TV Europe MIPCOM 2016

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OCTOBER 2016

U.K. Profile / MTG’s Jørgen Madsen Lindemann Banijay Group’s Marco Bassetti / ARTE’s Peter Boudgoust

MIPCOM EDITION

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CONTENTS FEATURE

Change is in the Air

6 LONDON CALLING A look at the shifts under way in the British media business as the industry comes to grips with the Brexit fallout.

Most observers of Britain’s referendum on June 23 to leave or remain in the European Union were stunned by the outcome, not least of which people who work in the TV industry.

Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher Anna Carugati Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Executive Editor Joanna Padovano Managing Editor Sara Alessi Associate Editor Victor L. Cuevas Production & Design Director Phyllis Q. Busell Art Director Simon Weaver Online Director Dana Mattison Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Elizabeth Walsh Sales & Marketing Manager Andrea Moreno Business Affairs Manager

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Europe © 2016 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tveurope.ws

The Brexit vote has left in its wake a swirl of possible scenarios and unanswered questions. When will the U.K. invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which will officially set off the two-year period of negotiations between the U.K. and Brussels? What relationship will the Brits maintain with the EU? How long will it take for the U.K. to renegotiate treaties and agreements with individual European countries?

While politicians work out the details of Britain extricating itself from the EU, in the TV industry, a multitude of questions abound regarding the impact of Brexit in Britain, across the Channel and across the Atlantic. In Britain, the economy will likely take a hit, and what will that do to the advertising revenues commercial broadcasters depend on? The pound sterling has already hit 31-year lows against the U.S. dollar.

That makes U.S. programming more expensive. How will that affect U.S. studios and distributors selling to the U.K.? On the other hand, British programming will become less expensive, but will it still qualify as EU content? A lot of high-end British films and TV series are co-produced and can tap into EU funding programs. Will those sources still be available? British tax credits have attracted a lot of foreign production companies to shoot in the U.K. But will these companies want to pay for the likely more costly work permits and visas required for cast and crew? And what about international media and entertainment companies based in the U.K.? Will they be able to maintain their staffs and offices or will they have to relocate somewhere in Continental Europe? And what about the international channel business? Channels originating in the U.K. have been allowed to transmit across the EU without having to comply with quota restrictions. Will this change?

These questions and more won’t be answered soon. But as the saying goes, the show must go on. Production in the U.K. continues and in our feature we look at the shifts already taking place in the British media business. We also talk to executives from major European media companies— Modern Times Group’s (MTG) Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, Banijay Group’s Marco Bassetti and ARTE’s Peter Boudgoust. There is a lot of change coming. May calm heads prevail and may like-minded producers who have been contributing such quality fare to TV not be prevented from continuing their good work.

—Anna Carugati

INTERVIEWS

10 MTG’s Jørgen Madsen Lindemann

14 Banijay Group’s Marco Bassetti

18 ARTE’s Peter Boudgoust

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Federation Entertainment The Break / Bordertown / The Bureau Since launching the dramas The Break and Bordertown at MIPTV, Federation Entertainment reports that both titles have generated “a lot of interest” from global buyers. “The Break was an unprecedented hit in Belgium and has had strong runs in Switzerland and France,” says Jean-Michel Ciszewski, the head of international sales at Federation Entertainment. “We are in the process of finalizing several deals worldwide on this series and still have a few territories open.” Ciszewski is equally optimistic about the sales prospects for the Finnish crime series Bordertown. “We still have a few territories left that we intend to finalize at MIPCOM,” he says. “We are also extremely happy with the momentum that our spy thriller The Bureau has been experiencing lately. We secured massive sales worldwide.”

“We want to stay ahead of the game when it comes to high-end content that has international appeal and sophistication.”

—Jean-Michel Ciszewski The Bureau

Filmax International I Know Who You Are / Central Bank: The Take Over / Four Sisters From Pau Freixas, creator of The Red Band Society, comes the crime drama I Know Who You Are. Filmax International is presenting the title, alongside Central Bank: The Take Over, a limited series based on real events that took place in Barcelona in the early ’80s. “The show is a very intense thriller and its narration will be very original, using different points of view to tell an amazing true story,” says Iván Díaz, the head of the international division at Filmax International. Four Sisters is also a limited series. “This show will narrate the evolution of a family throughout the 20th century, having women as the main characters and Christmas as the period of time when the main events affecting this family will always take place,” explains Díaz.

“MIPCOM will be a very important market for Filmax in its process to diversify from its traditional featurefilm core business.”

—Iván Díaz I Know Who You Are

Imagina International Sales Lifeline / Soccer Cities / Six Sisters The high-concept thriller Lifeline (Pulsaciones) is “full of emotions, with a very original and ambitious plot,” according to Laura Miñarro, the managing director of Imagina International Sales. “Once again, we are presenting a powerful title to our clients—a really original series with a strong plot. It is a premium series that undoubtedly will fulfill our clients’ needs.” The company is also promoting Soccer Cities, which Miñarro describes as a “lifestyle show for soccer fans who love traveling and cooking.” Another highlight of the catalog is the daily period drama Six Sisters, which features strong central female characters. It is a “high-quality TV series from the producers of Velvet and Grand Hotel that we’re sure will get its place on several channels,” says Miñarro.

