Channel: Watch
Owner: UKTV
What's happened?:
Launch of new channel
The broadcaster hoped the first episode of Richard and Judy's New Position would drive the success of the channel launch, but only 100,000 viewers tuned into its 8pm slot and a further 43,000 into the time-shifted Watch +1, with the show averaging a disappointing 0.53% multichannel share.
UKTV defended its performance, arguing it expected the show's overall ratings to increase substantially once its repeat shows became established. However, this has so far failed to happen, with the 14 October broadcast attracting only 69,000 viewers.
The UKTV marketing team has certainly been busy recently. The channel name, Watch, was inspired, along with the decision to rebrand UK Gold to G.O.L.D, UK Drama to Alibi, UKTV People to Blighty and UKTV Documentary to Eden. However, I am not entirely in tune with the thinking behind the name Watch and the "blinky" marketing campaign. When doing my research for this article, in days where integration is key, I looked on the internet for any further information and Watch wasn't listed, but Alibi and G.O.L.D were.
In a year that has seen numerous station launches and rebrands, a name blatantly calling out for viewers actually puts me off slightly. Content is key and hingeing its key to success on the wide shoulders of Richard and Judy was probably not foolproof, given that their main show on Channel 4 had been losing viewers steadily earlier in the year. Some good content is there, such as Mistresses, which is a favourite of mine, but this is not going to significantly raise Watch's ratings.
The cynic in me would question whether UKTV launched Watch with any specific performance targets, or whether it is just a move to boost its overall portfolio share where TV revenues are struggling across the market. From an advertiser perspective, it acts as another cost efficiency driver rather than having any obvious potential to reach new viewers.
What's good?
Its Sky EPG position and Mistresses.
What could be better?
Carriage on Freeview.
Would I book my clients on this?
Yes, but not for any unique cover potential.
Caroline Binfield, business director of television, Arena BLM