Television channel business plan

Introduction

ITN Consulting has extensive experience of developing business plans for media services, including television channels, websites, mobile applications and video-on-demand (VOD) services.

Our work in this area has spanned from individuals launching start-up businesses to national public service broadcasters developing comprehensive new services. We have worked with clients in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia on developing detailed financial models and operational plans for their new ventures.

Our business plans are developed in close collaboration with our clients, working from proposition development and market opportunity, through to detailed costing and revenue projections and operational plans.

Combining our team of strategy and operational consultants with our extensive network of industry professionals and ITN’s long history of launching new services, our business plans are suitable for use during fund-raising at the highest level whilst being grounded in a highly implementable operational reality.

Our approach

ITN Consulting takes a three-phase approach to developing services with clients.

1. Proposition development
2. Detailed financial modelling and operational planning
3. Implementation support

These three phases are interdependent and may vary depending on client needs.

A high-level summary of our approach to each of these phases is included below. For more details and to discuss how ITN Consulting can help with your business plan, please contact us.

1) Proposition development

During this phase we work closely with our clients to develop a detailed proposition which will be the basis of the business planning process.

We focus on rigorously testing a proposition from both a consumer and industry perspective. This includes service positioning, target audience analysis, competitor mapping, understanding the market size, barriers to entry and exit, risk management and developing a sense of purpose and a remit for the new business.

2) Detailed financial modelling and operational planning

During this phase we develop a detailed financial and operational plan for the proposition developed in Phase 1.

In instances where there is an existing business in place which is relaunching or adapting, we undertake a thorough on-the-ground audit in order to understand what technology and operations are already in place. Where there is no existing infrastructure, we plan from the ground up.

Operational planning involves a detailed documentation of the technology, operations and human resource required to realise and operate the business. This varies by business but typically includes areas such as:

• Content planning
• Organisational structure and working patterns
• Technical infrastructure
• Commercial operations
• Legal and regulatory requirements

Excel financial modelling is conducted by our expert strategy consultants and covers:

• Cost modelling based on the operational plan developed above
• Revenue modelling
• Financial outputs including P&L, cashflow and balance sheet
• Funding requirements and NPV analysis
• Scenario development and sensitivity analysis

We typically forecast models over a 5-10 year period depending on our clients’ specific needs. Cost modelling is split into operational (OPEX) and capital (CAPEX) expenditure.

The operational plan and assumptions, inputs and outputs from the financial model are combined into a single business plan document which is delivered alongside the Excel financial model.

3) Implementation support

We are confident in the operational and financial reality of our business planning exercises. As such, we seek to work with our clients all the way through to launch and operation of their business. We have provided interim management, training services and ongoing consultancy to a range of our clients.

Contact us

All our client engagements are unique. If you would like to discuss how ITN Consulting can help you with your business-planning exercise, please get in touch.