(Continued on Page 44) In This Issue: Prix Italia L.A. Screenings Korean TV Market Murdochs Wanted THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, BROADBAND, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION JUNE/JULY 2011 VOL. 31 NO. 4 $9.75 ® www.videoage.org (Continued on Page 18) (Continued on Page 26) Are There Too Many DISCOP Markets? BY BOB JENKINS The regionally focused DISCOP markets are mushrooming, but is there a concern that there are too many of such events? This is a topic for VideoAge to investigate. Started 20 years ago in Budapest, the original DISCOP in the Hungarian capital was joined in 2009 by DISCOP Africa, serving the markets of SubSaharan Africa, and, in March this year, by DISCOP Istanbul, serving the markets of The Greater Middle East. If all this wasn’t enough, DISCOP Africa multiplied with one in Ghana in February and another in Nairobi in September. The first thing to appreciate about this growth of the DISCOP brand is that not all companies attend all of its markets, and, of those that do, not all the DISCOP markets are attended by the same executives. So, for many companies and individuals, there has been no DISCOP expansion at all. (Continued on Page 18) Videotape Shortage Slows Down World Production & Distribution Tape to file transition hastened for fully automated tapeless deliveries Recently, the greatest surprise on record to production, postproduction and international distribution execs came with the realization that high definition (HD) videotapes used worldwide came from just one single Sonymanufacturinglocation: Sendai, Japan, a city of one million people devastated by the tsunami that followed the March 11 earthquake. Other companies with tape factories were affected by the earthquake, including Fuji, Maxell (which makes tape interchangeable with some of the affected Sony formats), and tape duplicator Microboards Technology, but in television and film, the standard has been the Sony HD tape. The Sony factory that has the monopoly on production of the particular professional HDSR tape crucial to the BY DOM SERAFINI Within the emerging economically powerful BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India andChina) there is a company that is as solid and versatile as a brick: Tata, a Mumbai (Bombay), India-based conglomerate with a 2010 revenue of $67.4 billion that operates companies in 80 countries. The Group, also called Tata Sons Ltd, came to the attention of Hollywood last May when one of its divisions, Tata Elxsi, opened offices in Santa Monica, California to enter the lucrative animation and visual effects markets. Recently, Tata Elxsi acquired a 51 percent stake in Andy Heyward’s A Squared Entertainment, the planned producer of the recently cancelled Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Governator. Previously, Indian companies such as Prime Focus and Reliance had expanded into Hollywood with the India’s Tata Elxsi Trades Bollywood For Hollywood Exploitation is a 360 Degree TV Business Brand extension, which first manifested itself through merchandising in the ’50s and ’60s, is hardly a new idea today. But it is starting to adopt a new and much more significant role in the media business; one that could change the face of the content business beyond recognition. (Continued on Page 24) Subramanian Ramadorai
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V I D E O A G E • N o . 4 • J u n e / J u l y 2 0 1 1 Cover stories: India’s Tata trades Bollywood for Hollywood. Americans ready to make the deal Videotape shortage slows down world production and distribution. It’s more serious than what’s being said Exploitation is a 360 degree TV business. Anything less is not show business Enough is enough. Are there too many DISCOP markets? 4. World: U.K., Belarus, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Canada 10. Book review. From TV foe to TV friendly: Googling to heart’s content 12. L.A. Screenings review. More pilots, more expenditure, more elders, more distributors 16. BCWW: The soul of Seoul. Korean TV trade show wants to challenge other Asian markets 22. Indian animation biz brings money to the table and then takes the table to India 28. Conferences, travel news and calendar of events 30. There should be many more Rupert Murdochs (per country) in the world
V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 4 (Continued on Page 6) Mexico’s Triple Play Battleground Three powerful figures in Mexico are locked in a battle to broaden their grasps on the domestic telecommunications market, which is estimated to be worth the equivalent of $35 billion a year by 2015. The contenders in this fight are: Emilio Azcarraga Jean, chairman of media conglomerate Grupo Televisa; Ricardo Salinas Pliego, chairman of TV Azteca and Iusacell (Mexico’s number three mobile phone carrier); and Carlos Slim Helu, who controls the majority of the phone service in Mexico. Now that technology has brought television and telephones closer together, Slim and the two television barons are at odds with each other, especially since Slim is vying to move into television so that he can offer his phone and Internet customers TV service along with their phone and Internet plans. Slim’s fortune tops an estimated worth of $74 billion. In addition to telecommunications, his holdings include real estate, retail and mining. His phone company Telmex controls 80 percent of Mexico’s fixed telephone lines and his wireless carrier America Movil is the largest in Latin America. In fact, its Mexican Telcel unit makes up 70 percent ofMexico’s cell phone service. In addition, Slim’s Prodigy Infinitum is Mexico’s largest Internet service provider. At the same time, Azcarraga and Salinas have their sights set on gaining a larger piece of the cell phone market. The pair has teamed up to challenge the high fees Slim’s phone companies charge to complete calls on their networks. According to a report, Mexican regulators estimated that those fees are over 40 percent higher than the average charged in countries with a similar gross national product. Thus, in an effort to compete with Slim, last month Televisa bought a 50 percent stake in Salinas’ Iusacell cell phone carrier. All three men are dealing low blows, with Azcarraga and Salinas filing claims with Mexican regulators that Slim has a monopoly on phone service with Telmex, and Slim making similar accusations against Azcarraga and Salinas. In January, Televisa filed a formal complaint with the Federal Competition Commission, Mexico’s anti-monopoly regulatory agency, maintaining that Slim’s Telmex is using a satellite TV service called Dish Mexico to get around its ban on broadcasting. In