Programmer Profile: ID’s Ed Hersh

Having carved a niche as a leading source for fact-based investigative content, Investigation Discovery (ID) currently has the fastest-growing audience in the U.S. cable landscape. The network is off to a strong start in 2011, after having scored record-breaking ratings in January. "There are a few factors fueling our success," says Ed Hersh, the senior VP of strategic planning at ID. "One is we’re being extremely consistent. The programming we’re putting on shows we understand our audience and that audience loves stories of mystery and suspense. They love the elements of a ticking clock and of drama. They want resolution at the end of the program. They want great storytelling."

In addition to keeping the approach consistent, Hersh attributes another part of the channel’s success to its scheduling strategy. "We try to schedule our programs in an intelligent way, so that if you like one of our shows chances are you’ll like the one that’s on next and the one after that."

He adds, "So often, networks talk about ‘thinking outside the box.’ In many ways, we have defined a box and we think inside of it. That doesn’t mean that we’re not constantly down in the lab in the basement trying to figure out what the next big program is going to be or what the next iteration is, but we also understand that what’s fueling this growth is being true to ourselves and building upon that. We hope to continue building on that with other kinds of programming."

ID’s next frontier, according to Hersh, is to incorporate strong lead personalities into the channel’s programming. This effort is already well under way. Stalked is led by Michelle Ward, who is a psychologist and was also a stalking victim. The series LA: City of Demons is presented by bestselling author James Ellroy, while crime aficionado and The Sopranos star Steve Schirripa hosts Nothing Personal. "We know that with whatever talent or characters we include they need to be credible and authentic," says Hersh. "It can’t just be a rent-a-host who has no connection to the material. They need to have some connection to it to really make them click for the audience."

As for whether commissioning, acquiring or co-producing is preferable for content, Hersh says he’s keen to look to any source that will provide great stories. He says the channel acquires appropriate programming "when we find it. Then perhaps versioning it and putting our own spin on it. We’ve done that very successfully with our anthology series ID Investigates." He continues, "On the other hand, there are programs that we almost fully commission, like Stolen Voices Buried Secrets. In every case we always try to find ways to bring in other funding, so co-productions, pre-sales, doing it through producers, doing it in cooperation with our international division. Our goal for this audience who seems to be craving our programming is to try to come up with as many new episodes of good programs as we can, so we’re open to every possible permutation and combination of getting that on the air."

Co-productions, Hersh says, are slightly trickier, since ID knows its audience well and has a recipe for making the types of programs this group enjoys. "The name of the game is to be able to make [programs] as closely to our own recipe as we can, to the extent that we can find partners that have a similar recipe. We’d love to own these shows outright, we’d love to have them, but we try to look at every deal and every pitch on its own merits. If there’s something that we can get reasonably and it’s a co-production, fine; if it’s an acquisition, fine. If we are so in love with it that we want to fully commission it, then we have to find creative ways to finance it."

Partnerships have also been key in securing some of ID’s standout programming. The network is now the only place viewers can get the popular TV magazines 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, Dateline and 20/20 off-network. "We have Dateline on ID, we have 48 Hours on ID, 60 Minutes on ID and starting later this year we will have 20/20 on ID," explains Hersh. "Those are the gold standard of really good stories of crime, justice and investigation and it’s very exciting to us that those all come together only on one network."

Just a year or so ago ID’s highest-rated programs were its Dateline on ID and 48 Hours on ID offerings. That has now shifted, with the channel’s original programming taking top billing. "It speaks to the team that is in the trenches—finding funding and commissioning and overseeing and exec-producing and scheduling and getting the word out on these programs—that we have an incredible batting average of introducing new series and having them be successful. It shows two things. It shows the universality of the genre and that we’re working in a great space, and also the fact that we’re now really learning from our audience and from our competition what is this niche and what is this space and how do we serve this audience."

The network is using the momentum it’s found thus far in 2011 to launch a range of new originals, which debuted throughout February and continue this month. New series include Sins & Secrets, The Injustice Files, Cuff Me If You Can and FBI: Criminal Pursuit. In addition to the slate of original series, ID recently launched the next installment of the ID Films strand, Cocaine Cowboys. 

This ramping up of original programming is part of ID’s commitment to understanding its audience and putting out consistent content that serves their appetite for compelling true-life crime series. "If you’re having a dinner party and people keeping asking for seconds and thirds you’ll say, I’ve got to make more of that and put more on the grill," says Hersh. "That’s gratifying for anybody. In much the same way, we’re gratified that we put something on and it does really well, then we put the next thing on and it does even better. That tells us that whatever this recipe is that we’ve come across seems to be something that is a crowd pleaser."