In This Issue: NATPE’s Pulse TLN’s 25th Year Latin TV Directory Brazilian TV Drama THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, BROADBAND, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION JANUARY 2009 VOL. 29 NO. 1 $9.75 ® www.videoage.org BY ERIN SOMERS For the past few weeks, distribution companies that will be exhibiting at NATPE have been holding their breath in anticipation of how the worldwide financial crisis will affect business at the Las Vegas market. For the past three months, many international content providers have faced dried-up acquisitions budgets, and now they’re anxiously awaiting NATPE, the first market of the year, to confront the new paradigm. Especially stressful to sellers is the prospect that buyers’ budgets will be slashed after TV outlets the world over have cut local productions. With this fear in mind, VideoAgespoke to a host of international Acquisitions execs who will grace the convention floor of the Mandalay Bay NATPE Buyers Buoyant ‘Bout Biz, But Bearish (Continued on Page 38) (Continued on Page 44) Last November’s American Film Market (AFM) was abuzz with the news that freshly-minted Presidentelect Barrack Obama had come out in favor of net neutrality (i.e. unregulated Internet) in the U.S. Jean Prewitt, CEO of the Independent Film and TV Alliance (IFTA), which organizes the AFM, capitalized on Obama’s position on Internet neutrality in her opening day remarks, noting that her organization viewed it as favorable. Conversely, earlier in the year, U.S. studio lobbying arm, the Washington D.C.-based Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), had come down against net neutrality. MPAA CEO Dan Glickman announced his organization’s perspective in a speech last year when he said, “We are opposing so-called ‘net neutrality’ government action. And, in the process, we are standing up for our customers, for our economy and for the ability of content producers to continue Net Neutrality: MPAA vs. IFTA Africa Prepares For Television. DISCOP Prepares For Africa BY DAVID SHORT Avery well financed European businessman recently landed in an African country with a mission to launch a TV station featuring highly innovative content. His first stop was not a bank where he could seek money or a management consultancy where he could ask for advice. Instead, it (Continued on Page 8) (Continued on Page 42) BY DOMSERAFINI The world over has witnessed an America that, in 2001 began the first of George W. Bush’s two presidential terms with the tragic destruction of parts of Wall Street, and ended in 2008 with a dramatic Wall Street crisis. In both cases the entire planet paid the consequences in human lives and suffering. And in both cases the television industry was catapulted into the driver’s seat by the public’s need to be informed of the unfolding events, as well as to have its worries relieved through entertainment. It is a truism that in times of crisis, the television sector around the world prospers. It’s not something new — the ancient Romans used to demand panem et circensens , or “just bread and entertainment,” from their leaders. In modern times, The New York Times stated it best. It recently wrote: “Historically, the movie factories haven’t been afraid of tough economic times. In fact, they have Ups And Downs as Recorded Through The Years byVideoAge In 1981-82 one million Argentinean pesos bought one bottle of soda VISIT US AT THEhotel, Suite 60903 Incluida Sección en Español
V I D E O A G E • N o. 1 • J a n u a r y 2 0 0 9 Cover stories: Ups and downs as recorded through the years by VideoAge. The crisis that unfolds is always the most difficult, but history says otherwise Buying is an inevitable activity at NATPE, but it’s important to know the four Qs: quantity, quality, how quick it is needed and the kind of quid pro quo Africa prepares for television. DISCOP prepares for Africa. Are international producers and distributors prepared for any of it? Net Neutrality is not a neutral subject, especially when so much is at stake 2. World: Remembering VideoAge’s Janet Fine, Canada, France, India, U.K. Plus: Famous Quotes 6. Book Review: Hugh Hefner as the bunnyman. T&A are his T&E 10. NATPE confronts a shaky economy, suite vs. floor exhibition, Latins’ demands and a tough future 14. Predictions for 2009 are easy when going negative. So expect chaos under stress for content providers 16. Singapore as a huge shopping center was inspiring to Asia TV Forum’s market participants 20. No more tears. Nowadays Brazilian television brings fear to viewers and dollars to producers 22. Salute to TLN’s 25th anniversary. Canada’s first trilingual TV network uses dollars as the common denominator 26. Latin America TV Distribution directory. If it’s at NATPE, it’s in there! 29. Sección en Español: La investigación y desarrollo en television se llama “Piloto” Ex ejecutivos encuentran verdadero trabajo como consultores La TV Americana va más allá de sus fronteras 36. Israeli television: When the pond is too small for fish that want to grow 46. Conferences & Events News. It’s more than just dates 48. My2¢. Check it out. This time the editor could be making sense. It’s about making movies work for television V I D E O A G E • N o. 1 • J a n u a r y 2 0 0 9
