16 Talk radio programs in Buenos Aires, Argentina, like to parody Pope Francisco. Indeed, the Pope is not only a religious leader, but also a personality, and this was reflected in the 24th annual Jornadas de Cable (now Jornadas Internacionales or International Cable Days) conference and market, held at the Hilton Hotel in Buenos Aires, where programs about the Argentinean Pope abounded to promote various channels’ cable carriage. But at almost U.S.$4 for a small cappuccino, the prices at the Hilton Hotel in the popular Puerto Madero area of Buenos Aires were not too far from those charged at the Palais in Cannes. And this despite aworsening exchange rate of 15 pesos to one U.S. dollar — when the optimal rate should have been nine pesos — due to the fact that Argentina is technically in default because it cannot pay government bonds held by “vulture” funds. Nevertheless, attendingJornadas Internacionales 2014 was worthwhile, especially to salute the Asociación Argentina de Television por Cable’s 50th anniversary, which also marks 50 years of cable television in the country. ATVC organizes Jornadas together with CAPPSA, the Argentinean association of TV signal distributors. The president of CAPPSA is Sergio Veiga, SVP and general manager of FOX International Channels, while the president of ATVC is a former cable executive, Walter Burzaco. In effect, Jornadas marries cable operators and signal (content) distributors. Indeed, there were mostly signal distributors spanning the South Cone of Latin America including Telefe, Telearte and Claxson, but also distributors from the U.S. (like HBO, AMC, Disney and ESPN and FOX) and other parts of LATAM (such as Azteca and Televisa), Europe (France 24, Deutsche Welle and RTVE), Japan’s NHK and Russia’s RT, considering that Argentina is getting closer to Russia selling its meat and importing Russian films. Missing among the European exhibitors were BBC and RAI. Also reduced was the presence of hardware manufacturers, that had been very prominent in past editions, thus establishing Jornadas mostly as a content event. These distributors use Jornadas to meet with cable, satellite and online operators, this year as far away as Peru. In addition, the event serves to find companies in remote communities that sell satellite dishes to receive channels in areas where the broadcast TV signal doesn’t reach (areas without repeaters) or that are not served by cable operators. According to Eduaro Suárez, general manager of CAPPSA, “the conference presents a balance between exhibitors of audiovisual content and technology providers and services.” Officially, there were 23 conferences, 59 exhibitors and 4,000 total participants, however many more signal distributors (such as Artear and RAI Italia’s distributor, All TV) were in attendance without stands. The event is also a magnet for the LATAM TV trade press, which was present with some 10 publications. This in addition to international TV magazines such as VideoAge. Jornadas also attracts local and regional political leaders such as Mauricio Macri, the mayor of Buenos Aires’s federal district, who is a potential presidential candidate, and national politicians such as Member of Parliament Sergio Massa, who spoke about the tax disadvantages of cable versus satellite operators. “Technology is from the 21st century, while regulations are those in the 19th century,” he commented. Security and streaming were some of the topics discussed, while ATVC’s official publication emphasized piracy as a major issue. Indeed, the author association, Argentores, promoted its Sin autor no hay obra (Without An Author You Don’t Have a Job) theme, while FOX LATAM pushed its Pirateria Cero 0 (Piracy Zero 0), with editorial and ads, La pirateria se roba lo major de tu negocio (Piracy Steals Most of Your Business). But just as important were the topics whispered informally during the conference breaks, like the subsidies that government agency INCAA is considering for co-productions and the possibility that Spain’s Telefonica might be forced to sell its TV network, Telefe, and a potential buyer could be Warner Bros. One characteristic of the all Spanish-language Jornadas was that the market-cum-conference became more lively on the second day of the three-day event that started September 17, just before the beginning of South America’s spring, when the opening ribbon was officially cut. The mood on the basement level of the Hilton Hotel was somber and business-oriented with little or no recreational activities on the schedule. A local curiosity is the fact that this particular Hilton Hotel property was built by the late Alberto Gonzalez, a pioneer of Argentinean satellite TV channels (and is still ownedby the family).Another curious observation is that in the exhibition aisles, the TV networks were branded by the old numbers on the dial, which no longer reflect the actual channel. For example, Canal 9 is now on channel 13, Channel 11 (Telefe) is on channel 10 and Channel 13 (Artear) is now on channel 12, Canal 7 is now on channel 11 and America is now on channel 9. LATAM’s Premier South Cone TV Event Shows Its Strength December 2014 Jornadas Internacionales Telefe’s Nancy Rolon and Daniel Otaola One of the 23 conferences held at Jornadas Canal 9’s Horario Romairone, Felicia Areco, Maria Dominguez
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