Trend spotting

Feeding a hot trend can translate into big audience numbers, but timing is everything. Viewers glom onto a topic for only so long before rushing over to the next subject du jour. Right now, environmental-themed programming is on the top of many broadcasters' wish lists, and while producers clamor to meet the demand, there is always the concern that a program created to satiate a hot trend may end up in a broadcaster landfill with other green-themed programs because it was only a passing fancy.

For example, producers say eco programming wasn't even on broadcasters' radars this time last year. Pamela Healey, VP of development at Los Angeles-based High Noon Entertainment, says the fear over how to tackle greenhouse issues had buyers concerned about overwhelming audiences. Scott Myers, VP of development at Raleigh, North Carolina's Distillery Pictures, pitched an eco lifestyle program to buyers called Green Home Today in early 2006. "To be honest, the buyers we originally went to weren't exactly leaping onto this," he admits. "They said no one would want to watch a show on the environment because the viewers would just feel guilty."

What was the tipping point? Obviously, Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth proved to be a surprise success in cinemas, and add to that a surge in enviro-themed articles featured within the pages of popular magazines, such the May 2006 Vanity Fair 'green' issue or Newsweek's look at environmentalism last July. Just as Distillery pitched an environmental show even before broadcasters knew they'd want it, some producers argue it's up to the creative forces behind TV programming to be on top of emerging trends before they reach the psyche of acquisitions execs and covers of magazines. That way, when a broadcaster wants it, producers can show concepts and deliver quickly.

Jeremy Dear, VP of development at London's Pioneer Productions, says it's important to have accelerated conversations on the more trend-based themes because there's no guarantee an appetite for these types of programs will exist in eight months' time. For a producer, the main risk is that their program will not be first to the market. Striking while the zeitgeist is hot means Pioneer accelerates its normal work rate and invests development resources to write, research and create various manifestations of shows in order to get them to the market within weeks. Programs such as C4's SARS: Killer Bug and Tsunami: The Wave That Shook the World went from pitch to broadcast in less than six weeks.

Looking at eco themes, Distillery is quick out of the green gates. Filming for the It's Easy Being Green special (formerly Green Home Today) for us cablenet Fine Living ended in October for a delivery date in the first quarter of 2007. "For environment programming, we do have a challenge because technologies are emerging quickly, so we have to be fast to be topical. But in the long term, there is going to be an ongoing interest in this area," Myers says.