The Content That Works on TV Will Surprise You (And Crush Your Metrics)

Here’s what we’ve learnt actually performs for James Gin on big screens after 820,000 subscribers and 18 months of trial and error:

WHAT WORKS:

Beautiful B-Roll
The stuff that looks incredible on 4K TVs. People rewind it. They show other people. We've had viewers email asking what camera we used for specific shots.

Personality-Driven Series
James being James, consistently. TV viewers form para-social relationships. They're not hate-watching 20-minute episodes. They genuinely like the person.
This is why one-off viral videos don't build brands. Serialised content with consistent personality does.

Educational + Entertaining
The "edutainment" format crushes on TV. People want to learn but be entertained. Think Top Gear, not lectures.
Our distillery deep-dive video is essentially a masterclass in gin production. It's also hilarious. 18 minutes. 2.3 million views.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:

Memes and Trends
By the time someone's on their sofa watching YouTube, they've already seen the meme on TikTok. Don't bother.

Clickbait Without Substance
You got them to click. Now you have 15 minutes to deliver value or they'll never trust you again. On TV, broken promises feel personal.

Product Ads Disguised as Content
On mobile you might get away with a 2-minute product showcase. On TV it's excruciating. Viewers will actively leave.

The pattern:

TV content needs to be something people would choose to watch even if it wasn't branded content. Would someone watch a 12-minute video about gin botanicals if it wasn't trying to sell them gin? Our metrics say yes. Would they watch a 12-minute product demo? Absolutely not.