Free TV and public broadcasters have long been at odds when it comes to the best ways to compete against global streaming platforms. Many broadcasters have opted for increasing levels of catch-up or even forgoing a linear premiere at all with the likes of BBC and SVT airing shows for free on catch-up with no airing on their channels at all. But some broadcasters like NPO in the Netherlands have been going in a bit of a different direction.
NPO Plus was launched in the Netherlands back in 2014 but became a major player in NPO’s catch-up in 2017 when part of the normal free catch-up was moved to the paid option of NPO Plus. Show Tracker data can show us that all of NPO’s scripted acquisitions aired on the day of premiere on NPO Plus with a full Boxset of the series. That alone is a very dramatic strategy compared with a lot of public broadcasters in other countries.
But not only is NPO airing full boxsets in line with the liner premiere but actually airing shows, days, weeks and even months before their free TV debut. With the time delay between airings seemingly decreasing, by a month at a time, across shows that are available for over a month exclusively on NPO Plus it seems NPO are still fine-tuning the best way to get the most out of this particular strategy. However, the shows that have the largest delay between being on NPO Plus and NPO channels are primarily acquired from UK Distributor All3Media who distribute The Tourist, Deceit, It’s a Sin and Des which are all of the premieres that fit this particular distribution trend.
This raises an interesting question a bit closer to home for All3Media given ITVX’s statement about titles airing six to nine months before release on ITV, as ITV will be looking at a similar deal structure to All3Media’s sales to NPO Plus in recent times. But what remains to be seen is if other distributors will negotiate similar deals with ITVX or not. Indeed with the intent to Boxset all new releases on the same day of linear premiere it seems that ITVX has been eyeing up NPO Plus’s strategy very closely and is prepped to follow in their footsteps.
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