1. THE NEW PREMIUM
The premium movie category has evolved since it was first made available in As a matter of fact, what your customers expect from premium channels today is quite different from what they expected just 10 years ago.
What do you think customers want from premium channels?
Premium in 1975
Premium now
Series
Movies
News
Sports
Talk Shows
What type of premium customer are you?
Premium is a Fallback
Premium is a Passion
Nice to have
Lighter premium usage
Convenient, cost effective
Mostly movie focused
Must have
Heavier premium usage
Love quality of content
Original series driven
Knowing these characteristics what would you offer each type of customer?

2. Facilitator’s Guide
Take a moment and circle in the type of programming customers expected from premium channels 10 or 15 years ago? Now take a moment and circle what you think customer’s expect from premium now.
Debrief: What customers expect now from premium channels is changing. Customers know movies are a given with premium channels, but look to STARZ, HBO or SHOWTIME for quality series.
So what type of premium customers are out there. Go ahead and rank yourself on the scale below. Mark a 3 if you are a passionate movie or series watcher and must have a premium channel or -3 of you have premium but only watch it occasionally and think of it mainly as a fallback when you can't find anything to watch.
Debrief: As you can see, there is going to be a large range in the types of customers you will encounter on the phone. And how and what you offer each type of customers should be tailored to what each particular customer expects from premium channels.
Knowing these characteristics what would you offer each type of customer?
Debrief: For those who are only looking at premium channels as a fallback, you might want to mention how cost effective it is to have a premium channel instead of other forms of entertainment.
If you have a very passionate customer who loves and currently has other premium channels, you know they are heavy premium user and are looking for that quality programming, mention exclusive original series like Da Vinci's Demons, or Spartacus.
If you have someone in the middle, it might make sense to mention the benefit having quality original series at an affordable price, with the added benefit of having movies as a fallback.