(Continued from Page 6) who was credited with the creation of RaiSat, the revival of PrixItalia and the growth of RaiWorld, was also a professor of Mass Communications, a journalist and a writer, with many books about television to his name. Sartori was also one of the founders of Euronews’ consortium of 19 European public TV organizations. He was asked to become the Chief of Radio and Television at the United Nations in New York City, a position that he declined. His admonition to Americans delivered during a NATPE speech became famous: “Yes, [Italy produces] trash-TV, but it’s our own trash, there is no need to send yours.” Prof. Sartori, a graduate of Stanford University, was also a visiting professor at Barnard College from 1980 to 1981. He’s survived by his wife, actress Stefania Barca and two young children, Camilla and Giulio. Local TV Deals For Sports Rights Local TV rights on regional sports networks (RSN) in the U.S. are the equivalent of hitting grand slams for baseball teams in lucrative TV markets, making it possible for the teams to sign top quality talent. Through a trend that’s developed years after the New York Yankees launched their YES Network on cable in 2002, (which reportedly generates annual revenue in excess of $450 million), teams such as the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have begun cashing in on local cable deals. The Rangers were the first to hit the ground running through a 20-year deal with Fox Sports Southwest valued at $3 billion that includes equity in the network, escalator clauses and profit participation. The deal, which doesn’t go into effect until 2015, has allowed the Rangers, which were bankrupt, to develop a franchise payroll of approximately $125 million this year. The Angels followed suit with a 20-year deal they inked with Fox Sports West, which is valued even higher than the Rangers’ agreement. The Angels’ local TV contract made it possible for them to sign slugger Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $240 million contract. With local TV deals that expire or feature reopener clauses by 2015, the L.A. Dodgers (whose franchise value has soared due to its anticipated TV deal), Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals may be the next set of teams poised to cut themselves a larger slice of the local TV revenue pie. In addition to these teams, the San Diego Padres are ready to ink a deal with Fox Sports pending MLB approval. The deal would grant the team a whopping $75 million a year for 20 years, despite the fact that the team plays in only the 26th-largest market in baseball. The Artist: Miracle Of Marketing Leave it to the Americans to create a world sensation out of a black-and-white, noncommercial2011silentFrench film, which culminated with a five-Oscar win. The New York-based The Weinstein Company (TWC) purchased distribution rights to the film for the U.S. and Australia for $3 million after The Artist won one award at the Cannes Film Festival. Once the film reached U.S. soil, TWC spent an additional $20 million to market it, though some analysts said that marketing costs could have reached as much as $30 million, or double the cost of production. As per early March, the film — released in the U.S. on November 25 — had generated $32 million in the U.S. and $44.7 million in other parts of the world, for a total gross of $76.7 million. TWC’s Oscar strategy for The Artist is comparable to that of the 1997 Italian movie, Life is Beautiful, in which the Weinstein brothers spent a reported $15 million in marketing, or double its production costs. In 1999 that film won three Oscars. Life competed in both the U.S. and foreign film categories, while The Artist, being silent, ran only in the U.S. category. U.S. film companies invest, on average, 25 percent of a film’s budget in marketing. Sartori at MIP-TV 2000 V I D E O • A G E MA R C H/ AP R I L 2 0 1 2 8
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