannah Barnes, Canal+’s Isabelle Antraygue and ORF’s Andrew Solomon weighed in on acquisition and commissioning trends in a MIPDoc session moderated by World Screen’s Anna Carugati before each receiving a Factual Trendsetter Award.

Solomon is the head of natural history and history at Austrian pubcaster ORF. He oversees two weekly slots on ORF 2, one for blue-chip natural history on Tuesday nights, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and the other for history on Friday evenings. Those shows are later repeated on ORF III.

Antraygue heads up acquisitions and international co-productions for the Planete+ and doc channels at Canal+, as well as buying factual for the CanalPlay SVOD platform.

Barnes is the general manager of the Lifestyle channels at Foxtel, looking after four channels: Lifestyle, Lifestyle HOME, Lifestyle FOOD and Lifestyle YOU. Lifestyle, 20 years old this year, is a “big, iconic Australian brand,” Barnes said.

Mykura is the executive VP of programming and development at National Geographic Global Networks. Based in London, Mykura said his job includes looking for shows to play on Nat Geo outside of the U.S. (171 countries) and, an area that is now taking up more and more time, commissioning into the entire global network.

The Universum strand that Solomon oversees in Austria averages audience shares of 20 to 25 percent. “We look for the highest possible production values, the best possible photography and the strongest stories,” Solomon said regarding what’s driving Universum’s popularity. “Having a local subject does help—we had last week 26 percent for a film about an Alpine region. The other thing that works well is programs with real attitude that also have great production values.” For example, he is looking forward to the upcoming Spy in the Wild from BBC Worldwide. “It’s that combination of top production values, strong stories but also a little bit of edge.”

The factual channels at Canal+ outperform other channels in the genre in pay TV in France, Antraygue said. The strong ratings come from more investigative shows, among them A+E Networks’ Hunting Hitler and BBC wildlife and science titles.

Foxtel’s Lifestyle group acquires and commissions shows. Flagship series include localized versions of top international factual and factual-entertainment formats, such as Grand Designs, which is in its eighth season for the Australian edition, and Bake Off. The channel is also airing Gogglebox Australia and Selling Houses Australia, which are number one and number two on the platform, Barnes said.

Mykura discussed the “profound change” taking place at National Geographic Global Networks under CEO Courteney Monroe. “We’re really focusing now on this premium content strategy. I’m working closely with my colleagues in the U.S. and we’re focusing on making the channel a stand-out place for science, adventure, exploration and anthropology—the basic values of what you think of National Geographic as being about. We’re trying to get stand-out programs we can market and promote worldwide.”

In terms of the acquired to commissioned/co-produced/co-financed breakdown, ORF’s Solomon noted: “100 percent commissioned is something we very rarely do because of the cost of high-end natural history, which is an average of 400,000 euros an hour. Active co-productions where we’re the leading partner is 10 to 12 hours a year, and about the same number where we’re the junior partner.” Frequent partners include ARD, ZDF, France 2, France 5, Smithsonian Networks and National Geographic. Solomon said he acquires about 15 hours a year. In history, it’s about 5 active co-pros, 10 passive and 20 acquisitions.

Antraygue buys about 1,600 hours a year for three channels and has about 15 co-pros a year. She is looking for history with strong narrative and investigative storytelling, current-affairs shows on topics of relevance to France and docs about life in the future.

Barnes and her team buy about 1,000 hours a year per channel and fully fund about 80 hours a year across the group. “We’re doing more and more pre-buys and co-productions than ever before.”

Mykura noted that Nat Geo does acquire for the channel in the U.S. and globally. “There are places where we can negotiate rights in particular territories. It’s always worth coming to us, even if you have an idea where the rights may be sold to a terrestrial broadcaster in a particular territory. That’s not always a deal-breaker for us.”

The conversation moved on to the impact of OTT platforms like Netflix and Amazon on the documentary and factual space. ORF’s Solomon said that they could be “important partners in the future.”

Asked about the biggest issues impacting the doc business at present, ORF’s Solomon noted that for pubcasters, it’s the pressure on budgets. “Also how easily the style we like to work [with] will work with the style of other broadcasters. It’s always changing slightly. It’s best for us when we have a great commonality. And to see how the SVOD operators can be partners for us. There is potential for that.”

For Foxtel’s Barnes, in lifestyle and broader factual programming, “there’s never been a better time for the kind of content we make. It’s because of the crazy stuff going on in the world at the moment. There’s lots of change happening. Lifestyle is about bringing joy to life through ideas and inspiration and information. That’s what people want.”

Mykura noted that at Neo Geo, “we’ve pooled together all the different parts into one big group, Nat Geo Partners, so we’re part of an entity that isn’t just the TV channels. It’s the magazine and a travel business, a publishing business, and a not-for-profit entity that funds research and exploration. There’s a real power to having that kind of scale.”

At Canal+, the greatest issue for pay TV is visibility given the reach of the free-TV DTT business.

On wish lists, Mykura quipped, “More Morgan Freeman please!” He’s also looking for more people like Freeman to front shows across the globe.

Barnes is looking for the next big high-end lifestyle series, “the next Grand Designs. Something in that high-end property area. The next Gogglebox and Common Sense, and ideas that live beyond the linear, that really encourage a two-way relationship with the audience. Audiences want to interact. And everything has to be life-affirming, have a sense of joy to it.”

Antraygue is also looking for new experiences for documentaries that are more immersive, such as VR.

ORF’s Solomon said it’s about bringing the “biggest treat for the audience that we can.”

Carugati and Reed MIDEM’s Lucy Smith then presented each of the panelists with a World Screen Factual Trendsetter Award.