“Soccer Cities will perfectly fit our clients’ [interests] as it combines three great ingredients: soccer, traveling and gastronomy.”

—Laura Miñarro Soccer Cities 170 WORLD SCREEN 10/16

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Marc Dorcel Dorcel Virtual Reality / Dorcel TV Viewers can now experience adult entertainment through the lens of VR thanks to Dorcel Virtual Reality, the latest offering from French outfit Marc Dorcel. The company is also celebrating the tenth anniversary of Dorcel TV, which offers erotic entertainment 24/7. Recently, Marc Dorcel launched a Polish version of Dorcel TV, “because to be global, you need to be local,” says Gregory Dorcel, the company’s CEO. The channel is available both in HD and SD and is present in 56 countries around the world. Dorcel TV now has versions in four languages: French, English, Spanish and Polish. The company also has Dorcel XXX, a 24-hour channel available in English and French. While Dorcel TV is couple-oriented, Dorcel XXX is targeted for male audiences. The channel boasts more than 400 movies in its roster.

“Marc Dorcel has always been a pioneer in using cutting-edge technologies to satisfy audiences’ appetite for new experiences.”

—Gregory Dorcel Dorcel Virtual Reality

Novovision Virtual-reality content / Prank My Pet / Nutri Ventures: The Quest for the 7 Kingdoms At MIPCOM, Novovision is presenting virtual-reality content to international buyers. “Broadcasters want to expand their digital platforms, and this is a logical extension to grow their audience and maintain their brand integrity,” says FrançoisXavier Poirier, the CEO of Novovision. “Since this content can be viewed on smartphones around the world, there’s no barrier for media company platforms to increase their share of overall video viewing.” Prank My Pet, meanwhile, is a “playful program [that] focuses on a wide range of animals.” The non-dialogue animal-prank program is suitable for family viewing. In the kids’ category, Novovision is presenting Nutri Ventures: The Quest for the 7 Kingdoms, which “promotes healthy eating in a positive environment so that kids associate good feelings with healthy food,” says Poirier.

“Novovision has been a global leader in the comedy-clip category and is once again moving ahead to grow in the VR-content arena.”

—François-Xavier Poirier Prank My Pet

TM International Neanderthals / Emerald Green / Date the Chef The TM International (TMI) thriller Neanderthals is based on the concept of illegal cloning, following a young pathologist who is in a deadly race against time to save humanity. The four-hour miniseries has already been sold in Spain and Germany, and TMI is looking to notch up further sales at MIPCOM. The company is also showcasing Emerald Green, which is the latest installment of the Ruby Red trilogy, based on the best-selling novels for teens. “The films have proven especially popular among girls 10 to 15 and women 40 to 49—ideal family programming,” says Giannina Antola, the head of international sales at TM International. Following success in Germany and Austria, the format Date the Chef will be launched for the international market at MIPCOM. The show watches as five bar owners look for true love.

“TMI continues to expand its offer for all platforms with a highly competitive and curated portfolio.”

—Giannina Antola Neanderthals

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Celebrity Big Brother on Channel 5.

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As the industry comes to grips with the Brexit fallout, Steve Clarke delivers an in-depth look at the shifts already under way in the British media business.

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CALLING ew shows encapsulate the changes sweeping through the U.K. TV market as the recent BBC spy thriller The Night Manager. This glamorous adaptation of the John le Carré novel of the same name, which aired in Britain last winter, picked up 12 Emmy Award nominations (winning two). One local TV critic described The Night Manager as “the BBC’s glossiest, smartest, most indecently entertaining Sunday-night drama in ages.” But that is only half of the story.

Increasingly, high-end British drama is being funded in tandem with American partners. The Night Manager was no exception: it was backed by AMC, famous for Breaking Bad and Mad Men. To further substantiate The Night Manager’s international credibility, the show was directed by the Danish Academy Award-winning filmmaker Susanne Bier.

It would be hard to see the cash-strapped BBC greenlighting an expensive project like The Night Manager were it not for the success of Netflix in the U.K. The platform has been making plenty of noise in the market with its own content efforts, commissioning the ambitious (and expensive) The Crown from Left Bank Pictures.

According to the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB), the U.K. body that measures TV audiences, almost a quarter of all U.K. homes subscribe to Netflix. BARB reported that in 2015 Netflix had more than 5 million British customers. “Netflix is by some margin the market leader, and its growth continues to easily outpace the other services,” said a BARB report published in March.

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STICKING WITH TRADITION One of the many paradoxes of the British TV market— regarded as one of the world’s most dynamic—is that while viewers are embracing online content wholeheartedly, the popularity of linear TV remains robust.

“So far traditional network TV is holding up well in the U.K.,” says Stephen Price, ex-ITV scheduler turned broadcast advisor and consultant. “Audiences recognize the inherent quality of a lot of British TV. What happens when most of the nation has smart TVs connected to broadband and can access VOD services on their main

TV set remains to be seen, but for now, the terrestrial channels continue to dominate viewing habits.”

