V I D E O • A G E JU N E/ JU L Y 2 0 1 0 14 (Continued from Cover) DISCOP new faces at DISCOP East 2010. British format and light entertainment specialist, Hat Trick International, will be attending with a viewing box for the first time. Director of Sales Sarah Tong explained: “Central and Eastern Europe is becoming more important to Hat Trick International as our programming has been selling very well in the region lately, we also discussed the importance of DISCOP with other distributors, and the success they have historically had here, which is why we have decided to come this year.” Much the same reasoning has attracted China’s Fantawild Animation to DISCOP East for the very first time. “In the past,” explained Sales director Daisy Shang, “Our programming has sold mostly in Asia and the Middle East, but recently we have started to have success in the C.I.S. (the Commonwealth of Independent States, formerly the Soviet Union) and so we have decided to attend DISCOP East. It enjoys great popularity amongst the Eastern European content industry, and so it seemed to us to be the best place to develop longterm relationships in the region.” The appearance of new companies at a market is always a positive sign, and there are other indications that things might be looking up. Axel Bohm, Regional Sales director and International Fiction Acquisitions for Germany’s SevenOne accepted that the recession has had a big impact over the past 24 months, but insisted, “There are signs of improvement. Several channels in Central and Eastern Europe are performing more strongly than last year, and the Russian ad market is definitely picking up again.” And, while he is also adamant that, “There is definitely a demand for fresh ideas and high quality,” he went on to caution that, “Buyers, however, are quite risk-adverse in their choices, preferring to rely on shows with proven international track records. And they also want cost effective shows with reduced budgets, which is one reason why so many regional broadcasters are currently so keen on stripped shows.” Of course, telenovelas have been popular in the Central and Eastern Europe region for some time, reflecting the regional importance of the female Despite this successMascara admitted, “Like many other media companies we have had to review our budgets and make some tough choices for this year, but, budgets permitting, we would love to be back again in 2011.” But, as with every year, there are matter. “We are huge fans of DISCOP East,” she enthused, “And we have always had a very successful market.” Underlining that point, Mascara pointed to the success she had at DISCOP East in placing Sesame brandedblocks inmany countries, including Poland, Romania and Moldova. those who have survived the economic tsunami. There is no escaping the fact that, along with the rest of the world, many of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe have had a torrid time over the past two years or so. And, again as has happened globally, television has experienced its share of the financial pain. Equally, there is also no escaping the fact that, however troubled the recent past may have been, television remains, by some considerable margin, the region’s dominant medium. According to ZenithOptimedia, one of the world’s largest ad agencies, in 2008 (the most recent year for which figures are available) the total advertising spend in all the DISCOP East countries was U.S.$33.656 billion, of which television took a whopping 53.3 percent — more than three times the take of its nearest rival medium, newspapers, which only managed 16.1 percent of the advertising pot. In some countries, such as Slovakia, Zenith reported that television’s share hit a massive 78.9 percent, and that’s still not its most dominant market in the region, a title claimed by Bosnia-Herzegovina, where the medium claimed 86.4 percent of all advertising expenditure. So, it is easy to see why, despite all the recent problems, an estimated 1,300 delegates will be gathering in Budapest for the 18th DISCOP East. Nonetheless, some U.S. companies, like Sesame Workshop, CableReady and Utahbased distribution company Dominique Paul Mougenot amongst them, will not make it back this year, with most being reluctant to discuss the reasons. However, Renee Mascara, vp, International Distribution at Sesame Workshop, was open enough to admit that her absence fromDISCOP East was purely a budgetary Record TV’s Delmar Andrade in his suite (Continued on Page 26) Q&A with DISCOP’s Patrick Jucaud VideoAge International: What’s new at the market this year? Patrick Jucaud: Since last year’s DISCOP East, the region has seen the launch of a staggering 51 new channels and television platforms. Which is why 36 of these new channels and platforms will be here at this year’s DISCOP, and [at press time] discussions were ongoing with all the others. VAI: What are the organizers doing to help exhibiting companies save money? PJ: We have considerably improved the quality of all of our premarket organizational services in order to allow our participants to add at least two hours worth of meetings per each market day. We have also increased the number of low-cost exhibits. We have brought together two new national pavilions that were not at DISCOP East last year, one from Argentina and another one from Serbia, in order to help independent producers attend our market. Also, it is important to note that this is the fourth consecutive year that we have not increased our prices. VAI: What are organizers doing to help exhibitors make money and promote their products this year? PJ: We will be launching DISCOP Tube, a free online video library open to content buyers representing distribution platforms across Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The DISCOP Tube online video library will showcase content offered at the various DISCOP markets and will be accessible all year round via DISCOP’s website. During the markets themselves, buyers will be able to access the DISCOP Tube platform in a restricted lounge open at all times during the course of the three-day market. VAI: In your view, which regions will be increasing their presence this year? PJ: We’ll see Turkey as becoming a major player in Central and Eastern Europe, both as a growingly important supplier of dramas and as a country with many television operators ready to acquire content from companies attending DISCOP East18. Turkey will also host our DISCOP East 18 Welcome Party. VAI: How has the Budapest location worked for DISCOP? Have you ever considered making it an itinerant market and holding it in other locations in Eastern Europe such as Romania or Bulgaria? PJ: We are very happy with Budapest and 95 percent of our participants are happy with the venue that we will be using for the 18th year now. We have often considered changing the location but we have always come back to the golden principle in our business: “Don’t change a venue that works”.
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