Canada’s Nets Not Coined By Cable Canada’s biggest broadcast TV networks may be forced to reexamine the way they do business after federal regulators at the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) rejected a proposal that would allow the networks to collect millions in new fees. Led by CTV and CanWest’s Global Television, the broadcast networks had proposed charging cable and satellite carriers for their TV signals, a move valued at C$300 million to the broadcasters. CRTC’s decision to dismiss the request now leaves the networks with some tough decisions to make during rough economic times. The fees would have been worth approximately C$75 million in annual revenue for Global TV, a large amount, especially considering that many networks have already begun to see their profit margins shrink. CTV is privately owned and CanWest is publicly traded. CanWest officials have gone on record as saying that they are not yet looking at layoffs, but noted that Canada’s big TV nets are going to have to rethink their business models. In making their ill-fated proposal, the networks had argued that they shouldn’t be forced to give their signals for free to distributors, who then offer them as part of their subscriber packages and make millions in the process. CRTC representatives said that the networks simply didn’t make a convincing enough argument that they really needed the money. Despite CRTC’s dismissal of the offer, the regulator did make one concession to the networks, allowing them to negotiate with cable carriers to charge for carrying “distant signals.” That could be worth up to C$93 million a year for the broadcast TV sector at large. France’s Public TV Ads Cut France’s National Assembly has approved a plan to remove advertising from public television. The initiative, spearheaded by President Nicolas Sarkozy, was enacted on all four of the nation’s public channels early this year. Additionally, the new plan will allow Sarkozy to select the chief of the French public broadcasting company, France Télévisions. According to Sarkozy, the goal of the plan is to restore quality programming to public networks whose content has suffered due to competition for ads with the private sector. However, opponents of the initiative have said that it will invite abuses from the president, particularly when it comes time to campaign for his 2012 reelection. On January 5, networks gradually began to remove advertising, starting with primetime and overnight programming. To make up for the funding lost by eliminating ad revenue, two new taxes — a 0.9 percent tax on the revenue of Internet service and telephone providers, and an added 1.5 percent tax on the ad revenues of private TV channels — will be imposed. Although Sarkozy is meeting with widespread criticism from politicians and members of the media, there is a long historical precedent of presidents reorganizing the structure of France’s public TV system. Remembering Janet Fine It’s been a year since the untimely passing of longtime VideoAge contributor Janet Fine. To commemorate this tragic milestone, we take a look back at the life and times of the versatile writer, sister and aunt. An expert in TV, film and media in the Middle East and India, Fine was the former Hollywood ReporterIndian bureau chief and contributing editor for Egypt’s Transnational Broadcast Studies , as well as a Dubai-based correspondent for Millionaire Magazine . In addition, Fine covered the Middle East region for Varietyand served as editor of the Cairo-based Starwood International Group Sheraton Hotel Magazine Sojourn. A prolific writer, Fine also penned five books with her own Mumbai, India-based publishing company. And of course, she made invaluable contributions to VideoAgeas our own Middle Eastern correspondent for many years. But she wasn’t all about work. Fine was also an accomplished classical Indian dancer, a patron of the arts, and an all JA N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 (Continued on Page 4)
around good person who was described by her sister Carla as one who “supported people whose lives were defined by poverty” and “fed stray dogs and cats in every city she visited.” When she wasn’t traveling from India to Egypt covering media news there and in the many countries in between, she would head back to her New York City base or travel to Florida to visit relatives. Fine died in Bombay in November 2007 following a long illness that only a few people were even aware of. She is survived by her sisters, Carla, Ellen and Jill; and her nephews Ben and Jono. Mumbai Attacks Tie Up Media Coverage of a hostage situation in Mumbai by local news outlets has prompted new media regulations in India. Last November, armed terrorists attacked the nation’s financial capital, killing more than 125 people and taking hostages at two luxury hotels and the Chabad House (a Jewish outreach center). Over the course of the three-day occupation, TV reporters swarmed the site, interviewing hostages by phone and even speaking to some of the gunmen. In the aftermath of the crisis, members of the media were strongly criticized by the government, who said their aggressive tactics hampered national security and endangered lives. Additionally, news stations drew government disapproval over images of the famous Taj Hotel engulfed in flames as well as footage of the dead, which were replayed over and over and eventually rebroadcast internationally. In response to this government outcry, the country’s leading broadcasters