response, Slim pulled millions of dollars worth of advertising from Azcarraga’s Televisa. Not to be left out of the dispute, TV Azteca’s Salinas has refused to allow Slim’s companies to advertise on his TV network unless Telcel reduces its interconnection fees. It has been reported that this battle is a reminder that Mexico’s economy is dominated by monopolies, although the government did block Slim from entering TV and radio in 1990 when he bought Telmex. Masi, RAI’s “Worst DG” Leaves Mamma Since last month “Mamma RAI,” as the Italian state broadcaster is affectionately called, has a new director general: Lorenza Lei, the 50-year-old deputy DG, who is the first female DG in RAI history. Above the DG, RAI has the chairman of the board. Lei replaces the 58-year-oldMauroMasi, who, before the RAI appointment in 2009, was chief of staff for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. After he “resigned” at RAI, Berlusconi’s government appointed Masi president of CONSAP, the state insurance agency. The “forced resignation” of Masi was welcomed by RAI board member Giorgio Van Straten, who’s quoted as saying, “Today is a glorious day for RAI. The [resignation] of Masi ends a negative management subordinate to politics.” Mauro Roffi, editor of Italy’s largest TV trade publication Millecanali, described Masi as “the least qualified to run RAI” and the balance of his administration, “disastrous.” The general press was even more harsh, with some reports calling him “the worst DG in RAI’s history.” Lei’s appointment was approved by both Italy’s Minister of the Treasury, Giulio Tremonti (RAI is under the Treasury) and Berlusconi. Lei entered RAI in 1995. Before that she was a marketing consultant. Well accepted by the Vatican, Lei was in charge of the 2000 Jubilee for RAI. 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(Continued on Page 8) (Continued from Page 4) Prix Italia’s Historical TV The 63rd annual Prix Italia kicks off September 18-23 in Turin, Italy. The theme of last year’s edition was “Future Preview,” and it boasted 500 participants. Sponsored by state-owned Italian public broadcasterRAI,theeventaimstoshowcase superior television, web and radio content, and brings together representatives from 90 different international companies from 48 countries. Eva Hamilton of Sweden’s SVT is the event’s president, while RAI’s Giovanna Milella is the secretary general. The theme of this year’s Prix Italia is “History On Show,” showcasing the best of the past and present. The Prix Italia rotates venue cities every few years, but has called Turin in the Piedmont Region its home since 2009 as a tribute to the 150-year anniversary of the Unity of Italy that originated in the region. In addition to a competition in which prizes are awarded in a host of categories, the Prix also features previews, screenings, conferences and workshops aimed at professionals in the audiovisual sector. The 2010 festival concluded with a presentation of winning programs that were subsequently broadcast on RAI-1, the broadcaster’s main TV channel. Each year, the Prix Italia awards a number of trophies for radio, TV and web programming, as well as a roster of special prizes. Last year, a special prize was given by the President of the Italian Republic to recognize a TV program that scrutinizes social issues that affect women, younger generationsor theunderprivileged.Another special prize was awarded to a program that dealt with economic, social and political realities in emergency situations. This time around, special awards include the Special Prize for Programs that Effect Social Change; the Cup of the President of the Italian Republic, awarded to an outstanding radio program dealing in current events; and The Students Prize. In previous years, awards have been given to Federico Fellini, Werner Herzog, Samuel Beckett, Ingmar Bergman, Harold Pinter and other entertainment greats. The judging for awards will be conducted by a handful of juries. Panelists represent companies from all over the world, especially Europe, Africa and North America. Different juries will specialize ineachof thedifferent categories: documentary, drama and performing arts in both radio and television. Belsat TV Gets Help For Belarus Belsat TV, which first broadcast in2007,istheonlyindependent satellite television channel for Belarus. Because the Belarus media is controlled by the country’s president, Alexander G. Lukashenko, Belsat TV is headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. Recently, Lukashenkohas implemented additional crackdowns on the media in response to demonstrations against his government, making reporting even more difficult for journalists in the country. At Belsat TV, three dozen Poles and Belarusians broadcast into Belarus 17 hours a day in an effort to overcome the restrictions imposed on journalists inside the country. Some 120 freelancers in Belarus relay news stories to those working in Poland via phone or Internet. However, freelancing does not come without risks: many have been fined, detained or even arrested. Plus, Belarusian authorities will not accredit them because they work for Belsat TV. Founder and director of Belsat TV, Agnieszka Romaxzewska-Guzy, is the daughter of two Communist-era Polish dissenters.ThePolishgovernment supports the democratic opposition in Belarus, with Poland’s Foreign Ministry giving a yearly contribution of the equivalent of U.S.$6 million to Belsat TV out of Belsat TV’s $9 million yearly budget. In addition, the Swedish government provides approximately $3 million over a three-year period that will end in 2013. BBC Budget Needs More Cuts It seems the BBC is having more trouble cutting costs than it expected. After British Prime Minister David Cameron’s conservative-led coalition government accused the BBC of “extraordinary and outrageous waste,” the corporation agreed last fall to freeze a portion of its public funding for six years, imposing a 16 percent budget cut on itself through 2017. The BBC is currently trying to decide how to cut £1.3 billion (about $2.1 billion) in spending for a spending plan ending in 2017. Criticism of the BBC has mainly V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 6 JORNADAS INTERNACIONALES 2011 28, 29 Y 30 de Septiembre Hilton Buenos Aires Argentina www.atvc.org.ar www.cappsa.org 54 11 4342 3362 54 11 4374 6932 54 11 4345 5074/5 54 11 4374 6982 El gran encuentro anual que reúne a la industria del Cable de Argentina y Latinoamérica. Las Jornadas son el ámbito propicio para conocer las últimas novedades del sector, visitar una completa exposición comercial y participar de conferencias técnicas y de interés general.
