Dominated by Argentina, Latin America’s South Cone includes Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. This is an area that usually awakens during the annual Jornadas (or days) of Cable, the region’s main TV trade event, which is organized by ATVC, Argentina’s cable TV association. This year’s event will be held in Buenos Aires, on October 14-16, 2009. Latin America’s South Cone means different things to different people. For some observers, such as professors Mario Olivares and Cezar Guedes of the University of Economics in Lisbon, Portugal, the area includes Brazil. Others, however, only put Brazil’s three outmost southern states in the Cone. And, to some analysts, the Cone excludes Paraguay because the poverty level of the country contrasts with that of neighboring nations. As a Spanish-speaking bloc (except for Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken), the South Cone comprises a region of close to 69 million people served by more than 170 broadcasting TV stations grouped under 20 networks, plus numerous panregional cable channels. Paraguayan President Lugo’s antics have proven a TV bonanza, not only for the usually sleepy South Cone, but for the entire Latin American media circuit — particularly because Lugo allegedly fathered one of his two illegitimate boys while still serving as a Roman Catholic bishop. To Pedro Leda, president of Buenos Aires and Los Angeles-based Ledafilms, “Argentina and Chile are the major players in the South Cone who are suffering the impact of the global recession.” Chile has the largest TV drama production industry in the South Cone and is greatly suffering from the devaluation of its currency. The dollar devalued from 400 to 680 pesos ($1 = 680 pesos chilenos), affecting the country’s ability to both buy and produce its own in-house programs. “This affects us greatly because Chile represents a very good customer for us,” commented Telefe’s Michelle Wasserman. “We even had to halt our new production projects with them.” “As far as Paraguay is concerned,” added Wasserman, “the country has never developed real production skills due to high local costs.” A timid attempt is now being made with the local production of the format Tiempo Final by one of the country’s five TV networks. “Argentina has the advantage of a solid TV broadcasting base that allows producers to generate content relatively cheaply,” noted Silvana D’Angelo, president and CEO of Flor Latina Entertainment Group. Plus, the country boasts an adept pool of media-savvy talent. “The key is teamwork between the author, producer and distributor,” she said. “Because of the mastery of these skills, Argentina has an extensive background in producing fiction formats that tend to sell well internationally.” With just four major national TV groups, Argentina has the Cone’s fewest networks, but its sheer market size, with close to 10 million TV households (TVHH), means it is able to dominate TV production for the whole region. Furthermore, Chile, with its six key TV networks and four million TVHH, represents fertile ground as well. Another market for Argentina is the neighboring Uruguay (also called the Switzerland of Latin America) with its five TV networks. Uncharacteristically, Uruguay has selected the European standard DVB-T for its digital terrestrial system, while Argentina is looking at the Japanese ISDB-T. In terms of Internet, the Cone boasts 16 million users, mostly on low-speed connections, which aren’t particularly adequate for viral TV promotion. MAY 2 0 0 9 (Continued from Cover) South Cone “ As a Spanishspeaking block (except for Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken), the South Cone comprises a region of close to 69 million people served by more than 170 broadcasting TV stations
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5