National Geographic’s Laureen Ong

October 2006

By Anna Carugati

The
National Geographic Channel in the U.S. launched in January of 2001. In its
first two and a half years, it was the channel with the fastest-growing
distribution in America. In its second two and a half years, it was the
fastest-growing in terms of ratings. And during the second quarter of this
year, the channel enjoyed its highest ratings ever, a clear sign that it
continues to build an audience. Laureen Ong, the president of the U.S. National
Geographic Channel, explains how she got the channel started and how she
continues to increase its success.

TV DOCS: The National Geographic Channel launched when many other
factual-programming channels were already established. What was it like
starting up a channel in a very crowded TV landscape?

ONG: It was very daunting. I was nervous about making sure that all the
expectations were met, for the consumers in particular, because the brand meant
something to people. The scary part for me would have been to flip the switch
and launch the channel and then not have it live up to the expectations of the
brand. Thank God, National Geographic had been in the television-production
business for 35 years prior to starting the channel, so we were able to launch
off the back of a world-class, blue-chip documentary library. Not a lot of
networks can say that. The library was an important asset for us at launch, but
now we’re producing more than 300 hours a year, and 99 percent of that is shot
in HD.

TV DOCS: A lot of channels started as factual channels, and then with time, either
because they needed to broaden their audience or because of the high cost of
programming, they veered from their original mandate of presenting only
non-fiction programming. How has National Geographic been able to remain loyal
to its mission?

ONG: There are a few reasons for that. When you are a self-made brand
there is a wider range of things you can be for the audience. The National
Geographic brand has been around for 116 years, and it has stood for something
for a very long time. So when the National Geographic Society puts its name on
a magazine or a book or a channel, it means something. National Geographic’s
mission is well-known—they like to inspire people to care about the
planet. That is at the core of their mission. It’s about exploration, science,
nature and all of those things. The name and brand are the core of this
channel. We have to remain true to that mission because we are not self-made.
That’s really what differentiates us from other people—the strength of
the brand behind us. People expect from us the spectacular imagery, the
authenticity, the quality, the incredible storytelling—all of that has
always been something that’s been very important to this brand.

TV DOCS: Does it ever happen that the brand becomes a bit limiting for what
you want to do?

ONG: The challenge is to get people to understand that the National
Geographic brand is evolving, it’s contemporary and it’s relevant. Yes, I can’t
say it’s not a challenge, but I think that because of the medium we are in, and
our willingness to experiment in new media, and the appeal we have with the
younger audience—they look at our programming and it resonates so
strongly with them—it all helps to overcome a lot of the baggage that we
might have. I would say we have more baggage with people who think they know
the brand, but have actually never sampled it.

TV DOCS: How has the channel managed to remain fresh and relevant?

ONG: Sure, there are a lot of things that are current that are well within
our province—relevant topics like our Inside 9/11, Final Report, and certainly our signature
programming Explorer, where we are really able to look at things like the world’s most
dangerous things. Those are relevant topics to today’s audience. If you pick up
the magazine you will also notice a lot of new approaches they are taking as
well. There are articles about caffeine, about longevity, about obesity and
about oil. They cover current events as well as other subjects that people care
about today.

TV DOCS: How are you attracting younger viewers? They are elusive for any
channel nowadays.

ONG: After a while there is only so much of the reality shows that you can
watch before it gets mind-numbing. The only thing that I can be thankful for is
that there is a large number of people out there who want to be entertained but
they also want to learn something, and that’s where we [come in]. Everybody
needs to watch something that is entertainment for entertainment’s sake, but at
some point, people do come back and say, you know what? If I’m going to spend
time watching something, I want to learn something, too.

TV DOCS: How does the channel work with the magazine and the National
Geographic Society in developing content?

ONG: We have joint editorial meetings, so everybody has a seat at the
table from whatever part of the [company] they represent. We look for ways in
which we can collaborate. It’s actually much harder to do than people realize,
because we all have different time frames that we work under. Sometimes what
works well in the magazine doesn’t always translate well into TV, but when we
are able to get all the stars to align, we absolutely can hit it out of the
ballpark with things like The Gospel of Judas.

TV DOCS: How does the channel contribute to the Society’s mission of
encouraging exploration, education and conservation?

ONG: We do a number of things in conjunction with them. National
Geographic provides schools with teaching materials. We used that connection
the Society has with schools [to create] our Everyday Explorer program. We have
found that field trips are being cut out of a lot of schools, and Everyday
Explorer brings field trips back to schools. Kids can’t start to think about,
How can I find Afghanistan, if they don’t even know what state is next to them.
In order to get kids interested in trying to understand the world, you need
them to get excited about exploring their backyard. Conservation and caring
about the planet are also part of Everyday Explorer, which is clearly a line
extension of the mission and something that we do as part of the National
Geographic family.

TV DOCS: How important is it to experiment in new media?

ONG: There is no doubt that when we look forward and see how people are
consuming media, new media is a very, very important part of the landscape and
it cannot be ignored. In particular for our brand and for the consumer who
loves National Geographic and our programming, we know that they are at the
forefront of new media. Our viewers are more likely to experiment with it, so
for us not to have a place at the table of new media would be silly. We have a
very big presence in video on demand. People generally watch us for very long
periods of time, and it is very heartwarming to see that happen. We are also
experimenting with cut-down versions and smaller snippets of our shows, because
we have to be mindful of how wireless and other technology is being used. What
are consumers likely to have an appetite to view? I don’t know that anyone
would want to watch a two-hour documentary on their cell phone. But would they
watch 20 minutes of Dog Whisperer? Absolutely.

TV DOCS: How do you work with the other National Geographic channels around
the world to coordinate programming or perhaps share costs on some of the
bigger projects?

ONG: We work with our international channels very closely, because clearly
it makes the most sense for us to go into a co-production with them. So
whenever and wherever we can, we absolutely try to do that. They have an office
here in Washington, D.C., right down the hall from us. They are part of the
editorial and programming meetings.

TV DOCS: National Geographic in the U.S. has attracted core advertisers that
have been loyal to the channel.

ONG: Absolutely—in fact, that is a great story for us. When we
launched the network we only had 10 million subscribers, but we had about 100
blue-chip advertisers that signed on even though we only had 10 million subs.
Usually the threshold before anyone will even open the door to have a
conversation with you is 50 million subs. We had a lot of people who believed
in us placing a bet on us. That is a real testimony to the brand. That we were
able to do that and grow is really a story right in itself.