In 2015, Brits watched an average of three hours and 36 minutes of TV per day, this was less than the Americans but more than the Swedes, according to regulator Ofcom.

In 2014 the figure was three hours and 40 minutes.

Last year, Ofcom calculated that Britain was ahead of the U.S., Japan, Australia and the rest of Europe when it comes to watching free-to-air catch-up services such as the BBC iPlayer. Ofcom predicted that over Christmas 70 percent of U.K. adults (31 million) would use these internet-driven services.

The Brits’ willingness to pay for online TV, provided the price is right, is clear. The popularity of Netflix reflects this.

Significantly, Disney decided that the U.K. would be the first place—ahead of even the U.S.—to launch its streaming service, DisneyLife. At £9.99 a month, DisneyLife is more expensive than Netflix, which was recently subject to a price hike in Britain, from £5.99 to £7.49 a month.

All the evidence suggests that Netflix subscribers are likely to be heavy TV watchers who are also likely to pay for satellite or cable TV. This explains why pay TV is proving to be durable in the face of competition from OTT operators.

POWER OF PAY Pay TV has long been big business in the U.K. And Sky remains the market leader. For the year ended June 30, 2016, Sky’s group revenues rose 7 percent to £12 billion, with £8.4 billion from the U.K. and Ireland, also up 7 percent. In the U.K. 11.3 million homes subscribe to Sky, Ofcom says. About 65 percent of U.K. homes have a pay-TV subscription.

“Sky has done a lot to improve its health by developing extra revenue streams from things like NOW TV (an online service) and the Sky Store (a buy-to-keep service),” says Toby Syfret, the director of TV research at Enders Analysis. In terms of “cord cutting and shaving, the U.K. doesn’t have the same issues and urgency that the U.S. has.”

Yet the beating heart of the British TV ecosystem remains the BBC. The “Beeb” may be bruised, battered and constantly having to tighten its belt, but across the board, the pubcaster’s programs are popular and highly appreciated by audiences.

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“People are loyal to the BBC and trust the BBC,” says analyst Price. “That trust bleeds into the rest of U.K. terrestrial TV. Viewers are proud of the BBC. The value of its service to British audiences cannot be underestimated.”

In May the license fee-funded broadcaster was given a set of guarantees by the British government that appeared to secure its future until 2027. Under the terms of its new Royal Charter, due to start next year, the BBC’s license fee (currently £145.50) looks safe for 11 years.

The fee had previously been frozen. Under the new plan, it will increase in line with inflation. Additionally, the loophole that enabled U.K. viewers to watch the BBC online without paying the fee—levied on homes that own a TV set—was closed in September.

Tony Hall, the director-general of the BBC, hailed these measures as a victory for the corporation. “At the end, we have an 11-year Charter, a license fee guaranteed for 11 years, and an endorsement of the scale and scope of what the BBC does today,” Hall said.

But the new Charter, expected to be up for review in five years, presents another set of challenges for the BBC.

LICENSE TO VIEW

BBC Worldwide has the international rights to The Great British Bake Off, which is moving from BBC One to Channel 4 in 2017.

Crucially, beginning in 2018, the BBC has to start paying for the cost of free license fees for Britain’s growing army of people aged 75 and over; this was previously paid for by the state. This highly controversial move infuriated BBC supporters. Alongside other measures, the upshot is that until 2022, the BBC needs to save in the region of £800 million a year. For the year ended March 31, 2016, license-fee income was £3.7 billion.

This comes after an earlier financial squeeze that led to the axing of youth-focused channel BBC Three in February; BBC Three is now online only.

There are worries that the imminent reform of BBC Studios, which is set to be reborn as a stand-alone commercial entity, could have a negative impact on Auntie’s public-service ethos.

Says Enders’ Syfret: “At the moment, when the BBC works on, say, a David Attenborough program, an experienced team will know instinctively what is expected of them and what the vision for the project is. They are not thinking primarily of where the program could be sold to, or how it will be marketed, but have objectives consistent with the classic Reithian [a reference to the BBC’s founder, Lord John Reith] ones to inform and educate as well as to entertain. My concern is that a commercially-driven BBC Studios could be disruptive and have an impact on the BBC’s unique production ethos.”

RATINGS WAR Despite the uncertainties, the BBC’s flagship channel, BBC One, is the U.K.’s most popular TV network. BBC One and the U.K.’s main commercial free-to-air channel, ITV, are broadly neck and neck during peak time. Dig deeper into the numbers and the BBC emerges significantly ahead: for the first seven months of 2016, BBC One’s total viewing share was 21.77 percent while ITV’s was 15.72 percent.

On these main two U.K. terrestrial channels, primetime viewing is dominated by long-running, blue-collar soaps. These include ITV’s Coronation Street (a sixth weekly episode was ordered recently) and Emmerdale, and BBC One’s EastEnders.

“Despite their audience decline due to massively increased competition, soaps remain popular,” says Price.

“Day in, day out, homegrown soaps still have value in volume.”

Other staples of Britain’s two most popular networks include BBC One’s MasterChef and entertainment big hitters Britain’s Got Talent (ITV), I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! (ITV), Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One) and The X Factor (ITV).

