When it Works, It Works 3 Rating / 10 share –Especially strong in Rural Areas When it Don’t, It Don’t Below Measurable Standards –The challenge is to understand why and to increase the first and decrease the second.

Ratings – Skew

Content, get your red hot content! Focus groups –50% said “themes” don’t matter –Overwhelming majority said “no host.” –Types of stories? History –Biography of important Nebraskans Nature Interesting Places “Art” or “Culture” didn’t get mentioned

Successful Story Examples History –Two Convicts in a Haystack Has strong cultural element Interesting Places –White Buffalo Girl Nature –None. Not of interest to producers

Strengths New blood –Many of the segments are by “first time” producers. They bring a fresh perspective to stories. Fantasia in Clay – –Unpopular with focus group but won international award Driving in the Dirt – –No full time male producers

Strengths Partnerships –With organizations Funders, subject matter experts –With communities Generates “brand equity” when we’re in a small community filming a story. –With audience Telling “their” stories

Strengths Reusing content –At least one segment per show is edited from an existing program. Some are from shows not seen for 40 years, others are from shows in production. While it takes editing time to find and cut down these segments, it’s cheaper than making a segment from scratch. Drawbacks are these segments don’t always match the tone of the show and are incomplete.

Challenges Not enough episodes for consistent scheduling –6 news shows a year –“Part time” commitment from organization and staff prevents program from developing audience critical mass Other duties as assigned –Executive Producer has multiple tasks Primary is developing national productions

Challenges (continued) Other duties as assigned –Producers work on multiple projects including full length documentaries These challenges work against establishing a consistent “voice” or tone to the series. Widely varying ratings are a result.

Q&A - Discussion