Recently I had the utter delight to be involved in probably some of the biggest and most complex productions I have ever done – and possibly ever done on Christian TV.
This was for one of my clients GOD TV (who I work for extensively) and was a whole series of outside broadcasts in the wonderful country of Israel. GOD TV took a tour of over 1700 people to Israel at the start of May to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the nation, and I was fortunate enough to be tasked with overseeing the TV production for the tour.
Let me say right at the start NONE of what we achieved would have been possible without the MOST incredible and committed team of people working on the productions (another reason to invest in people as they are what make the difference) – many of whom worked 16 straight days often on literally 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night. The team included GOD TV staff from the UK, US and Israel and a host of incredibly talented and wonderfully committed local Israelis who loved the experience of working on what they described as “High End” productions – thank you all.
What we did was a remarkable achievement given the budgets and time constraints we were working with. Most secular broadcasters would have had a dedicated team of people working on EACH project for months in advance and a much higher budget – we had a small team working on ALL the productions – and doing other jobs as well – I cannot tell you the incredible talent of these people I have the privilege of working with – they are awesome.
We did 3 main productions over a 4 day period – all complex in their own ways. I’ll list them in the degree of complexity:
1. On May 12th a live music concert with Kim Clement and his band in the open air on Mount Carmel. This was by far and away the easiest of the productions but looked and sounded incredible. We had 9 cameras on the job including 2 cranes, an 8 piece band and the added challenge that the event started in daylight but ended after sunset – so some interesting lighting challenges to overcome – also this came the day after the marathon I have described in number 3 below.
2. The 60th Anniversary of Israel on May 14th – a 2 ½ hour LIVE broadcast – this was again in an outdoor venue – this time with the added complication that the venue was an archaeological park – so it was a case of not being able to do much of what we wanted in terms of layout but having to come up with solutions – we ended up with8 separate “on camera” areas. This was a 15 camera shoot (including 2 cranes, a 20 meter track and dolly and a stedicam), we had 3 different musical guests – a solo violinist, an opera singing couple and ending up with a contemporary worship band. We also had a very special guest preaching – Benny Hinn, Rory and Wendy Alec hosting and a big video element – of course not forgetting the fireworks from the Mount of Olives (for which we had to provide 22 armed guards), 40 shofar blowers on the walls of the old city and some other smaller things. It was quite mammoth – but I am assured (and agree now I’ve seen it back) it was quite awesome – to me in the truck at the time it felt like total chaos – but that’s the benefit of a great team.
3. The last production (in fact the first chronologically on May 11th) was probably the most complex event I have ever done (at least the other 2 were in one place!!!) – it was coverage of the Global day of Prayer. This was an 18 hour LIVE broadcast. Here we had a studio with our “hosts” that was live all the way through, a 2nd studio at a remote location in Jerusalem, a 12 hour LIVE event we were covering also in Jerusalem (the Call) and remote satellite feeds from various prayer meetings around the globe – New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Egypt, South Africa, Romania, Denmark, UK (which we were also doing the production on) and a feed from the US. It was immense BUT what an incredible experience – to pull all that together was some achievement – also to see all these people in all the different parts of the world uniting in prayer on that one day was humbling.
I’d really encourage you to go to www.god.tv/stream where some of the above is available as Video on Demand – oh I didn’t mention that as well as the broadcast, you could also see each of the above events and locations streamed simultaneously on the internet in their entirity (just to add to the complexity).
It was a great partnership between all the different ministries and broadcasters involved (particularly GOD TV, Global Day of Prayer – who also preprepared a host of inserts for us on the history of GDoP in these nations and the Call) and I believe a truly significant broadcast in Christian terms – not too sure how we top it!!
Having been involved in all the above (and several other things since coming back – including a 10 hour LIVE broadcast of the Frenzy music festival a couple of weekends ago and the ongoing coverage of the Lakeland Outpouring – broadcasting LIVE 4 hours every night – see my previous Blog) – it got me thinking.