One of the main tasks for Kevin Lygo, the new director of television at ITV, is to find a fresh entertainment hit. There are high hopes for The Voice UK, which completed its final run on BBC One earlier this year and debuts on ITV in 2017.

BBC One’s biggest show, The Great British Bake Off, is an example of the U.K.’s talent for devising quirky formats that over time gradually build a loyal and sizeable fan base. The consolidated peak

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viewing figure for last year’s Bake Off finale was 14.5 million. Only soccer tournaments played by the under-performing England team can rival Bake Off’s popularity in the U.K. The show made headlines again this September, when Channel 4 outbid the BBC for the rights to the next season.

Other examples of the left-field shows that capture mainstream audiences are BBC One’s Countryfile, a popular factual series reporting rural and environmental issues, and Channel 4’s Gogglebox, in which British families are filmed reacting to the week’s TV shows.

BRIT SCRIPTS Drama defines BBC One’s and ITV’s schedules. The popularity of The Night Manager is part of a sustained period of success for BBC scripted shows. These programs are underpinned by long-running series such as hospital sagas Holby City and Casualty. Gritty crime pieces Happy Valley and Line of Duty also compete for viewers’ attention alongside period drama such as War & Peace (a coproduction with The Weinstein Company). Sherlock and Doctor Who are two other mainstays of BBC One’s lineup.

ITV has struggled to match the BBC’s spectacular run of drama. It needs to find a successor to Downton Abbey. Lygo has poached the BBC’s head of drama, Polly Hill, to help him.

The aim is to commission more shows like The Durrells, a strong performer for ITV this spring, and fewer flops such as Jekyll and Hyde and Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands.

ITV recently premiered the costume piece Victoria and the revival of relationship drama Cold Feet. Returning ITV scripted crime shows that keep the advertising pounds coming in include Midsomer Murders, Endeavour and Scott & Bailey.

ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are all funded by advertising. “Since 2013, TV advertising in the U.K. has been extremely buoyant due to the economic recovery,” says Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at ZenithOptimedia.

“The main beneficiary of this is ITV, although Channel 4, Channel 5, UKTV and Sky have all benefited.”

He adds, “ITV has done well despite audiences falling overall. While it’s impossible to reach the huge mass audiences of 10 to 15 years ago due to the switch from analog to digital, ITV remains the benchmark for the overall U.K. TV market. It is the U.K.’s only commercial mass audience channel. When ITV does well, it lifts the whole market.

Unlike U.S. network TV, which is in decline, in the U.K. we are still expecting growth in revenues across the market.”

Barnard says the online viewing revolution is, if anything, helping TV’s case for attracting advertising money.

“As an advertising medium, U.K. TV is actually cheap and effective. Increasingly, advertisers are using TV and online video together. Online is not only a competitor to TV, in many ways it’s complementary.”

In June, the U.K. voted to leave the European Union.

How Brexit will affect the TV advertising market is as yet unclear. Speaking at ITV’s financial results in July, CEO

Adam Crozier suggested that at the moment the key problem was uncertainty. As a result, the company is seeking modest savings to the tune of £25 million. “I don’t think the result of the vote changed anything,” he said. “That’s partly because it is too early to say, and partly because nothing much is going to happen very soon. It’s going to be a two- to five-year process.”

Brexit is also putting the spotlight on the independent production sector. Encouraged by the fact that independents are allowed to retain potentially valuable rights to their shows, U.S. studios and broadcasters have invested heavily in British indies. Many commentators believe that these content-rich firms are the key to the future prosperity of Britain’s TV sector. The BBC is the world’s most prolific producer of new content by a wide margin; according to Eurodata TV, it was responsible for more than 300 new titles in 2015. But many of Britain’s most successful shows domestically and abroad are produced by indies.

CREATIVE HUB Downton Abbey was made by Carnival Films, which is owned by NBCUniversal. Kevin MacLellan, the chairman of global distribution and international at NBCUniversal, pinpointed the U.K.’s importance as a global creative hub when speaking at the Royal Television Society recently.

“A big part of why we’re in London, and one of the advantages of having our own office here, is mining the talent that exists in the U.K. so we can move that product over to the U.S. That’s the home run for us.”

Britain’s exit from the EU may threaten the U.K.’s enviable position as a place where talent from outside its borders want to work. John McVay, the chief executive of producers’ lobby group Pact, says, “We don’t want to end up as a backwater because premium talent no longer wants to work here. The U.K. needs to have the ability to continue to attract the best talent wherever it comes from. Brexit potentially puts that at risk.”

When Brits voted by 52 percent to 48 percent to leave Europe, they didn’t realize one of the unintended consequences could be that, once Brexit becomes a reality, genuinely ambitious and expensive homegrown shows like The Night Manager might become even less common than they are today. Under those circumstances, global players like Netflix are likely to celebrate, but Britain’s buoyant TV market could lose some of its luster.

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The X Factor, in its 13th season, is still one of ITV’s biggest entertainment brands.

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Jørgen Madsen Lindemann

Modern Times Group The global eSports market is projected to reach a whopping $493 million in revenues this year.