(Continued from Page 6) been focused on the license fee, through which the public funds the corporation, and each year £145.50 (about $240) is collected from every British televisionowning home. The license fee generates approximately 80 percent of the BBC’s total income, at £3.6 billion a year. Members of the British Parliament are also critical of the high salaries given to top-level executives at the BBC. For example, director general Mark Thompson received £838,000 ($1.4 million) in his compensation package in 2010. In keeping with its efforts to reduce its budget, the BBC will reduce that figure to £619,000 this year. Cuts thus far include the BBC’s decision to reduce the World Service’s employees by half, axing 650 employees and terminating programming in Russian, Mandarin Chinese and other languages. Additionally, the BBC has frozen some salaries and reduced its payroll for senior management by 18 percent since August 2009. While it is struggling to reduce spending, there is little doubt that theBBCdominates in the U.K. It operates 10 TV channels and 16 radio stations domestically, and each week, over 97 percent of the British population consumes content produced by the BBC. ProSieben Assets Sold Finnishmedia companySanoma is the leader of two consortiums that purchased Munich-based broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1’s Benelux television assets for a combined enterprise value of €1.23 billion ($1.8 billion). Sanoma will take a 67 percent stake in the Dutch arm of SBS Broadcasting, while Talpa, the holding company of John de Mol, will take the other 33 percent. In a separate consortium in Belgium, Sanoma, local media group Corelio, former sports journalist Wouter Vandenhaute and TV producer Erik Watte will all take stakes in the company. Sanoma chief executive Harri-Pekka Kaukonen believes the acquisition will allow for cross-promotion between TV, online and print platforms. It plans to finance the purchase of equity with €859 million in new debt. ProSieben is controlled by private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Permira. The broadcaster has been trying to sell SBS Broadcasting since the beginning of 2011 in an effort to reduce its debt. SBS has a 27 percent share of the Dutch TV advertising market and a 24 percent share of viewers. In the Dutch-speaking Flanders market, SBS has a 25 percent share in advertising and a 16 percent share of the TV audience. In 2010, the Dutch and Belgian operations had a revenue of €404 million, and earnings of €110 million before interest and taxes. As a result of the acquisition, the net debt to EBITDA ratio is expected to fall to 1.9 for 2011, down from 3.4 in 2010. Additional bidders included Hellman & Friedman and the Modern Times Group. Some investorsweredisappointed that ProSieben chose not to sell its Scandinavian assets. Just For Laughs Gags India Over the last few years, Asia, and India in particular, has become one of the strongest markets for Canadian production and distribution company Just for Laughs (JFL). In India, JFL has programs airing on several channels at the same time, as Gags airs on general entertainment network Zee and kids network Pogo (Turner). Since 2004, Pogo has aired new seasons of Gags, while Zee recently acquired 211 episodes of the show. In addition, the company finalized a DVD deal in India, and licensedGags to Air India and Kingfisher Air. JFL is also in the process of negotiating a closed-circuit offer to air Gags on trains in Mumbai. Since Gags is a clip show with no dialogue, it is well suited for a country that is home to as many different languages as India is. Thus, JFL may even decide to shoot gags for the show in India in the future. JFL produces series Just For Laughs Gags (Gags), a nonverbal comedy series that has been sold in 135 countries and to 95 airlines. This year, JFL is rolling out a new spin-off for kids called Just Kidding Kids, and since the majority of India’s population is under age 20, licensing the new series in India will be key for JFL at MIPJunior and MIPCOM. V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 8
V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 10 Want to know something? Google it. But when New Yorker columnist and author Ken Auletta wanted to know about Google, he had to go to the source, interviewing founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, CEO Eric Schmidt and countless others before writing Googled: The End of the World As We Know It for Virgin Books in the U.K. (418 pages, £11.99 [U.S.$20]). According to Auletta, he sought to “profile a company at the epicenter of the digital revolution.” Although Google was at first reluctant to cooperate, it eventually agreed, and Auletta made weeklong trips to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California, sat down with the founders, interviewed Schmidt 11 times, and conducted approximately 150 interviews in total. Larry Page and Sergey Brin met as graduate students at Stanford, where they embarked on a project to build an efficient search engine that didn’t waste users’ valuable time. Google was incorporated in 1998, and the founders and their few employees worked out of a garage they rented from their friends in Menlo Park. But as the company grew, adding more employees, their makeshift desks grew impractical, and they eventually moved to the Mountain View campus. The author explains that being hired by Google is not an easy feat. A potential employee is required to meet with each of the founders and pass what is known as the “airplane test,” in which Googlers are asked: “How would you feel if you were stuck next to this person [the candidate] on a plane for several hours?” Anyone who fails the test is considered unlikely to work well as part of a team. The hiring process, which champions the idea of a cooperative working community, reflects Google’s corporate culture. The founders provide their employees with extraordinary benefits — a daycare center exists on the Google campus, and employees don’t have to take time off for doctor visits; they can tend to their health needs by visiting a doctor on campus. They can even bring their cars for oil changes, and Google provides them with