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National Geographic Channel is heading into the upfront with the wind at its back, as ad sales are up 11 percent in its financial year Q3 and the net is practically out of sale through the end of March.
According to executive vp for content Steve Burns, Nat Geo has 21 original series on deck for 2009-10, its biggest load of originals since it launched back in 2001. Of those, 10 are newcomers, while the remainder includes returning favorites like Explorer and The Dog Whisperer.
While Nat Geo may seem particularly vulnerable in a recession-wracked market, as it relies heavily on automotive, financial service and travel, senior vp of advertising sales Rich Goldfarb said that his team “is continuing to do business with these categories … The spend has gone down in these areas, but we’re not rolling back to zero.” Goldfarb added that Nat Geo recently closed on a deal with a major automotive client, before going on to say that he has hashed out four travel deals in the last few weeks.
Goldfarb said that Nat Geo’s demo and efficiencies have helped keep clients coming back for more. (The network is one of a handful that caters to upscale men 25-54.) At the same time, specials like Fight Science have begun to draw a younger audience, which in turn has helped boost Nat Geo’s movie/entertainment business.
“The median age on Fight Science is 28, and so we’re seeing a lot of beer money coming in, as well a videogames and movies,” Goldfarb said. “The resilience and strength of the feature-film and home-video business has been a boon for us.” Nat Geo is also picking up among male-skewing CPGs, like Kingsford Charcoal and Mitchum antiperspirant, as well as QSR and green marketing.
Fight Science has been such a success that the concept is being expanded into a regularly scheduled program, joining Border Wars and Alaska State Troopers on the roster of one-offs that have made the jump to series.
All told, Goldfarb expects to close out the fiscal year––the net opens a new set of books on July 1––with an ad sales revenue lift of between 7 percent and 8 percent. Some of that lift can be attributed to the channels’ unflagging ratings momentum. In 2008, Nat Geo marked its sixth consecutive year of growth, averaging 223,000 viewers in prime time, up 6 percent versus the year-ago period. Per Nielsen live-plus-seven-day data, Nat Geo also lifted its core demo, averaging 116,000 adults 25-54, a 5 percent increase over its 2007 delivery.
Among the new series in the hopper for the upcoming year are: Hooked, Rescue Ink, Jurassic CSI, and Known Universe. Meanwhile, in keeping with the National Geographic charter, the network will continue to team up with the magazine’s globe-trotting army of explorers and archaeologists, prepping specials on Amazon headshrinkers, the redwoods of Big Sur and Emperor Nero’s Rome.
As Goldfarb gets ready to sit down with media buyers and clients, the ad sales exec is prepping a radically different kind of research metric. In addition to talking up engagement, Nat Geo will ask buyers to participate in a scientific inquiry. In an initiative spearheaded by the National Geographic Society’s Genographic Project, buyers can submit samples of their DNA to be used in a series of genetic tests that will determine the migratory history of each participant’s ancestors.
The Genographic Project will collect 200,000 swabs over the course of its study. Upon completion of the research, a two-hour special, Where on Earth Did You Come From? will air on Nat Geo sometime in September.
“This not only underscores our connection to the global reach of the Society and its explorers, but it also conveys our fundamental commitment to science,” said general manager Steve Schiffman. “It’s a reminder that we create programming that is real, that means something. There are no empty calories here.”
Moreover, the opportunity to participate in the Genographic Project is a far cry from the sort of detritus that can be found at the bottom of most upfront schwag bags. “It beats the hell out of a T-shirt,” Goldfarb cracked.