have banded together to enact a set of selfregulatory guidelines. The new rules include a pledge not to report hostage situations or conduct interviews with victims or attackers while an event is taking place. They have also promised to exercise caution when airing footage of dead or wounded. The new regulations have been described by media professionals as an attempt to pre-empt government censorship on the news. Behavioral Ads Debated in U.K. Internet advertising, and behavioral targeting in particular, has been a topic of recent dispute in the U.K. Last month, David Heath, member of Parliament and leader of the Liberal Democrats’ Commission on Privacy, led a debate in the House of Commons about whether or not online advertising compromises privacy. In addition to the MPs, representatives from behavioral targeting companies and execs from Internet advertising heavyweights, including Yahoo and Google, took part in the discussion. In the end, the group voted that Web ads do not compromise consumer privacy. Also in December, research institute New Media Knowledge convened a similar assembly of behavioral analysts and advertising researchers to debate the same issue. Titled “The Fire and The Fury,” the panel was made up of reps from Phorm and Specific Media, firms that specialize in advertising targeting, as well as a research fellow and privacy advocate from the Oxford Internet Institute. Throughout the event, Phorm Commercial director Nick Barnett was bombarded with questions regarding legal and ethical aspects of his company’s technology, which targets Web users based on what sites they go to. Though Barnett maintained that the company’s technology is perfectly legal, Ian Brown of the Oxford Internet Institute argued the illegality of the personal information of consumers being passed on to Internet service providers without their consent. Thus far no official legislation has been passed on the issue. Famous Quotes “How did we get here?” –U.S. President George W. Bush showing his aloofness at a Sept. 18, 2008 emergency meeting on the imminent economic meltdown as reported in The New York Times , Dec. 21, 2008. JA N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 (Continued from Page 2)
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To get a glimpse into the luxurious life of media mogul and notorious womanizer Hugh Hefner, one only has to turn on E!, the cable entertainment channel. Here, amidst the grottos of the Playboy Mansion, he can be seen doddering around benignly with his three young live-in girlfriends for a reality show called The Girls Next Door . As far as reality programming is concerned, the show is fairly innocent: octogenarian Hef is shown attending classic movie nights with the girls, having tame holiday celebrations and heading to bed early. The effect is a far cry from the Hefner of a few decades ago, who had a reputation for being a hard-partying swinger. Yet it is also to Hefner’s credit that the show, which portrays a polygamous living situation as normal, healthy, and enjoyable for all involved, is even on the air. Were it not for Hefner’s 50-plus years of working to change perceptions of sex in the media, no such openly sexual programming would ever grace the airwaves. In a new biography, Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream (2008, John Wiley & Sons, 529 pages, U.S.$29.95), author Steven Watts takes an in-depth look at the man behind Playboy magazine and numerous other Playboy Media endeavors that helped to reshape the world’s perception of sex. Though the topic would seem to lend itself to a light, frivolous approach, Watts, a professor of the cultural history of the U.S., takes on Hef ’s life story with a sense of gravitas befitting George Washington, and succeeds in painting a picture of a greatly ambitious, deeply flawed man who could easily be termed a marketing genius. Throughout his half-century-long (and still counting) career, Hefner has taken on just about every media job title possible at one time or another, including writer, editor, publisher, television producer, and on two separate occasions, TV personality. The first question that comes to mind (after what is it like to live with three women at once?) is how did an ordinary guy from the Midwest with no formal business training achieve such wild success? Watts has an answer: timing, marketing and naked women. These three factors, combined with Hef ’s almost maniacal work ethic, helped to make Hugh Hefner a household name and usher in the era of Playboy. One of the book’s greatest strengths is its access to the still-living Hefner. With Hef ’s approval and cooperation, Watts was able to get a wealth of first-hand commentary in addition to the many interviews he has given over the course of his life. Hefner was born in Chicago in 1926 into what he describes as a “repressed Midwestern Methodist home.” In interviews throughout his adult life, Hefner has pointed to his rigid “Puritanical upbringing” as one of the major factors contributing to his later rebellion through the salacious pages of Playboy. However, as Watts points out, Hefner’s insistence that his parents were unyieldingly moral and cold may in fact be a myth he created to explain his fascination with sex. Indeed, much of Hefner’s persona is a self-styled marketing device designed to help move magazines. The Hefner America