 Bill Graff, V.P. of Programming |
Animal PlanetAn Interview with the V. P. of ProgrammingBy Hugh Jones |
 |
|
Home Feature Stories Vet's Voice Bird Beat Fe-Lines Aunt Debe Agility Tips Miss Behavior Dogs-The Right Stuff Archives Breeder Directory Classifieds Oklahoma City: Event Calendar Adoption Outreach Animal Welfare OKC Animal Welfare Favorite Links Let's Go Shopping About Us Authors' Bios Advertising Info Writer's Guidelines Subscribe Okla. Distributors Contact Us 
|
 |
Born in 1996, the Animal Planet television network is just a youngster. But it's growing up fast. If you put it against the wall to measure height, you'll be drawing lines frequently. At age three, it reached 50 million U.S. households, making it the fastest growing new cable network of the 90s. A year later, it was 60 million. Now, it's over 77 million. Throw in international networks, and it's over 100 million in more than 60 countries. What explains this viewer interest, especially for such one-dimensional programming? Simple, to the PetGazette's thinking, people like animals. That's why we print and they program. And it's the reason we talked with the network's Vice President of Programming Bill Graff about what they do, how they do it and why. Of course, there's more to its success, like a nurturing parent. Animal Planet (APL) belongs to Discovery Communications (as in Discovery Channel). Among Planet's siblings are The Learning Channel and Travel Channel–one big happy family. Then, interesting programming helps, along with personable stars–animal and human. Is there any APL viewer–for that matter, TV viewer in general, unaware of Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter? His show began when the network did. It's APL's highest rated series, and Irwin has become a pop culture phenomenon. And there's biologist and wildlife expert Jeff Corwin of The Jeff Corwin Experience, who mixes adventure with wit and wisdom. When it comes to humor, no human "funniest" show can match The Planet's Funniest Animals. Other popular programs are Emergency Vets, the first APL original production, and Animal Precinct, which follows the work of a humane law enforcement unit in New York City. The original vision for the network grew from the idea that a cable channel could develop programming solely dedicated to the relationship between humans, animals and the world around them. The goal: to capture the deep emotional connections between people and animals. Obviously, it's a good idea. In a survey last year, APL claimed the top slots (among major networks) with viewers who described the network as entertaining, and as having hosts/on-air personalities they like. This year, it ranked first among mid-sized networks in the categories of entertaining, informative, youthful, fun, high quality and family oriented. One of the people responsible for making sure Animal Planet meets those categories is Graff. He oversees the entire program schedule, analyzing and acquiring existing series and working with a development team on original programming. Graff, 46, lives in Maryland, where APL is based, with his wife, two daughters, a rescue Australian shepherd, an African fat-tailed gecko and a goldfish (sounds like Animal House). He was kind enough to let us ask a few questions: Q: What is your background? A: Before Animal Planet, I worked as program director at local independent Fox stations in Seattle, Memphis, Charlotte and New York. Q: What is APL's relationship with the other networks? A: We operate in parallel with the other Discovery networks. Our intention is to complement them by being an entertainment-based network, thus bringing a new audience to the fold, rather than seeking to take portions of our sister networks' viewership. If a program is pitched to us that takes place in an exotic locale but doesn't have enough animal content for us, we might direct the producer to the Travel Channel. Q: How widespread is Animal Planet now? A: There are Animal Planet networks in Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Q: How do you determine programming? A: One key method of determining our programming is looking at all popular genres of family-friendly fare and seeing which ones lend themselves to re-invention with an "animal twist." We keep an eye on what's working in the entertainment universe and see how that can be applied to our programming. For example, the increasing public interest in psychic and other unexplained phenomena led us to develop The Pet Psychic special. Our sister networks' success with medical fare, like Trauma on TLC, encouraged us to go forward with an Animal Operation mini-series, which premieres next month. One of our strongest areas is wildlife documentaries. We take what we call a "bevel-edged approach" to film making. This means we not only want to educate viewers about unique animal situations and behavior, but also tell a gripping story with compelling, clearly drawn human and animal characters. Combining these two approaches affords us a singular method to reach out to viewers. Q: Are