M I P C O M R E V I E W Moonves, who was also named MIPCOM’s Personality of the Year for his contributions to the global entertainment business, tooted CBS’s horn, saying that CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has become a $2 billion treasure for the company. And, after praising CBS Paramount International TV’s president Armando Nuñ ez Jr. for the good job he does, Moonves told an audience of TV execs fearful of new platforms that: “We, the broadcasters, are the guys who feed the world what it wants to watch. They’re always going to need us.” He continued: “Wireless is useless if hitless.” During his keynote, Televisa’s top executive, Emilio Azcarraga Jean — whom Reed Midem’s Paul Johnson called “the turnaround king” for remaking Televisa into a company that boasts profits of over 50 percent and exports content all over the globe — spoke about the importance of finding and maintaining partnerships in the broadcasting arena, and stated that Televisa had recently entered into an agreement to produce a novela in Russia, and has two new ventures in Indonesia and China in the works, as well. “We have the means and we know how to exploit a property,” he said. “We’re a content provider, so we’re looking into going into different markets with established partners.” Next up for Azcarraga Jean are plans to make Televisa’s telenovelas available in English-language versions in America. “The Spanish population is exploding in the U.S.,” he said. “We believe we can be in English-speaking households in the near future.” During the traditional VideoAge breakfast meeting, editor Dom Serafini announced the all-new “Independents’ Day,” which will be held at L.A. Screenings 2008. The event will be a full day of general screenings, meals, conferences and parties, set to replicate the studios’ L.A. Screenings environment and will be held the day before the start of the studios’ own screenings. According to Serafini, “This is the only way we can make the L.A. Screenings viable for the independents. After this year’s disappointing L.A. Screenings results for many independents, it is important that the sector evolve, or it could spell the end of the indies’ participation.” NATPE has already announced its cosponsorship of the “Independents’ Day” luncheon for buyers and sellers. Brasil TV Forum is considering sponsorship of the breakfast, and the Florida Media Market will be organizing a seminar. This MIPCOM also saw a number of changes, including Disney-ABC International TV’s move from the Palais to a tent next to FremantleMedia’s. There, Disney took the opportunity to introduce its new global president, Benjamin N. Pyne. Telemundo took over Disney’s vacated spot. E! Entertainment changed its location ( this time, it occupied the area left empty by Alliance Atlantis, which seemed to have disappeared) , as well as its name — it’s now Comcast International Media Group. Canada’s CHUMTV was also put to rest. Its program catalog is now handled by CTV’s EPI, which operated from beneath the Discovery umbrella. For their part, the Italians introduced RAI Trade’s new CEO, Carlo Nardello, along with its new fare, while Mediaset announced the sale of nine of its series, and noted that special attention was paid to Teaching the Futureand The Squad, as NO V E M B E R/ DE C E M B E R 2 0 0 7 V I D E O • A G E 12 VideoAge’s break f ast meeting to announc e the “Indep endents’ Day” Disney- ABC International TV Latin Americ a’s Diego Lerner, F ernando Barbosa and H enri Ringel during a p ress c onf erenc e at the new Disney tent G lobo TV’s Rap hael Correa N etto and Amazoniasc rip tw riter G loria Perez . Abov e: a sc ene f rom the new G lobo series. well as Christmas movie What if Santa. Brazil’s Globo built up its booth to resemble a digital forest in an effort to promote its new miniseries, Amazonia, and invited the series’ author, Gloria Perez, to participate in a Q & A with the press. Germany introduced a new company, Studio 1 00, headed by industry veteran Patrick Elmendorff. Israel’s Dori Media presented Jose Escalante as Dori Media America’s new CEO. And Canada introduced an up-and-coming company, Q C Entertainment. On the seminar front, Indian TV Day was basically ignored and as for the day devoted to Green TV, CABLEready’s Gary Lico said it best: “Every time I see a green TV-tagged show, I do the ecological, sensible thing and turn the TV off.” MIPCOM also set records in terms of the number of participating companies, number of exhibitors and countries represented. Roughly 4 ,585 firms from 1 05 countries were present at the Palais, compared to 4 ,21 6 companies from 9 8 countries in 2006 — an increase of nine percent. The number of exhibiting companies rose 1 0 percent to 1 ,801 , up from 1 ,64 1 companies last year. In addition, international buyers also turned out in greater numbers, with 4 ,24 2 acquisition execs this year, up from 3,84 7 in 2006. (Continued from page 10)
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