knows is a suave ladies man, so devoted to leisure and “the good life” that he spends the entire day in his pajamas and iconic smoking jacket. However the real Hefner, the dissatisfied family man who founded Playboyin the 1950s from his tiny living room, is far different. Playboywas born out of Hefner’s general discontent with his life. After a brief stint in the military during World War II (he never saw battle), Hefner was, as Watts puts it, “at loose ends.” He longed to be at the center of a fast-paced and exciting scene, but he was hindered by his natural shyness and the mid-century emphasis on family values, which he found stifling. After a few failed attempts to make a splash in publishing, Hefner decided to start his own magazine that would cater to the fantasies he had for his own life. He described the initial concept for Playboy thus, in a letter to a potential investor: “I’d like to produce an entertainment magazine for the citybred guy — breezy, sophisticated. The girly features would guarantee the initial sale — but the magazine would have quality too.” Remarkably, after a laborintensive few months of work funded by the meager contributions of friends, Hefner was able to do just that. The Playboy success story is an incredible one. The magazine took off immediately and orders from distributors doubled and tripled from one month to the next. Though the editorial content was good, it was the scantily clad cover girls and centerfolds that moved magazines. Watts points out that while much of Playboy ’s success can be attributed to Hefner and his team’s round-the-clock work and dedication to content and promotion, the magazine’s timing also had much to do with making it a hit. Writes Watts, “The magazine offered an exciting vision of the good life for a society that, without totally being aware of the fact, was yearning to lead it. Playboybegan bringing a submerged collective social fantasy to the surface.” A large part of this fantasy was a more liberal approach to sexuality. Hefner’s pin-up girls (dubbed “playmates,” and later “bunnies” to complement the mag’s rabbit logo) hit newsstands on the verge of the sexual revolution and the “free love” movement. While images of sexuality were, up to this point, regarded with shame and guilt, Playboypresented sex as something normal and healthy. Additionally, a large part of the Playboy ethos was devoted to consumerism and the joys of buying. This coincided with America’s newfound wealth and leisure time in the wake of World War II. With a successful publishing operation in place, Hefner turned his attention to other projects. He began selling branded merchandise as early as the mid-’50s, an enterprise that is still going strong. The V I D E O • A G E JA N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 6 B o o k R e v i e w The Man Behind the Bunnies: Dissecting Hugh Hefner ’60s brought Playboy Penthouse , a TV series produced and hosted by Hef that took place at a weekly staged cocktail party on a set designed to look like a chic bachelor pad. Made up of hip musical acts and interviews with figures from the art world, the show’s purpose was to distinguish the Playboy brand from pornography, and associate it more with culture and “the good life.” Playboy Penthousewas just one example of the effort Hefner and his team made to establish a brand. Over the years, Hefner himself became a marketing tool. Though Hefner had always been something of an “average Joe,” he devoted himself to becoming the poster boy for the Playboy lifestyle. Divorcing his wife in 1959, he began to date women in droves, cultivated his signature pajamas and smoking jacket look and started throwing lavish parties at the brand-new Playboy Mansion. As the personification of his magazine, he gave readers something to aspire to, which proved to be a brilliant marketing tool. In 1988, Hefner stepped down as CEO of Playboy Enterprises, Inc. Christie Hefner, his daughter (of four total children) from his first marriage, took the helm. Though Watts spends little time describing Christie’s tenure as Playboy’s head honcho, he does note that she has proven to have a head for business and is responsible for the revival of the Playboy brand in recent years. While one of the book’s small failings is that it neglects to address the specifics of Playboy Enterprise’s international business dealings (especially an $80 million investment in Playboy TV by Venezuela’s Cisneros Group in 2000), Watts does mention that Christie has succeeded in spreading the Playboy gospel to far-flung corners of the globe. Operations at Playboy Inc. under Christie’s watch have no doubt lost some of the pizzazz of the early years, when Hef and his bachelor employees worked hard and played harder, but she and her father are in accordance on most business decisions. Plus, the antics that took place at the Playboy office in the early days would hardly fly in today’s PC world. Relieved of his CEO duties, Hef was free to become a full-time man of leisure. With an ample (but undisclosed) monthly allowance from the company, Hef could now soak up the good life on a full-time basis. However, Watts stresses throughout the book that Hef ’s commitment to the swinging lifestyle often took a toll on his personal life. With two ex-wives, children who grew up virtually fatherless and a years-long pharmaceutical speed addiction under his belt, Hef’s personal life has not always been happy. Nevertheless, Hefner seems to have achieved his fantasy, as proven by The Girls Next Door . He began taping the show in 2005 at age 79, easily making him the oldest bachelor on television. Now at 82, recent entertainment industry rumors have hinted that he has dumped his harem for a set of 19 year-old twins. No matter what can be said about Hefner as a businessman or womanizer one thing is for sure: he’s still got it. ES
