Monday, November 21, 2005

Networks As Brands

I was in Best Buy last week and something surprised me. There are now about 6 racks in the DVD section and there's an aisle devoted to television shows now available on DVD. The section is arranged alphabetically but the surprising thing is there are subsections for HBO and Fox shows. I found it interesting that these networks are promoting their brand to enhance their shows. If you like the Sopranos, try The Wire (and you should it's great). I guess Fox and HBO worked with Best Buy to get them to organize this way. It was probably a bit of a risk as things could be harder to find. Looking for the Sopranos, you won't find it under S in Television.

Movie studios used to do this. Stars were contracted by studios and only appeared in their films. People knew the difference between an MGM film and a Universal one. I don't think people could tell you what network The Brady Bunch or I Love Lucy was on (ABC and CBS). I'm sure syndication made this worse. Things like Tivo don't help either but I still know the Sopranos are on HBO and Family Guy is Fox, because they wouldn't be on any other network. I have no idea what network Numb3rs or Without a Trace is on and think they could be on any of the big three because they all seem the same to me. I guess these are just good and bad examples of branding.

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