Germaine Deagan Sweet

TV Real Weekly, March 5, 2008

VP of Content Syndication

National Geographic Channels International (NGCI)

As advances continue to be made within new-media markets, there has been added pressure on media companies to keep up with rapidly evolving technologies. National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) is feeling the push, and is aggressively working to evolve its business beyond just linear offerings. The company’s VP of content syndication, Germaine Deagan Sweet, calls this “a good challenge, because it forced us to examine the business in ways that we really need to be able to keep growing.”

Since being tapped to the role this past September, a large part of Sweet’s remit has been dedicated to growing these opportunities for the company within VOD, mobile and other digital markets globally. “It’s been very interesting to be able to expand the business in what are, essentially, new markets for us,” she says. “It’s something that everybody’s facing, but I think that channels like National Geographic Channel have been at the forefront of this expansion, because what a lot of these platforms look for are known brands and existing partners to launch these new services with.”

Dealing with these non-linear platforms is a relatively new venture for Sweet, compared to her 15 years in straight program sales, working with television, video and non-theatrical rights, and all the different traditional markets that we know.

Before moving to the distribution side, Sweet got her start in the business in production management, which is where she originally became exposed to factual programming. When she first entered the market, Sweet says that “documentaries were not as widely exposed as they are now. And the attraction was the opportunity to not only learn more, but also be a part of a creative team that put together the stories behind the documentaries; they were stories that were new and fresh to the wider television audience. It was an exciting time in production and distribution.”

She credits working with a talented staff of producers, executive producers and script writers for giving her a “great thirst and appreciation for the factual-documentary world.” And her eagerness has not waned. “The thing I love most about my job,” she says, “is that there is still the opportunity to learn new things, which is rare for some people to be able to say about their jobs.”

Taking on the challenge of expanding into new media is a perfect learning opportunity for Sweet. “In the last couple of years, it has become a very important part of the channel business because we’re now working with our platform partners to put together packages that are complementary to our linear channels.”

Even with all the additional new media offerings, NGCI is still continuing to roll out some exciting linear properties as well. An example of this is Planet Mechanics, which features two eco-engineers who use ingenuity, resourcefulness and humor to confront ecological challenges head on. Another push for NGCI is Silence of the Bees, which Sweet says is “indicative of some of the factual programming that we’re working with that tries to be more relevant.” A co-production with WNET Nature, the documentary examines dwindling bee colonies and attempts to solve what is happening to the world’s bee population. Sweet says that not only is the property scientifically fascinating, but it’s also a “stunning production, as we would only expect from Nature. For that variety of reasons, it is attracting quite a bit of attention in markets around the world.”

—By Kristin Brzoznowski