By Etan Vlessing
TORONTO – As Canadian TV viewers and subscribers continue to pivot to streaming platforms, with ad buys expected to follow, Corus Entertainment on Wednesday doubled down on traditional linear TV.
During its virtual upfront presentation, the key annual pitch to marketers for their ad dollars, Corus (with the help of its bath robed CEO, Doug Murphy, which we screen-capped) declared it remains all-in with legacy media, helped with some advanced ad technology, as the industry ports into the future by chasing streaming audiences and dollars.
“Simply put, we have the best fall schedule for you in years,” Troy Reeb, Corus executive vice president of broadcast networks, told advertisers as the broadcaster puts tried-and-true linear TV – or TV programming lined up by a broadcaster for appointment viewing – ahead of on-demand streaming alternatives.
With content, often expensive content, these days deciding the success of any streaming platform big and small, Reeb made little mystery of where Corus’s best wares to attract audiences originate. In the wake of the Los Angeles virtual screenings, he touted Global TV’s fall schedule anchored by 16 hours of U.S. simulcast comedies and dramas, including the latest from the NCIS, Survivor, CSI and FBI franchises.
Despite the prospect of an advertising market rebound post-pandemic, the challenge for Corus, as streaming ad spending by marketers reaches a tipping point, is being able to grab and monetize audiences across multiple platforms and serve advertisers in the mix.
In the U.S. market, major players like WarnerMedia (soon to be Warner Discovery), Disney and NBCUniversal have put their prized movies and TV series – the ones getting the most buzz and awards season love – on their established and emerging streaming services, and relegated their also-rans to linear primetime, where audiences are older and less affluent.
The launch of Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock and Paramount+ illustrated how quickly and with what ruthlessness Hollywood studios made the shift to the streaming space. Not so with Corus, where its streaming products still seem to take a backseat to traditional linear TV networks. At the end of its fiscal 2021 second quarter, the broadcaster had pulled in around 8% of its combined advertising revenue from Stack TV and Nick+, or around $100 million a year.
Corus’ digital product portfolio is led by Stack TV, which is offered exclusively through the Amazon Prime ecosystem. “It’s the perfect way for cord cutters and cord nevers to get their TV fix, and the perfect way for you to reach them,” Barb McKergow, Corus vice president, national director of sales, told marketers when appearing on the virtual upfront presentation.
Corus with Stack TV offers Canadians the best of the linear and streaming TV worlds with one product that allows them access to prized U.S. series across varied platforms and devices, while opening up new revenue streams and options for advertisers.
McKergow pitched advertisers on Corus content being everywhere Canadian audiences are as the broadcaster offers “a diverse portfolio of digital streaming products to capture as many audiences as possible.”
That’s whether Canadians are cable subscribers, cord cutters or cord nevers. “They’ll have every opportunity to find Corus content,” McKergow assured marketers.
“When you’re buying an ad on linear TV, you’re also reaching that Stack TV viewer.” – Barb McKergow, Corus
She also added half of Stack TV subscribers watch TV live, a.k.a. linearly. “So when you’re buying an ad on linear TV, you’re also reaching that Stack TV viewer,” McKergow argued.
Besides Stack TV available via Amazon Prime, Corus execs have told analysts during recent earnings calls they see more opportunity in getting their channel content onto additional ad-supported SVODs (Hulu, Pluto TV and Tubi are major AVOD players stateside) as streaming is expected to account for a growing share of the ad dollars committed by marketers in the years ahead.
And as Canadian audiences continue to pivot from linear TV to streaming services, a trend only accelerated by the pandemic, Corus is walking that same fine line between old and new media with its Global TV app, available on Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV and other platforms.
The Global TV app offers news content for free and audiences the chance to sample prized primetime series, with ads.
Greg McLelland, chief revenue officer at Corus, also addressed how Corus is allowing marketers to balance buys across multiple TV platforms amid shifting viewership patterns. “We believe we should push the envelope of client solutions to be as bold as possible with where and how brands interact with our content in award-winning ways,” he told advertisers.
McLelland, besides insisting Corus has reliable measurement and attribution, argued mass campaigns for brands with Corus increase search volumes, web visits and conversion rates. The message to brand marketers from Corus on Wednesday was they can partner from within traditional linear TV roots to target consumers with compelling stories whenever and on whichever platforms and devices Canadians are consuming media – and target them with dynamic ad insertions, coming later in 2021.
“These new platforms are making strong connections with Corus viewers,” McKergow said, while pointing to Twitter Shop, an initiative from so.da., the broadcaster’s social content studio and Twitter, to offer online shopping experiences, and Curated by Corus, for brand integration.
Corus also unveiled on Wednesday “Unboxed by Corus,” a brand integration product designed to offer new ways to drive trial and product discovery by connecting brands with Corus audiences.
Here was a traditional broadcaster warning marketers increasingly investing in mobile and other digital buys that, at least for now, they risk missing out on the biggest Canadian video viewing opportunity: linear TV.
“Because Corus is in an incredibly unique position to connect content with commerce, turning our engaged viewers in your converted customers,” McKergow added.