In the summer of 2015, Modern Times Group (MTG) made a bid for a share of this burgeoning industry when it shelled out €78 million for a majority stake in Turtle Entertainment, the parent of ESL, the world’s largest eSports company. The acquisition expanded MTG’s digital portfolio, which includes several multichannel networks and free and ad-supported online streaming platforms, and provided the company with the resources it needed to launch a new global eSports channel. That service joins a raft of free- and pay-TV assets across a range of genres at MTG, which also owns the Nice Entertainment Group and DRG. Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, the president and CEO of MTG, tells TV Europe about how the group is continuing to drive innoBy Mansha Daswani vation in both its digital and linear entertainment platforms.

TV EUROPE: You took the reins of MTG in 2012, a year when broadcasters were just beginning to feel the ripples of how digital would transform the content business. What were some of the steps you needed to take to evolve MTG from a linear broadcasting group into a multiplatform media company?

LINDEMANN: What we identified fairly early on was that there were opportunities in all the new distribution platforms that were beginning in our markets. The OTT space particularly was interesting because of the broadband pipelines we had, so we understood that there were more outlets for our products. Luckily we had strong sports content, strong locally produced content, and then of course strong cooperation with many of the content providers in the region. We took that content and then offered it to many more customers around the region. In our markets, you are not allowed to put up a [satellite] dish inside the city, so to be able to capture the customers inside the city, you have to team up with cable operators and IPTV operators—that has its limits. With broadband, you can reach the entire population. On top of our satellite and third-party network subscribers, there are all the customers for Viaplay, our OTT product.

We have also invested content-wise. We have 28 production companies in 15 countries now, and they’re growing. More and more companies are looking at how to differentiate themselves with locally relevant stories.

We also knew that as a traditional broadcaster, we might not understand the whole system around the social-media landscape. So we hired a lot of people with these competencies. We created a company called MTGx, which is a digital hub for our businesses. We got the right people on board with the right capabilities—storytellers and technicians and so forth—to build the infrastructure.

We understood as well that this is a global game, so we looked outside [our markets]. We had acquired the largest MCN in the Nordics, but we wanted to become

even bigger since the opportunity was there to tell global stories. So we invested in Zoomin, which is the leading multichannel network in Europe, the fifth-largest in the world, with something like 2.5 billion views per month.

It has 2,000 video journalists attached to the business posting 400 news stories a day, selling to all kinds of publishers and producing with Yahoo! in France and India. We also invested in Splay [Scandinavia’s leading MCN]. They are finding a lot of new advertisement models. Only 25 percent of their revenue comes from advertising; the rest comes from their influencers. One of the influencers recently launched a book, and 75 percent of her followers bought it!

Last but not least, we teamed up with the very skilled guys from Turtle Entertainment on eSports. Turtle is the leading eSports company in the world, producing the biggest leagues and tournaments. I was in Katowice in the middle of Poland with 113,000 youngsters for three days where they were playing games and watching games and so forth. It is a phenomenon that is growing very fast.

We’ve had an enormous transformation in the group in the last 12 months. It’s important for us that the capabilities stay within the company, so in acquisitions, the management [of the ventures acquired] is always on board. And we plan to grow these businesses together with the founders or management. That has been our focus.

TV EUROPE: What is the relationship between your broadcast assets and your production companies?

LINDEMANN: It goes without saying that a good story always wins, so you had better find it. You either acquire it and accept that you didn’t produce this fantastic, magnificent series, or you make an effort to produce your own product.

That is what we are doing with Nice, our production group.

A lot of the dramas we have produced are selling well. We

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ESL’s Intel Extreme Masters event in Katowice, Poland, was watched by more than 34 million unique viewers across a range of platforms.

also produced the biggest blockbuster movie in our markets recently. But that does not mean that there are no ideas outside that are super relevant that we need to buy. It is not necessarily a religion of having your own IP; it is a religion of being able to tell a unique story that differentiates you as a storyteller. It is a thrilling proposition if you can do that yourself and sell it and capitalize on it in more countries. We have Star Wars and Hunger Games on EST—those are not stories I’m able to tell! You have to accept that sometimes there are smarter people out there who are super strong at telling stories. And we can tell local stories. That should be our way of making sure that we are differentiating ourselves from [other platforms] in the country.

TV EUROPE: Several European broadcasters have said that U.S. shows are not doing as well as they used to in prime time. Has that been your experience as well?

LINDEMANN: It goes without saying that we need more and more local stories told in prime time—that is what we’re investing in now. American content is still strong, and it travels well on OTT. Of course, the locally produced content we have, which we window first on OTT and then on free TV, is doing very well. And then all the sport we have is helping us a lot as well. People talk about cannibalization—we see additions. We have the same base, and on top of that you have all the OTT [subscribers on Viaplay] and then on top of that we have launched Viafree, the biggest AVOD service in the market.

Viaplay needs locally produced content just like our freeTV operations do, so they co-finance productions. We have drama series that can go first on Viaplay and then on free TV. Viaplay can do that with other broadcasters as well. So we’re

investing with the public broadcasters in drama to make sure we get even more locally told stories on the platform.

