NBCs New Show Blacklist - Positioning and Marketing in the Marketplace - Essay Example

NBCS NEW SHOW, THE BLACKLIST, IS THE NUMBER ONE SHOW ON TELEVISION NBCS NEW SHOW, THE BLACKLIST, IS THE NUMBER ONE SHOW ONTELEVISION Introduction The Blacklist is a crime drama television program that airs on NBC. It is an American television series that stars Megan Boone, James Spader and Harry Lennix. The series is about a former government agent who has evaded the authorities for decades. However, he surrenders to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. His surrender to the bureau leads to a series of crimes and drama. Raymond Reddington surrenders to the authorities under the condition that he will only cooperate with a rookie FBI profiler, Elizabeth Keen.1 NBC ordered for a nine episode first series on October 4, 2013. In December 2013, NBC renewed the show by ordering a twenty two episode second season. Positioning and Marketing In the Marketplace The Blacklist has been able to utilize its marketing strengths to position itself in the market. In the entertainment industry, particularly the film and series sector, marketing is a challenging and dynamic function of business. Fortunately, the issue of marketing and positioning was not challenging because of the brilliance of the actors, scriptwriters and producers of the show. The series is able to capture the mood of its audience, in addition to using the popular actors such as Boone and Spader.2 The star power and sly wit of the lead actor Mr. Spader has helped The Blacklist to become a top rated new television crime and drama show. The Voice, which preceded The Blacklist, was able pull 12 million viewers for the new show. The Blacklist did not have a problem looking for a new audience. The show only had to satisfy the entertainment needs of the 12 million viewers.3 A range of factors played a crucial role in the marketing and positioning success of The Blacklist. The creators of the show were strategic about the factors they could control. The producers made wide ranging decisions that helped in the marketing of the show. From the production and casting of the main actors to the scope of the show, the creators made strategic decisions that would contribute to the marketing success of the show. One of the marketing strategies used by the creators was to use Mr. Spader as the lead actor. He injected humor that was not prominent in the written dialogues. Mr. Spader also helped in the invention of exciting words such as “the blacklist”. Word play and humor helped in taking off the edge, in addition to eliminating any potential accusations of melodrama. The positioning strategy that the creators and NBC executives used was pairing the show with The Voice. The Voice attracted an average viewership of approximately 15 million viewers. With the help of The Voice, The Blacklist was able to attract approximately 11.2 million viewers.4 As a popular television show, The Voice acted as a powerful audience booster for The Blacklist. The impact of The Voice in attracting viewership was noticed after NBC uncoupled The Voice with shows such as Revolution and Smash. The ratings of the two shows dropped immediately. Distribution Pattern, Network and Scheduling The distributor of The Blacklist is NBC Universal Television Distributor. The television program is broadcast in other countries such as Canada on Global. In Europe, the show is broadcast on Sky Living in the United Kingdom, Fox Crime in Italy, RTL4 in Netherlands, and Vier in Belgium and RTL in Germany. In the Asia-pacific region, the show is broadcast on a number of television stations such as StarWorld Premier HD in India. In New Zealand, the show premiered on February 2, 2014 on TV3. In Australia, the show premiered on Seven Network under the title James Spader’s The Blacklist. Starting January 2014, NBC started airing an extra batch of Blacklist originals before The Voice. 5 Jen Salke, the network entertainment president has noted that there is a need to change the scheduling of the show. The show is coupled with The Voice on Mondays. The president noted that there is a need to move the show to Thursdays. According to NBC, The Blacklist has helped NBC to get a share of its target demographic. Currently, The Blacklist is a top rated television series. The Blacklist has the staying power even in the face of a program rescheduling by NBC. NBC is focused on offering support to The Blacklist. Strategic scheduling is also important to ensure that the new 22 episodes will have a staying power.6 Target Audience The Blacklist targets an audience within the 18-49 age brackets. According to NBC, The Blacklist is a terrific series that competes against cable television. The main competitors for The Blacklist’s target audience are the Hostage. The Blacklist targets the advertiser coveted audience that is aged between 18-49 years old. This target audience has also played a crucial role of ensuring that NBC tops audience ratings. The Blacklist managed a viewership of 11.278 million, which means that it is the number two adult show in the U.S.7 In addition to this demographic, The Blacklist targets teenagers and women audience. The show targets these viewers because they attract advertisers. They are also loyal to entertaining television programs. The show’s target audience has a number of common characteristics. They demand a show that has a good balance between ongoing mysteries and procedural stories. The target audience thinks of a broadcast drama by focusing on the show and its exclusive procedural story. These audiences are loyal to The Blacklist because the show has a procedural serial mix that thrives. The open and shut case format of the show is attractive to new teenage audiences. The show is able to target these audiences by providing a strong combination of criminals and cases. The titular list of criminals gives the show an effective procedural foundation, which works to its advantage on a weekly basis. Blacklist has a level of competent storytelling that should not be discarded.8 The audience considers the show to lean to the pseudo-science territory. This gives the cases a tinge of specialty. Most importantly, the Blacklist has managed to show its target audience that it can hire good actors or performers on a guest basis. The guest actors help to fill the personality of episodes. Estimated Production Costs The Blacklist is the highest-testing television show that airs on NBC. The Television series was produced through collaboration between NBC and Sony. It cost an