THE way we watch TV is changing.
I know you know that already.
The days of a family gathering around the TV set to watch a favourite programme at a particular time have long gone.
But the new landscape that replaced it – streaming services like Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV are now facing a new challenge. YouTube might be a household name that is two decades old but the content watched on it and the audience it attracts has transformed.
And that presents an opportunity according to Lee Hicken.
Lee is the founder of The City Talking, a Leeds-based film maker behind the Amazon Prime series about Leeds United called Take Us Home narrated by Hollywood actor Russell Crowe.
Other work for Amazon Prime includes the football documentaries Rangers72 and Do You Want to Win? as well as rugby league film As Good As It Gets?
The Yorkshire studio’s latest work is a documentary about the Spain football captain Alavaro Morata.
He is a complex character who has played in Italy and for Chelsea and is a hero in Spain.
As well as following his footballing career, the documentary also covered his personal life – he is married to Italian model and fashion and beauty entrepreneur Alice Campello.
Lee said that making the film faced a challenge when the couple announced they were splitting up last year.
But they later reconciled and I pointed out to Lee that truth is stranger than fiction: you couldn’t have written a better plot.
Having rebranded his business Studio TCT, Lee and business partners including former Leeds United chief executive and Hull City chairman Adam Pearson and football agent Hayden Evans are now looking to raise money through a crowdfunding platform to enable them to go out and make a series of films and series to broadcast on YouTube.
Lee told me: “The biggest and fastest growing ‘living room’ channel in the world is YouTube and the content is evolving at a rapid rate.
“It is no longer the platform only for bedroom streamers, vlogs and attempts to go viral… long-form, premium content is becoming more and more important for the platform and YouTube audiences.”
It is content that you can watch on TV as well as on your phone and YouTube is now competing with Netflix and Disney on content of over 30 minutes long like films and series.
“The key to this growth is the demand from younger audiences and the YouTube app is now becoming the default app on many TVs,” Lee added.
YouTube is now the leading streamer of content in the US and it is a multi-billion dollar market.
Studio TCT’s fundraising campaign is launching imminently and Adam and Lee hope to attract investors including Leeds United and other sports fans who have already viewed the work created by the company.
As well as aiming to provide a return on their stake, Lee said that investors would be offered exclusive opportunities such as attending premieres and other events.
The investment pitch from Studio TCT on the Republic Europe crowdfunding platform (formerly known as Seedrs), says: “We create world-class feature films & docuseries that fuse sports, culture, and storytelling at the highest level.
“We aim to set a new benchmark for premium storytelling on YouTube – inspiring global audiences while delivering scalable, sustainable returns for our partners and investors.”
Studio TCT already has plans for a dedicated Leeds United channel and there will be other channels focused on true crime, travel and lifestyle.
It is a fascinating proposition in a fast moving and very exciting sector.
What Studio TCT already has is a strong pedigree as a quality film maker and producer and that is a big positive.
To find out more about it have a look at:
https://europe.republic.com/
I’m already thinking about ideas I can pitch to them for future films.
What about one featuring a handsome young former business journalist turned blogger, event host and communications expert?
What do you mean who am I on about?
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APPARENTLY it was 25 years ago this week that Leeds United beat Liverpool in an epic game at Elland Road that featured four goals scored by Aussie striker Mark Viduka.
I read a piece on the BBC website where the corporation’s Leeds United commentator Adam Pope reflected on one of the most memorable matches in the Premier League.
In a blog on the BBC website he wrote: “I remember going with clients when I worked at TEAMtalk on a bitterly cold November Saturday. It looked all over for Leeds as Liverpool went 2-0 up but Mark Viduka took centre stage as if he was an emperor.”
Mention of TEAMTalk reminded me that I was also there that day as a guest of Sports.com another firm in the nascent online sports news sector which developed in Leeds after the dotcom boom in the late 1990s.
Yes it was a great match and Viduka, an often moody character, was on fire that particular day as I enjoyed the hospitality watching the match from the comfy seats followed by food and drinks served in a warm suite in the bowels of Elland Road.
But my abiding memory of that day is the then England cricket captain Nasser Hussain was also a guest of Sports.com and spent the entire time slumped in his seat with a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes looking morose and barely bothering to respond to fellow guests’ attempts at conversation.
Apparently Nasser is a Leeds fan but you’d have never known it that day.
They do say never meet your heroes.
I have noticed that since he joined Sky Sports as a cricket commentator he has developed what could be described as a personality.
But I think Geoff Boycott would have been better value that day.
And he’s a Manchester United fan.
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ONE of the essential things you need to thrive and succeed in business is common sense.
And one of the best purveyors of that, in my experience, is former finance director Neil Muffitt.
After a career acting as a portfolio finance director and recruiting finance staff for firms at first FDYL and latterly Headstar, Neil is now retired and busy indulging his theatrical bent in amateur dramatics and as a walking tour guide in the historic North Yorkshire town of Knaresborough.
I have benefitted from plenty of wise counsel from Neil over the years.
He now spends less time on LinkedIn, but his rare comments and observations are an entertaining blend of common sense and humour.
Someone who posted a lengthy comment complaining about fee increases by Companies House received this tart response from Neil: “Oh FFS. Just get on and run your business.”
It made me laugh out loud and plenty of other people appreciated the sentiment given the number of likes his comment had received.
As I scrolled further down my LinkedIn feed I looked for something else that was either entertaining or useful to read – or even both.
But given this business networking platform is now dominated by posts that seem to be all about grandstanding or moaning, it was slim pickings.
I did read a post by someone listing their “learnings” from the challenges of running a business.
It struck me that the one positive they hadn’t listed about running your own business is that you can have the time to make inane lists on LinkedIn.
Of course I didn’t point that out in a comment.
Well I’m not as bright, brave or as searingly honest as Neil Muffitt.
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WHEN I read the news this week that Asda was selling the Leon restaurant chain I got that sense of déjà vu all over again.
I can’t claim credit for the phrase “It’s like déjà vu all over again”, that is attributed to American baseball player Yogi Berra.
I’m assuming that he was also the inspiration for Hanna-Barbera’s cartoon character Yogi Bear but the studio always denied that and said it was a coincidence.
As a player and a coach, Yogi Berra wasn’t just a great sportsman but also a provider of memorable quotes which became known as “Yogi-isms”.
Like “It ain’t over ‘til its over” and “you can observe a lot by watching”.
Giving directions to a team-mate on how to get to his home in New Jersey, Yogi told him: “When you get to a fork in the road, take it.”
Anyway, after that slight deviation from the intended narrative (which some might see as an amuse-bouche and others as irrelevant claptrap), I’ll get back to my point.
Which is that Asda has sold the Leon fast-food restaurant chain back to its founder John Vincent for a sum significantly less than was paid for the business four years ago by Asda’s then owners Mohsin and Zuber Issa.
According to The Times Vincent sold Leon for £100m and bought it back this week for between £30m and £50m.
It reminded me of when Tesco, Britain’s biggest supermarket chain, also fancied itself as a restaurant owner and paid £49m for the Giraffe chain but ended up selling it three years later to the Harry Ramsden’s owner Boparan for an “undisclosed sum” which was probably significantly less than it paid for it.
Someone close to the deal once told me that Tesco’s acquisition of Giraffe was done quickly and without approval by the board because they only had sign-off on any deals worth more than £50m.
I bet they regretted that.
So the moral of these stories is that we might have some of the best and well run supermarket chains in the world but that doesn’t make them any good at running restaurants.
By the way, my favourite Yogi-ism was when Yogi Berra was explaining why he no longer went to Ruggeri’s, a St. Louis restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
Have a great weekend.