AdAge reports an interesting twist in the narrative of the newly launched Esquire Network, the offspring of a licensing partnership between NBC Universal and Hearst Magazines: It’s not yet drawing the audience it hopes for, and its format is still fumbling along, but it’s bringing in the ad buys.
Heavy hitters like Chivas Regal, Jeep, and Lexus are among the early advertisers on the network, which, like its namesake, is aiming for “young and affluent men.” But that’s pretty much where the similarities end. The magazine has no control over the content on the channel, which features such programming as “White Collar Brawlers,” “Brew Dogs,” and “Knife Fight.”
Longtime Esquire subscribers must be shaking in their Crockett & Jones boots and nervously fingering their Hermès scarves at the sound of those titles.
“Relationships consumers have with magazines are different than what they have with TV networks and programming,” network GM Adam Stotsky said. “It serves a different audience.”
As AdAge points out, this is why GQ passed on the NBC Universal partnership: It “didn’t want to relinquish control of its brand and ad sales,” according to staff members. Indeed, the only arena in which NBC Universal and Hearst will share ad revenue is Esquire.com. The magazine plans to revamp the site in 2014, while the network will launch its “TV Everywhere” platform there.
Though the network’s viewership pales in comparison to that of entrenched competitor Spike, it is growing every month, and Stotsky told AdAge that he’s “pleased by the network’s initial performance.”
To read more about the Esquire Network’s success so far, visit AdAge.
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