Sunday, 11 May 2014

Production Concept: Broadcaster Information

For the Broadcaster information I had to find out some information about the SyFy Network in america. This meant I had to look into the channel itself, what kind of programmes they broadcast, how much profit they make, the history of the network and why they would broadcast our movie.

The website itself was quite useful itself for listing what kind of programmes are aired, and the history of the network but for other information I had to hunt around, luckily for their profit I found a good article on how much SyFy of america take in per month and by using simple maths rounded up how much they would make through subscription services, minus the advertising. Most other info was found on smaller websites.

Below is the Broadcaster information which is also available in the package.

 The American SyFy Network
SyFy is an American channel owned by the NBC Universal as of 2004. The channel launched in 1992 and broadcast many “made for cable” movies along with big hit sci-fi programmes which it still does to this day but since then its range of material has expanded. The channel broadcasts a variety of programmes and specialises in not just science-fiction programming but also horror, fantasy, supernatural, wrestling, drama, reality and many more.
The channel is mainly available to Americans who have cable and satellite (subscription); however the channel isn’t just broadcasting in America. The SyFy Channel is broadcast all over the globe, and is available in ten other countries besides the US including parts of Europe and Asia. As part of The NBC Universal group the channel shows content with huge demand that not just broadcast on any channel. The channel broadcasts science-fiction programmes like Stargate and Battlestar Galactica which is a given considering it’s a science-fiction channel, however by broadcasting other content such as reality shows and wrestling it is able to bring in different audiences and expresses the fact that it is not just a one genre channel.
As mentioned before SyFy is available to Americans through cable and satellite, joint with advertising this is where most of its money comes from. Back in 2009 SyFy estimated that their channel reached around 96 million American homes and that they gain $0.21 per customer monthly; suggesting that SyFy gains over $20million a month through subscription fees.
What has made SyFy popular over the years are its Original Movies. The SyFy Original Movies are some of the channel’s main selling points. Most SyFy Original Movies tend to be monster orientated, with around a $1-2million budget, contain mostly unknown actors and are extremely over the top. This “unique” way of styling the movies is what attracts viewers and are hugely popular online and receive huge reactions from the viral community.



Why have we chosen for Cthulhu to be broadcast here?
We believe that Syfy’s American channel is the best place for Cthulhu. SyFy’s original movies are all monster based meaning that Cthulhu would fit in perfectly amongst the rest of the films that they have produced. Cthulhu is a mythical monster who has almost next to no full length movies about him, this means that there is a huge gap in the market with something like this and if anything fans of the original monster that was created by HP Lovecraft will be intrigued to see SyFy’s take on their favourite monster. To create a movie like Cthulhu is accessible within the budget of a SyFy movie, considering costs for location permits, actors, crew and advertising which is another huge plus.      
It is quite common for SyFy Original movies to include an over the top storyline which is what we as scriptwriters wanted to aim for from the start. The over the top storyline is what attract most viewers to watch the movie, thus making the movie “so bad it’s good” and with word of mouth and sharing on social media this is how these types of films get popular. SyFy is the home of these over the top movies; it is the channel’s unique selling point so it would be fitting to have this kind of movie broadcast here and nowhere else. 

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