Read an interesting article today about how the cable TV network TLC is struggling with ratings and identity. They made some bad business decisions (some have been fired including one at the top) but I think it’s also because they didn’t grasp branding.

TLC at one time had one of the hottest reality TV shows on cable: Trading Spaces. My wife and I liked it a lot. But it’s no longer on top. I think there are several reasons (time just ran out on it, changed format too much, cast turnover, etc), but what’s important is that the show isn’t on top anymore.

Where I think TLC made their mistake was in branding themselves with that show. They offer many shows but Trading Spaces is what they were known for. When they tried to introduce other shows, people thought, “But this isn’t like Trading Spaces” or “This is too much like Trading Spaces“. In both cases, viewers didn’t come back.

TLC adopted a tagline based on the show: “Life Unscripted” but that pinned them in too tightly. They have some room to grow with that tag…I think it’s good. But they tied it to one show. They wanted their branding to be “Life Unscripted” but viewers saw their branding as “The channel with Trading Spaces on it”. And once the show died, so did the brand…and TLC with it.

So here’s my point: When you have a network of ministries, don’t tie your brand too tightly to the one doing the best. If it were to fail, could the others survive?