Advanced Television

Fox leads channel brand recognition

April 23, 2014

The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead

In a worldwide brand study commissioned by Fox International Channels (FIC) and conducted by Phoenix Marketing International, Fox delivered 94 per cent brand awareness, and beat out all competing channels for overall brand strength.  The channel brands Fox outscored included Discovery, Disney, Warner Bros and NBC Universal.

Local brands were also included in the research. The study polled pay-TV subscribers across Europe, Asia and Latin American and included up to 24 channels in each country across Entertainment, Factual, Lifestyle and Sports. The study includes a total of 24,000 respondents.

In another key finding, 34 per cent of respondents said they would switch platforms for Fox – compared to a global average of 24 per cent for all leading brands in the study. FIC’s National Geographic Channel also scored highly at 32 per cent.

Respondents also agreed in large numbers that Fox brings them the best shows before other TV networks. “First On Fox” has been a key promise of Fox around the world, known for bringing The Walking Dead to international audiences only hours after the US premiere. Additionally, a substantial part of Fox’s prime time schedule around the world is first-run series.

In Europe, the study asked the opinions of pay-TV subscribers in 11 countries namely; UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway, Poland, Russia and Bulgaria.

In all of these countries, the Fox brand has very high brand awareness, notably over 97 per cent in five of them. Furthermore, pay-TV subscribers rank FOX the number one US studio for overall brand strength in the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria and the UK.

In the UK, Fox achieved strong results with 98 per cent brand awareness.  The UK ranked Fox joint #1 brand with HBO for Best Programmes before others and was the #1 general entertainment channel for Must Watch content.

Other notable findings include the wide recognition that Fox is the TV channel most likely to break new programmes first in a country, and that the channel is the best place to see great American series.  Lastly, in Italy, Poland, Russia and Spain, FOX is the #1 channel that people would consider switching Pay TV platforms for, ranking very highly everywhere else.

“It’s clear that pay-TV subscribers value the “First on Fox” experience – so much that fully a third would switch platforms to get it. “ said Hernan Lopez, President & CEO, FIC.

“When Phoenix set out to uncover how strongly connected viewers feel to major television brands, we had no preconceived notion about what the results would be.  Now we see clearly how strong the FOX brand is around the globe,” said Edye Twer, President of Converged Technology and Media at Phoenix Marketing International.

The Phoenix Marketing International study also showed that Fox’s most recognisable programme franchises are The Walking Dead and The Simpsons. Season Four of The Walking Dead just concluded with its highest rated finale ever.

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Research