Discovery is redoubling its effort to reach coveted millennial viewers through its Seeker online network, the company said Thursday, planning to revamp the digital brand with virtual reality and more programming.
Seeker, which Discovery launched more than a year ago on the Web and through accounts on social networks like Facebook, will relaunch its web site in May. It aims to debut more than 250 videos a month, and Discovery will promote Seeker with a dedicated marketing campaign, including promotion on its traditional linear networks.
Millennials, the demographic of young consumers generally under the age of about 35, are as enticing to traditional TV programmers as they are elusive. More than 83 million strong, they represent the biggest share of the U.S. population after last year surpassing baby boomers in number, but their entertainment habits gravitate away from regular television. People 35 and younger spend more time on a mobile device or a computer than they do watching live TV, ComScore reported in a study this week.
Thursday, in an announcement as part of the company’s upfront presentation, Discovery said Seeker’s science and exploration focus would widen to new programming like “Seeker VR,” which will debut a series of short-form virtual-reality documentaries immersing audiences in the translocation of rhinos in Nepal. More VR content, such as “Edge of the Earth 360” in a weather balloon at the lip of Earth’s atmosphere, will debut regularly beginning in May.
“Seeker Live” will debut in May with a week of livestreams featuring social influencers and other personalities. “Seeker Sabbatical” is a special series invite some of the web’s biggest personalities on travel, starting with YouTuber Laci Green‘s pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in the Spanish countryside.
Discovery will roll out a slate of short-form documentaries, called “Seeker Docs,” profiling people like Dr. Tiffany Anderson, a school superintendent who has transformed one of the worst-performing school systems, to the Black Mambas, an all-female anti-poaching group in South Africa.