Why Hollywood's Quest for Making Money Trumps the Misconception That Mainstream Television Is Dying

Orlando Delbert in Hollywood, Unapologetic! (2016)

Orlando Delbert

In an earlier episode, we got into distribution for film and television. One of the things we discussed was how television distribution is it&apos;s own animal, different than distribution for film. And before going to AFM or one of th...

Why Hollywood&apos;s Quest for Making Money Trumps the Misconception That Mainstream Television Is Dying

In an earlier episode, we got into distribution for film and television. One of the things we discussed was how television distribution is it's own animal, different than distribution for film. And before going to AFM or one of the other film markets to pitch your television series, there's a little something you should know.

There is a misconception that mainstream television is dying. And that misconception is driven in part by the high number of low-budgeted reality programming running on the airways now. And there sure are many. Some can argue that competing technology is growing too quickly for Hollywood to keep up, and the studios and networks are falling behind.

This can be talked about all day and night. But the reality is that everything in Hollywood is about making money, big money. Knowing that going into this business is important. Believe me. And Hollywood has and will always invest in lobbying, regulation, litigation, and enforcement of the law to protect their properties. One of the key factors most people don't know about is that a lot of the business decisions in television are based around affiliate fees - $32 billion a year in fees.

Over the last 30 years, affiliate fees have become the lifeblood and the primary revenue stream of how the content for television is produced, financed, and packaged. You pay a fee to your cable or satellite provider, and a "share" of your subscription fee is shared back to the content owner and distributor. This is usually on a subscriber-by-subscriber basis.

But what is interesting is to see how this really works. Cable providers began offering their programming for free, as long as you can prove you are a cable subscriber. This allowed viewers to watch their content for free on mobile devices usually 24 hours after they originally aired.

As a content producer, this is good to know, especially when shopping for online distribution outlets. I've seen deals offered by some that offered a very low return for the content producers. And those same online distributors just can't compete with television's affiliate fees. To put this in perspective, Google's annual global revenues of its advertising network is about 33% less per year than television's affiliate fees.

I mention affiliate fees because few outside the entertainment industry know anything about it. Even many content creators in the Hollywood trenches are not fully aware of it either. It's all part of the "whys" of how our business works few outside the industry know about. But knowing this is essential when shopping your television series. This is all part of what to be mindful of as you make your plan and to build your timeline to see you project come into fruition.

Use this information as a tool, so that you can better serve and help protect your project's integrity, your crew, and yourself better. And don't forget to have fun with it. Making a television series takes a lot of effort to see it all of the way through, but definitely can be worth it. Your experiences stay with you for the rest of your life. The lessons learned as a content creator can also help build leadership qualities and an entrepreneurial approach to life.

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Why Hollywood's Quest for Making Money Trumps the Misconception That Mainstream Television Is Dying

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