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
The new year brings with it the very first television market of 2009: the Las Vegas-based NATPE. Like last year’s event, which took place smack dab in the middle of the WGA writers’ strike in Hollywood, this year’s NATPE comes in the midst of a Wall Street-induced worldwide economic slowdown. Being the first market on the calendar year could prove advantageous to NATPE since buyers’ budgets were mostly dried up after last October’s MIPCOM. Now, the industry knows the full extent of cuts in their 2009 acquisition budgets, but is also ready to be first in line for new sales. In addition to the recession, the NATPE organization is dealing with the imminent end of its longtime contract with Las Vegas, meaning that following the 2010 event, NATPE will need to find a new venue to call home. VideoAgespoke with a slew of NATPE exhibitors and insiders to determine how they plan to survive the economic crisis, whether it’s better to exhibit on the floor or in the suites, and whether or not NATPE is still relevant. According to Rick Feldman, president and CEO of NATPE, which will be held January 26-29 at Sin City’s Mandalay Bay Resort, the market is definitely still a significant one for the industry. But he recognized that changes needed to be made in order to lure more people to the convention floor, a place that fewer and fewer distributors are choosing. As such, NATPE has made a number of enhancements “on the floor” for its 46th annual edition, though they are more cosmetic than substantial. These include doubling the exhibition floor space and offering new destinations, including The What’s Next Demo Lab, which will feature cutting-edge demos that showcase how technology is shaping the content lifecycle; a digital theater for demos, digital briefings and interactive chats, which will offer seating for up to 100; the Celebrity Chef Kitchen, which will showcase the hottest TV celeb chefs demonstrating their culinary skills; and a restaurant and café, which will be open for power lunches on the NATPE floor. “The consensus was that we needed to make the floor a real destination,” said Feldman. “The key is to have everyone there on the floor and not have people leave.” Additionally, the NATPE floor will offer a business-to-business lounge where executives can hold meetings, and a networking lounge with e-mail kiosks and electrical charging stations. NATPE will also provide freeWiFi Internet connectivity throughout the exhibition floor. Despite these innovations, many companies still prefer the tried-and-true suite option. “This year, we’ve chosen to exhibit in a suite rather than on the floor,” said Patricio Teubal of Italy’s Mediaset, which will be at its very first NATPE since launching a scripted formats distribution unit. “Given that most telenovela distributors are traditionally located at THEhotel and since most of our potential clients are the same, it will be easier to reach us.” Teubal, who said that he and his colleagues have already scheduled more appointments for the upcoming NATPE than he had for last year’s conference, also noted that the sad state of the economy will definitely affect the business done in Vegas. “In this period of recession, TV channels have lower advertising budgets and therefore, lower budgets for production. For this reason, we’re focusing on formats that request low budgets — though we have alternatives for all budgets.” Like many NATPE attendees, Mediaset plans to focus on a number of Latin territories, including Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru, and Chile, but will also be seeking out U.S. and Canadian partners. Like Mediaset, Miami, Florida-based Televisa Internacional will also take a suite at THEhotel. The company, which will be hawking an eclectic slate of telenovelas, series, entertainment formats and licensed product, including animated series El Chavoand soap Mujeres Asesinas , will also focus primarily on Latins. “For many years NATPE has been and continues to be a very important market for Latin America,” said Claudia Silva, director of Sales, Licensed Product and Pay-TV for Televisa. “And in recent years, clients from Asia and Europe have been attending, which has been very good for our business. More than ever, NATPE is related to content. This is a great opportunity for us because we have the most extensive library of Spanish-language content in the world, allowing us to become a one-stop-shop for clients around the world.” Argentina’s Telefe will also be exhibiting at a suite in THEhotel alongside its telenovela-producing brethren. According to Michelle Wasserman, head of the company’s International Distribution division, NATPE 2009 promises to be very lucrative for Telefe. “We expect a good market with regards to meetings, contacts and business discussions,” said Wasserman. “However, we believe that the market will have its