Eden

CHANNEL: Eden

COUNTRY: U.K.

LAUNCH DATE: Eden launched in the place of UKTV Documentary on January 26, 2009.

OWNERSHIP: UKTV, a 50/50 joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media.

DISTRIBUTION: Eden, together with nine other channels operated by UKTV, is available on Sky, which reaches more than 9 million homes, and Virgin Media, which has about 3.5 million cable customers.

DESCRIPTION: With a focus on the areas of natural history, adventure and exploration, Eden targets couples in their 30s and 40s with children. Its tagline is "One Amazing World. One Amazing Channel."

SENIOR MANAGEMENT:
Director, Lifestyle & Factual Programming, UKTV: Jane Mote
Channel Head, Eden & Blighty: Adrian Wills

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: The channel operator UKTV has been undergoing a radical transformation as of late, beginning with the rebrand of its entertainment portfolio last year. The group—a joint venture of two of the U.K.’s leading media entities, the commercial arm of public broadcaster BBC, BBC Worldwide, and quad-play operator Virgin Media—kicked 2009 off with the repositioning of its UKTV Documentary service as Eden. The move reflected the need to keep the channel fresh in light of the tremendous competition in the British pay-TV market today. Indeed, since the launch of UKTV Documentary (initially known as UK Horizons), a host of international brands have descended onto the U.K. to satisfy the tastes of factual content fans. And the change in focus seems to have worked—recent ratings show Eden’s share up 87 percent on UKTV Documentary’s 52-week average. The channel has risen in the rankings among factual nets in multichannel homes, and is averaging a daily reach of 379,000, a 23-percent gain on UKTV Documentary’s 2008 average.

Adrian Wills, the channel head of Eden, concedes that UKTV Documentary struggled to find a clear audience profile, with what he calls a "mixed-bag" of factual content across wildlife, science, business and observational documentaries. In developing the rebranding strategy, UKTV executives felt it was key to focus on the channel’s strength: natural history, not surprising given that its primary programming provider is the BBC, which supplies about 80 percent of the titles on Eden’s grid.

Eden has placed natural history at its core, covering "wildlife, animal behavior, adventure and exploration," Wills says, stretched across themed blocks. Eden’s evening schedule kicks off at 6 p.m. with a focus on family viewing. "We’ve got a zone called Animal Eden, which is all about animal behavior, and the idea there is to attract kids’ viewing as well," Wills says. At 7 p.m., with Extreme Eden, the emphasis shifts to programs on "volcanoes, earth sciences, tsunamis, the environment and climate change."

Moving into prime-time, Escape to Eden at 8 p.m. is filled with signature BBC blue-chip docs, such as David Attenborough’s Blue Planet and Galapagos. "At 9 o’clock, we mix it up a bit more," Wills says, by playing out premiere titles. Programs currently featured as part of this block include Ray Mears Goes Walkabout, Tribe with Bruce Parry and Dying for Everest. Adventure and exploration take center stage after 10 p.m. with the Explore Eden block, where Eden airs programs like Tribal Wives and Edge of Existence.

Supporting the channel is an extensive website, at ExploreEden.co.uk, that has struck a deal with Lonely Planet for travel content. The site also allows users to upload their own photos, watch video clips and experience an interactive world map.

WHAT’S NEW: Wills says his priority in the coming months is pursuing co-productions, noting that original commissions for the channel are a challenge. "Because we’ve got this BBC supply line, we’re spoiled for choice. It’s going to cost us a lot of money to produce programs that can sit shoulder to shoulder with blue-chip, landmark-quality content. What we’d rather do is be a minority [investor] in projects that are being produced internationally and take the U.K. rights. It’s just a matter of finding the right kind of project. We need stuff that doesn’t mimic what the BBC does."

An area that he is currently pursuing is earth science-related content: "We wouldn’t do weather porn, storm chasers [types of shows]—there has to be some insight. The area of expeditions interests us as well. We want to try to do something that can tie into the web, maybe track an expedition live. That’s something we’re keen on."

Upcoming programs include more Mount Everest fare, Wills says, including Miracle on Everest and Doctors in the Death Zone. And the channel is in the midst of acquiring two documentaries from Australia and one from France.

WEBSITE: www.exploreeden.co.uk