Television Just Isn’t the Same Any More: Audi, the German Auto Maker, Launches Its Own UK 24-Hour Digital TV Channel While TV Networks Sample Their Programs via Internet Broadband and Mobiles

Philip M. Stone - November 7, 2005

It seems that advertisers and program providers are all having the same idea as set forth recently by Jana Bennett, the BBC’s director of television, “ to exploit the opportunities that new technologies offer to look at how programs might be delivered beyond the traditional linear broadcast.”
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With that in mind, where do you suppose you might find the following three programs?

• A Day in the Life of Chemmy Alcott –sharing the secrets of her fitness regime, British ski champion Chemmy Alcott drives through the Austrian Alps in her Audi 3 Sportback for a day of intense summer training.
• Drivetime:A8 – Football columnist James Richardson takes Audi’s luxurious A8 for a drive through the stunning grounds of Windsor Castle.
• Audi Driving Experience with John Reynolds – British Super bikes champion John Reynolds takes Audi’s TT for a blast around Silverstone race track, experiencing the ultimate safe drive.

The Audi Channel, of course, available via the BSkyB satellite system 24 hours a day. The company claims it is the first car manufacturer to transmit is own dedicated digital television channel (but its German competitor Daimler-Chrysler is said also to own a TV channel). Audi also says it holds the first ever self-promotional license granted by British TV regulators, and that it is the first brand-specific entertainment channel in Europe.

Interaction is next for the channel, allowing viewers to request brochures, find their local dealer, or request test drives.

The Sky platform gives Audi access to 7.8 million homes (10 million by 2010 if BSkyB meets its internal targets). Audi’s web site, on which many of the TV programs are also available, draws about 700,000 visits monthly.

Audi said it set up the channel, after two years of research, to get away from ad avoidance as personal video recorders start to make their mark in the UK.  Gary Savage, Audi’s UK marketing chief, said, “Audi is proud to be leading this development in brand entertainment. With hundreds of channels available, content is king. Audi Channel’s first-class schedule promises to keep viewers informed, educated and entertained with a rolling production schedule of varied programming.”

The Audi British TV channel really does one better than Volkswagen’s new Internet campaign in the US where it has produced 120 short films – each about 15 seconds long and split between live action, computer generated and animated – available on its web site to promote the 2006 Passat.

TV networks, meanwhile, are making more and more programming available via broadband for sampling purposes. At the weekend NBC started making available on its MSNBC site the Nightly News with Brian Williams, posting it at 10 p.m. Eastern time after its broadcast on the West Coast. The program will be ad-free, a somewhat dangerous precedent as viewers discover that their favorite 30-minute nightly newscast is in effect only about 21 minutes long!

CBS announced it was making the first three episodes of its science fiction series Threshold available on CBS.com for three days after broadcast. Already CBS News has been relaunched as a 24-hour broadband network. While showing Threshold on the web allows viewers to sample programs, it also is being used to draw visitors to the CBS site. The way to do that, according to Larry Kramer, CBS Digital President, is by presenting on the site more and more original content.

ABC has struck a deal with Apple for distributing five of its most popular shows including Desperate Housewives through iTunes at $1.99 each on a day after broadcast basis.

Earlier when the new season launched UPN showed its new “Everybody Hates Chris” on the web before its initial broadcast. The initial broadcast that followed did very well in the ratings drawing 7.8 million viewers; since then the program has sagged somewhat to a 6.3 million average.

And while with a few exceptions the trend in the US is to show programs on broadband after terrestrial transmission, in the UK the BBC experimented this Fall by showing the series The Mighty Boosh on the web seven days in advance of its transmission and for seven days after the final program in the series was shown. The series drew 670,000 broadband requests, some 60% of them after the program had aired.

The success of that trial has the BBC going one step further when it launches a new six-part comedy series, Man Stroke Woman, on November 20 by making it available not just on the Internet but also mobile phones for up to seven days after the final program is aired.

Stuart Murphy, outgoing controller of BBC3, says: “This is the first time that we have been able to exploit all available elements together on one show - broadband premiere, catch-up, and preview clips for mobile phones. All of them offer audiences more control and greater access to our programs.”

Television networks around the world are looking at ways of simulcasting their programming on broadband as it is shown on air. That is easier said than done because of technical limitations on how many users could have a live stream at any one time although there are some systems already available that can handle any number of live streaming.

If there is any one trend that seems to be emerging it is that with all the new technology, that perennial question  “What time is it on?” will soon be consigned to history.

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Audi Channel Expands to Online VOD - May 15, 2006

Carmaker Audi’s TV channel must be getting some desired results – it plans to expand soon to video on demand online with programming available three days before airing on TV.

And it is planning six new programs for the TV channel including interviewing personalities while they are seated in a car --- an Audi, naturally.

Land Rover announced last month it was launching its own 24-hour broadband TV channel called Go Beyond.

Both efforts are concrete examples of automobile makers looking for new venues for their advertising spend beyond their traditional media buy.

CBS/NBC cut download price to 99 cents - November 9, 2005

Following hot on the heels of ABC’s deal with Apple’s iTunes to show five of the networks leading shows the day after broadcast for a $1.99 download each, CBS and NBC have made their own deals for satellite-delivered downloads, and have cut the price to 99 cents

Instead of going the iTunes route, NBC and CBS have made deals with different satellite operators -- DirecTV and Comcast -- and that means their programs can be seen on a full-screen TV. Programs will be available until the network airs the next episode, and then that program becomes available a few hours later.

Whereas ABC and NBC are eliminating the commercials, they are remaining within the CBS downloads.