Turning Up The Volume: Dan Monaghan on Creating Noisy Content that Cuts Through

Dan Monaghan has spent his career chasing the shows that make noise. Now, as Foxtel Group's Executive Director of Entertainment Content, he's ready to make some noise of his own. We sit down with Dan to talk about the shows that get people talking, the trends shaping the industry, and what he's most excited about in his new role - because in a crowded market, the loudest content always wins. 

Q: Could you tell us about yourself, and your role here at Foxtel Group?

My role at Foxtel Group is Executive Director of Entertainment Content. I look after the programmers and commissioners of drama and unscripted, with a view across every piece of entertainment content that goes on our platforms, making sure we have the best possible offering. 

I only joined two months ago, but I've worked in this industry for over 20 years now.  

Before Foxtel Group, I worked most of my career at Network 10, which included Paramount+, working across free-to-air and streaming. I was at Network 10 for 17 years. 

I actually started my career in production when I was in my early 20s, and moved for a brief period into advertising on the creative side, which I didn't love as much as TV, so I pursued every opportunity I could to get back in the door until I got my start in programming at Network 10.  

Q: Can you walk us through your career journey? 

My career has been quite ground up. I didn't know anyone in the industry, but I always wanted to work in it.  I studied a communications degree in the early 2000s, and once I'd completed that, I flew to London in the hopes of finding work - which wasn't easy, even then. I landed as a production assistant on a morning show on ITV, which was everything you'd want it to be. I got paid nothing, but I got to travel around the country collecting stories for TV and be part of the industry I'd always dreamed about. 

When I eventually came home, I found it really hard to crack into the Australian market; it's really small, and I didn't have any connections. When a role came up at Network 10, I knew it was the right move. I joined as a programming assistant in 2008 and that's where my career really began to take shape. 

I was ambitious about where I wanted to go, and I admired the Head of Programming there at the time, so I pursued different roles across the years to get a foot in that door. Across those 17 years I held about six or seven different titles - from programming associate all the way through to Senior Vice President - and by the time I left, I'd been leading commissioning, acquisitions and the production, creative and marketing teams for the best part of a decade. It was a big job and I really enjoyed it, but I was ready for a new challenge. 

Q: You've worked alongside Foxtel Group in the industry for years. What was your perception from the outside, and what drew you here? 

There are a lot of similarities between my previous role and this one. I always looked to Foxtel as the gold standard of premium content decisions, particularly in the scripted world. They always made such great Australian dramas that resonated with audiences, that were held in high regard by both audiences and critics, locally and internationally. Foxtel has always been the strongest brand and destination for premium drama and entertainment. 

I'd been at a company that was highly regarded in a lot of different areas, particularly unscripted, comedy and reality, but I had been thriving as I worked more in the drama space for the past six years across streaming. So, when the Foxtel role came along, I thought, what a great opportunity to come and work with a team that has created such fantastic content for so many years. 

Q: You've got a background working across both free-to-air and streaming — how does this shape your approach to commissioning in your role now? 

Free-to-air gets a report card every day that's very public. Their ratings are out there for everyone to see and blissfully streaming isn't quite like that. You get real-time data that's incredibly accurate, but it's not quite as public, which gives Content decision makers pause to really review, understand and celebrate the content for its performance metrics against the business needs 

The similarity is that you always want to make the best content for your platform – that never changes. What we need here at Foxtel and Binge, and what we'll continue to build on, is being noisy.  

In such a cluttered market, we need shows that make people say ‘yes, I'm going to part with my money to come over and watch that’. The Australian consumer is open to subscribing to multiple streaming services, and we want to be front of mind when they’re making the household decision of what service to subscribe to. Unapologetically entertaining shows, and really astute content decisions, that's what we're building towards. 

Q: What does a great content slate look like to you? 

It's important to say I'm not starting from scratch. This is not a new business, and it's not a complete 180 on the content strategy. What we have in train is strong. So, for me, as a new starter, it's about looking at what has worked in the past and what we need to commission to keep that up and what we need to grow; growth is the priority for my team and the business.  

It’s finding what IP is in market, what new noisy stories are out there. What's going to make people stop in their tracks when they see a piece of creative artwork or read an article and think, I want to watch that, I have to watch that. I have to watch that before I watch Heated Rivalry series 2. How do we win in that conversation? Who's the star talent that will help us get that consumer to foreground us? 

We will continue having entertaining, well-made, well-written shows. We will be a place that attracts great talent, and a place where people think, those are the shows I want to watch, and I need to subscribe to BINGE or get onto Foxtel to watch them. 

Q: So, what trends are you seeing in the industry right now? 

The industry is leaning heavily on IP; on books and on existing stories. It doesn't have to be a New York Times bestseller, but it does have to have a rabid fan base. And everyone is leaning more on talent, looking for that big star in each show. In this cluttered market, it makes it easier for the marketing and PR teams to put your show front and centre. Everything in the scripted world must start with a great script, and exceptional talent behind the camera which is what brings the vibrancy onto screen. And when you pair that with a recognisable face in front of the camera and a story people already love, that's when a show really has an opportunity to gain groundswell momentum. 

In the unscripted space, Australians remain very high Reality TV consumers. The most popular show in the country right now is Married at First Sight. It's loud, it's characters are authentic, and it's unashamedly entertaining. And at Foxtel we need to harness those globally recognised brands. Everything that's cutting through right now is already a brand. Shows like Traitors, Selling Houses Australia, the Housewives franchise; these big brands that have been around for a while aren't going anywhere. That's not to say we can't unearth new ones, but it is harder in streaming to launch brand new IP.

So for us it’ll be about how we harness that need for our platform, because frankly it's easier to convert someone on a global brand than on something that has to be sold from scratch.

Q: Looking ahead, what are you most excited about in the next 12 months? 

On the content side, I'm really excited for Colin from Accounts. I've read the scripts and they are laugh-out-loud. I'm really excited for that to land mid-year. 

And I love Wentworth, so I'm very excited about the next iteration and where this story takes us - they're evolving it in a really exciting, propulsive way. Apocalypse is also an interesting one for us; it's a compelling concept, especially for our platform that is the home to dystopian shows like The Walking Dead. 

Beyond what's on the slate right now, I'm genuinely looking forward to getting my teeth into what comes next - what the 2027 slate looks like. We've got some really good options in both the scripted and unscripted space, and what we're acquiring for the platform right now is strong. We just have to make it all land! 

Q: What would you say are your career highlights? 

I've only been here two months, so my highlights here are still to come, and I'm looking forward to that. But at my previous role, I’ve worked across some of the biggest brands in the world and the country, with MasterChef, Taskmaster, Gogglebox, The Masked Singer, Bachelor Franchise, Have You Been Paying Attention as well as Survivor Australia, which is the gold standard version; something to be really proud of. And in the scripted space, Last King of the Cross and Fake with Asher Keddie were both huge for the platform. 

There's no straight recipe for success where content is concerned. You have to take some calculated risks. I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing what we can create here. 

Q: Finally, what career advice would you offer someone just starting out? 

Know the industry you want to work in deeply and understand where you'd like to fit in - no matter how ambitious that is. Be respectful of the path but also be determined. If you know where you want to go, or you think you do, chase it.

Be respectful of everyone around you in the industry but know more than you think you should about the field you're going into. That knowledge will set you apart.