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Mike Reynolds
Choose your metaphor: Gallop like a thoroughbred, fly like an eagle or sprint like a cheetah. Whichever you prefer, there's no mistaking that Animal Planet has been on a fast-paced distribution track since its launch in October 1996.
Less than three years later, Animal Planet has crossed the 50 million subscriber plateau, according to June 1999 estimates from A.C. Nielsen, a pace that makes it the fastest-growing cable network of the Nineties.
"Fifty million subscribers is certainly a significant milestone. It speaks to the quality and broad-based appeal of Animal Planet with viewers, and the commitment and investments our affiliates and advertisers have made in the network," said Clark Bunting, SVP/GM at Animal Planet. "It puts us in the bigger league of cable networks and motivates us to continue to live up to the high standards of Discovery."
The network is currently expanding its roster of sports and fiction-based programming, moves that are paying off in improved ratings. During the first quarter, Animal Planet's primetime ratings increased 25% to a 0.5 average from the prior-year period. Second-quarter ratings to date have also been strong, up 20% to a 0.4 average from the corresponding 1998 span.
Moreover, the network is about to touch off its first-ever national ad campaign, an initiative aimed not only at enhancing its brand awareness, but also promoting some of its key shows.
How did a network, focusing on reality programming centered on mankind's four-legged and winged friends, reach such a lofty distribution standard so quickly? Several factors have coalesced to key Animal Planet's ascent.
"Animal Planet has succeeded because people love animals, and our interests are genuine," Bunting averred. "We work closely with a number of groups. That lends credibility to what we do in terms of education and informing the public. We don't come off holier than thou. Animals are fun, but there are many serious issues that we address."
To that end, Animal Planet is affiliated with the National Wildlife Federation, American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Humane Society of the United States, and World Wildlife Fund, among others. These groups serve in an advisory capacity and help with the various outreach programs the network develops.
Despite its progress, Bob Gessner, VP of Massillon Cable in Ohio, questions Animal Planet's place in the analog kingdom. "It's a pretty specialized network. I think it's one where a lot of people were asking about it when it first launched, but there's not that much buzz anymore," he said. "It's a network best suited for a digital tier."
Angela Barrillo, director-programming at Triax Telecommunications Co. LLC., disagrees. "We've been launching Animal Planet aggressively over the past two years. Its launch emanated from customer surveys, where Animal Planet scored very well with our viewers. There has been a very positive response since it's been on air," she said
Indeed, coming out of the gate around the same time as HGTV and TV Land, Animal Planet was in tune with the launch incentive zeitgeist of the day, offering about $5 per subscriber. "That's where the market was at that time," said Bill Goodwyn, SVP-affiliate sales and marketing at Discovery Networks, U.S., noting that such incentives carried over to the first 20 million subscribers the channel landed, before ultimately covering another significant portion of its distribution base. "There were some outstanding agreements in place that extended Animal Planet's distribution to another 10 million-12 million homes" at that incentive level.
More recently, Animal Planet's cash incentives have fallen into the $2-$3 per sub range, an inducement that lasts through the close of 1999. Goodwyn noted that license fees are now in the 10 cents per sub range, and generally "go up a penny per year." Paul Kagan Associates estimates that Animal Planet, after grabbing an estimated $14 million in license fee revenue in 1998, will hit $35 million this year and $42.2 million in 2000.
Barrillo, called the terms of Triax's Animal Planet deals "intriguing and attractive," although she declined to be more specific. She did, however, point to the network's affiliate promotions as being "critical in our decision-making process. We serve a lot of small and rural markets, so when we can do an event in a zoo or the like it can create some strong local marketing attention for us."
She adds that Triax was working toward a major marketing event with Animal Planet this summer.
For his part, Goodwyn said affiliate promotional efforts have been a major shepherd in steering Animal Planet distribution gains. "Unlike some other programmers, Discovery spends a lot of money and resources letting customers in the marketplace know a network is on the air," he said. "To help separate yourself from the pack, you have to be a strong marketing/promotional partner with the system, not just have an on-air presence."
Two of the channel's more successful affiliate promotions are Animal Planet Rescue and Animal Planet Zooventure. The former centers around a specially equipped 80-foot disaster relief vehicle and a multi-year relationship with the American Humane Association. Launched in May 1998, the program partners the network with local cable companies to highlight what the public and rescue professionals can do to protect animals during times of natural and man-made disasters.
Animal Planet Zooventure is a live version of the channel's popular game show in which on-air host J.D. Roth visits local systems and asks kids to play the role of junior zookeeper as they compete for prizes in a series of fanciful and often messy games that test their knowledge of animals.
On the programming side of the dial, Animal Planet continues to revise its mix. Bunting notes that the network is expanding its repertoire of sports, fiction and movies, genres that currently account for about one-quarter of Animal Planet's programming lineup.
"Non-fiction, the natural history programming, the documentaries, the educational shows, have always been staples of our programming and always will be," he said. "Over the past three-and-a-half years, these other genres, sports, fiction and movies have grown to represent 20%-25%. We expect to get to 50%-50% over the next few years."
Overall, Animal Planet's schedule for the 1999-2000 TV season will feature more than 70% original and premiere programming, highlighted by its most ambitious effort to date in fiction with the debut of two new series, Call of the Wild and Dr. Dean. The former is inspired by the classic Jack London story and set in Alaska in 1897, the series will follow the adventures of 15-year-old Grant, his dog Buck and his family as they make their way in the wilds of the Klondike.
