Advertisers pile in for SBS’s Entourage
Entourage – the feelgood bromance of life on the Hollywood A-list – is finally to air on free TV in Australia – and advertisers have already piled in.
The HBO-made comedy has already been a staple of the subscription Arena channel but debuts on SBS next month.
According to SBS, Telstra, Unilever (Lynx) and Ford have taken up the full allocation of commercial airtime for Entourage’s first, eight-week season.
SBS will also offer episodes of the drama on a dedicated Entourage website.
The drama features the adventures of hot young actor Vinnie Chase, played by Adrian Grenier, and his entourage of friends.
((Hat-tip: Ben Shepherd)
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Wow only 5 seasons behind Fox8 and Season 6 is airing next week in the US.
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I’d love to associate my brand with a show that has:
– Been on air in the US since July 2004.
– Been available on DVD since May 2005
– Primarily downloaded via BitTorrent by the core audience, to whom they’re trying to reach.
Good job on the rort SBS!
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I would like to support Ari’s comments…but I’m too stoned.nice work SBS.
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not sure if people have seen this – http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1914477
“Every week on Entourage”
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isn’t it a teensy bit arrogant to assume that companies with some of the largest ad budgets in the country don’t realise this?
don’t you think that they might want to associate their brand with an audience that hadn’t seen this show yet, and might have negotiated an appropriate rate for gaining that exposure with the station that has negotiated an appropriate rate in buying the program, with full knowledge of the exposure it has previously received?
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BTW i agree with Stu. Give SBS and these advertisers some credit.
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That was a good speech, Stu. If I was 25 and liked cock, we could be something.
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I’d prefer to watch Viking Quest
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Almost Stu. Except that the entire target of this show is savvy enough to have already downloaded it, or has foxtel. If they haven’t, they’d be too clueless to watch SBS.
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Tse Tse Fly
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hi Ari
i’m sorry that you’re not 25
stu
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Foobar
is that research or assumption?
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Great link, Ben. I’ve embedded it above.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
In all seriousness and taking the fanboi hat off for the moment. The only reason it’s making it to free to air, is because of the content deal between SBS and XYZ.
The lack of respect the commercial networks show their viewers in this country is disturbing. Entourage and The Sopranos are prime examples. Nine waited almost a year before airing the finale. As an advertiser trying to reach a niche audience, I want to be in programming where the audience is glued to their seats, engaged. Re runs and long delays don’t diminish the effectiveness of advertising in the show in their first place. Nine will claim that Sopranos didn’t rate. It didn’t rate because the audience found their content elsewhere (i.e. online) because the delays and scheduling (midnight anyone?) were frustrating.
Median age of the show varies, probably because of the small sample size, but you’re looking at late twenties, early thirties according to ratings data. That bracket is the least likely to subscribe to STV too, so the success of the screen on Area, just goes to show you how engaged the audience is.
Airing a show that is now 5 years old, with a massive cult following and then claiming that they’ve sold out all the airtime is not something, which I personally would hang my hat on. The show itself is only 23-24 minutes long, so it’s no great feat of achievement to sell it out. Plus, what sort of view experience is the audience going to have?
Despite its legality, BitTorrent would account for a large portion of Entourage viewing. As long as the networks continue to be risk adverse with these sorts of shows it will continue to be that way – even more so as the general public becomes more familiar with non-legal means of accessing content.
I know what I’ll be doing on Monday night!
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Where’s Lloyd when I need him to proof read my rants!? Some of that should have read:
… long delays diminish the effectiveness…
… what sort of view experience is the audience going to have?
Now, I’m off to anally punish the wife.
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Who cares when it first went to air. Does it have a long shelf life as entertaining… Yes it does. Good on SBS.
Loving the comments here.
Have to admit, I’ve just done Season 1 – 5 through BitTorrent and will be downloading Season 6 as soon as it airs. While I’m sure there’s still some stragglers who haven’t seen it yet, I know all my mates have.
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VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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It would have to be on SBS as they would need to censor it a bit if on the other free to air channels. Waiting for the next season to start on Arena….
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I love you Johnny Drama.
The more of you, the better
x o x o
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Get the F%$* outa here Drama, do you mean we have to roll all the way downunder and do another f@#^%&# launch party?
Jesus Christ Ari Gold you just got demoted to silver!
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I don’t think it matters where people have seen this show previously.
These days unless it’s an Australian drama people have downloaded it / seen it somewhere else.
30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development we’ve all seen it before but it still rates.
Not only that, but Subs TV show these programs on repeat constantly….and they still draw audiences and more importantly – highly suitable environments for brands to align themselves.
One show which has continued to rate no matter how many times it’s shown is The Simpsons. A Network Ten staple for as long as anyone can remember and still one of the best performing shows on Ten against many demo’s.
Well done, to those brands who got on board.
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Free to air in Australia has always sucked at showing great US cable shows. See Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiam, Conan O’Brien, Dexter etc etc. Either get Foxtel or download it online is the only way to go.
And catch me in Platoon and The Doors films.
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Ari Gold is God. Period.
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