Here at Little Dot Studios, one of our key business areas is our own digital broadcast network. Featuring more than thirty channel brands across social platforms and OTT video on-demand services, we license over 15,000 hours of hand-picked long-form premium content, with an audience of over 400 million viewers.
But what’s more impressive than these numbers is how our in-house team of content superfans and platform experts work to identify new channels to service niche audiences, from history buffs to royal family fanatics.
Our existing channels are the best place to start! “The huge amounts of data across these channels helps identify new opportunities and make informed, strategic decisions about our next areas of expansion,” says Rich Payne, our Executive Editor, History.
We can better understand who is watching our content and where, whether that’s across YouTube or via Facebook Watch. “Our channel Perspective, which is all about the arts, had an audience of viewers aged 65 and over, so we decided to create Amplified, geared towards a younger audience with a focus on pop culture,” says Nina Lecourt, Platform Manager across our Lifestyle & Health and Documentary & Film content.
We also make use of polls to find out what our community wants to see and help us better schedule content. It’s essential for us to listen to our audience and give them what they want!
Another way of servicing more niche audiences is to identify specific content with a common theme that works well on existing channels.
Take LGBT+ content, for example. Nina revealed: “Creating an LGBT+ channel can raise awareness and share documentaries that bring to life and celebrate the stories of the community. This YouTube channel will go hand-in-hand with other social media accounts so we can share facts, data and historical information.”
On Absolute Documentaries, a brand new channel, The First Pregnant Man has already reached 12,472 views, whilst over on Real Stories, Pakistan’s Transgender: Hidden Lives reached over 9.6 million views. By compiling this content together, there's an opportunity to reach more targeted audiences and create distinct digital communities.
Thanks to this data-led approach, and our own content superfans, we’ve recently launched our LGBT+ channel, Real Pride, just in time for Pride month!
We’re proud to be a team of curious experimenters who are building the digital brands of the future and realising potential in every story. We are always looking for new content partnerships and new platforms to expand our audience reach, so if you’d like to know more, get in touch at hello@littledotstudios.com.