peculiarities, and we can estimate those after having gone through a couple of markets during this budding economic crisis.” Wasserman believes that the industry’s production level will not vary much seeing as howTV stations always need content. “We believe that ready-made content, unlike formats, V I D E O • A G E JA N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 10 N A T P E P r e v i e w Shaky Economy, Floor Plans, Latins, Drive TV Market will be in higher demand.” Jene Elzie, vice president of International Sales and Strategic Planning for Comcast International Media Group, who will once again be holding court in a suite due to its more “intimate” feel, said that she plans on doing much business with the Latins. “A majority of our [NATPE] clients are from Latin America, so we tailor our stuff to the Latin American market.” And, she added, despite the proliferation of many a TV market throughout the year, she thinks that NATPE is as important as ever. “There are in fact many markets popping up,” noted Elzie. “But many of them are more tailored — SPORTEL focuses on sports, DISCOP East focuses on Eastern Europe. NATPE is certainly still relevant, especially with the number of Latins in attendance. It’s a more regionalized opportunity for us.” While some TV firms are embracing what many hope will be the future of NATPE — suite exhibition — others are still clinging to that old standby, the convention floor. “We will exhibit on the floor, as always,” said Ron Alexander, director of International Sales at the Chantilly, Virginia-based Teleproductions International, Ltd. (TPI). “The mix of hotel exhibitors and convention floor exhibitors is a bit odd and not convenient for buyers in general. We’ve always been advocates of a presence on the floor. In addition to our regular buyers, we like the opportunity to meet drop-bys.” Despite the sad state of the economy, Alexander RCTV’s Guadalupe D’Agostino Telefe’s Michelle Wasserman Patricio Teubal of Mediaset Cookie Jar’s Dan Waite (Continued on Page 12)
Your New Global Italian Partner NewCo Rai International: Via Umberto Novaro, 18 00195 Roma, Italy. Tel. +39.06.36869583 Fax: 39.06.36869771 E-mail: distribuzione@rai.it New Company, New Strategy • TV Channels. A bouquet of new thematic channels focusing on the made-in-Italy brand: fashion, business, history, food, design, lifestyle, artistic and cultural heritage. Raitalia, formerly Rai International, is the flagship channel, and aims to promote Italian language and culture, as well as to inform Italians living abroad. It offers a selection of Rai’s best shows from domestic terrestrial and satellite networks 24 hours, seven days a week, including Italian soccer events and live news. • Target. It addresses established Italian communities all over the world; including business and tourist travelers and non-Italians who love Italy. • Coverage. The global reach of “RAI’s international services” has increased thanks to the recent addition of Europe to its area of coverage. • New technological platforms. To cable and satellite have been added: IPTV, WebTV and Mobile TV. • Revenue model. The two-tier business model comprises public financial support and commercial revenues. A Player On The World Stage In the USA, NewCo Rai international distributes “Raitalia” as a pay-TV service from over 20 satellite and cable operators. In Canada, the TV channel is available from 10 satellite and cable operators. In Latin America, “Raitalia” is broadcast in 23 countries covering over 900 cities. In Asia, it reaches 51 nations. In Africa, “Raitalia” reaches all Sub-Saharan countries via satellite and cable. In Europe, “Raitalia” is now available via satellite and for cable and IPTV platforms. NewCo Rai International is also the worldwide distributor for Satelradio, Rai International’s Radio Channel. In all, the services reach five continents, serving over 20 million TVHH: including 10 million in Latin America, 4 million in North America, 4 million in Europe and 1.3 million in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chairman: Pier Luigi Malesani CEO: Carlo Sartori Board Members: Piero Badaloni Luca Balestrieri Alessio Gorla Marketing & Distribution Manager: Giovanni Celsi NewCo Rai International
Hispanic USA for the U.K.’s FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), will also be taking a place on the floor at NATPE 2009. “FME is bringing its full international sales team,” said Aguirre, “so the floor allows us a big enough space to accommodate the whole group.” While Aguirre admitted to being a bit worried that “the economic climate will make buyers more selective,” she’s confident that things will work out in FME’s favor. “I believe the U.S. Spanish-language channels could benefit from our catalogue this year because, during this difficult economic period, our finished programming catalogue offers them an option to bypass high production costs. They can also localize some of our programs by adding a popular regional host or using segments to create a program. There are many resourceful and creative options available to them, which we would be keen to help them realize,” she said. Another company exhibiting on the floor this year is Sherman Oaks, Californiabased Rive Gauche Television. According to Dorothy Crompton, senior vp, International Sales for the firm, “NATPE is still very much relevant as it allows