User guide
20
Channel Programming
How do I maintain viewership and engagement for my sports channel?
Lucky for you, sports fans tend to be engaged,
passionate, and enthusiastic. And yet, you still have to
work hard at developing an eective programming
strategy to keep your channel’s viewership up, and
your audience engaged.
Here are some things to consider:
• Be proactive. Think about your programming
calendar as early as possible.
• Consider not only how you will produce content
for events, but also how you can engage with
your audience and sustain your channel in
between events and during the o-season.
Seasonality
Many, but not all, sports channels operate within the
‘on-season’ and ‘o-season’ dichotomy. If your channel
falls into this category, use the ‘on-season’ to your
advantage!
• Treat it as a mega tent-pole event. After all,
viewership peaks during the ‘on-season,’ and
unsurprisingly, it’s also highly concentrated with
events.
• Plan for the o-season. Who and what do you
have access to during the ‘on-season’ that you
might not have during the ‘o-season’?
• Make the most of your production investment by
lming less obvious, supplemental content (i.e.
behind the scenes, interviews with players, or
locker room conversations) in addition to your
primary content.
• Consider saving some of this supplementary
content for the o-season.
Tent-pole Programming
Tent-pole programming is a way to capitalize on the
organic trac patterns that surround sporting events.
Since the majority of sports video trac tends to
revolve around specic sporting events, tent-pole
programming is critical. Remember, event-based
sports generally experience a short build up in trac
before an event, a sudden peak after an event, and a
sharp decline thereafter.
Consider the wide array of tent-pole events, and the
sports content you can oer around each one:
• Games
• Large events (i.e. Olympics, Wimbledon)
• Press conferences
• Highlights
• Interviews
• Commentary / opinion
• How-to
See Playbook Sections:
Tent-pole Programming, Playlists