One of our very successful drama series, Black Widows, has been adapted to many of our territories. We took the script and transformed it into local stories with local actors in different countries. We sold it internationally as well. Viaplay was a big part of that show for our free-TV channels because it contributed to the production [budget] in the Nordic region.

TV EUROPE: How are you managing the escalating costs of top-tier sporting events?

LINDEMANN: You have to understand what is relevant for your viewers when it comes to traditional sports and their willingness to pay for it. It is important storytelling, and we continue to invest in it. What we would like to do is get many more customers for the sports we have, so when we have to extend all these rights, we come in with stronger revenue streams and customers bases that are more attractive for the rights holders.

TV EUROPE: What are the plans for MTG’s new global eSports channel, esportsTV? LINDEMANN: It’s a fantastic opportunity for us. We’ve launched a 24/7 channel that is going to be the best because we have the best tournaments and the best leagues. The goal is for Turtle to have a promotion window for the eSports community. We see many more people participating in eSports globally. We fill stadiums in no time. We have DreamHack as well, which [organizes festivals that feature] a combination of games and music and so forth.

When they announce their events, they are sold out within a few months. It’s a great opportunity that we will continue to invest in.

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TV EUROPE: How did you approach the merger of Zodiak Media and Banijay?

BASSETTI: The main reason for the merger was the fact that the two companies were complementary in terms of strength, culture, genre and geography. The benefit to the combined group is that we are now even stronger; there is more collaboration and a desire to work together that went beyond our expectations. At the outset, we talked about being more able to compete on the world stage, and that is the case.

Every day we are seeing examples of how the merger has benefited both companies by maximizing our global footprint and optimizing business opportunities. The merging of the cultures—Banijay more focused on efficient operations and non-scripted and Zodiak on creativity and scripted— is a unique mix.

The merger helped our business geographically as well.

We have both extended our footprint and reinforced it in some territories. The U.K., Benelux and India were new for Banijay, and Germany and Australia were new for Zodiak. In regions such as Scandinavia and France, where both companies were very strong, we are even stronger as we now create scripted and non-scripted and kids’ content.

Zodiak Rights, the distribution arm of Banijay Group, represents quality, excellence and experience in the business of television and ancillary sales across all platforms.

We have experienced sales teams with offices in London, Paris and Copenhagen, offering multiplatform expertise and service across TV, digital and theatrical. With the group’s growing library of formats and programming, as well as third-party content, Zodiak Rights represents more than 20,000 hours of multi-genre programming,

By Anna Carugati

When the merger of Banijay and Zodiak Media was completed earlier this year, a new company, Banijay Group, was formed. It comprises production companies operating in 17 territories, active in entertainment, drama, factual, reality entertainment, docudrama, children’s and animation programming, as well as the international distribution arm, Zodiak Rights. The company is known for several formats and shows, including Versailles, The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds, Temptation Island, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Making of the Mob, Wolf Creek, Wife Swap, Wild Things, Location Location Location and Occupied. Banijay Group’s CEO, Marco Bassetti, has experienced the production and distribution business from the ground up. He began his career as an executive producer at Italy’s Mediaset, founded the indie producer La Italiana Produzioni and headed Grundy Italy and then Endemol Italy. Three years after exiting Endemol Italy he rejoined Endemol Group, serving as COO and then president. He joined Banijay in 2013. Bassetti talks to TV Europe about the merger, managing producers and the creative process and the types of shows that are in demand today.

delivering more than 4,000 hours of scripted programming, including the big-budget Canal+ flagship drama Versailles, Wolf Creek, the award-winning Belgian drama Public Enemy and International Emmy Award winner The Returned. [There are also] highly successful nonscripted shows such as SAS: Who Dares Wins and The Secret Life of 4, 5, 6 Year Olds.

TV EUROPE: What have you found to be the best ways to nurture creativity and help producers find the next good idea for a program?

BASSETTI: The producers we work with all thrive in a creative environment. It is exciting to see the energy that is produced when we all get together at events like MIPCOM or our creative retreats during the year. The aim of the merger was to increase the value of the group by building on its strengths and sharing ideas and ways of working across all our companies, both vertically and horizontally.

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We have created a series of important incentives related to creativity and encouraged the independence of the managing directors of all our production companies by eliminating restrictions and barriers that make creativity difficult. So now we have a very dynamic group, and we don’t expect them to conform and work as if “painting by numbers.”

Our office in Paris is designed as a service for the benefit of the local operations and isn’t a bureaucratic, controlling entity like you sometimes see in big media groups.

TV EUROPE: How are you encouraging the various production companies within the Banijay Group to share ideas and best practices?

BASSETTI: As I said, it is crucial for us to let each company drive its creativity and production business since they know their clients’ needs better than anyone else. An international hit always starts as a local success. That’s why our Creative Boards work together to share the group IP, especially the ideas we believe have the potential to travel worldwide. They are specifically not setting out to develop “international content.”

As creativity is a constant focus, we are very flexible when it comes to finding new tools and do everything we can at a group level to foster innovation and imagination.