bikes and buses to travel throughout the campus and to and from home. Employees can also relieve stress with professional massages at work, as the founders believe that happy and stress-free employees are freer to exercise their creativity, thereby benefiting the company. Brin and Page’s preoccupation with efficiency led them to worry that if Google workers had to leave the Mountain View campus to purchase lunch, they would waste valuable time standing in line waiting for their meals. Thus, the founders justify their lavish cafeteria, with food prepared by Charlie Ayers, a chef who once cooked for The Grateful Dead. In addition, Googlers have generous stock options, and when employees’ Google stock declined in 2008 due to the economic downturn, they were allowed to exchange that stock for new options, demonstrating Brin and Page’s dedication to the company and its employees. The 20 percent time the founders allot to all Google engineers and that is “parceled out selectively by management to nonengineers,” during which employees can devote one day per week, or 20 percent of their time, to a project that interests them, is truly innovative in business. The freedom to pursue individual projects, the extensive Mountain View campus, and VP of Search Products & User Experience Marissa Mayer’s open office hours for employees to discuss their special projects may sound like graduate school life rather than business culture (Stanford’s culture was a huge influence), but these privileges promote the creative and open environment vital to Google’s success. In fact, many of Google’s innovations were born of this 20 percent time: Google News resulted from engineer Krishna Bharat’s 20 percent time, and Google Voice can also be attributed to this innovative business practice. While Google was busy innovating, and as technology continued to move forward, it created a wave that, according to Auletta, has crashed into and even drowned some old media companies. Google’s AdWord and AdSense have threatened traditional advertising companies. Newspapers suffer due to Google News, as more and more people abandon their subscriptions to read the news articles Google links to. Book publishers, citing copyright infringements, took on Google’s endeavor to digitize every book ever published through Google Books. Google’s acquisition of YouTube prompted many television and film executives to draw their swords against the offending company. The author explains that television companies were not only worried that sites such as YouTube would rob them of viewers, but that they would rob them of content as well, devaluing content by making it available for free online. While NBC couldn’t deny that clips of Saturday Night Live posted on the Internet increased the show’s ratings, many content providers felt threatened, and in late 2006 and early 2007, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone demanded that YouTube remove 100,000 clips of Viacom’s copyrighted content from the website. In 2007 Viacom filed a lawsuit against Google in federal court for “massive intentional copyright infringement.” But there were those, such as Viacom’s CBS CEO Les Moonves, who saw YouTube as a platform. CBS partnered with YouTube in 2006, allowing the website to air short-form clips of CBS content, with both companies sharing advertising revenues. These incidents indicate that old media companies must learn to coexist with new media companies that make waves like Google, rather than be drowned by them. Auletta’s book is balanced, exposing both the positives and not-so-positives of Google. He points out that the founders’ minds are so focused on algorithms and mathematical equations of efficiency that they sometimes lose sight of what their customers might want, at times resulting in concerns about user privacy. When Gmail was first launched, there was no “Delete” button. This omission caused an uproar, as users were afraid that Google might look through the messages they were unable to delete; however, Page and Brin defended the lack of a “Delete” button. The founders argued that the presence of a “Delete” button would require Gmail users to decide whether they should keep or erase a message, and the time spent making that decision could be used for more productive endeavors. It hadn’t even occurred to them that users might complain. The company’s goal is to gather enough information about its users that a Google search will be able to quickly and efficiently generate one answer to a query. Although Google’s cookies collect information about users in such a way that allows users to remain anonymous, privacy is a real concern. Besides, do users actually want Google searches to be that exact? Another potential internal threat that Auletta identifies is the possibility that Google may believe “too much in their own virtue and [lose] the humility that is a counterweight to hubris.” He cautions that Google’s self-proclaimed mission, “Don’t be evil,” could blind the founders and employees to the potential harm some developments could cause. An existing example is Google’s rush to digitize every book: while the company’s intentions were noble and its goal to provide more complete search results to queries, book publishers saw the copyright infringements as Google doing evil. Although it is a comprehensive investigation into an important player in the future of media, the book at times provides unnecessary information. Auletta offers a physical description of those whom he interviewed in person, and while these descriptions can be helpful in demonstrating the informal and relaxed nature of those who work at Google compared to executives at stuffier old media companies, the descriptions were only helpful to an extent. While the fact that Page and Brin arrive at important meetings in T-shirts, sporting roller blades or bright red Crocs compared to old media executives’ dark suits speaks volumes about their personalities and the company’s culture, their eye color and hair texture do not. Overall, though, the book is a thorough evaluation of the company, supported by interviews and quotes from new and old media executives who are knowledgeable about the subject. The extensive 34 pages of notes at the end of the book are evidence of Auletta’s wide-ranging search to gather accurate information. Googled is a valuable read for a generation that has been Googled. SA From TV Foe to TV Friendly: Googling To Heart’s Content B o o k R e v i e w
