Since last September, Alex Ruzek has taken over the management of the Prima TV group’s programming. She was in charge of the programming management of Prima’s rival, TV Nova, for more than a decade and returned to the TV environment after two years on maternity leave. “The television environment has completely changed in those two years, I have returned to a different world,” she says, referring primarily to the new possibilities for distribution and consumption of audiovisual content that have come with the development of video-on-demand (VOD) services. In the interview, she talks about Prima’s concept of its prime time shows, new shows included in this spring’s broadcast, and plans with thematic channels and the prima+ service.
You have been managing Prima’s programming for nearly six months. What ideas did you bring to the management of Prima’s programme last year and what did you personally intend to change in the group’s programming direction?
The instructions from the management are usually similar and a new manager is mostly expected to increase performance and efficiency. This is also true in my case. Prima’s programming direction is set very well in general, Prima is the leader in the 15+ audience in the commercial segment for the second year in a row, with a share of 27.65% last year. The programme therefore needs minor adjustments rather than major changes, and my aim is to continue the trend that Prima set two years ago.
As you mention, Prima has been performing well in the wider 15+ group for the last few years. How can better results be achieved?
I don’t want to reveal all the plans but we are definitely not going to make dramatic changes. A lot of things have worked well, we are gradually trying out some new things but those are minor interventions with which we are testing how the audience reacts to our offerings. It is not a revolution; it is an evolution. The key is always to evaluate where to put programming investments effectively.
When you joined Prima in September, the autumn season was in full swing, and you could not influence the programme. But how did you perceive the composition and offer of Prima’s programmes at that time and how does working at TV Prima differ from working at Nova?
My perception was that Prima’s programming pillars were set well. That’s why I’m not planning any revolution. The advantage of Prima is that it is experimental and dares to try new things. When compared to Nova when I was there, its programming was more of a safe bet. But basically, it is a very similar environment, just in different colours, and the contractors and actors we work with are engaged in both TV groups. I notice a different mentality that I would like to change here at Prima. Historically they see themselves as being behind Nova but that is not the case anymore. Prima is the market leader.
The main channel of the Prima group builds its programming mainly on its original series, entertainment programmes and talk shows. On weekends, it focuses on reality shows and films co-produced by Prima. Do you intend to shift this mix in favour of certain types of programmes?
We definitely intend to keep the things that work well on the main channel. Long-running series are an important element of our business, and we don’t intend to change that. Prima managed to take over the lead on Tuesday and Thursday nights from Nova that was running its series Ordinace v růžové zahradě on those days for a long time. Our series Slunečná and now ZOO have occupied the slots. We won’t be changing that as long as we continue to have viewers there. What is new is that we have introduced crime story slots for Wednesday prime time in the autumn, which have had excellent results. In the autumn the series Pod hladinou had over a million viewers, a 30% share, and we are following that up in the spring with Na vlnách Jadranu. After two episodes, it has more than a million viewers too with a 30% share. We will continue with the premiere episodes of the established series Polda.
You used to air Polda on Saturday nights and built a slot with crime stories on that day for some time. Do you see more room for that genre on Wednesday nights now?
We see this as an opportunity because our main commercial competition focuses more on younger audiences on Wednesday nights, so we think there is a chance to attract a wider 15+ audience group. It is also an important audience for us. From the new year, our main commercial target group is 18-69, so we are also selecting shows for a more mass audience, which the crime genre fulfils. The situation is the opposite on Mondays when the competition runs crime series and we try to reach younger viewers. We tested this with the series Hvězdy nad hlavou and now we are continuing with Malá velká liga in the spring. In February, we will follow that up with the comedy series Zalez do spacáku. We are trying to make ‘feel good’ Monday nights, providing light entertainment. We think there is room for such shows in this slot, we are trying to appeal to a younger audience who might be less interested in crime dramas.
Tuesday and Thursday nights are dedicated to the ZOO series. Do you know what will replace it? And will you continue to build on long-running series in those airtimes?
It is clear to us that ZOO will exhaust its potential one day. But for now, nothing like that is happening, ZOO dominates the competitive offer, and we won’t replace the show until it loses its position. Even though the competition has tried to change the schedule on those days, ZOO has been the winner. Of course, we are developing new shows for the evening prime time slots on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well. We think that viewers expect long-running series from us, so we are not going to change this concept.
On Friday nights you broadcast the competition Máme rádi Česko. Will there be premiere episodes in spring?
We are planning to air premiere episodes of Máme rádi Česko in spring. Other entertainment programmes or talk shows such as Inkognito or Show Jana Krause are also working well.
Máme rádi Česko (I Love My Country) is one of Prima’s flagship programmes, and although it is a licensed programme, are you considering any spin-off of this competition or broadcasting it more frequently during the week?
The licensor does not have a spin-off to the show in its library, but we think that some kind of renewal or expansion of the show is the way forward. For example, in the autumn we found that the most watched episode was the one with the participation of the bands Lunetic and Holki, so we are considering going down the route of thematic episodes rather than groups of individual celebrities.
On Saturday evenings you put on films and on Sundays you are preparing a series from the political environment, Sedm schodů k moci, which has been available for viewing on prima+ since last year. Do you intend to apply this concept to the weekend evenings in the long term?
As far as Saturdays are concerned, Prima co-produces a number of films, and we already have a strong archive to use. The series Sedm schodů k moci was one of the first programmes to be shown on prima+. We intend to reserve Sundays for more exclusive productions, whether they are series or films. To summarise it, we offer ‘feel good’ shows in prime time on Mondays, long-running series on Tuesdays and Thursdays, crime stories on Wednesdays, entertainment on Fridays, films on Saturdays and premium productions on Sundays.