We have now put at the individual companies’ disposal a very substantial creative fund to support development. As it is also a business in which cultural affinities are key, we have just started to gather a Creative Hub dedicated to Englishspeaking territories.

TV EUROPE: Undressed has been a breakout hit this year. The idea is innovative, the costs to produce the show are contained. Is this a trend you see in the format business—broadcasters looking for innovative and cost-efficient formats?

BASSETTI: Undressed is becoming an international primetime hit. The format was originally created and produced by Magnolia Italy, a Banijay Group company, for the Italian youth channel Nove. After airing just four episodes, Nove recommissioned another series of 40 episodes. An instant hit, Undressed doubled its time slot’s average share in the commercial 15-to-44 demographic.

It’s also in production in nine other territories, including the U.K. and the Netherlands. Zodiak Rights is selling the finished episodes of many of these series to other countries, making Undressed a very hard-working format. It is a hands-on social experiment that sees two complete strangers meeting for the very first time and undressing each other in a darkened bedroom. With just 30 minutes to get to know each other, there’s no time to lose. And you are right, there is a small set and not too many production elements.

The concept of the show is the winning factor, which makes it a straightforward show to re-create in multiple territories and it is extremely cost-effective.

Broadcasters and platform owners are looking for shows that will help define their schedules and at the same time they need to operate cost-effectively. Undressed is a strong contender for many of them.

TV EUROPE: Broadcasters need hits to attract viewers; for what types of shows are they willing to commit to high budgets?

BASSETTI: There is an extremely strong and persistent demand for big prime-time entertainment brands that channels can identify with. The almost desperate enthusiasm we were all part of around Rising Star a few MIPCOMs ago was the illustration of it.

We just aired a very innovative new prime-time live interactive entertainment series on Denmark’s pubcaster DR1 called All Against 1. It’s been a massive success, and we are confident it will soon sell in many territories. It is a guessing-game show in which a single contestant faces the entire nation. Viewers at home play against the contestant via an app. We believe we have found a new way of attracting the younger target groups, the 15-to-25 demographic.

They are suddenly watching television again! Around 75 percent of people who were playing along decided to play all the way through the show. Meanwhile, 17 percent of people watching have downloaded the app. Usually, that figure is between 5 percent and 10 percent.

We produce Survivor in several territories, including France and Italy. This format is another good example of a well-known and extremely successful brand-defining show all channels are looking for. It is one of these very few appealing formats that conveys positive values of [overcoming challenges] and is a lifechanging experiment with high-tension drama.

TV EUROPE: What appealed to you about DRY, the newly established Italian production company, of which the Banijay Group has acquired a stake?

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Zodiak Rights’ scripted slate features Wolf Creek, the acclaimed Australian drama for OTT platform Stan produced by Banijayowned Screentime.

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one of the three biggest companies in the market that launched extremely successful brands such as Survivor, L’Eredità, MasterChef and others. In Italy, we also have two other companies that are growing rapidly: Nonpanic managed by Filippo Cipriano and Aurora TV managed by Giannandrea Pecorelli.

The Banijay Group portfolio includes RDF Television in the U.K., which produces the hit factual-entertainment format The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds for Channel 4.

BASSETTI: We took a minority stake in DRY—an acronym for Don’t Repeat Yourself—formed by renowned Italian producers Fabrizio Ievolella, Danila Battaglini, Francesco Lauber and Leopoldo Gasparotto. DRY is going to take advantage of the combined experience of its partners in the production of successful formats such as MasterChef, The X Factor, Pechino Express, 4 Ristoranti and Undressed, and at the same time, create and develop brand-new, original formats for Italian and international markets for mainstream, pay, DTT and digital TV platforms.

Banijay Group is at the forefront of groundbreaking and original content production. The team at DRY is extremely experienced, but they are eager to move forward and break the mold and continue to create new and innovative content. We know there is an element of risk in this, but we have huge respect for the team and know that they will deliver formats that will work across all Banijay Group territories.

TV EUROPE: Are you looking to invest in other production companies? Are there geographic territories where you would like the Banijay Group to have a bigger presence?

BASSETTI: Thanks to the merger, we now have a strong presence in all the key territories, and especially in the Englishspeaking territories—U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand— which was one of our key objectives. We are now focused on generating the most synergies in these territories, but of course, we are always on the lookout for talented and successful companies to invest in.

TV EUROPE: The economy in Italy is in pretty bad shape.

How is this impacting the Italian television market?

BASSETTI: Indeed, the Italian economy is having a very hard time. And I think the TV advertising market will never be able to get back to its past level. Additionally, the leading Italian broadcasters are risk-averse and are not renowned for being very creative, and there is no legislation to protect the IP generated locally. However, in these difficult circumstances, Banijay is doing very well in Italy. Magnolia is

TV EUROPE: There is considerable demand for drama. How is the Banijay Group satisfying that demand?

BASSETTI: The demand for scripted programming has grown critically thanks to SVOD platforms willing to invest in fresh content, and the success of local dramas, which is great news for us.