Rive Gauche to be very focused on its Latin American clients.” The company, which will be bringing a number of series to Vegas, including reality shows Scare Tactics and Bear Whisperer , is hopeful, but, said Crompton, “because of the cloud hanging over the worldwide economy, we are unsure how that will affect the market.” But regardless of how many companies are still choosing to rough it out on the floor, many insiders suspect that in the future, NATPE will be an all-suite market. Guadalupe D’Agostino, vp and general manager of RCTV International is one individual who’s seen the light and switched to THEhotel. “We have shifted from our former stand on the floor to the hotel suite because given the fast-paced rhythm of the festival, it’s the most comfortable atmosphere to conduct business in at NATPE,” she said. And despite what she terms the “volatile times” we are living in, she said she’s “optimistic” about things. “With the worldwide transition to a digital signal around the corner and the need for more content and a healthy and productive industry, NATPE 2009 looks very bright.” As usual, NATPE will host a slew of seminars, including a keynote from Lionsgate’s Jon Feltheimer, a Think Tank hosted by Disney’s Anne Sweeney and a presentation called: “Digital Studios: Where’s the $$$?” While it remains to be seen whether the current economic climate will yield stormy skies or smooth sailing for the market, one thing is clear: for the Latins, NATPE will just be business as usual. LHR JA N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 distributed by 150 Central Park South Suite 310 New York, NY 10019 phone 212 707 8244 email susan@bendermediaservices.net Kordavision MEN7 Bikini Destinations Green Minute Kleo the Misfit Unicorn Ultimate Guinness World Records Over the Edge believes that TPI, which will be in Vegas showcasing docudrama Run or Die: The Fernando Araujo Story, will remain unscathed. “There will certainly be economic concerns at NATPE ’09 on the domestic side of the business. However, TPI focuses on the international market and we believe the international business — especially for acquisitions — will stay strong.” DanWaite, from the Los Angeles offices of Canada-based Cookie Jar, said that his company will also stay true to the floor this year. “We’ll be in the kids’ pavilion,” he said. “I prefer being on the floor. You get more traffic that way.” Waite, who will be promoting such animated Cookie Jar fare as Magi-Nation and Hurray for Huckle! , noted that while he, like everyone else, is worried about the economy, he’s confident that Cookie Jar will do well at NATPE. “People are being more cautious as to how to spend money,” he said. “There have been big fluctuations in currencies in Latin America so people are watching their programming budgets closely. Despite this, my business has stayed steady. I still have contracts coming in.” And while many of his colleagues have opted out of the convention floor booths, Waite said he sometimes wishes that things could be as they once were. “I wish we could do it in the old style,” he said, “have everyone back in one place on the floor. But I certainly understand the economics of it.” But, added Waite, if he had it his way, once NATPE is forced to leave Vegas, he hopes it’ll return to New Orleans, a region he said he would love “to help get back on its feet.” Like Waite, Sheila Aguirre, vp of Sales and Development, Latin America and N A T P E P r e v i e w ( c o n t ’ d ) (Continued from Page 10)
BY BOB JENKINS In 1953, the English writer, L.P. Hartley opened his most famous novel, The Go Between, with the observation: “The past is another country; they do things differently there.” Today, he could as easily have been speaking of the future of the content business, due to a combination of a growing worldwide financial crisis and new media inroads. Revenue streams will not only be shrinking under recessionary pressures, but they will also be moving, sometimes dramatically, between platforms and business models under the influence of technological innovation, which is, right now, changing forever the way in which content is consumed. In the future, the industry will have to do things very differently. This, of course, begs many questions, two of which are, which genres will change favor, and which will tomorrow’s altered universe condemn? Some of the answers are fairly predictable and others much more surprising. But of no surprise to anyone is the fact that virtually everyone VideoAge has contacted for this story thinks the genres in which they are grounded will be fine, and that, consequently, there is a great deal of disagreement as to who will prosper and who will suffer in the future. Tobias de Graaff, director of Global Television Distribution at the U.K.’s ITV Global Entertainment, said he believes that the future is secure for “long-running drama franchises such as Heartbeatand Coronation Streetbecause they cost less to market than a brandnew short-run series, they are well known, their place in the schedule is secure and they have a loyal fan base.” De Graaff also said that “high-quality drama will always continue to travel well,” adding, “we are finding that big channel brands are now attracting a higher price as broadcasters are in competition with each other to secure ratings winners.” In contrast, Patrick Svensk, CEO and president of