Some of the news that Prima has introduced since January are already known, but I assume that there will be more to come during the spring. What are you planning?
As part of Monday’s schedule, from 5 February we will broadcast the aforementioned series Zalez do spacáku directed by Jan Haluza and starring Lenka Vlasáková, Tomáš Klus, Kristýna Leichtová and Pavla Gajdošíková. It is a family comedy series set in a summer camp and by its nature, it fits well into the concept of feel-good shows for Monday evenings. I have already mentioned that we will be launching new episodes of Polda, and I can also reveal that we are planning a new gastronomic competition show called Česko na grilu in the spring, with Zdeněk Pohlreich and Martin Svatek as judges. It is a competitive reality show, something between the Czech version of The Great British Bake Off and MasterChef, in which couples compete against each other. It is hosted by Tomáš Zástěra and Patricia Pagáčová. We will tell viewers the date in due course.
We intend to reserve Sundays for more exclusive productions, whether they are series or films. To summarise it, we offer ‘feel-good’ shows in prime time on Mondays, long-running series on Tuesdays and Thursdays, crime stories on Wednesdays, entertainment on Fridays, films on Saturdays and premium productions on Sundays.
Is it realistic to get an even bigger market share from the spring than you achieved in the autumn? My question relates primarily to the main channel...
The question is whether this is necessary now in the spring. For us it is crucial to meet client demand. I talked about the fact that we want to be efficient, so for us it is essential what we will do with the investments throughout the year, not only on the main channel but also on thematic stations and the VOD service prima+. This year is also full of important sporting events that will be broadcast on Česká televize. We probably cannot expect commercial stations to increase their share. However, sports broadcasts may attract new viewers to TV and increase the overall TV rating.
Prima’s thematic channels had good results last year. Cool has undergone recent changes, Krimi is growing, and the group’s other channels, with the exception of Prima Love and Prima Max, were also making a slight profit. Will you want to focus on them?
Some of our thematic channels are better profiled than others, so we will work to make them even better and more understandable to viewers. I think Prima Cool is well profiled, it has undergone changes so that it has a higher performance and its content is not dependent on one foreign format. Now it can achieve interesting results without the Big Bang Theory. Prima Max is clearly defined as a movie channel, and so is Prima Krimi, which benefits from the trend of crime series popularity. We are gradually analysing the other channels and trying to make changes to give them a better profile. But it is too early to say what specific steps we will take.
Every year there is also a discussion about whether it is worth expanding the portfolio of thematic channels. Are you considering another one?
It is true that this is an eternal question and the subject is never closed. But we are not actively working on any new channel right now. In my opinion, it is still possible to get more out of the existing thematic stations by programming them even better to make them more efficient. When we feel that this way is closed, we will start looking at whether to launch a new channel.
Your VOD service prima+ has several projects in production and has launched several of them during its first year of existence. How many were there and how many do you plan to launch this year?
Last year, prima+ launched twelve internally produced premium projects and the number will be similar in the future. But the number of titles is one thing, the other is the number of hours of new content, which we plan to increase. We will determine a more precise strategy based on the results of prima+’s first year of operation.
Do you intend to show all of the twelve titles you have shown on prima+ on linear TV, or will some of them remain only for prima+ subscribers?
It depends on how we build individual slots but in general, I can’t imagine any title being locked forever. Even though some global services may communicate it that way, the situation is slowly changing, terms are loosening and previously claimed exclusive shows are gradually making their way to other channels. There are several recent examples of this in the world. Our strategy will evolve based on global trends and also based on what audiences are used to. Content is ageing and when something is produced for VOD, I think it makes no sense to have that content locked away somewhere for five or six years. Surely, subscribers must be left with the advantage of accessing the title earlier and without advertising, plus they can choose what they want to watch and when they want to watch it.
We are mainly talking about Prima’s own titles, but have you considered – in the context of what is happening on the global market – a merger or cooperation with a multinational service or producer from which you would acquire its titles?
Such debates are also ongoing, we have over a thousand Czech and foreign films on offer and over three and a half thousand episodes of foreign series, so there is some cooperation. The foreign partners are also currently in a phase where they are looking for new ways and learning how far they can go and how to deal with the titles. They were shutting them down for a while, now they are releasing them again. Disney+ and Netflix agreed to work together before Christmas, and HBO and Netflix are also cooperating. The rules that were in place a year or two ago are changing. We are in contact with them. We are working out some forms of cooperation, but prima+ is built primarily on local content, and that is its main value and advantage.
Our strategy will evolve based on global trends and also based on what audiences are used to. Content is ageing and when something is produced for VOD, I think it makes no sense to have that content locked away somewhere for five or six years.
You have been in the media environment for almost two decades. How do you think the offer of the main commercial stations has changed in the years you have been programming TV stations?
The transformation of the offer is related to the technological changes that have taken place during that time. Two of them were crucial. The first was around 2010, when analogue television was switched off followed by a transition to digital terrestrial television. As a result, the number of stations increased significantly from four to thirty and viewers had a much wider choice. Now we are experiencing another wave where part of the audience is spilling over to streaming services. For us, producing local and relevant content is still the cornerstone, we are just using different distribution channels to deliver it to our audience. At the same time, the streaming service allows us to have genre diversity that allows us to reach younger audiences or light TV viewers. All the changes are for the benefit of the audience.
Source: mediaguru.cz