V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 12 The big news at this past L.A. Screenings was either the money invested by both the studios and the networks, or the large number of pilots commissioned, which in effect means the same thing. As an example, Comcast has invested $200 million in programming development this year for its NBC, and an additional $100 million for its cable networks. The group has commissioned 23 pilots. This from a company that just two years ago was planning to do away with pilot season. There are also many subplots to this news report, but let’s start with the pilots. A total of 88 pilots were commissioned by the big broadcast TV networks and an additional 15 by the large cable nets. This represents a 15 percent increase from last year. By doing the math described below, we can see how the new season was a $240 million proposition even before it began. Of this amount, $100 million comes from the TV outlets, and $140 million from the studios. At the Upfronts, held in New York City prior to the L.A. Screenings, the major broadcast TV networks first cancelled 31 shows, then ordered to series 43 pilots, including those for midseason and back ups. Going back to the costs of the pilots, these vary drastically, especially if pilots are produced for broadcast networks or cable channels, so these numbers represent averages. Plus, many variables exist that would change the economic dynamics, like participation back to the network or cable channel, making it a co-production with the network or cable channel and having an 800-pound gorilla show runner/executive producer, etc. A network prime time one-hour drama pilot costs $3.5 million of which $1.5 million comes from the net’s license fee. A half-hour network sitcom pilot costs $1.25 million, minus the $500,000 net’s license fee. Cable is much cheaper, depending on the cable channel, and utilizing special effects, one can probably expect costs to be 40 to 60 percent less in each category. Considering the 25 drama and 18 comedy series picked up by the broadcast nets, studios are looking at deficits to recoup on the international market in the order of $1.2 billion for a full season (22 episodes). Also news is that broadcast networks have pushed for new series with broader age appeal. This is because marketers are now focusing on those 55 and up. Previously, advertisers and therefore TV nets based their strategy on viewers 18-49 and 25-54. The only net that catered to older viewers was CBS with their view that all age groups count. Today 35-64 has become the new target since, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, people 45-64 have the highest median weekly earnings of any age segment, thus becoming the ideal consumers. In addition, the median age for the audience for a broadcast network is now reported to be above 45, with FOX at 45.4 (up from 41.5 in 2006), NBC at 50.1 (from 48.5), ABC at 52.3 (from 47.4) and CBS at 56 (from 53). Another trend that will please international buyers is that studios came to the realization that “in your face” style of product placement in TV shows can generate “cognitive rejection,” which in normal parlance means that viewers reject intrusive branding, and therefore such placements are no longer in plain view, but more subtle. The L.A. Screenings were events for both the small and mid-size companies as well. The mini-majors set a record with seven exhibiting at the Century Plaza Hotel and two in their L.A. offices. Including the telenoveleros and the various indies, a total of 76 companies were actively screening in L.A.: eight more than last year. In terms of product, the telenoveleros introduced an unusually fewer number of new telenovelas, but business was reported to have been done by all indies during the Latin Screenings, which preceded the studios’ pow-wow. The overall number of buyers remained stable at 1,500 with an increase registered only from digital outlets, especially from Netflix, which this time sent 10 buyers, versus three in 2010. For many of the international buying contingent these Screenings offered quality and quantity rarely seen in recent times. The only criticism was that screening rooms (especially at Warner Bros.) were kept at very cold temperatures in order to keep buyers awake during the More Pilots, More Expenditure, More Elders, More Distributors L . A . S c r e e n i n g s R e v i e w Sony Pictures’ Steve Mosko, Oliver Platt star of SPT’s The Big C, Keith Le Goy Record TV’s Delmar Andrade, Turner’s Monica Sufar, Record TV’s Edson Mendes, Turner’s Enrique Iteredia. 20th Century Fox’s Marion Edwards, Mark Kaner NBC Universal’s Belinda Menendez
(Continued from Page 12) extra long presentations. In addition to the announced series, studios also kept adding last-minute new shows to their line-up, making the screenings longer than expected, and, at times, causing late arrivals at other studios’ screenings. It was also noted that some studios went back to the old practice of separating buying groups from the same country and using more screening rooms. The large number of parties also brought back fond memories of an industry getting back on its feet. On the indie side, Venevision opened the Latin Screenings with a big party, while Telefe closed them with another large bash a few days later. Just after Telefilms staged its own 50-year celebration show, the studios began their evening extravaganzas with Disney, followed by Sony and Fox each hosting some 1,000-plus invitees. Others, such as Lionsgate, CBS and NBC Universal went with restricted dinners and cocktails. The overall buyers’ assessment of the new U.S. TV season is that the nets hope to make women laugh with sitcoms, men tune in with sexy shows and to lure older viewers that are now back in the advertisers’ graces, with remakes. The mix was eclectic: retro shows such as Pan AmandThe Playboy Club; mysteries like Missing andAlcatraz; political dramas, Boss and Veep (for cable); law and order, The 2-2 and Person of Interest; remakes like Charlie’s Angels and Prime Suspects; animation and spin-offs, but very few medical shows. The largest selection is definitely the supernatural genre with some 10 new series, including two from Steven Spielberg (Terra Nova and The River). In terms of specific preferences, Canadians such as Jay Switzer liked NBC Universal’s drama Smash, Warner Bros.’ Person of Interest, and Disney’s Revenge. From Latin America, for buyers such as Ecuavisa’s Karina Medina, top shows were NBC-Universal’s Grimm and Warner Bros.’ The Secret Circle. CBS Studios’ Barry Chamberlain, Armando Nuñez, Joe Lucas TV Azteca’s Carmen Pizano, Comarex’s Marcel Vinay Disney’s Ben Pyne, Anne Sweeney From Europe, the Italians did not wish to comment for fear of price increases. Studio executives were very upbeat and charged up by the new season, but, as summarized by a studio president, “Yes, we’re very happy, but we’re also very aware that up to 80 percent of the new series will fail.” V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 14 NAIROBI 7-9 SEPTEMBER 2011 NAIROBI KENYA MAIN REASONSTO MARKYOURAGENDA FOR DISCOP IN 2011-2012 Regions covered by DISCOP markets will grow faster than any other Marketplaces in the world. DISCOP markets are centered on meetings organised online and in advance The vast majority of DISCOP buyers never attend any other market DISCOP buyers' database and company profiles are updated 24/7 4 events production&management 28 FEBRUARY - 1 MARCH 2012 1 DISCOP ad FOR VIDEO AGE FINAL 3.17.11.indd 1 3/17/11 11:12 AM
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
JU N E 2 0 11 (Continued on Page 20) V I D E O • A G E 18 (Continued from Cover) Videotape Shortage television and film industry was shut down after the tsunami, which flooded the manufacturing complex located near the earthquake’s epicenter. According to Sony executives with whomVideoAge spoke in New York City, production should resume at the end of July, but there are contrasting reports. For now the industry is coping with the shortage by “degaussing” used tapes, however this is a practice that can be used three times at the most without significant loss of quality, despite differing opinions. Meanwhile, while companies that perform tape-evaluation are doing brisk business, a two-hour Sony HD tape that basically looks like a Betamax shell and cost U.S.$250 before the shortage, now can reach up to $1,000. The closing of the Sony videotape factory also affected other sectors since it stopped production of v8 and Hi8 tapes, which are used by the airline industry in particular. An In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) report stated, “There is conflicting information available as to when this key source of supply will be back in business. Even if things resume, it is also unknown if preference will be given to the manufacturing of higher demand products over airline stock.” According to the IFE story, supply of v8 and Hi8 tapes could run out as early as this month. Officially, the U.S. studios tend to minimize the problem, pointing out their newly developed digital delivery system that utilizes Internet protocols, and in this field, Disney, Sony, Fox and Paramount are said to be leading the way in digital delivery initiatives. Others, however, point out that HD cassettes are needed when dubbing is necessary. Studios reply that they control dubbing activities, therefore the problem is non-existent. Others rebut that not all TV outlets can receive digital downloads, therefore the shortage of HD cassettes is a real problem. In any case, this past June 1, Fox studios switched over to a digital delivery system called FoxFast, which also offers marketing, its catalogue and screening via the Internet. According to Fox’s John Koscheka, the studio began its program of eliminating physical media in 2008. Sony Pictures is also actively pursuing a tape to file transition with its Global Onboarding initiative. Sony’s Kerri Wilson stated that since the Onboarding Maurizio Zuccarini, general manager of Swiss-based World Content Pole SA (Continued from Cover) Bollywood For Hollywood acquisition of several post-production services by the former, and investment in Steven Spielberg’s Dream Works by the latter. Recently, Germany’s RTL Group partnered with Reliance to launch two thematic TV channels in India. These and other companies are now creating a new outsourcing industry in India to increase the country’s entertainment sector, now generating estimated annual revenues of $13 billion. Of these domestic revenues, $1 billion comes from the animation and visual effects business, which, according to some estimates, is growing at a rate of 18 percent per year. Not that Indian companies are new to the business. In the past, western companies that won visual effect contracts subsequently subcontracted the job to Indian labs, where costs are 40 percent lower. Now the strategy is to go direct and take full contracts, but to do so Indian companies need a strong presence in Hollywood. The Tata Group is said to be the largest private conglomerate in India with interests in communications, information technology (IT) and entertainment, among other areas. Of Tata’s 90 operating companies, 27 are publicly listed. The group was founded 143 years ago by Jamsedji Tata and with its current chairman, Ratan Tata, it is in its fifth generation of family stewardship. The Group became a household name with the 2008 acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motors. In2009 theNewYork-basedReputation Institute ranked the Tata Group as the 11th most reputable company in the world. Recently, however the group became involved in the 2008 Indian government’s allocation of the mobilephone spectrum, which tarnished Tata’s admired reputation, even though nothing in India’s auditor general’s report suggests that Tata received any special treatment. In the communications, IT and entertainment businesses, the Tata Group operates with four divisions: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a global U.S.