Broadening Influence in a Niche Network

Though the term "narrowcasting" describes media channels that are marketed toward a smaller, niche audience, the influence these channels try to obtain over their audience is broad in every sense.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to listen to a former network executive for The Tennis Channel, Victoria Quoss, speak to a television production class I am in called TV Nation. The Tennis Channel is considered a "niche network" in all aspects considering its focus on the world of tennis and its smaller audience of 50 million subscribers. What was most surprising from her discussion was how she described the strategies implemented by the executives of the network in order to gain more viewers and therefore make more money from advertising.

Originally the primary sources of content for the Tennis Channel were tennis games themselves, both live games and older games that they'd play one after the other. Sure they had a few other programs but the matches themselves served as the core of the channel's programming. Since its creation however, the content has expanded in almost every sense. The new programs expand the world of tennis from the courts themselves all the way into the homes of the players. There are now shows that range from healthy cooking for tennis players to style (fashion, and interior design). Essentially, the network has branded their demo as being a generally older audience that is typically from the priviledged upper class. This branding is reflected in these programs because they often cover topics that are generally more relevant to the wealthy lifestyle. By doing more programming like this are ideal for product placement, which they take full advantage of by "placing products" as often as they can.

This radical change in programming is intriguing because it is yet another example of how media is infiltrating our lives more and more. What originally was a channel about the game became a channel about the lifestyle. Though this may have been their intention from the start, the simple fact that a channel is informing us on the "average" or "typical" lifestyle of their audience illustrates us as products. Furthermore their programming, in turn is shaped by the slant of the advertisers, in an effort to ignite "buyer's mood" and informing the audience of what tennis fans and players should buy. These changes in programming and content are happenning all throughout the TV industry and it is important to identify their cause to better understand how we should react to it.