Thought Leader Berj Kazanjian Weighs in on Diesel's EOY Report
Strategist and analytics expert Berj Kazanjian (former SVP of Strategic Insights & Analytics at Paramount) provided his perspective on our End of Year Report. See what kind of insights he discovered below!
“As SVP of Strategic Insights & Analytics at Paramount, I recognized that the Diesel Labs data suite was uniquely positioned to help us navigate the rapidly changing media landscape. Tapping into PanelAI communities of Black audiences, BET loyalists, and non-viewers provided rich insight into the current and future state of Black entertainment. We successfully identified and adapted for emerging content competitors and disruptors as they gained relevance among our target audiences.
Diesel Labs’ ability to transform billions of social signals into focused, human-centric intelligence distinguishes them. Their new 2025 End of Year Report further demonstrates the importance of understanding content intelligence insights to help direct strategy. I put on my ‘researcher’ hat and delved into the report myself to tease out the key themes and insights that I think every media analyst should be contemplating:
The cultural zeitgeist is multifaceted and multiple social communities contribute significantly to the overall rankings
– Monitoring audiences across any single platform alone is insufficient to understand your audience.
Title popularity does differ by platform as one might expect, moving in line with audience demographics
– Demographics of social media engagers does differ (skew younger) versus total viewership, but is a critical audience sub group to understand and support given their role in boosting organic content discovery
– Understanding where your audience is engaging most with your content is the key to better understand your audience as a whole, and to help direct those limited marketing dollars to the right place.
Concluded series: Content (even if off air) that has staying power continues to have value in any portfolio
– Title level engagement decay analyses help unpack the relative value of catalog content as well as those that have franchise potential
– Shows like Martin, Meet The Browns, Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and Being Mary Jane kept showing up in conversations within Black social communities. This was often sparked by people rewatching episodes, sharing memorable scenes, and the ongoing relevance of the show’s relationship and workplace themes. As BET content appears on linear TV, BET+, Pluto and the expanding BET FAST channels, this steady engagement is a useful sign of where to invest in the catalog. Options include creating new social-first clip packages, celebrating talent or anniversaries, and tailoring tune-in messages for each platform, such as reaching out to former linear viewers, BET+ viewers, or FAST channel browsers.
The risk/reward tradeoff for franchises versus originals is notable. Distributors make tough choices regularly about where to place content ‘bets’
– It’s clear from the data that originals such as KPop Demon Hunters and Squid Game (now in its third season) far outpace ‘known’ IP. This merits discussion as future content is contemplated.
– Tyler Perry’s Sistas franchise showed how established shows can reduce risk for new investments while still allowing for new storytelling ideas. As viewers move between watching live, discovering shows on BET+, and trying out BET FAST channels, looking at how people engage across titles and platforms can show if the franchise is reaching new or younger audiences, or just shifting attention among existing fans. This helps decide if the next step should be another extension, a spinoff led by the cast, or a new original show designed for a specific platform’s viewing habits.
Diesel Labs became our secret weapon. It helped me give my stakeholders smarter, faster decisions by showing us the disruptors and changes coming our way early. We gained the clarity to see the headwinds ahead across linear, BET+, and FAST, so instead of just reacting to the market, we could plan our moves with purpose.”
Be sure to read Diesel Labs’s 2025 End of Year report for the full story across television and film last year, available here.