they your productions, or do they come from outside? A: Over 80 percent of our current schedule consists of programs we have co-produced or commissioned, as opposed to acquisitions of already-completed fare. Q: What about your "stars," like Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin? How did you find them, or did they find you? A: Steve was featured in a couple of documentaries on the Discovery Channel just before APL launched. Our founding Executive VP/General Manager Clark Bunting contracted directly with him to produce The Crocodile Hunter series, and it has aired non-stop since the network began. It remains our most successful series. Now, we have The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, which started last month, centered around the day-to-day adventures at Steve and Terri's (Irwin's wife) Australia Zoo. Jeff came to our attention through his series on the Disney Channel, Going Wild. That was aimed at a younger audience, but we saw something in his approach that convinced us he could reach a much broader viewership. By loosening the production constraints under which his previous series was produced, we've been able to provide an exciting program which reaches out to men and women as well as his former fan base. Q: What is your most memorable experience with APL? A: When we were shooting our series, The Keepers, I was privileged to get a behind-the-scenes tour of our production site, the San Diego Wildlife Park. Among the many animals I was fortunate to meet was a group of rare Sumatran rhinos, including a mother and her baby. While feeding apples to the mother, I was briefly distracted and suddenly felt a soft tug on my arm. Mistaking my leather-jacketed elbow for a final apple, the rhino was gently munching away. No harm done either to myself or my new jacket. But when the saliva dried, I refused to get it cleaned for months, proudly pointing out the stain to friends and colleagues, "See that? Dried rhino spit!" My daughters were suitably impressed. Q: Are there any challenges unique to Animal Planet, in making it work? A: While each network provides its own unique challenges, we face the same ones as everyone else: how do we continue to grow in a world of ever increasing leisure and entertainment options? What can we offer that's unique and worthwhile, while still being true to our brand? And finally, how can we best let potential viewers know what we're offering and when? Q: Does Animal Planet operate under a specific philosophy–is there a message behind the entertainment? A: Our operating philosophy can best be summed up with the phrase "Life is Better with Animals." This guides our approach at all levels. Take movies, for instance. While it might be easier to get a quick ratings fix with "animal attack" movies which base their appeal on a visceral fear of certain animals (think Jaws or Cujo), this would be inconsistent to our approach of respect for animals and how human and animal species can find ways to best co-exist and thrive on our planet. Similarly, if we do a program on pet behavior, it has a "cause and cure" orientation, rather than a "when pets go bad" sensationalized approach. A good example of this is a special we co-produced with the BBC, The Wolf Within, which examined dog behavior and its origins in their ancient forbears, the wolf. I firmly believe that Animal Planet's diversity of programming reaches out to anyone who finds animals fascinating, entertaining or just darn loveable. So do we. Back to Features |
 |
Steve Irwin Since October 1996, Steve Irwin has served as the intense, charming and fearless host of THE CROCODILE HUNTER on Animal Planet. Using his bravery, knowledge, irrepressible enthusiasm and undeniable love of animals of every conceivable shape and size, Irwin has rocketed into the living rooms of fans around the world to become one of the most recognized and popular personalities on television.
THE JEFF CORWIN EXPERIENCE Currently executive producer and host of Animal Planet's original prime-time series THE JEFF CORWIN EXPERIENCE, Jeff Corwin has been working for the conservation of endangered species and ecosystems around the world since his early adolescence. Jeff's search for the world's most interesting and unusual animals and people takes him around the globe on Wednesdays and Sundays from 9-10 PM (ET). From India to Africa to Southeast Asia and South America, Jeff will 'EXPERIENCE' the wildlife of jungle, mountain, rainforest and desert. And he'll do it in his own singular style, climbing a cliff or jumping into a river to give the viewer an arm's length view of some of the most incredible animals the earth has to offer.
|
Home | Feature Stories | Vet's Voice | Bird Beat | Fe-Lines | Aunt Debe | Agility | Miss Behavior Dogs-The Right Stuff | Animal Welfare | Favorite Links | Subscribe | Contact Us |
| © Copyright 2000-02
Ashworth Publishing LLC (OK PetGazette) No part of this Web site may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior written permission from Ashworth Publishing LLC (OK PetGazette) |
