By Etan Vlessing
CORUS ENTERTAINMENT DURING this year’s 2022 upfront season targeted streaming advertisers as it rolled out its new partnership with Pluto TV, the frontrunner in the free, ad-supported streaming TV space, or FAST channels.
“We’re investing in new audiences for you as your content strategy expands to new places,” Greg McLelland, executive vice-president and chief revenue officer at Corus, told advertisers as part of the company’s virtual upfront presentation today.
That pitch came as Corus and other Canadian broadcasters return to normalcy as the pandemic wanes, but the 2022 upfront season marked the end of an era for traditional broadcast TV.
That is because Corus, after returning from the Los Angeles Screenings, barely talked about programming blocks in primetime with Tuesday night procedurals or Thursday night comedies, and instead focused on new advertising opportunities on streaming platforms as the traditional broadcaster increasingly becomes a digital platform dealer for domestic marketers.
McLelland touted Pluto TV’s curated channels with a host of genres rather than scripted and unscripted offerings, and how the free, ad-supported streamer will be available on multiple digital devices.
“We’ll deliver a premium, brand-safe environment with the measurement and targetability of digital on the largest screen in your home,” McLelland added as Corus gets set to sell ads on Pluto TV in Canada as part of its partnership with Paramount Global.
The launch of Pluto TV this fall, following the roll out of Stack TV and the Global TV app and premium video-on-demand, comes as subscriber growth slows and even reverses in the case of market leader Netflix.
In addition, advertising, the foundation of traditional linear TV, is fast gaining favour on digital platforms as a new and alternative revenue source.
And for Corus, which already has streaming content deals with NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Magnolia Network, among others, the good news is a major U.S. network and studio is not shouldering aside a Canadian broadcaster to whom it has long licensed its content to go over-the-top into Canada.
Instead, Corus remains a Canadian market middleman as it continues to leverage its long-standing ties to CBS and parent Paramount Global.
“There’s more streaming services. It’s getting more competitive. If you’re the only streaming service in the marketplace, you may not feel the need or benefit of a local partner,” Daniel Eves, senior vice-president of broadcast networks for Corus, told Cartt.ca as he laid out the case for why Paramount Global bucked the trend toward direct connections between its content and audiences.
“You’re looking for ways to break through and ultimately partnering with a market expert, somebody who has a footprint in the market, who understands the market, is a way to make sure your product succeeds,” Eves added.
But as much as Corus positions itself as a Canadian digital content juggernaut, with Peacock originals on Stack TV and online catch-up viewing for Global TV and specialty channels like Food Network, Slice, HGTV and History, Eves argues offering popular series and other content remain key to programming success.
“We do want the hours, but hours don’t tell the whole story,” he told Cartt.ca, adding that if you do not have shows people are interested in and that resonate with audiences, it does not matter what platform you are on or how you deliver.
So, the Corus programming boss talks up an upcoming Global TV schedule with popular franchises like Survivor, FBI and CSI, which hold their own with Canadian audiences and led Global past CTV to the number one position in core primetime ratings in fall 2021 for the first time in 15 years.
And Corus managed to renew the blockbuster U.S. dramas and comedies that underpinned its 2021 schedule for its 2022-23 campaign, while adding rights to offer those popular shows on Stack TV.
But, ultimately, whatever the fortunes of Global TV, advertisers are increasingly moving marketing dollars to ad-supported online players, making Pluto TV and Tubi rising contenders in the streaming wars and, with that, changing TV viewer habits.
“There are catching-up options. It’s why we do maintain stacking rights on our content for the Global app or Stack TV, because people will want to catch up or will want to watch on their own time,” Eves said.