In the UK right now “multichannel” viewing makes up approx 45% of ALL TV viewing. What I mean by multichannel is effectively niche broadcasting. There are now 14 Christian TV stations as part of this BUT generally most of these broadcasters are replicating what the others are doing.
Secular broadcasters in the multichannel world seem to have it right – most of them focus in on one thing – a sports channel, a baby channel, a shopping channel, a men’s skewing channel, a woman’s skewing channel etc. However we have Christian Channels – which on the face of it seems to be niche as the above – BUT I’m not sure that is enough. I wonder in fact if as Christian Broadcasters we need to get even more specific, more focused and more niche – and I don’t mean denominationally speaking. No what I mean is maybe our focus needs to be even more refined if we are going to attract audience – the days of “just” being a Christian Channel might not be enough.
For example, there is no doubt that under the guiding hand of Wendy Alec GOD TV has carved out a niche for events based (and particularly LIVE events) programming – as evidenced by the above programmes. If I can be as bold in fact I don’t believe ANY other Christian network comes close to delivering what the GOD TV team deliver – consistently well made LIVE events – in fact I think they even give secular broadcasters a run for their money in some of the stuff they do on a fraction of the budget. I wonder if viewers now associate GOD TV as the place to go to be where God is moving – I do.
I think there is a danger sometimes that a Christian Broadcast want to be a BBC or ITV and do a bit of everything – chat shows, events, teaching etc. BUT maybe would be better carving a niche in the way GOD TV has done in one specific thing and get known for that. I know GOD TV has in the past done other things and maybe it will do again but at least for now it seems clearly focused on event based content and there is no doubt that is what its audience is responding to, the response to the broadcasts, growth etc. has been incredible in the last 3 months alone eclipsing anything achieved in the past. For example the Up to Jerusalem initiative saw over 55,000 people respond and send in prayer requests and the complete obliteration of every wall in the Jerusalem broadcast centre with people’s photos – I have never seen anything like it and I have to say it was quite an experience walking in their day after day and seeing this growing sea of faces – wow!!
I have also wondered in the UK what GOD TV’s commitment to broadcasting the Lakeland Outpouring every night is doing to the other Christian Networks? Out of the people I know, I have anecdotal evidence that a people who usually watch other Christian networks are abandoning them and instead are watching Lakeland every night.. Of course for GOD TV the potential challenge is what next? If the Outpouring stops – what do they follow it with? Well who knows – other than to say as they are obedient to what God wants he’ll reveal that to them, what I do know is that it is further cementing their reputation as the Channel that takes you where God is moving. With some of the other events planned I have no doubt that will continue – in a few weeks for example GOD TV will be the exclusive broadcaster of the CallDC where over 1 million people are expected on the Mall in Washington DC to pray and fast for 12 hours for their nation – and GOD TV will be broadcasting it all live.
Perhaps other Christian broadcasters not only in the UK should be less trying to compete (can I use that word) with what GOD TV is doing and instead try and work out what their niche is and stick with it – then we’ll have complimentary channels that truly do cater for the audiences needs – if I want to watch the blind seeing, the deaf hearing I can, or if I’m bored of that and want to instead hear a local church pastor preaching to his congregation then I can – or I can watch a phone in show and listen to people talk about anything and everything……. though in all honesty why I would not stick with the miracles I’m not sure.
Maybe you’re a programme producer or a ministry reading this and thinking that I’m talking only about the broadcasters – well yes, but the same is true for you. What makes your programme stand out from the 40 others that are on the same channel – what are you saying that’s niche enough to resonate with sufficient people to build an audience. The fact the programme is well produced and has good production values goes without saying (or it should) no, I mean content – what makes your programme different to the others – in marketing terms what’s your USP (Unique Selling Point) – can I encourage you to spend time finding your niche and focus on it – I’ll guarantee you will have more success that way – also don’t try and compete with other programme makers by copying them – be unique God made you that way be an expression of his creativity in your creativity.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on all this – please tell me if you think I’m onto something here or maybe you think I’ve missed it entirely – let me know.
