V I D E O • A G E MA R C H/ AP R I L 2 0 1 2 20 BY SARA ALESSI The Mayans believed that the world would end in 2012. Obviously, they bet on drama, not comedy. But what will the rest of the year bring for the TV industry? VideoAge asked a group of execs to peer into their crystal balls and predict want the future has in store. Nat Abraham at Toronto-based Breakthrough Entertainment was frank: “It’s no secret that the conventional media business, be it television, print, radio, etc., will face another challenging year, as advertising revenues will be increasingly carved up by the alternative online and mobile media favored by younger consumers.” “Television will for the foreseeable future still be the strongest medium for video content,” he said, but added, “online media will quickly become the primary source of entertainment.” FromZurich, Switzerland, Esther Van Messel of First Hand Films concurred: “TV is still king,” she said, but “only when [TV is] able to combine different aspects of media, online and offline. [The] TV industry is challenged as never before and working feverishly on all aspects to remain the key medium.” Gene George of Starz Media in Burbank, California, predicted that the industrywill“continuetobechallengedby various factors. In Europe, the economic crisis will continue to bring caution to broadcasters’ acquisition budgets and the level of aggressiveness they will have.” But he noted, “Fortunately for us, we have not really been impacted by this macro-economic condition.” From Toronto, Vince Commisso of 9 Story Entertainment also expects the industry to be affected by the “weak economic climate…The cut back in advertising dollars will have an impact on the amount of content produced this year,” he predicted. The European economic crisis was also on Ricardo Ehrsam’s mind. From Televisa Internacional’s Madrid office, Ehrsam said, “I don’t see a very good year for emerging markets at this point in time given that we are in crisis. However…the analog switch-off [and] the opening of new channels [offer] a very important opportunity for Televisa to provide additional content.” According to Giuliano Tranquilli at Rome’s Switchover Media, the “switch-off is still effecting the habits of the viewers, more channels with new content are still entering the free-to-air market and this means more offer[ings] for the viewers and more opportunity for the business.” Jonathan South of A+E Networks in London also predicted that there would be “growth in France, Spain and Italy because of the developments with digital terrestrial free-to-air.” David Auerbach of California-based Rive Gauche Television emphasized that “Viewing patterns will continue to shift as consumers migrate to different platforms.” One trend that Starz’s George sees continuing throughout the year is that of broadcast platforms becoming “more involved in broadening the rights they secure to enable them to reach their audience by all means possible.” He elaborated, “We are seeing more requests for additional rights, such as mobile, as channels become available to their viewers across different platforms.” From Toronto, CCI’s Charles Falzon concurred saying, “There’s a whole new player in the mix, which is subscription VOD and subscription broadcast. We’re seeing a really interesting tension.Midsize companies are finding it difficult to navigate the approach to it. At the same time, traditional buyers are acquiring the subscription VOD rights, too…There are a lot of bad deals happening because people are just signing off rights.” Patrick Elmendorff at Studio 100 Media in Munich said his clients are also “now asking for more comprehensive rights in order to satisfy consumer demand.” He explained, “In addition to traditional free TV or pay-TV rights, we are therefore offering our partners and clients a copious rights portfolio such as Web TV, Catch Up, IPTV, VOD, etc.” Cesar Diaz from Miami-based Venevision International honed in on what he called a “definite increase in local productions, especially coming out of small to medium sized territories in Latin America and Eastern Europe.” CCI’s Falzon noted that due to budget cuts, co-productions are becoming increasingly important and will continue to hold a prominent position throughout 2012, as will local entertainment programs that reflect local values, cultures and languages. Yeo Chun Cheng of Media Development Authority of Singapore agreed that the “tightening of budgets in the current economic situation will push the TV industry into more co-productions and partnerships.” Citing the current economic situation, Power’s Steve Turney in London wouldn’t be surprised to see a “continued increase in demand for domestically produced programming in Latin America, whilst in some southern European countries broadcasters have shifted away from production toward a more acquisition-based strategy.” In terms of programming in demand in 2012, A+E’s South has found that there is a “continuing trend for good quality reality programming with a strong narrative…Related to this is that reality show formats are attracting a lot more interest from production companies, particularly in Western Europe. [This] is a trend that I expect will continue to grow.” “In the non-fiction world, reality TV remains important, and I expect formats to develop further in new ways, What More To Expect For The TV Biz In 2012 P r e d i c t i o n s & P r o j e c t i o n s 9 Story’s Vince Commisso Saralo MacGregor of Content Television CCI’s Charles Falzon Televisa’s Ricardo Ehrsam Gene George of Starz (Continued on Page 24)
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