If advertiser-funded content is done subtly, it works: Jim Samples

Interview with President, international, Scripps Networks Interactive

The $2.5-billion US-based Scripps Networks is known as a lifestyle media firm. Its Food Network, Travel Channel and Cooking Network, among others, address all the information needs of life. It has been eyeing the Indian market, with its growing demand for lifestyle products, for some time. In 2009, it signed a deal to buy NDTV Lifestyle and scrapped in 2010. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar met Jim Samples, president, international, Scripps Networks Interactive. Excerpts.

As a Lifestyle media firm, is your offering more suited to rich economies rather than emerging ones? How much do you localise, isn't it expensive and does that make you hold back on expansion?

Localisation means different things in different countries. In some it could mean a re-editing of content. Depending on where the company is in its international life cycle, the strategy could change. We have been selling our product internationally since 1994. So, some of the content is more international even in the US. For example, House is a show on people going abroad to South America, Costa Rica. A vast majority of Americans will never experience this, so the more local this is, the more they love it. However, one needs to balance the need to be local with content that makes sense.

Typically, in the markets that you operate, who would Scripps compete with?

No other international media company is focused on home, food and travel. Most of the others are defined by demographics. Therefore, we compete for shelf space (distribution) and ad dollars. But limiting us to lifestyle is wrong.

There is a lot of talk of advertiser-funded content on demand. This is a huge trend we see in India and elsewhere. Is that the way all kinds of lifestyle media will eventually go?

If the viewer is acutely aware, it distracts. But if it is subtly done, it works. Scripps does a lot of integrated programming. It helps fund programmes. But only 30 per cent of our total programming is ad-funded. If it (our programming) was fully ad-funded, it would cross the line.

How do the Western, developed markets for Lifestyle Media compare with China and Indonesia's?

Home, food and travel: Around the world, people are passionate about these three things. But within these, there are differences.

For example, in Europe our more instructional programmes on cooking plays well on prime time. In the US, it doesn't play well in prime time. So the mix of what works, in which day parts, changes.