This was for one of my clients GOD TV (who I work for extensively) and was a whole series of outside broadcasts in the wonderful country of Israel. GOD TV took a tour of over 1700 people to Israel at the start of May to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the nation, and I was fortunate enough to be tasked with overseeing the TV production for the tour.
Let me say right at the start NONE of what we achieved would have been possible without the MOST incredible and committed team of people working on the productions (another reason to invest in people as they are what make the difference) – many of whom worked 16 straight days often on literally 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night. The team included GOD TV staff from the UK, US and Israel and a host of incredibly talented and wonderfully committed local Israelis who loved the experience of working on what they described as “High End” productions – thank you all.
What we did was a remarkable achievement given the budgets and time constraints we were working with. Most secular broadcasters would have had a dedicated team of people working on EACH project for months in advance and a much higher budget – we had a small team working on ALL the productions – and doing other jobs as well – I cannot tell you the incredible talent of these people I have the privilege of working with – they are awesome.
We did 3 main productions over a 4 day period – all complex in their own ways. I’ll list them in the degree of complexity:
1. On May 12th a live music concert with Kim Clement and his band in the open air on Mount Carmel. This was by far and away the easiest of the productions but looked and sounded incredible. We had 9 cameras on the job including 2 cranes, an 8 piece band and the added challenge that the event started in daylight but ended after sunset – so some interesting lighting challenges to overcome – also this came the day after the marathon I have described in number 3 below.
2. The 60th Anniversary of Israel on May 14th – a 2 ½ hour LIVE broadcast – this was again in an outdoor venue – this time with the added complication that the venue was an archaeological park – so it was a case of not being able to do much of what we wanted in terms of layout but having to come up with solutions – we ended up with8 separate “on camera” areas. This was a 15 camera shoot (including 2 cranes, a 20 meter track and dolly and a stedicam), we had 3 different musical guests – a solo violinist, an opera singing couple and ending up with a contemporary worship band. We also had a very special guest preaching – Benny Hinn, Rory and Wendy Alec hosting and a big video element – of course not forgetting the fireworks from the Mount of Olives (for which we had to provide 22 armed guards), 40 shofar blowers on the walls of the old city and some other smaller things. It was quite mammoth – but I am assured (and agree now I’ve seen it back) it was quite awesome – to me in the truck at the time it felt like total chaos – but that’s the benefit of a great team.
3. The last production (in fact the first chronologically on May 11th) was probably the most complex event I have ever done (at least the other 2 were in one place!!!) – it was coverage of the Global day of Prayer. This was an 18 hour LIVE broadcast. Here we had a studio with our “hosts” that was live all the way through, a 2nd studio at a remote location in Jerusalem, a 12 hour LIVE event we were covering also in Jerusalem (the Call) and remote satellite feeds from various prayer meetings around the globe – New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Egypt, South Africa, Romania, Denmark, UK (which we were also doing the production on) and a feed from the US. It was immense BUT what an incredible experience – to pull all that together was some achievement – also to see all these people in all the different parts of the world uniting in prayer on that one day was humbling.
I’d really encourage you to go to www.god.tv/stream where some of the above is available as Video on Demand – oh I didn’t mention that as well as the broadcast, you could also see each of the above events and locations streamed simultaneously on the internet in their entirity (just to add to the complexity).
It was a great partnership between all the different ministries and broadcasters involved (particularly GOD TV, Global Day of Prayer – who also preprepared a host of inserts for us on the history of GDoP in these nations and the Call) and I believe a truly significant broadcast in Christian terms – not too sure how we top it!!
Having been involved in all the above (and several other things since coming back – including a 10 hour LIVE broadcast of the Frenzy music festival a couple of weekends ago and the ongoing coverage of the Lakeland Outpouring – broadcasting LIVE 4 hours every night – see my previous Blog) – it got me thinking.
