By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Turner Classic Movies, long after Ted Turner left the scene, has kept to his basic mission since its launch in 1994: highlight films from the golden age of Hollywood starring the likes of Jean Harlow, Barbara Stanwyck, Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant.
To this day, TCM remains commercial free and has featured the esteemed Robert Osborne as its host from day one. Over the years, TCM has tapped into the 1970s as well with more recent films that fit into its brand ("L.A. Confidential.")
To invigorate the brand, the Atlanta-based network this week has created a new slogan "Let's Movie," turning "movie" into a verb.
"We want to keep the flame alive for classics but also at the same time celebrate what's relevant about us and reach out to new viewers and create new fans," said TCM General Manager Jennifer Dorian, who joined in January. (She has been a chief strategy officer at Turner Entertainment.)
"The challenge," she said, "is to portray and serve these timeless movies in a way that speaks to the contemporary movie lover."
The campaign, as noted in Deadline.com, will be broadbased:
TCM will promote the campaign through linear, out-of-home and digital elements including on-air spots, digital ads on TCM.com, placement in TCM's bi-monthly newsletter, cross-promotion within the Turner portfolio including banner ads on CNN.com, on-air spots on TBS, TNT and CNN Airport Network, as well as electronic billboards in New York City and Atlanta and on-screen ads in more than 750 movie theaters nationwide.
Dorian said there will also be a social media campaign set for Sept. 19 with the hashtag #LetsMovie to encourage families and friends to watch movies together.
The network will continue to host its popular TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood next year and the fifth annual TCM Classic Cruise in November with Osborne on board.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
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In related Turner news, it was a tough summer for its two largest entertainment networks. Over the summer, TNT's average prime-time audience dropped an alarming 22 percent year over year to 1.95 million from 2.5 million. Still, TNT remained the top basic cable network in prime-time over the summer since most cable networks lost overnight audience as people continue to migrate to on-demand options.
TNT lost 13 percent of its overnight audience, dropping to 1.4 million from 1.6 million, dropping to eighth place from sixth.
CNN grew to 599,000 from 550,000, up 9 percent, ranked 33rd.
TruTV took a nosedive, falling 37 percent from 659,000 to 416,000, dropping to 42nd place from 28th place. Only Oxygen did worse on a percentage basis in the top 100 networks.
Adult Swim held its own, dropping a modest 3 percent and ranking 12th. The network actually moved up in rankings from 15th last year.
A&E and ESPN both lost an alarming third of their audience year over year in primetime.
Among the networks that gained audience: ID, Fox News, HGTV, Discovery, AMC, MSNBC and WE-TV.
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