Dr. Dean is the network's first-ever situation comedy that will chronicle the adventures of a New York City veterinarian, whose life changes dramatically when he relocates to the country. Both of these series are slated to bow in the fourth quarter.
Elsewhere, Animal Planet's lineup will continue to be populated by its top-rated show, The Crocodile Hunter, starring that master of unassuming animal magnetism, Steve Irwin; the acclaimed real-life medical drama; Emergency Vets (think ER for pets); Petsburg USA, a pet lifestyle program hosted by Brianne Leary; and Judge Wapner's Animal Court. The channel has ordered 100 more episodes of the latter series, which launched last fall.
Moreover, Animal Planet is upping its position in the sports arena with a second season of the Animal Planet National Dog Championships and its airing of the world's biggest canine convention, the prestigious Crufts event from Britain.
The network's commitment to enhanced programming is underscored by the recent addition of new programming director William Graff, who joins Animal Planet from WPIX-TV in New York. In his new post, Graff is responsible for all of the channel's program scheduling and acquisitions. He is also working with the production and development teams to further extend the network's reach into sports and fictional fare.
Programming expenses for Animal Planet, according to estimates by Paul Kagan Associates, could reach the $45.6 million mark this year, up from $33.8 million. Kagan projects the program outlay may hit $61.5 million next year.
To raise its profile further, Animal Planet will soon embark on its first national advertising campaign, an initiative that will combine both national branding elements, plus trumpet specific shows. The multi-million dollar, multi-media effort begins on June 28 and will run through October.
"The idea is to reach out and strike an emotional chord about how we and our viewers feel about animals," explained Leslie Rotenberg, VP-advertising and promotion. "We also want to inform people who don't know us that we have some big surprises in store for them, that Animal Planet has shows drawing from all programming genres. We have everything that is on TV-but with animals-that's the wonderful twist."
Rotenberg said the campaign would stretch across broadcast and cable in a variety of dayparts. Moreover, it will march onto radio and print (TV Guide and People are on the plan), and gain exposure via extensive cross-promotions on various Discovery networks and platforms.
In addition to its image aspects, the effort will look to spur some sampling and appointment viewing as well. Crocodile Hunter, Emergency Vets, and Judge Wapner's Animal Court and the sports shows, will be among the touted programs.
Since its inception, Animal Planet has been able to make its mark among advertisers that believed in the network's promise, ethos and programming environment, rather than those merely checking its household penetration level. Now, Animal Planet can trumpet that side story as well. "Once you get north of 50 million, all of the agencies want to look at you," said Bunting.
While sold as part of cross-Discovery network packages, Animal Planet is also standing on its own, er, hooves with the Madison Avenue set. Endemic advertising from pet manufacturers notwithstanding, Animal Planet has been expanding its base of sponsors into such categories as automotives, consumer goods and entertainment services, among others.
In addition to its high concentration of affluent, well-educated adults, Animal Planet's audience concentration also includes a large following among children 2-11. Animal Planet holds value because messages can be inserted in "a high-quality, family friendly environment," Rotenberg said.
Local systems receive three minutes of commercial time per hour, a minute in the first half-hour and a pair during the second 30 minutes.
The network also provides some value-added opportunities. For instance, with its series of Animal Planet National Dog Championships, Bunting said Animal Planet adopted a sports marketer's game plan with lead sponsor Iams. In addition to a number of commercials for the company's Eukanuba brand within the quarterly series of telecasts, Iams benefited from signage in the rinks, and cross-promotions on Discovery air and at pet stores. Telecast date IDs were inscribed on the pet food bags themselves. Additionally, there was a consumer sweepstakes tied to the competitions, while the owner of the "grand champion" pooch in the Olympic-style tourney was awarded the Eukanuba Cup.
Elsewhere, the network's week-long "World Animal Day" programming stunts have been well-received by the sponsor community, with the likes of Johnson & Johnson, Subaru and Exxon on-board as part of a sold-out roster last fall. "Cable operators are also very successful in taking the World Animal Day event out into their local markets," said Rotenberg.
All told, Paul Kagan Associates estimates that Animal Planet will garner net ad revenues of $31.3 million in 1999, and projects that total will jump to $47 million by the close of 2000.
Given Animal Planet's increasing ad sales and license fees and its relatively modest programming expenditures, it's small wonder that observers believe Discovery is sitting on a strong financial franchise.
"This is a channel where the programming costs are cheap enough for the economics to work very well for Discovery," opined Massillon's Gessner.
The network's profile is also being raised via more books, videos and other licensed lines at Discovery's network of 130-plus retail outlets, and will gain even more high-level visibility by a float scheduled to soar at the upcoming Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan.
Rotenberg also hinted that Animal Planet would be taking its first venture into the world of fast-food promotion sometime next year. "It was a very nice offer; we were approached by them. They (Wendy's) want to use the Animal Planet license in their national restaurants to help them drive sales," she said. The premium will be a plush toy.
Where does all this leave Animal Planet? Chasing even more herds and eyeballs, of course.
Goodwyn said that additional distribution gains will now come "from clustering" among larger consolidating MSOs. "Animal Planet will sustain consistent growth. We expect it to reach the 60 million plateau within the next 12-18 months," he noted.
For his part, Bunting, citing the increased programming and promotional efforts, is looking to higher, if unspecified, ratings goals.
"With the national ad campaign and the continued investment in programming, we expect to gain increased sampling that will expand our viewer base and help us drive the Nielsens," he said. "How high is up, who knows at this point?"
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