Channel Profile: DOC Channel Casts Wide Net to Fill Grid

NASHVILLE: With a weekly prime-time slot for U.S. premieres, The Documentary Channel is looking to multiple sources to stock its schedule.

ON THE RECORD: JAMES J. ACKERMAN, PRESIDENT & CEO; KATE PEARSON SENIOR VP, PROGRAMMING

How do you schedule the channel from morning through late night, Monday through Sunday?
We program independent documentary films. These are mainly theatrical features, though not always of feature length. We do not carry made-for-TV programs. We have one original series of our own, called Doc Talk, which is about documentaries. We also use interstitial short films. Our programming approach usually involves trying to tie in themes with events or anniversaries or holidays. For example, during Black History Month we carried a documentary about the African-American experience or one made by an African-American filmmaker every Sunday night. During March, we ran Oscar’s Picks in prime time showcasing documentaries that have won or been nominated for the Academy Award.
We sometimes just focus on a day like Earth Day, when we would have a natural hook.

Are you acquiring content from the international market?
We definitely buy from the international market. We used to have a night devoted to international documentaries but we found that we had so many that we now sprinkle throughout the schedule. We acquire films in all kinds of ways. We work a lot with ITVS (the Independent Television Service). We attend all the relevant markets and festivals like MIPDOC, MIPTV, Sundance, Hot Docs and IDFA in Amsterdam. And now some of these have created online documentary “stores” that we are using.

Are you buying second-run content from within the U.S.?
Most of our programming is being shown on U.S. television for the first time, and in some cases it’s a world premiere. We do show the occasional film that has been shown elsewhere, such as Spellbound, which was on pay TV first.

What is your approach to commissioning new productions from U.S. producers?
Our Doc Talk series (25×30 minutes in 2010) is produced by Documentary Channel Original Productions. Sometimes we have a filmmaker come to us in need of funding to finish a film and we will contribute. That happens very occasionally. We also develop and produce with sponsors on occasion. For example, we made a documentary called Speed Dreams, going behind the scenes with three teams in motor racing in Formula One, Le Mans and drag racing, all of them sponsored by MobilOne, and that program was sponsored by Exxon, and that was made clear in the presentation.

Do you have any blocks or slots you are looking to fill?
We used to have a music documentary block, which we might bring back. We also had a block called Earth on Sunday night. We still like to try to give Sundays more of a family feel, while Friday night would be younger. We have a Monday prime time slot for a premiere. That is every Monday, 52 weeks a year. We cast our net wide. We do not limit ourselves to any genre or specific type of documentary. We want to show the American audience the multi-faceted range of documentaries. They are not about doom and gloom. They can be funny, quirky and are just as varied as the viewing public.