$8.2 billion a year IT services company headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in 42 countries worldwide and multiple cities in the U.S. It serves more than 11 sectors, including banking. While it does IT work for entertainment companies, TCS does not dabble in entertainment per se. It is run by N. Chandrasekeran and it has been publicly traded in India since 2004. Tata Interactive Services, a producer of educational content and e-learning products for schools, corporations and And now to the agony of the missing video tape replay program began in 2010, the studio services 268 clients of whom 68 percent are broadcasters. Similarly, post-production houses are now pushing for ProRes 422 HD video compression format developed by Apple to be used with less expensive disc systems and Sony’s XDCAM as a replacement for videotape recorders allowing discs to be used (also supported by JVC). Some experts hope that this incident will force more TV outlets to accept programs as computer files. As aforementioned, tape evaluation companies are on top of the HD tape shortage problem and are now highlighting state-of-the-art machines to re-certify broadcast videotapes by cleaning and inspecting used tapes for physical defects and damages. In the view of re-certificate companies such as the Orange, Californiabased Edgewise Media, “At this time, [this] is the only viable solution.” To shed some light onto this tape emergency and to seek long-term solutions, VideoAge reached out to Maurizio Zuccarini while he was on a trip to Los Angeles. Zuccarini is the general manager of Swiss-based World Content Pole SA, a world content bank, powered by Swiss Telco powerhouse, Swisscom. WCP is described as a digital rights management and delivery content solution. VideoAge: According to some experts, degaussed tapes can be re-used up to 80 times. Is that correct? Zuccarini: Technically yes, but the risks will be higher with every new degauss. In addition, degaussing is time-consuming and is a costly operation. Ultimately, it depends on the level of reliability one requires. My position is to always take as few risks as possible, especially when content is a company’s key business. VideoAge: Some re-certification companies use state-of-the-art equipment that cleans and inspects used tapes for physical defects. Will this help? Zuccarini: Yes, of course it will help to manage emergencies like this one, but it isn’t a real solution and I cannot imagine that it can become a standard procedure. VideoAge: Even some post-production houses are now advocating sending programs as computer files. Will it work for most TV outlets? Zuccarini: Yes, if the digital master files directly from post-production houses are stored in a high resolution compression file such as ProRes. When content in such high resolution is stored on a server, it would be easy to edit and/ or encode it with different codecs. The idea is to start from the best quality and deliver any format as requested. VideoAge: Finally, what is your suggestion/recommendation? Zuccarini: My opinion is that now it’s time to redesign the content workflows, which means not only to store and deliver the digital files directly to TV outlets, but to create for the production company a more profitable, easy-to-use digital platform of services. That’s what we do at WCP and we have experience with content flows from post-production and management rights, up until content is delivered. We at WCP are now ready to introduce an advanced platform of integrated digital solutions, which will allow each player to focus on its own core-business. In my view, for production companies to invest time and money to build their own digital delivery systems is not the right choice, because upgrading digital solutions is, for the most part, illogical and a waste of money. It’s like companies wanting to start their own banks just to manage their own money.
V I D E O • A G E JU N E 2 0 11 20 (Continued on Page 22) (Continued from Page 18) Bollywood For Hollywood government. Home office is in Mumbai, with offices in eight additional countries. Sanjay Shama runs the company. Tata Communications (TC), a U.S.$2.45 billion a year telco that also operatesTata Sky, a joint venture between Tata Sons, which owns 80 percent and Rupert Murdoch’s Star Group, which owns 20 percent. Reportedly, Singaporebased Temasek Holdings picked up a 10 percent stake in Tata Sky from Tata Sons, diluting Tata’s stake in the venture to 70 percent. However, the Group would not confirm it. Tata Sky, a direct-to-home satellite platform, covers more than 4,500 towns in India. Tata did not divulge the number of subscribers. Vikram Kaushik runs it, while Ratan Tata himself runs TC from Mumbai. TataElxsiLtd(TEL), aU.S.$84million a year engineering company publicly traded on the Indian stock exchanges. The “Elxsi” part of the company’s name came from an acquired company. Under the label “Visual Computing Labs,” it operates a division called Mediaworks, which is involved in animation, visual effects and commercials production. TEL maintains its headquarters in Bangalore, India and in seven other countries, with multiple offices in the U.S. including studios in Los Angeles, which were opened last year. Subramanian Ramadorai runs the company. With Hayward’s A Squared Entertainment, Tata Elxsi Ltd will produce and distribute children’s series for television, the Web, mobile devices and video games. Under the deal, TEL has agreed to finance the productions and supply the animation workforce from its studio in Bangalore, India, while A Squared will provide the creative direction for the projects, using its contacts in Hollywood. Financial terms for this and other deals were not disclosed. Tata Elxsi’s credits include its 3D animation services for Walt Disney’s first Indian animation feature, 2008’s Roadside Romeo, co-producedwith veteran Bollywood banner Yash Raj Films. In addition, the company has worked on such Sony Pictures’ films as Spider-Man 3 and Ghost Rider with Nicolas Cage. Tata Elxsi’s CEO, Subramanian Ramadorai was recently in Cannes to participate in MIP and to attend Arnold Schwarzenegger’s inaugural dinner for The Governator, the action-movie star and former California Governor’s vehicle that was supposed to be his re-enter into show biz with an animated series produced