The Fashion Channel Case Analysis

Andreas Wiliantoro Ruben Petri Zehua Su Tuanfeng Yu Yuchen Zhou

Case analysis: fashion channel write up

“TFC was a successful cable TV network- and the only network dedicated solely to fashion (Stahl,2007)”. It was one of the most widely available niche networks with an 80 million subscriber base (Stahl,2007). It has had a constant growth above the industry average until the emergence of new competitors such as CNN and Lifetime in 2006. One of the most important strengths of TFC is the fact that the channel is in the basic cable package. As opposed to CNN or Lifetime, TFC is not a pay channel and thus has a higher possibility to reach more viewers than its competitors. However, TFC is currently facing two major problems. These are an unclear targeting

group and an increased power of competitors. These problems could be also seen as their weakness. Since their target group is unclear, unclear strategies might be formulated that could hinder the growth of the channel. Based on the customer and market data from the case, the largest current customer base of TFC are females between the age of 35 and 54 (representing 27.45% of the viewers). While their ideal targeting groups is slightly younger females from the age of 18 to 34, they only make up for 20.13% of the viewers. Generally, this group likes to follow the way celebrities dress. Information about discounts in fashion stores and fashion recommendations are valued as well by this age range. However, it should be noted that their income might be lower compared to other age ranges. On the other hand, male viewers could also represent an interesting customer base for the channel. Males nevertheless, focus more on new designs, fashion trends and new brands. Different to young females, males can be less sensitive to price. Unfortunately, TFC has the lowest market share with only 1.1M households (representing 1% of the market share). Besides, the biggest customer bases for Fashion Today are females ranging from...