V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 16 BY SARA ALESSI Competition for prominence in the TV trade show sector is heating up in Asia. After the Singapore-based Asia TV Forum, the China-based Shanghai International Film Festival, the Taipei TV Festival, the itinerant Sportel Asia and the Hong Kong International Film & TVMarket, another market in the region is flexing its muscles: The Broadcast Worldwide, or BCWW. The upcoming BCWW, billed as Asia’s largest trade fair in the broadcasting and visual industry, will be held August 31 through September 2, 2011 in Seoul, Korea. Launched in 2001, it’s an annual tradeshow on broadcasting content for developers, distributors, buyers, sellers, producers and investors. BCWW is organized by South Koreabased Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), which receives assistance from Jordan-based production and distribution company, Media Marketing and Production Est. VideoAge spoke with organizers of the event, as well as past participants regarding the purpose behind the market and the significance it has for the Asian TV industry. Last year, for BCWW’s 10th anniversary, the market registered 4,515 visitors from 50 countries. Also in attendance were 221 exhibitors and about 1,600 program buyers. Thus far, BCWW has managed to outnumber turnout from the previous year since 2008, as the number of buyers grew from 1,200 in 2008 to 1,400 in 2009 and 1,600 in 2010. The same goes for the number of exhibitors, which climbed from 160 to 207 to 221 in 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively. If organizers play their cards right, they may be able to increase the number of exhibitors and buyers in attendance at the upcoming market. Indeed, for 2011, according to Insook Lee, head of Global Business Division at KOCCA, organizers expect to “outnumber the previous year’s visitors and buyers.” To make the market more prosperous, organizers are particularly eager to increase the number of buyers who attend the event. “In order to do so,” Lee explained, “we are preparing diverse programs” that will appeal to all. Saqr Al-Humoud, general manager of Media Marketing and Production Est., has been working with KOCCA to represent BCWW in the Middle East and Africa, and he noted that his company has been “responsible for attracting and inviting buyers and exhibitors for BCWW 2008, 2009 and 2010. According to Al-Humoud, “BCWW is expanding every year and is attracting more TV industry professionals from all over the world.” In an interview, Al-Humoud stated, “We pride ourselves on our great relationships with many Korean TV firms like KOCCA. With this major Korean agency, we are proud to represent them in the Middle East and Africa to help organize BCWW TV content every year. BCWW is considered the main content market in Asia. It attracts many TV firms, buyers, and exhibitors from Asia, Europe, Africa, America and Australia.” KOCCA’s Lee informed VideoAge that distributors and broadcasters take up the most exhibition space, though producers do participate in their Global Media Forum conference, which features co-production, collaboration and pitching sessions. According to one report found on BCWW’s website, at BCWW 2010, 80 percent of exhibitors hailed from Northeast Asia, eight percent from Southeast Asia, six percent from Europe, three percent from Mideast Asia and two percent from the U.S. This compares to 67.5 percent of buyers coming from Northeast Asia, 19.3 percent from Southeast Asia, 11.8 percent from Mideast Asia, 0.9 percent from Europe and 0.3 percent from the U.S. Given the fact that the market takes place in Seoul, it comes as no surprise that Asian buyers have a tendency to attend BCWW in high numbers. However, Lee reported “extensive participation from around the globe, [including countries] such as Belgium, England, Australia, Middle Eastern and African countries,” which has “brought a global atmosphere to our show” in the past. Focusing on Asia, in 2010 BCWW put the spotlight on China, hosting a China Day event highlighted by a cocktail party. China Day provided a “meaningful opportunity to promote Chinese content and build relationships amongst buyers,” stated Lee. While there will not be a China Day this year, BCWW 2011 will continue the tradition and “manage a program for visitors to experience and enjoy content from ‘another’ country,” although they have not yet revealed details about the event or the featured country. In addition, BCWW 2011 is poised to provide special opportunities for participants to review content in the Contents Experience Room. Lee assured VideoAge that the Contents Experience Room will be a great place for individuals to stop by and view content during short breaks between meetings in their busy conference schedules. For the first time last year, BCWW 2010 featured a 3D Contents Pavilion. Lee elaborated that it included, “special operations by domestic 3D production companies demonstrating their content,” and that it, “consisted of state-of-theart facilities and technologies where trial performances of 3D content were available to participants.” BCWW 2011 will feature another Contents Pavilion, representing, in Lee’s words, a “hot trend.” Al-Humoud’s company has participated in and attended BCWW since 2005. He has found that having “KOCCA as the main host for BCWW is playing a great and effective role in promoting Korean content and culture, and allowing many TV buyers and exhibitors from all over the world to do business.” A survey on BCWW 2010 posted on the BCWW website indicated that participants report the purpose of the market can be broken down accordingly: 59 percent to do business, 21 percent to see trends of the media business, 15 percent to get acquainted with media professionals and five percent for other reasons. New York-based A&E Networks’ Ling Sze Gan, regional director, Content Distribution, Asia Pacific, said from her Singapore office that the company will be attending its second BCWW this year, and A&E Networks has decided to return to BCWW because the market “gives us the chance to meet with Korean broadcasters who do not travel to MIPTV or MIPCOM.” For Gan, BCWW is particularly valuable due to the fact that “meeting with our customers in person and in their territory enables us to better understand their content needs and strategy, and to determine the most effective programming solution for them.” Korean TV Trade Show Challenges Asian Markets B C WW : T h e S o u l o f S e o u l A&E Networks’ Ling Sze Gan Saqr Al-Humoud, general manager of Media Marketing and Production Est. KOCCA’s Insook Lee
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