In the film Field of Dreams, a voice tells Kevin Costner, “If you build it, he will come.”
AMC Networks, like most other cable programmers, has suffered from cord-cutting, fewer linear viewers and lower ad revenue as brands follow eyeballs to streaming. In response, AMC has built a streaming distribution system to supplement cable and an ad tech system designed to give media buyers what they want in terms of automation, data targeting and return on investment.
All of that is combined with AMC’s legacy of high-quality scripted dramas, dating back to Mad Men.
“Content is still a very big differentiator for AMC networks,” AMC chief revenue officer Kim Kelleher told Broadcasting+Cable.
In addition to unveiling a slate of upcoming shows and its latest ad-tech wonders, AMC at its upfront presentation for advertisers will roll out ad-supported versions of more of its subscription streaming services and announce that its Content Room branded content unit will ratchet up its production of shows advertisers can sponsor.
AMC cut back on programming spending in 2023. This year’s production will be on par with last year, Kelleher said. The company will be telling upfront buyers about how it is extending its universes of zombies, vampires and witches while adding series like Nautilus, a fresh look at Captain Nemo.
At the same time, AMC must reverse its falling ad sales numbers. For 2023, AMC’s domestic ad sales fell 20% to $634 million.
“We've stayed so committed to the long-form, premium dramas while so many others I feel are short-cutting on at this, leaning much more heavily into quick production and reality,” she said. “Buyers still can access the premium programming and shows that we deliver and take advantage of the data-targeting capabilities that we have.”
That content is now available to viewers over 30 different endpoints, which has boosted total viewership to record levels.
“When we pulled all of the endpoints together into Audience Plus [AMC’s advanced insights and data-targeting platform], you could actually transact across all of them and we saw that we reached 91 million homes,” Evan Adlman, executive VP, commercial sales and revenue operations at AMC Networks, said. “With the depth of our library, we are seeing an average of about 480 million hours of viewership a month.
“When you combine that together with the data-targeting capabilities that we have, you really can narrow in on an audience within the very large-scale reach that we have,” he said.
About 72% of AMC’s national linear footprint is addressable-enabled, and 40% of that footprint can be brought programmatically, Adlman said.
“We hope what everyone in the audience hears on Wednesday is that we heard you,“ Adlman said. “For years, you've been saying, ‘If you build it we will come.’ And I really feel like we're at a point where we’ve built it and we’re asking in partnership for the advertisers and marketers to really utilize what we've built.”
Unfortunately, at this point, the ability of programmers to monetize content on nonlinear platforms has lagged the shift of viewers to those platforms.
“Are we going as fast as we’d like? No, never,” Adlman said. “But we at AMC Networks are slowly and steadily shifting the monetization into those new distribution endpoints.”
A shortage of proven measurement solutions has kept some marketers from making the kinds of cross-platform deals AMC is seeking, but Adlman noted that marketers who are still picking between platforms are missing a lot of the audience.
“Meanwhile, the buyers that are buying strategic audiences are fully comfortable with the way we deliver measurement and verification,“ he said. “We just need to get more people in the industry to come to that table [and take advantage of those capabilities.”
A More Interactive Upfront
AMC has designed this year’s upfront — set for Wednesday (April 10) — to be more interactive for attendees. The company is putting the kind of work it puts into its Comic-Con appearances for fans into its presentation to media buyers.
“It’s still a very intimate event,“ Kelleher said. “We still have talent interspersed around the room.” Chief marketing officer Kim Granito’s group “created these really great immersive moments that will bring the shows to life for buyers who haven’t seen them yet,” she added.
Even in an age where programmatic machines are making a growing share of the buying decisions, it’s important to get clients and agency executives familiar with the content AMC produces.
“Our most important products are our shows,“ Kelleher said. “That’s what brings the viewers that people want to buy.”
As the market develops, Kelleher sees advertisers continuing to seek flexibility, choice and different ways of transacting.
“We’ve really tried to adapt our business in real time, no matter what the market does,” she said.
“We need volume,“ Kelleher added. “I’m very bullish that the economy is better. I’m very bullish that’s going to a bit more confidence in their spend.”
But “the notion of having to put your dollars into the upfront to guarantee that inventory, to guarantee that pricing upwards of 18 months out, that’s not for everyone anymore,” she added.
“Obviously we appreciate the upfront and we super-serve the advertisers that participate, but we’re open 365 days a year,” Kelleher said. “We’ll meet our partners whenever they need to be.”