It is a crowded market, and broadcasters need standout content. Our drama teams are creating programming that fits this criteria with the likes of Versailles and Occupied and our recent launch Wolf Creek, the first original production for Stan, the Australian OTT service, produced by Banijay Group’s Screentime. Wolf Creek has been very successful and has been licensed to North America, the U.K. and many other territories.

Stephen David Entertainment in the U.S. is a creator of hybrid programming that sits across both fact and fiction.

We see an ever-increasing interest in this type of content and the company is producing many shows for broadcasters and platforms such as Netflix and Amazon.

TV EUROPE: Are co-productions like Versailles a model for high-quality, high-budget scripted productions?

BASSETTI: The Canal+ Création Originale series Versailles, coproduced by Zodiak Fiction, has now been sold into more than 135 countries, with a second season currently in production.

The season one premiere of Versailles broke viewing figure records for Canal+ in France, making it the best performance for a Canal+ original drama since 2013. It did the same for BBC Two in the U.K., more than doubling its slot at launch.

Channel-defining drama such as this is truly in demand.

And ambitious series can only be created through complex and coordinated multinational co-productions. Our drama teams and our partners have created a model that certainly works in the case of Versailles, and we expect to announce further similar projects in the coming months.

TV EUROPE: Broadcasters everywhere are trying to reach elusive millennial viewers. Is the Banijay Group looking to produce short-form programming or other content for digital platforms?

BASSETTI: It is, of course, a subject we are looking at very closely. But we have decided to have our own approach toward digital and not to follow our competitors in huge investments. Substantial amounts of money have been unsuccessfully invested in this field—as opposed to the TV market—and we believe more in having a “last-mover advantage” to learn from what our competitors have done! That said, we do of course produce short-form programming—both scripted and nonscripted—for digital and we pay great attention to the monetization and digital extensions of our brands to generate money off air.

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BOUDGOUST: Since November 2015, ARTE has proposed a selection of programs subtitled in English and Spanish. This free offering is available on our website and connected-TV sets over the whole continent of Europe and, for a selection of programs, all over the world. In November, we will launch Polish subtitling. This marks an important milestone in ARTE’s European integration and its mission to broadcast high-quality television programs for a European audience.

TV EUROPE: How has ARTE supported filmmakers and artists?

BOUDGOUST: If you take a look at the list of directors and writers who work or have worked with ARTE, you’ll find the names of all the people who count in the German, French, European and even world film and television landscape. We were the first to support Lars von Trier and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others). We work with very well-known English-language documentary filmmakers such as Brian Lapping (Inside Obama’s White House) and Eugene Jarecki (The House I Live In). In 25 years, three films co-produced by ARTE have won an Oscar, ten films have won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and five films the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.

By Anna Carugati

ARTE, Europe’s cultural channel, marks its 25th anniversary this year. It was launched in 1991 as a Franco-German partnership with a mission to foster understanding among Europeans. ARTE GEIE in Strasbourg is responsible for program strategy, commissioning, scheduling and transmission. ARTE France and ARTE Deutschland provide the majority of the programming, which includes feature films and drama series, cultural programs, documentaries and news. Peter Boudgoust, the president of ARTE GEIE, talks to TV Europe about ARTE’s unique programming mix and the importance of partnerships with the leading public broadcasters across Europe.

TV EUROPE: Tell us about ARTE’s mission and what it has brought to the European television landscape.

BOUDGOUST: ARTE was created at the beginning of the ’90s.

The Berlin Wall had just fallen, the Soviet Union was collapsing and Europe was seeking a new equilibrium. This is the political context in which German Chancellor Kohl and French President Mitterrand believed it essential to reinforce Europe through culture and, more specifically, by means of a general public media: television. ARTE’s mission is to promote and encourage European culture, look at the world through European eyes, and strive to democratize culture among all types of audiences. Note that 85 percent of our programming is European in origin.

TV EUROPE: Besides French and German, in what other languages does ARTE offer programming?

TV EUROPE: With so much turmoil in Europe, how can ARTE help to promote understanding between nations?

BOUDGOUST: The multiplicity of authors and different viewpoints expressed in our programs; our independence from any political or economic power; our feature-length formats; the fact that we give preference to analysis rather than “raw” news— all these elements contribute to fostering a better understanding of our continent and dialogue between Europeans.

TV EUROPE: How does ARTE work with its partners to coproduce programs?

BOUDGOUST: ARTE France and ARTE Deutschland supply approximately 80 percent of the channel’s programming.

ARTE GEIE is responsible for news and information programs. A program conference made up of members of ARTE Deutschland, ARTE France and ARTE GEIE meets every month and decides on which programs to produce or buy. Furthermore, we have special partnerships with the eight most important European public channels. These partnerships give us access to new topics and authors and allow us to strengthen ARTE’s roots and visibility in Europe.

TV EUROPE: What opportunities for growth do you see in the next 12 to 24 months?

BOUDGOUST: Over the last five years, the channel has made considerable efforts to rethink and boost its presence on the web, thanks to the development of digital technologies, and to raise its visibility in Europe. Our projects for the next few months are fully in line with this strategy of boosting our presence in the digital sphere and also our appeal to a broader European audience.

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