Based On a True Story

We all love storytelling––whether you love books, music, art, poetry, movies, or TV, we engage with stories on a daily basis. But there is nothing more successful than the intersectionality of these art forms, like the combination of Emily Dickinson’s poetry and the series Dickinson or Red Hot Chili Peppers’ hit song “Throw Away Your Television.”

Most recently, with the rise of podcasts, TV has collided with podcasts. Only Murders In the Building started the podcast/television lovefest, sparking a new TV trend. 

On this Google Trends graph featuring the SEO tendencies for “podcasts,” we can see that around July 2021, there was an incline in popularity.  In August 2021, Only Murders In The Building was first released. Season three began releasing weekly episodes this summer; the first two episodes airing on August 8th (totaling 70 minutes) earned 719 million minutes streamed, showing that roughly 10.3 million people watched the first episodes.

According to the book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, “big companies transformed a traditional marketing and customer support organization into one that is led by the groundswell.1” However, in the entertainment industry, big companies shouldn’t just redevelop marketing techniques; instead, studios need to create pre-approved content by the groundswell, profiting off of an existing market. 

For example, to many, the American sitcom is dying, and so is radio. But, with the popularity of reboots and podcast series, Paramount Plus modernizing one of their classic (white) American sitcom: Fraiser. With the series’ reboot, the streaming service capitalizes off of the podcast/tv duo as well as the nostalgia of the original series. 

Launching in July 2020, Peacock, the NBC streaming service, is a relatively new and underutilized platform. Despite being relatively inexpensive ($5.99 with ads, $11.99 without ads, and $1.99 for students), home of NBC originals (Monk, Modern Family, Psych), and features the news and sports, they have few original series and kids content making it a less desirable streaming service. 

But, with the proven success of Only Murders In The Building, Peacock is conforming to the Groundswell and following the three pieces of advice:  “Take small steps that have a big impact2…Have a vision and a plan3…Build leaders into the plan.4” In order for the young streaming service to compete with goliaths like Netflix and Disney Plus, Peacock needs to take steps to rectify the gaps in their service. 

The first small step Peacock took was creating original content. The first show Peacock created, A Brave New World, featured a sci-fi utopian storyline. In addition to premiering on a new streaming service, the utopian/dystopian era of content started and ended with Divergent and The Hunger Games five to six years prior. With poor viewership, the historic show for the series also marked the first cancellation of the network. 

 

With a vision of original content, Peacock has taken steps to create popular series by producing original content that taps into current television trends. Bel-air, The Fresh Prince of Bel-air reboot, for example, embraces the reboot trend and the Black community. Unlike the original, the spin-off is a 45-minute drama highlighting Black pain in the US. This is a powerful parallel to frivolous reboots like Frasier or How I Met Your Father, as the creation of this plan demonstrates Peacock’s goal of entertaining original content. Still, the series doesn’t incorporate prominent actors that could help lead the platform into a stronger tomorrow. 

Based On A True Story, on the other hand, has taken the series, podcasts, and Peacock to the next level. Podcasts, or more specifically, true crime podcasts, are growing in popularity by the day—fan favorites like My Favorite Murder and Dr. Death have turned gruesome crimes into a profitable industry. The Dr. Death podcast and the Peacock series, Dr. Death, have capitalized off serial killers, and so has Netflix with Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. But despite all the fame, Dr. Death and Ted Bundy don’t reap the profits of fame and fortune. But what if they did? Here lies the premise of Based On A True Story. 

Here, Peacock has not only embraced the podcast/TV genre but has pushed the needle forward to what a murder podcast can be, or at least a fresh and refreshing view of the subgenre, ultimately energizing the groundswell and fan base. The series also follows the third rule in how to connect and transform the groundswell, as the series brings leaders into the project, or in entertainment lingo, incorporates stars and producers to help bring eyes to the new project. Starring Big Bang Theory aluma Kaley Cuoco, The Mindy Show actor Chris Messina, Stranger Things’s Natalie Dryer, and produced by Jason Bateman, this show strengthens Peacock’s brand image as these stars individually promote the show and, therefore, the streaming service. 

Peacock continues to create series and films targeting current television trends––ultimately listening and embracing the groundswell––their brand will become a necessary service in everyone’s streaming arsenal. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it; Peacock is seriously killing it. 

1 Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff. Groundswell, Expanded and Revised. Edition_ Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies  -Harvard Business Press (2011) (Kindle Locations 3487-3488). Kindle Edition. 

2 Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff. Groundswell, Expanded and Revised. Edition_ Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies  -Harvard Business Press (2011) (Kindle Location 3546). Kindle Edition. 

3 Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff. Groundswell, Expanded and Revised. Edition_ Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies  -Harvard Business Press (2011) (Kindle Location 3552). Kindle Edition. 

4 Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff. Groundswell, Expanded and Revised. Edition_ Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies  -Harvard Business Press (2011) (Kindle Locations 3557-3558). Kindle Edition.