Case Description
The Fashion Channel (TFC) was a widely available cable niche network, reaching 80 million U.S. households. It offers only fashion-oriented programming 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. TFC didn’t have any detailed segmentation and positioning strategy. It attempted to appeal to as broad a group as possible in order to have the highest ratings. It was very successful until other regular network, such as CNN and Lifetime began to emulate its concept and take market share of it. This affected negatively TFC’s advertising revenue and affiliate fees, so the network started to rethink its approach to marketing. In this case, the problem is how to develop the segmentation and positioning and change the current content of programming, so as to get back those market shares from competitors, create more revenues and maintain its leader status.
How would you interpret the consumer and market data if you where Dana Wheeler?
TFC channel, initially, was a market leader, since it had no significant competition in terms of the fashion- specific content it offered. As a matter of fact, the channel was one of the most widely available niche networks, reaching a penetration in the market (market size) of almost 80 million US households. Its profit growth was above the industry average and its distribution system was through cable and satellite television, where the TFC was positioned as a basic channel, so most consumers received it automatically when they signed up for basic cable service. Regarding its cost structure, TFC channel’s negotiated fee was 1.00$ per subscriber per year. This fee was at the low end of the industry range. However, in the industry there was an abundance of competitors and it was a matter of time that some would take note of the TFC channel’s success and try to emulate its strategy. TFC channel hadn’t built strong barriers in the market