Zodiak, which has headquarters in both London and Paris, saw a dim future for “high-end programming,” saying, “it is bound to suffer. At the very least such projects will take a lot longer to get greenlit.” A growing focus on the cost of programming is one of the easier predictions to make about the future of the entertainment business, which probably explains why everyone is making that prediction, while simultaneously laying claim to having exactly the low-cost, ratings-gathering content all broadcasters will be looking for in the immediate future. Speaking at the press conference called to announce the organization of all the many production brands, including Marathon, Diverse Productions, Magnolia, Mastiff and Mastiff Media, YS Film, Tele Images, and many others now owned by Italy’s De Agostini Group under the Zodiak brand, Svensk’s colleague and svp, Fiction, Pascal Breton commented: “In the coming economic downturn libraries will be very important, especially in the digital arena.” Of course, De Agostini now has one of the largest independent libraries in Europe, and Breton went on to note that “the demand for content will not evaporate, but the budgets available for acquiring this content will, if not evaporate, then certainly come under pressure, and so the ability to meet a high volume demand at a low unit cost will be very important.” Meanwhile, Natalie Humphries, the recently appointed head of Factual at U.K.-based Shine Reveille, celebrated her new position by lauding the relatively low cost and proven ratings success of factual programming over genres such as drama and entertainment, claiming to know of several such projects being cut back while actually in production. ITV Global’s de Graaff by contrast, claimed: “We all want to turn on our TVs to switch off from the doom and gloom, and so well-made, uplifting, humorous programming will be a definite winner.” But predicting the winners and losers in the new world that awaits is a much more complex matter than some of the temptingly straightforward arguments currently being aired might suggest. For one thing, some genres, such as sport, seem to be impervious to costcutting pressures. There might be a recession on, and advertisers might be deserting free-to-air channels in droves, but they can still find big budgets when they have to. At the end of November, Formula One racing supremo Bernie Ecclestone unveiled a new sponsorship deal with Korea’s LG Electronics for an undisclosed sum, but one that the company itself was quoted as putting in “the tens of millions.” At the same time as Ecclestone was celebrating his news in Seoul, the International Olympic Committee was rejecting the latest bid from the European Union for the Summer and Winter Olympics of 2014 – 2016. The amount bid was not disclosed, but it has been widely reported that the European Broadcasting Union paid in excess of $700 million for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2012 Summer Games in London, and so, whatever the sum rejected actually was, it is a safe bet that what it wasn’t, was cheap. Other than its obvious universal appeal, another key value of sport is its ability to perform across many different platforms. The importance of a genre’s ability to do this is neatly underlined by New York-based accounting firm PricewaterhouseCooper’s “Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008 – 2012,” an annual report analyzing the global media market. In it they predict subscription television revenues will increase by a compound annual rate (CAR) of 9.3 percent, hitting a total $214.2 billion by 2012, video-on-demand is set to rise by a CAR of 23.5 percent reaching $12 billion globally by 2012, and pay-per-view by 4.9 percent, CAR peaking in 2012 at $5.3 billion globally. Anything celebrity also seems like a good future-proof bet. U.K.-based Channel 4’s Big Brothermight no longer gain the nine million-plus audiences it once did, but at an average of 3.2 million over its last run it easily outperformed the news with an average of 800,000 and property shows with averages between 2-3 million. At the polar extreme to celebrity, business news and its reporters are enjoying an unprecedented jump in popularity with comScore Media Metrix, a U.S.-based Internet audience measurement firm, reporting last September a year on year 30 percent jump and nine percent month to month climb in visitors to financial news and research sites, while in the same month cable/satellite TV network CNBC reported a 20 percent audience increase and the oneyear-old Fox Business network, a jawdropping 127 percent increase in the U.S. To conclude with some bad news, it can be said, with the exception of those lucky enough to have very well established major brands, kids programming is one area likely to see a lot of suffering. But more critical to kiddie programming’s future well being is its heavy dependency on retail sales of ancillary products, not an area many analysts tip for immediate growth potential. But, as L.P. Hartley would undoubtedly say, let’s first hope we’ll all reach the place called the future. V I D E O • A G E JA N U A R Y 2 0 0 9 14 P r e d i c t i n g T r e n d s The Content Biz Gets Chaotic Under Stress ITV Global series Heartbeat Patrick Svensk, CEO and president of Zodiak ITV Global Entertainment’s Tobias de Graaff
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