CHICAGO – A+E Networks president and CEO Nancy Dubuc said the key to success in the linear and non-linear content landscape is providing branded content where and when the viewer wants it. At the closing General Session at INTX: The Internet & Television Expo here Thursday she added that can be a mixture of both short-form and long-form shows.
“We believe in our brands and the service we provide to consumers,” Dubuc said. “We are constantly reiterating our brands, constantly reacting to consumer tastes.”
Dubuc said that surprisingly, there is very little overlap between A+E’s non-linear and linear programming, adding that its online content isn’t necessarily geared toward driving viewers back to the traditional cable channel.
“We’re marketers,” Dubuc said. “We are going to go to the platform where we can create a branded platform for our viewers.”
Dubuc wouldn’t comment on plans to give online pioneer Vice its own A+E channel. She said that A+E is an investor in the content provider, but wouldn’t comment further.
“I hope Shane [Smith, Vice founder] gets his own channel,” she said.
Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor said his company approaches online video differently, selling individual content to users in long and short-form chunks for varying prices. Vimeo is launching a subscription VOD offering soon but it will be only for individual channels.
“We’re seeing the viewer diet evolve in real time,” Trainor said. “We see people are consuming longer form pieces of content, and with the launch of Vimeo on Demand, feature length films, documentaries, episodics; everything from single minutes to close to a half hour.”
