and the suites at THEhotel to find out the repercussions of the economic meltdown, if and how their buying plans for the convention have changed, and what type of content they think will prove the most resilient. True to the saying, “When the U.S. catches a cold, the rest of the world gets pneumonia,” Canada has been hit hard by an economic crunch and recession. Telelatino (TLN), a Toronto-based broadcaster that caters to Canada’s Spanish, Italian and English-speaking populations (see related story on page 22), plans to weather the storm by continuing to appeal to its niche audience. “Everyone has been affected by the U.S. financial crisis to some extent,” said president Aldo Di Felice. “Broadcasters in Canada have not been immune.” As for his plan of attack, Di Felice said he will “continue to be as prudent as always and look for programming that will help our business.” This will include talking to U.S. studios as well as Latino broadcasters, and depending on attendance, producers of original Italian programming. “There are a lot of different genres we’re looking for,” said Di Felice, “Soccer, telenovelas and movies are some of the big ones.” Mexican buyers are in an even stickier situation than those from Canada, according to Carlos Sandoval, an Acquisitions exec for Televisa. Sandoval and his team have had to rethink their entire buying strategy for 2009 because of the recent devaluation of the Mexican peso. “We are still analyzing our budget for the year due to the negative effects of the exchange rate. The peso devaluated more than 25 percent from 2007, which will definitely affect our purchasing decisions.” Thus, Sandoval said that he would be using NATPE primarily to “focus on talking with our partners about the economic crisis and the problems generated by it.” But despite the grim financial climate, Televisa will still have its feelers out for new content. “We’ll be meeting with our main distributors to see their new productions for the year and determining what will fit with our programming needs,” he said. And though the company’s buyers plan on exercising extreme caution with new purchases, Sandoval stressed that they are always looking for animation, tween live-action programming, films and primetime series. Zane Bair, U.S. manager of Sydney, Australia-based Seven Network, said that his company is facing its own financial difficulties Down Under. “The Australian dollar has dropped considerably against the U.S. dollar in recent months,” he said. “Plus,” he added, “Advertising revenue is depressed as it is in the U.S., which is certainly a concern that affects the company.” Although Bair and his Acquisitions team don’t have major buying expectations for NATPE, as they usually make deals with studios outside of the market setting, they will be on the hunt for “that new special gem of a show” which could become an hit on AustralianTV. For Seven Network, that “gem” will probably be a format, reality show or comedy series, which Bair described as “major factors of interest.” In general, he noted that he expected reality programming to be a hot commodity again this year. Additionally, Bair confessed that he would be browsing distributor stands for inspiration, to stimulate new ideas and to see what is out there. In addition to those attending NATPE in a purely buying capacity, the market also features a host of companies that purchase content to fill their distribution pipes, who will be at the market acquiring regional rights (mainly for Latin America) and/or international rights. New York-based Bender Media Services is one such company and principal Susan Bender said that she has been doubly affected by the financial situation especially because her firm both acquires and distributes programming. She noted that reduced budgets will make for a more frugal atmosphere on the floor and in the suites this year. “Buyers will have to be much more selective,” she said. Fortunately, Bender and company have been doing brisk business buying and selling Guinness World Records -themed programming, as well as Candid Camera-type shows, so she expects to have a very productive NATPE, the recession notwithstanding. Nat Abraham, head of Acquisitions and Sales for Toronto-based Breakthrough Entertainment, explained that his company is doing a number of things to cope with the hard times. “We’re looking to realign our budgets to maximize the impact of expenditures,” he explained. For Abraham and his team, this means also picking and choosing what markets to attend in 2009. “These programming markets are becoming way too frequent to attend every one,” he said, “We are becoming a little more choosy in the given economy about which markets make sense.” Luckily for NATPE exhibitors, the Las Vegas convention is still a must-attend. V I D E O • A G E JA N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 (Continued from Cover) NATPE Buyers 8 and as determined as ever to bring the best to their schedules,” he said. For their part, NATPE organizers have put together several panels that will address strategies to help buyers better administer their budgets in hard times. One such panel, to be held on the market’s January 27 opening day, is a lunchtime roundtable entitled “How Broadcasters Thrive in This Economic Climate,” which will feature top TV professionals presenting tactics for buying, syndication, new media and alternate revenue streams that will keep programmers out of the poor house. However, the buyers VideoAge talked to scoffed at the idea of taking even an hour away from the wheeling and dealing of the convention floor to attend such panels. Despite a slew of economic obstacles, the future looks promising, at least for the Latin American region. According to London-based Zenith Optimedia’s forecast, in 2009, total advertising expenditures in Latin America will increase by 14.9 percent compared to 2008, and by 18.8 percent in 2010. In general, stated the research group, “advertisers will return to the familiarity and brand-building power of television, giving it a record market share of 38.5 percent in 2010 and 2011.” Greg Phillips, president of Fireworks International Jose Antonio Espinal, vp of Entertainment, Venevision International Susan Bender of Bender Media Services Abraham said he will be on the lookout for a wide variety of content. “We’re the largest supplier of HD music concerts in Canada,” he said, “So we’re always in the market for those.” He also noted that Breakthrough will be trying to get as much bang for its buck as possible this year, making purchases that will give it the most mileage. Where general trends are concerned, Abraham predicted that HD programming will be “a big drawing card” on the convention floor this year. Jose Antonio Espinal, vp of Entertainment for Venezuela and Miamibased Venevision International, was likewise optimistic about the market in spite of the financial crisis. “We just have to be more sensible regarding the economic environment,” he said, adding, “As they say, the show must go on.” Content-wise, Venevision’s Acquisitions arm will be “scouting for products for our film and mobile distribution operations and even content that we can incorporate into our catalogue of TV products that we distribute in Spanish-speaking markets. The company will be perusing the floor for movies and children’s programming in particular, but as Espinal pointed out, they are “always open to examining commercially viable product” of any kind. The economic squeeze has not yet had dire effects in the U.K., where the pound remains strong (if slightly less strong than usual). Greg Phillips, president of London-based Fireworks International, remarked that his team will be “looking for new shows vigorously” in Vegas. Fireworks buyers will have their eyes peeled for both scripted and unscripted programming, with a special emphasis on nonfiction, which is a growing area of focus for the firm. Despite the fact that the company has so far been relatively unscathed by the poor state of the global economy, Phillips stressed that Fireworks would not be buying recklessly. “So far our budget plans have not been affected by the crisis,” he said, “But we’ll be keeping things tight and focused as usual.” When it came to predicting trends, Phillips said he didn’t foresee any specific type of programming selling better than others. “The only trend I predict is programmers being as selective as ever “ The only trend I predict is programmers being as selective as ever and as determined as ever to bring the best to their schedules. –Greg Phillips, Fireworks
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5