V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 1 1 18 “ Feldman said that he’s not planning to make drastic changes, however all options are open. Next year the Budapest market will take place a week later than usual. In addition, the Sofitel Hotel is not to be taken for granted. D I S C O P ( C o n t i n u e d ) top-level sales executives, and some even reduced their advertising presence. It is hoped that, with NATPE now taking over, the trade show will further expand from its traditional Central and Eastern European (CEE) base. It has been pointed out that the CEE TV market is now mature: Stations are making money and, at the L.A. Screenings, are willing to pay studio prices. For those buyers who didn’t attend the Screenings in Los Angeles, some of the U.S. studios rented theaters in Budapest, pointing out that screenings were held early in the morning, taking away buyers only for a short while, and, in the case of Warner Bros., their screenings were done before the market even started. But the studios weren’t the only ones taking the buyers off the market site. The producers of the two-episode miniseries Titanic organized a party at their Budapest set, which was described by one participant as a “gate crasher.” Nevertheless, those outside events caused some consternation among exhibitors. TV France International’s Mathieu Bejot commented, “We were extremely unhappy about the screenings that took place this year outside of the [DISCOP] market. It is very positive that the studios wish to increase their presence atDISCOPEast (nowNATPEBudapest). The more exhibitors, the stronger the market. However, taking buyers out of the venue could be fatal for the market. Why bother paying for a suite if the buyers aren’t going to attend anyway? Many exhibitors are debating whether they will go back next year if the studios maintain their own screenings.” Helge Koehnen, Bavaria Media Television’s Sales manager, said, “For me DISCOP was a good market, but as you can imagine I wasn’t amused about the fact that the U.S. majors had their screenings during the first two market days! Several buyers told me that they had no time to meet as they were busy attending the ‘Post L.A. Screenings.’ Such screenings should take place the day before and/or after the market — this would be a good upside to the market — but not simultaneously.” In addition, Koehnen “was disappointed about the number and quality of buyers. DISCOP was very busy, but mostly due to the enormous amount of sellers trying to meet fewer buyers. The big channels from Russia, Ukraine, the Baltics, Poland and some of the Balkans did not attend.” Nevertheless, he said, “We will most probably attend NATPE-Budapest next year, but I hope they will solve the issue with the screenings.” And, in terms of business, “It was a good (Continued from Page 14) Basic Lead’s Patrick Jucaud (l.) and NATPE CEO Rick Feldman at the press conference announcing that DISCOP East will become NATPE-Budapest NHK’s Shigeru Aoki at the cocktail presentation of NEP’s new programming Russ Biggam, director general of the Brussels, Belgium-based ATC, making the case for “Rights, New Media & Football” Crowd at the opening party market for us. The meetings I had were efficient and productive with some promising new contacts.” For his part, NATPE CEO Rick Feldman said, “We understand and appreciate the issue of the majors holding screenings off site atDISCOP inBudapest. I have already spoken with Warner Bros., Fox, NBC Universal, and CBS and I will meet with them in the fall to see how we can meet their needs without disrupting the market. The truth is that we all benefit by having the majors as a part of what will be NATPE-Budapest. “Everyone I have contacted understands that doing something that hurts themarket helps no one and that incorporating the screenings into the fabric of the NATPEBudapest marketplace is what would be best for all. We will try for a fair, systematic approach to this for June 2012 in an attempt to enhance the value of the market for the buyers and the sellers.”
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