{"id":9738,"date":"2017-02-08T09:13:40","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T14:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/"},"modified":"2017-02-09T09:12:11","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T14:12:11","slug":"abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"ABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tony Iffland, the general manager of content sales at ABC Commercial, speaks with\u00a0<\/em>TV Real about the international appeal of factual programming, the expansion of the topics these types of titles address nowadays and their future in the digital space.<\/em><\/p>\n

In a world in which TV viewers have a myriad of programs to choose from, factual continues to pique audiences\u2019 interest internationally. \u201cFactual is a plank of what we do as a public broadcaster,\u201d says Tony Iffland, the general manager of content sales at ABC Commercial. \u201cFactual is important to the audience at home, and it’s a very strong calling card for us in the international marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"***Image***\"He adds that the quality of ABC Commercial\u2019s factual content is \u201chigh, so we don\u2019t have to convince someone of the editorial values that sit behind a show. That means we can take any number of ABC programs to the international market.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABC Commercial\u2019s factual offering runs the gamut. \u201cOur documentary content can be anything from high-art right through to some very commercial pieces, including franchises,\u201d Iffland says. One franchise with a commercial style is the\u00a072\u00a0<\/em>titles, which include\u00a072 Dangerous Animals Australia<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a072 Cutest Animals<\/em>. \u201cWe\u2019ve got lots of episodes. The franchise is made with a much more commercial eye, so that opens up some new opportunities for us in terms of sales, compared to a more traditionally structured documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Capitalizing on the appetite for true crime, there is also the new franchise\u00a045 Serial Killers the World Would Like to Forget<\/em>. Iffland describes the title as \u201cquite a commercial piece that allows us to talk to a broad spectrum of\u00a0\"***Image***\"clients.\u201d Another popular program is\u00a0Top Jobs for Dogs<\/em>, which explores the qualities that make a canine the right fit to fulfill a particular task.<\/p>\n

Along with commercial content that reaches a broad audience, having an enthusiastic presenter helps programs travel internationally. \u201cHaving a passionate expert as the host helps a program to travel because the show is about their journey of discovery,\u201d Iffland explains. \u201cA generous host who allows the audience to see them discovering new things can translate because they have that appeal, that audience magic.\u201d There can be challenges involved in taking shows to the global marketplace, including dubbing. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to make sure you have all the materials to allow you to sell a program into non-English-language markets,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Iffland notes that ABC\u2019s factual offering travels globally even if it is made from an Australian perspective. \u201cThe world is getting smaller and smaller, and while [a program may] look at something with an Australian lens, it is dealing with issues\u2014whether they be climate change, sociological issues around domestic violence or depression\u2014that resonate around the world. Climate change resonates around the globe, war resonates worldwide, as do history and archaeology. They\u2019re big, global issues, so [programs about these topics] do tend to travel well.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Iffland has noticed that topics previously considered taboo are now taking center stage in the factual programming space. \u201cWe are much more willing as a global community to talk about things that perhaps we haven\u2019t in the past, including domestic violence and mental health. Those are issues that people are increasingly looking at, and as a public broadcaster, these are the issues that we need to deal with because it\u2019s our charter to reflect the issues in society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, traditional genres such as natural history continue to find homes internationally. \u201cHigh-quality natural history continues to be a valuable proposition,\u201d Iffland says. Additionally, he reports that feature documentaries are currently drawing interest. \u201cLonger-form fare, pieces that offer a more in-depth feature treatment of issues that are of concern in our world at the moment,\u201d are on the menu, Iffland adds. \u201cThat\u2019s encouraging because there are lots of great stories that need to unfold over a longer period of time than a traditional 45-minute documentary slot.\u201d While it\u2019s a known fact that nonlinear broadcasters can handle different durations, \u201csome of the pay-TV broadcasters are now opening up slots that aren\u2019t quite so heavily driven by the hour junction,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Alongside a rich programming offering, a pillar of success is remembering that this is a relationship-based business, and it behooves distributors to know what kinds of content their clients are looking to acquire. \u201cFirst, it\u2019s about listening to what the clients are looking for, what they want, finding out what works and what doesn\u2019t, and then coming up with a targeted and curated list for them,\u201d Iffland says. \u201cIt\u2019s not about presenting a client with everything that we\u2019ve got that is a documentary; it\u2019s about listening to what their needs are and understanding what works in their territory.\u201d Presenting clients with a handful of documentaries that suit their needs, rather than a full catalog, Iffland explains, is \u201cmore respectful and ultimately more successful. We like to talk to clients early, even before we take delivery of a show. We\u2019ll talk to clients about their needs and themes that they\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iffland has noticed that there is indeed a place for factual in the digital space. \u201cThere is a need to satisfy people\u2019s desire to see factual, to see real life and to [watch] real stories rather than fictional ones. We have sold and continue to sell factual content to digital platforms, whether they be the broad platforms like Netflix, Hulu or Amazon, or specialist platforms like CuriosityStream, or even the specialist platforms that sit alongside their linear brands.\u201d One area in particular that Iffland believes will become popular on digital platforms in the near future is the music and arts genre. \u201cI suspect that\u2019s the next area to develop much more depth in the digital space,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Over the next 6 to 12 months, ABC Commercial will be taking delivery of another hundred or so hours of factual content for distribution. \u201cThat gives a good indication of how important factual programming is to our catalog,\u201d Iffland says. Continuing to monetize that content will also be a key focus as ABC Commercial moves forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tony Iffland, the company’s general manager of content sales, speaks about the international appeal of factual programming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":477,"featured_media":9739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[807,1932],"class_list":["post-9738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-abc-commercial","tag-tony-iffland","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World - TVREAL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World - TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tony Iffland, the company's general manager of content sales, speaks about the international appeal of factual programming.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVREAL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-08T14:13:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-09T14:12:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2015\/09\/2017-02-08-Tony-Iffland.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sara Alessi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sara Alessi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/\",\"name\":\"ABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World - TVREAL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-08T14:13:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-09T14:12:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"ABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/\",\"name\":\"TVREAL\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418\",\"name\":\"Sara Alessi\",\"description\":\"Sara Alessi is the associate editor of World Screen. She can be reached at salessi@worldscreen.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/author\/salessiworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"ABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World - TVREAL","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"ABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World - TVREAL","og_description":"Tony Iffland, the company's general manager of content sales, speaks about the international appeal of factual programming.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/","og_site_name":"TVREAL","article_published_time":"2017-02-08T14:13:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-09T14:12:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2015\/09\/2017-02-08-Tony-Iffland.jpg","width":1,"height":1,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sara Alessi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sara Alessi","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/","name":"ABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World - TVREAL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-02-08T14:13:40+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-09T14:12:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/abc-commercial-brings-an-australian-perspective-to-the-world\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"ABC Commercial Brings an Australian Perspective to the World"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/","name":"TVREAL","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/#\/schema\/person\/3a30a856ec6d9cc2372bf054d26a0418","name":"Sara Alessi","description":"Sara Alessi is the associate editor of World Screen. She can be reached at salessi@worldscreen.com.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/author\/salessiworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/477"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvreal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}