As the TV industry adapts its content for streaming and online , how does it affect the role of Channel 4 Commissioning Editor Jayne Stanger?
In 2006 , 4oD ( Four on Demand) launched as a central location to re-watch old shows or shows that you may have missed that week without the need to record. The shows would just be readily available.
But nearly 17 years later the demand and drive for this is completely different , with the rise of YouTube and more recently TikTok which provide availability and urgency that content is produced, how do major TV companies respond?
Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor for daytime tv and features Jayne Stanger, told LTU’s Journalism and Media Week how the process happens and how viewing figures have changed.
She did mention how the focus has become more focused as ”digital success is key for us” because as social media develops , fewer and fewer people watch live TV so developing content that can go online and resonate with that audience is key for the future of television.
She also talked about how she was ”very proud of that show” when discussing the recently cancelled show Steph’s Packed Lunch and how it developed through COVID . She told the audience she is optimistic that as it was filmed in the north of England then the money resourcing that show would still remain up north.
On the geographic balance of commissions the C4 executive revealed ”out of the 17 shows that are in my slate only 3 of them are based down south” with the remainder of them based in the north of England and Scotland.
When comparing success against other channels she wasn’t oblivious to the facts that certain channels and ”audience’s are getting more niche” so when she thinks about what shows will be on during her slate , she makes sure that they are ”sufficiently Channel 4 enough and different”.
She also alluded to the success of quiz shows on other channels with her saying that ”why would you put a quiz show up against The Chase?”
Stanger did talk about the ”legacy” that Channel 4 has and how that you never know if a show is going to be a hit , referencing Black Mirror and Top Boy which both started on Channel 4 before becoming big Netflix titles and big global titles. This also allows her and Channel 4 to ”give us space to commission the next Black Mirror or Top Boy” so even after they have left channel their legacy continues in a way with them.