average $3.5 million to make an episode of the Blacklist. NBC ordered nine episodes of the television series, which translates to an estimated production cost of approximately $31.5 million.9 Most of the production cost was paid as salaries and overtime payment for the cast and crew members. Additionally, a large amount of this money went to the payment of licenses and fees. Sony Inc has been successfully involved in the production of other television series such as Breaking Bad. Sony entered into an agreement for the production of the first and second season of the television series. Sony Inc has flexibility in the production of television series because it does not own channels that air its content. Sony Inc does not own broadcast networks or U.S cables that compete for viewers.10 In addition to Sony Inc, other production firms included Universal Television and Davis Entertainment. Potential Revenue Streams Blacklist has potential revenue streams from cable and broadcast networks. Blacklist will benefit from the agreement between Sony and Netflix because the television show will be hired on the internet platform. The first series of the show is expected to earn approximately $6 billion. These include the sale of discs, advertisements and promotional materials. The U.S market is expected to earn the television series approximately $100 million from internet based sales.11 Sony Inc has recognized the potentials of The Blacklist. The firm has invested though the hiring of established actors for ongoing roles. This is also a strategy that will ensure that the revenues keep flowing. Critical Reception The first season of the television series enjoyed a favorable critical response. According to a movie and television series ratings aggregator Metacritic, The Blacklist had a score of 74 percent based on crucial reviews from 31 viewers and critics. The television series has been nominated for a number of awards such as the People’s Choice Awards and the Golden Globe Awards.12 In the Golden Globe Award, the film received a nomination for the Best Actor in a television series drama. For the People’s Choice Award, the firm received a nomination for the favorite new television drama. According to James Poniewozik (2013), the Blacklist delivers an interesting show because of the role played by James Spader.13 The critic argues that James Spader is a manipulator and master puppeteer who enjoys and refines the sumptuous pleasures of life in the television series. He also notes that the Blacklist is brazen on how it was thoroughly built, particularly for the thriller parts of the television show. The Reddington character is compelling because Spader does all his work excellently.14 An important point to note is that the critic observed that the pilot script helped him a little because it fed him with the sharp lines. He imagines himself as a genetically debauched mastermind. Different comparisons of the television series can be made. For instance, the opening scene is similar to the opening scene of the movie “Seven”. Reddington, played by Spader, walked into the FBI offices and presented himself for criminal charges in a similar manner to how “Seven” starts. Most of the critical responses to the television series are focused on Spader.15 For instance, one of the reviewers noted that Spader was an interesting actor and he was suited to the twists and turns of the show. The quality of the production of the television show favors NBC. Previously, NBC had only one show that could attract viewers to the network. The show has been described as one of the most promising shows of 2013. Most of the show’s fans were pleased with the renewal of the show for its second season. The fans will have an opportunity to continue with its revelations. The show has a lot to reveal, particularly with the unseen characters and motives of the main actors. The pilot of the show implies that there is a lot of history and story that has not been revealed.16 For instance, audiences are yet to see the history of Reddington and his association with the FBI profiler Keen. The successes of the show will rely on its ability to make the Reddington character interesting for the audiences. Additionally, it will depend on its ability to tell the story of Keen in an intriguing manner. Conclusion The Blacklist is a television show that airs on Mondays on the NBC television channel. The show was produced through collaboration between Sony Inc, Universal Television and Davis Entertainment. The show is distributed by NBC Universal Television Distribution. The film stars actors such as Megan Boone, James Spader and Harry Lennix. These actors play a crucial role in elevating the show and its story telling techniques. The creators of the show used different marketing and positioning strategies. For instance, they coupled the show with a highly performing show, The Voice. The Voice acted as an audience booster because it could attract approximately 15 million viewers. By airing after the Voice, The Blacklist was able to take some of the viewers of The Voice. The Blacklist targets audiences within the 18-49 age groups. Additionally, the film is targeted to women. It costs the production houses approximately $3.5 million to produce an episode. The television show is expected to earn approximately $6 billion for its first season. Bibliography Barker, C. (2013). 7 Reasons Why the Blacklist Is One of The Fall TV Season’s Pleasant Surprises. TV.Com. http://www.tv.com/shows/the-blacklist/community/post/7-reasons-why-the-blacklist-is-one-of-the-fall-tv-seasons-pleasant-surprises-138430824213/ Jurgensen, J. (2013). The Blacklist: How to Build a Hit TV Show. The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303382004579127411337240916 Lowry, B. (2014). If NBC’s fledging Drama Is Going To Endure, It Enters Key Window with Its Own To-Do List. The Variety.Com. http://variety.com/2014/tv/columns/can-the-blacklist-keep-making-noise-without-its-voice-1201054417/ Poniewozik, J. (2013). The Blacklist: America’s Next Top Wicked Genius. Entertainment. Times Magazine. http://entertainment.time.com/2013/09/23/the-blacklist-americas-next-top-wicked-genius/ Seitz, M. (2013). Seitz On The Blacklist: This Latest Criminal Mastermind Show Is Exciting And Deeply Silly. Vulture. http://www.vulture.com/2013/09/tv-review-nbc-the-blacklist.html Sharma, A. (2013). Sony Strikes Production Deal with Netflix. The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304561004579135712048720976 Read More

 

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