TV as an app: new distribution model threat to studios
updated 08:39 am EDT, Sun June 10, 2012
Australian TV show goes straight to iTunes as an app
An Australian TV production shot by Russell Boyd, the Academy Award-winning cinematographer of the film Master and Commander is set to make its world premiere as an app, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. Users will be able to either purchase the series as a "virtual box set" in an app for $9 or by episode for $1.49 each on iTunes. The show will skip a traditional TV airing or even web delivery in a move that will bypass TV studios altogether.
"That's why I became involved," Boyd told the paper. "I was just interested in shooting something that's going to end up as an app for the iPad. This is a new way of putting stuff out there, a thing of the future -- or maybe of the present."
Watch with Mother was shot in various Sydney suburbs and is a blend of horror and comedy. "The characters are all pushing the bounds of what is credible," says one of the co-creators, Jonathan Kneebone. "You kind of like them, although they're doing something quite awful. The sketch format has a funny effect. Things that are innocent take on dark overtones."
The budget for the mini-series is about as much as it would cost to make a low-budget feature-length film, according to the show’s producers -- which means that they will need to get a lot of takers when it gets released in the coming weeks. "Anything between 200,000 and 300,000 people, which is a massive uptake," says executive producer Michael Ritchie. "If we're lucky, the take-up rate could be three per cent of those who see the trailer. That means we need to get about 8 million to 10 million views of the trailer."
The official trailer for Watch with Mother will be released to YouTube this week. Some perspectives on the show from various cast members are embedded below.
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I can't help but read the article when the producer says, 'Anything between 200,000 and 300,000 people, which is a massive uptake'
Well, here is one thing the producer needs to consider...adding subtitles or captioning, then that would reach another 50k or 100k people. Just make sure you don't limit the target market but to make it accessible to everyone. A subtitle could be translated into another language which adds to a larger target market.