Games or Formula One car racing. Latin America comprises 21 countries, plus 22 Caribbean islands, of which Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are the largest TV territories (Cuba is not yet a major TV territory, but many expect it soon will be). The millions of viewers in these territories don’t even take into account the 28 million Spanish-language (Hispanic) viewers in the U.S. Latin America is a TV universe of 91 million TVHH served by 120 terrestrial TV networks requiring close to 700,000 hours of programming per year. This vast area is also served by 150 Pan-American cable and satellite TV networks (the “Pan-regionals”) and has some 13 million pay-TVHH subscribers (through cable, MMDS, DTH and broadband). In 1995, a VideoAge special report valued the global Latin American market (including pay-TV) at $500 million, a 48 percent increase from 1992. Of this, the U.S. studios’ (MPAA members’) share was $440 million, while members of the Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA is a U.S.-based international association) generated $31.5 million. The remainder was shared among the rest of the international producers and syndicators around the globe. Currently, this program market is valued at $1.5 billion, meaning that it has tripled over a 14-year period, aided by the addition of telcos. The $1.5 billion represents 10 percent of world TV sales. Of that, 84.6 percent is taken by U.S. studios. Of the remaining 15.4 percent ($230 million a year), IFTA members take $173 million, Latin American producing countries get $48 million and the balance goes to the rest of the international sellers. Countries such as Spain and Italy, which share many cultural similarities with Latin American countries, have in essence lost Latin America to the U.S., the U.K. and Canada. The top U.S. seller is Warner Bros., followed by Disney. Sony, NBC Universal and Fox all have an equal share of the market, with Paramount and MGM trailing. In terms of price range per one-hour of a television series or TV movie, the region is structured per the box above. For television product like documentaries and children’s shows, prices are at least 50 percent lower than those indicated above. License fees of non-commercial TV series and PBS-type TV movies are also lower. For the U.S. studios, Puerto Rico is counted as part of English-language U.S. domestic sales, and only two TV outlets (see listings on page 20) buy Spanishlanguage rights. For television product, the whole region (including the Pan-regionals) is worth up to $102,200 per hour (with a low of $55,900 and a middle range of $80,700). For theatrical movies, the region is generally worth about 15 percent of its negative costs. Other price ranges for commercial movies are: Some of the Pan-regionals operate under an artificial market — especially the studio partnerships –– and therefore the prices of movies are capped. The Atlanta, Georgia-based LAPTV, for example, is a partnership between Fox, MGM and Paramount. NBC Universal is no longer part of the LAPTV partnership, but still has an exclusive pay-TV deal with it. The Miami, Florida-based HBO Olé is a partnership between Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and Walt Disney. For the U.S. studios, the pay-TV market in Latin America is worth at least $225 million a year due to these partnerships and has two revenue streams: license fees and dividends. The five leading Latin American production countries (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela) mostly air their own homemade content on their flagship stations, but do tend to buy content for their other TV channels. For example, programming on Mexicobased Televisa’s flagship station, Canal 2, is fully home-grown, but the group buys shows for its three additional channels — Canal 4, Canal 5 and Canal 9 — in addition to its pay-TV services. Brazil’s Globo TV, on the other hand, has one channel that it typically programs with homemade fare, and one pay service. Brazil’s SBT only buys for its own channel and has a long-standing output deal with Warner Bros., which is now estimated to be worth at least $80 million for a four-year period. With their home-grown productions, the five leading Latin American countries generate an estimated total of $95 million per year from program sales in the international TV market. Recently, some of the Pan-regionals, like Fox, have started producing original content. Of the 21 countries in the LatAm region, nine key Latin American territories plus the Pan-regionals represent about 90 percent of the region’s total TV program acquisition investments. They are: Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, followed by Chile and Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Puerto Rico and Perú. However, in terms of volume, some smaller territories such as Chile and Ecuador — which do not produce much local fare — buy many more programming hours than larger countries, just at much lower license fees. Other high-volume/low-fee buyers include Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras. Latin American Key Buyers (In order of acquisitions budgets) PAN-REGIONAL(Market valued at $500 million per year): 1. HBO Olé: Luis F. Peraza, Helena Bernardi, William Benshimol, Maria Graciela Bastardo, Gaston Comas, Maria Angela De Jesus, Gustavo Grossman, Jose Manuel Pagani, Roberto Rios, Alexander Salas ($160 million per year) 2. LAPTV: Richard Rohrback ($85 million per year) 3. TBS: Angel Zambrano, Cindy S. Kerr, Rick Perez, Pablo Corona, Analia Pollero, Marcelo Tamburri 4. Discovery Latin America: Bilai Joa Silar, Marisol Amaya, Arelys Carballo, Hortensia Quadreny, Luis Silberwasser, Claudia Chagui 5. Sony: Vanessa Arevalo, Carolina Padula 6. Fox (FLAC): Emiliano Saccone, Patricia Daujotas, Gonzalo Fiure 7. A&E Mundo: Eduardo (Eddy) Ruiz, Beatriz O’Higgins, Isabel Quintero 8. Warner Canal: Gregg Drebin, Wilma Maciel 9. MGM Latino: Jorge Balleste, Sarita Salas, Tere Villar 10. Albavision: Angel Gonzalez, Ignacio Barrera, Analida Lopez ($14 million per year) 11. Universal Channels: Steve Patscheck, Angel Gomez, Diana Puentes 12. Nickelodeon/MTV: Dean Broadhurst, Migdalis Silva, Tatiana Rodriguez 13. PRAMER: Lucia Suarez ($5 million per year) BRAZIL(Market valued $260 million per year): 1. GloboTV: Roberto Buzzoni, Paula Miranda ($90 million per year) 2. SBT: Daniela Beyruti, Richard Vaun Esh ($60 million per year) 3. Globosat: Claudia Macedo, Ana Claudia Paixao, Juliana Faria, Eduardo Leal ($45 million per year) 4. Record TV: Honorilton Goncalves, Paulo Calil ($25 million per year) 5. Bandeirantes: Helio Vargas, Goyo Garcia, Helena Perli ($17 million per year) 6. RedeTV: Elisa Ayub, Marcelo Carvalho, Monica Pimentel ($15 million per year) 7. Rede Telecine (Cable): Joao Mesquita, Monica Sonzogni ($8 million per year) MEXICO(Market valued at $220 million per year): 1. Televisa: Alberto Ciurana, Carlos Sandoval A., Jaime Alvarez, Adrian Ortega ($100 million per year) 2. TV Azteca: Pedro Lascurain B., Guillermo Bouchot, Susan Rivera Cruz ($80 million per year) V I D E O • A G E DE C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 (Continued from Cover) Key Latin American Program Buyers 18 TV Azteca’s Pedro Lascurain B. Pan-regionals: $15,000 (low-end) $20,000 (mid-range) $25,000 (high-end) Brazil: $15,000 $20,000 $25,000 Mexico: $10,000 $15,000 $20,000 Argentina: $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 Chile: $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 Venezuela: $3,000 $4,000 $5,000 Colombia: $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 Ecuador: $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 Puerto Rico: $1,000 $1,200 $1,500 Brazil: $25,000 to $250,000 Mexico: $15,000 to $225,000 Argentina: $10,000 to $75,000 Chile: $5,000 to $40,000 Venezuela: $5,000 to $40,000 Colombia: $5,000 to $35,000 Ecuador: $5,000 to $20,000 Perú: $5,000 to $20,000 Telefe’s Julian Rodriguez Montero (Continued on Page 20)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5