by A Squared, but which was later cancelled due to Schwarzenegger’s confessing to having fathered an illegitimate son. A product of New York City, where he lived in the ’70s, and Los Angeles, where he earned a Masters in Computer Science at UCLA, up until recently the 67-year-old Indian-born Ramadorai was the chairman of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Today, Ramadorai is TEL chairman and also TCS vice chairman in addition to other chairmanships such as that of the Bombay Stock Exchange and Tata Technologies. LastFebruaryRamadoraiwasappointed advisor to India’s Prime Minister with the rank of cabinet minister for the National Skill Development Council. VideoAge first met with Ramadorai at MIP and he subsequently agreed to answer the following questions: VideoAge: Are there sufficient animators in India? Reportedly there was a need for 10,000 animators. Subramanian Ramadorai: The Indian animation industry is still at a nascent stage. The animation industry in India was formally recognized just over a decade ago. Lack of exposure, inadequate resources, investments and government support are some of the key challenges faced by the sector. Though it is witnessing a constant growth, it still requires nurturing and focused development. As per the NASSCOM [animation association] report, the manpower requirement for animation and VFX industries in India is expected to grow from 17,500 in 2009 to 29,500 by 2012. VideoAge: Costs of animation in India are estimated to be 40 percent lower than in Western countries, but is the quality comparable? In the past there were complaints about the low quality. S. Ramadorai: The animation industry in India has gained significance as an outsourcing destination for animation work due to low cost skilled labor. Some of the leading Indian animation studios have worked on international projects and feature films and delivered international quality. For instance Roadside Romeo, a full-length feature film that was co-produced by Disney Pictures and YRF, was fully animated in 3D by Tata Elxsi where we were responsible for both the creative and technical aspects of production. Roadside Romeo was nominated among the final set of five finalists for the “Best Animated Movie” by the VES awards alongside internationally acclaimed movies like Wall- E and Kung Fu Panda. While the cost factor is a significant attraction for considering outsourcing of animation work, we need to ensure some key aspects to scale the quality to a level of consistency expected by the internationalmarket.TheIndianindustry has to assimilate high quality technology and tools, enable more international exposure for creative personnel and inculcate a knowledge sharing platform for international experts to come and share their learnings. The IT sector also faced similar challenges 20 years back. Today India is considered a preferred IT destination. The Indian animation sector needs to borrow some for the successful IT practices and also institute better project management skills to become more competent internationally. Tata Elxsi for example, has deputed about 20 of its creative staff from the VCL studios in Mumbai to UCLA to get trained by international experts. VCL has an established studio in Los Angeles with highly acclaimed creative staff from Hollywood, and regularly arranges for key international talent to support projects. We also leverage our software teams to help develop and innovate more efficient workflows, specific tools and plug-ins for ourwork. At a national level, we have taken a key role in representing the industry with the government and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and helped develop a national agenda that aims to foster and grow this industry in a sustained manner. This includes creating accredited animation courses, developing a comprehensive curriculum and enabling greater recognition for this industry through national awards. VideoAge: Is Tata’s long-term strategy to focus on outsourcing or on being a producer? S. Ramadorai: We believe that it is important for us to focus on a portfolio right from simple outsourcing to co-production and production. This is beneficial from a business and creative perspective as it provides a synergy and opportunity for concept incubation, design, styles, business trends, risk amortization and mitigation. VideoAge: Is television Tata’s main business or it is movies? S. Ramadorai: Though we provide graphics/VFX for television commercials and VFX/CG for TV shows, our larger involvement has been in features (movies). Recently, Tata Elxsi signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a joint venture with A Squared Entertainment, which envisions exciting properties. This tie-up intends to create, develop and distribute original brands, including animated entertainment and digital gaming. With this agreement we expect significant participation in the television segment too. VideoAge:Since Tata operates in different sectors, will Elxsi be taking advantage of their services and financial support? Can you give us some examples? S. Ramador ai: Tata Elxsi is a profitable, zero-debt company with access to funds both internally and externally if required. We do leverage otherTata companieswhere relevant. For example, we have utilized the computer infrastructure of CRL that hosts one of India’s fastest supercomputers for rendering and animation projects. We have executed some exciting projects for other Tata companies, including advertisements, new product launches and custom content, which are redefining how automotive and other B2C companies can use technology and animation more effectively to position and sell their products. For example, we have developed stereoscopic 3D content to showcase the global truck being launched byTataMotors. A Squared Entertainment’s Andrew Berman, Tata Elxsi’s chairman Subramanian Ramadorai; regional manager North America, Bhaskar Dutt “ The Tata Group is said to be the largest private conglomerate in India with interests in communications, information technology (IT) and entertainment, among other areas. Of Tata’s 90 operating companies, 27 are publicly listed.
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