In the UK right now “multichannel” viewing makes up approx 45% of ALL TV viewing. What I mean by multichannel is effectively niche broadcasting. There are now 14 Christian TV stations as part of this BUT generally most of these broadcasters are replicating what the others are doing.
Secular broadcasters in the multichannel world seem to have it right – most of them focus in on one thing – a sports channel, a baby channel, a shopping channel, a men’s skewing channel, a woman’s skewing channel etc. However we have Christian Channels – which on the face of it seems to be niche as the above – BUT I’m not sure that is enough. I wonder in fact if as Christian Broadcasters we need to get even more specific, more focused and more niche – and I don’t mean denominationally speaking. No what I mean is maybe our focus needs to be even more refined if we are going to attract audience – the days of “just” being a Christian Channel might not be enough.
For example, there is no doubt that under the guiding hand of Wendy Alec GOD TV has carved out a niche for events based (and particularly LIVE events) programming – as evidenced by the above programmes. If I can be as bold in fact I don’t believe ANY other Christian network comes close to delivering what the GOD TV team deliver – consistently well made LIVE events – in fact I think they even give secular broadcasters a run for their money in some of the stuff they do on a fraction of the budget. I wonder if viewers now associate GOD TV as the place to go to be where God is moving – I do.
I think there is a danger sometimes that a Christian Broadcast want to be a BBC or ITV and do a bit of everything – chat shows, events, teaching etc. BUT maybe would be better carving a niche in the way GOD TV has done in one specific thing and get known for that. I know GOD TV has in the past done other things and maybe it will do again but at least for now it seems clearly focused on event based content and there is no doubt that is what its audience is responding to, the response to the broadcasts, growth etc. has been incredible in the last 3 months alone eclipsing anything achieved in the past. For example the Up to Jerusalem initiative saw over 55,000 people respond and send in prayer requests and the complete obliteration of every wall in the Jerusalem broadcast centre with people’s photos – I have never seen anything like it and I have to say it was quite an experience walking in their day after day and seeing this growing sea of faces – wow!!
I have also wondered in the UK what GOD TV’s commitment to broadcasting the Lakeland Outpouring every night is doing to the other Christian Networks? Out of the people I know, I have anecdotal evidence that a people who usually watch other Christian networks are abandoning them and instead are watching Lakeland every night.. Of course for GOD TV the potential challenge is what next? If the Outpouring stops – what do they follow it with? Well who knows – other than to say as they are obedient to what God wants he’ll reveal that to them, what I do know is that it is further cementing their reputation as the Channel that takes you where God is moving. With some of the other events planned I have no doubt that will continue – in a few weeks for example GOD TV will be the exclusive broadcaster of the CallDC where over 1 million people are expected on the Mall in Washington DC to pray and fast for 12 hours for their nation – and GOD TV will be broadcasting it all live.
Perhaps other Christian broadcasters not only in the UK should be less trying to compete (can I use that word) with what GOD TV is doing and instead try and work out what their niche is and stick with it – then we’ll have complimentary channels that truly do cater for the audiences needs – if I want to watch the blind seeing, the deaf hearing I can, or if I’m bored of that and want to instead hear a local church pastor preaching to his congregation then I can – or I can watch a phone in show and listen to people talk about anything and everything……. though in all honesty why I would not stick with the miracles I’m not sure.
Maybe you’re a programme producer or a ministry reading this and thinking that I’m talking only about the broadcasters – well yes, but the same is true for you. What makes your programme stand out from the 40 others that are on the same channel – what are you saying that’s niche enough to resonate with sufficient people to build an audience. The fact the programme is well produced and has good production values goes without saying (or it should) no, I mean content – what makes your programme different to the others – in marketing terms what’s your USP (Unique Selling Point) – can I encourage you to spend time finding your niche and focus on it – I’ll guarantee you will have more success that way – also don’t try and compete with other programme makers by copying them – be unique God made you that way be an expression of his creativity in your creativity.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on all this – please tell me if you think I’m onto something here or maybe you think I’ve missed it entirely – let me know.
