Media Analysis: Could second helpings choke TV?

With the continued success of brand extensions such as Big Brother's Little Brother, Britain's Got More Talent and The Xtra Factor, viewers are likely to see more of the same from broadcasters using 'second helpings' of popular content to drive fans to sister channels.

While the BBC has produced successful spin-offs of The Apprentice and Doctor Who, commercial broadcasters have also got in on the act to help drive their audience share. This certainly worked for ITV's Britain's got Talent, which pulled an audience of 13.9m for its final results show, and followed this up with peak ratings of 2.2m for Britain's Got More Talent on ITV2.

Most broadcasters argue that spin-off programmes are an effective way of retaining audiences within a channel portfolio. However, some suggest that reliance on extensions of tried-and-tested formats stifles innovation in developing content, and has the potential to blur the lines between channel identities, which are often distinctly different, as in the cases of ITV1 and ITV2 and Channel 4 and E4.

Tom Lucas, head of marketing at UKTV, was working at ITV when it began experimenting with spin-off formats. He believes that brand extensions allow broadcasters to stretch programme brands and generate more impacts, but agrees that they make it hard to create distinct brands for sister channels.

'At ITV2, for example, we wanted to move away from associations with ITV1 and develop a particular appeal among youth audiences,' he says. 'While ratings gained from spin-offs are incredibly invigorating for the channel, it was a challenge to create a unique flavour for the programmes that would fit our channel's brand and make it identifiably different from ITV1's offer.'

Aside from driving awareness and increasing viewing figures, the ultimate goal for a commercial channel is attracting additional advertising spend, and there are benefits for advertisers whose brands span two shows.

'If you have a good idea what the viewer demographic is, then you can be pretty sure that the audience that tunes into the spin-off has a high concentration from that group,' says Steve McDonnell, TV director at MediaCom. 'That is good for advertisers who want to closely target a certain demographic, because you lose the channel-flickers and those tuning in at random. It also gives broadcasters an extra opportunity to drive traffic to their VOD offerings and their websites, where advertisers can gain added exposure from banner ads and pre-rolls.'

Chris Hayward, head of trading at ZenithOptimedia, adds that reality formats are prime material to generate spin-offs, and agencies and advertisers are embracing the new shows.

'Very often it is cheaper for brands to advertise on sister channels, and the shows from which the extra content is generated start with an established high profile, which is attractive to advertisers,' he says. 'I understand the concern that these shows can have an effect on the variety of content offered, but overall the formats are working in a positive way for advertisers.'

For now, it seems that broadcasters cannot lose out when it comes to highly rated reality spin-offs, but their long-term impact on the variety of programming could yet create fresh problems.

DATA FILE - TOP SPIN-OFF SHOWS 2008

Show Channel Viewers Share

1 The Apprentice: You're Hired BBC One 5.0m 31.7%
2 The Apprentice: You're Fired BBC Two 4.6m 21.6%
3 Springwatch Sealife BBC Two 2.2m 10.1%
4 Britain's Got More Talent ITV2 2.2m 13.2%
5 Dr Who Confidential BBC Three 0.9m 3.4%
6 Big Brother's Little Brother E4 0.6m 6.1%
7 Big Brother's Big Mouth E4 0.5m 3.3%

Source: TNS Infosys, Channel 4