One of the major reasons that TV station marketers attend the annual PromaxBDA Station Summit is to meet with their respective network marketing groups and their national programming syndicators. The syndication companies meet with TV station marketers to review marketing plans for existing programs or reveal the marketing plans for new shows. Sometimes the presentation […]
One of the major reasons that TV station marketers attend the annual PromaxBDA Station Summit is to meet with their respective network marketing groups and their national programming syndicators.
The syndication companies meet with TV station marketers to review marketing plans for existing programs or reveal the marketing plans for new shows.
Sometimes the presentation is formal and sophisticated and given to large groups gathered in conference rooms. Other syndicators prefer more intimate one-on-one meeting with station marketers.
In either case, the object from the syndicators’ point of view is to solicit and solidify the marketing support from the local station creative services directors.
In the case of Warner Bros, they’re launching a new show, Crime Watch Daily.
Crime Watch Daily, a one-hour show that bills itself as the “first-of-its-kind dynamic program that covers the world of crime, mystery and drama,” is the first crime show to air in daytime syndication.
Produced by Telepictures Productions, Crime Watch Daily is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.
“It’s a whole new genre” says Blake Bryant, Warner Bros. SVP of marketing.
From unsolved murders to compelling mysteries, undercover investigations to shocking crimes caught on video, the series will uncover the stories happening in small towns around America and turn them into national headlines.
“We will shine a national spotlight on crimes in towns and cities where victims might otherwise have struggled to be heard,” says Matt Doran, Crime Watch Daily’s host.
Crime Watch Daily will serve as an “extended newsroom, for its network of affiliated stations, sharing resources and using local reporters to cover the stories in local markets all over the country.”
Afternoons are fertile ground when it comes to scripted crime drama, according to Bryant.
“If you take a look at those shows, they’re the No. 2 or No. 1 ranked program running in daytime on cable.”
Crime Watch Daily debuts in the fall on Tribune-owned stations in 29 markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, and on additional stations covering 98% of the U.S.
On “most stations that have news,” says Bryant, “Crime Watch will be the lead-in to their local newscasts airing at 4 or 5 or even 6 in the afternoon. It works as a companion to local news.”
For those stations airing Crime Watch Daily as a lead-in to news, the show will go seamless right into the newscast.
“We just had a luncheon with the Tribune stations and we invited the news directors to come,” says Bryant. “They’re very excited because they have not had a good lead-in into the news in the afternoon. They see this as a great content-sharing opportunity.”
Australian crime journalist and reporter Matt Doran has been tapped to host the show.
“We literally scoured the globe to find our host and we struck gold in of all places, Australia,” says Lisa Gregorisch-Dempsey, Crime Watch Daily creator and executive producer.
“I like to say Matt is what you’d get if you crossed David Muir with John Walsh. Matt may be a new face to American viewers, but Down Under, he’s a huge name in news.”
Doran says his new show is “gritty and gripping but unlike anything viewers might expect in the crime TV space. It’s the show I’ve long hoped for.”
According to Bryant, Crime Watch Daily will tell four to six stories per hour. “There’s a real robust plan in place to tie-in with each of the local stations,” he says.
“If Crime Watch Daily is doing a big story on crime in their market, the stations will get an advanced notice so they can do a story simultaneously.”
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