Keith Hindle

CEO Americas, FremantleMedia Enterprises

There is no doubt, viewers these days are enjoying programming in many ways and on several different screens. FremantleMedia has been able to meet audiences’ “wherever, whenever” demands with a range of content, including some of television’s biggest hits.

WS: What are you learning about the way people are viewing content?
HINDLE: We have learned to expect the audience to interact with content on many different platforms: Merlin, the drama we sold to NBC, is one of the most watched shows online on Hulu; millions of unique visitors view specially produced American Idol content online; and a huge number of people engage with our shows through telephony—voting, video clips, promotional offers, and games. And the appetite for well-loved brands can extend even further: we already have highly successful theater shows for The Price is Right, which is live at Bally’s Casino in Las Vegas where the audience plays along from their seats, as well as American Idol at Walt Disney World Florida, and we’ve just announced the launch of an America’s Got Talent live theater show at the Planet Hollywood Casino in Las Vegas in September.

WS: What kind of shows do they most want to watch on the traditional TV set?
HINDLE: "Event programming" still aggregates the mass audiences—people watch shows like Idol and Got Talent because they need to know how their favorite has done for tomorrow’s water-cooler conversation, and they like to have a hand in influencing the outcome.

WS: What kinds of content do viewers want online and on mobile devices?
HINDLE: Comedy is strong in the mobile-video space, as is content that is timely, such as news, sports, and the American Idol performance clips we make available on AT&T right after the live TV show. Texting is still hard to beat, of course, with a very high proportion of the votes for American Idol coming via text, and games and apps are now a significant brand extension area for us.

WS: What content is most popular on Atomic Wedgie?
HINDLE: Atomic Wedgie is our young male-targeted digital comedy channel with content made entirely for online and mobile distribution. The more irreverent the content, and of course funny, the better the reaction. Secret Girlfriend is extremely popular (she’s the hot girlfriend who panders to the male ego, adores you but turns out to be a little more than you bargained for), as is Cleveland’s Next Top Model, World of Weird and Sex, Drugs and Bedpans.

WS: As producers, do you think of multiplatform extensions—websites, message boards, games, webisodes—for every program you produce, and how do you decide which extensions to offer for a given show?
HINDLE: We start thinking about the most effective brand extensions from the very earliest stage of development of any new show, certainly well before it has gone to air. Some brands work better for different executions, for example American Idol is very effective as online content but less directly translatable to online games, whereas our game shows like Family Feud, The Price is Right and Million Dollar Password have game dynamics which translate very effectively to games, so we have released them in multiple iterations for mobile and online: downloadable, free play ad supported, play to play, console, PC, slot machines, lottery tickets, etc.

WS: On average, do viewers first sample your brands through television, or are some brands first encountered online or on mobile?
HINDLE: TV is still the key driver, but online is now having a dramatic impact. Despite being originally made for digital platforms Secret Girlfriend is now in production for a Comedy Central TV series. For us, digital content has emerged as an excellent testing ground for new concepts. We get to experiment with new ideas to see how they look, at significantly lower costs than full TV pilots.

WS: What kind of “digital extras” does the audience enjoy the most? Screening full episodes, videos, screensavers, widgets, games, behind-the-scenes info, virtual tours?
HINDLE: For talent-led shows like Idol and Got Talent, anything that gives an insight into the contestants—who they really are, how they behave, their background—is what the fans really want. A glimpse into the workings of Hollywood is also extremely popular; we shoot the Ford music videos with the Idol contestants each week and fans seek out "the making of" backstory online.

WS: Why has it been important to set up channels on YouTube and to be present on other popular sites, such as Facebook?
HINDLE: It is something we are experimenting with and analyzing closely. We believe the portals can be effective tools for content distribution but their ad-sales capabilities have a long way to go. But as we have direct relationships with many of our advertisers, we are able to leverage our portal relationships to guarantee a certain level of impressions to those advertisers. The portals can also be effective tools for talent. For example, MySpace users can submit their videos to audition for America’s Got Talent.