Happy Gulf of Presidents Day War & Peaceniks. Ready for a trip to Germany?
A little over a week ago, I shared a case study from Channel 4 and how they used long-form episodes of TV on YouTube to build out their younger audience and bring in new revenues.
Today, I’m bringing you another exclusive interview on the same trend - this time with Linette Zaulich who heads up unscripted FAST and D2C streaming for ZDF Studios, one of the largest content studios on earth and the commercial arm of Germany’s largest broadcaster, ZDF.
Linette represents one of the biggest libraries of TV content in the world - the ZDF catalog as well as catalogs for partner producers. She is also one of the most inventive execs I know in traditional TV, in terms of digital experimentation, business model innovation, and successful execution on social video. Specifically she was one of the first to move fast into FAST and one of the earliest to make big moves on YouTube. To do this all, inside an OG Public Service Media company like ZDF, takes a plethora of vision and a shit-ton of perseverance.
In our interview, Linette offers best practices for publishers and producers on how to build and use long-form content on YouTube. Her story about their massive success for a six-hour-long piece of content is mind-blowing. She details an amazing example of how to use TikTok to successfully move younger audiences to long-form content on YouTube. Linette also breaks down how ZDF was one of the first to use new tech from YouTube to expand into brand new territories for ZDF.
Recently, Digital i released data showing that 73% of all content watched on YouTube is now long-form, 30 minutes or more.
Linette and ZDF Studios seemed to get this note before everyone else, because they’ve been playing in long-form on YouTube since 2017. That many hours of practice has made them best in class on these platforms. If the commercial arm of a Public Broadcaster can do it, truly anyone can - but only if you get can over your organization’s fear of finding out, if you have to have the courage to test and learn, and if you have to have the patience to persevere.
Thanks to Linette for this great conversation. I hope you enjoy it.
Enjoy the week!
ESHAP
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