TV Europe MIPTV 2013

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Public Broadcasters The German Market Thomas Bellut: 50 Years of ZDF Sky’s Sophie Turner Laing Shine’s Alex Mahon www.tveurope.ws

MIPTV EDITION

THE MAGAZINE OF EUROPEAN TELEVISION

APRIL 2013

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Audio Network A leading global music company, Audio Network offers music and publishing solutions that are created specifically for content producers. “With a catalogue of over 60,000 tracks, Audio Network’s licensing is quick and easy, with worldwide multiplatform distribution, forever,” says Nick Woollard, the company’s director of music sales for EMEA. “Creativity is at the heart of our business and we work with many of the world’s leading musicians and composers. With Audio Network you do not have to worry about complicated license clauses or tariffs, all music is cleared for worldwide distribution, on any platform and in perpetuity, within a simple rate card.” Catering to a diverse client base, Audio Network delivers a wide range of music styles. “Whether it is country music recorded in Nashville, cinematic orchestral recorded at Abbey Road in London or Australian music recorded in Sydney, we aim to use authentic musicians and instruments wherever possible,” says Woollard.

“We are currently releasing 1,000 new tracks per month, meaning that our clients always have a selection of the freshest music.”

—Nick Woollard

Abbey Road Studios

Audiovisual from Spain In This Issue Public & Proud A look at European public broadcasters

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Deutschland The German media market

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ZDF at 50 Thomas Bellut discusses five decades of the German pubcaster

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Interviews Sky’s Sophie Turner Laing

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Shine Group’s Alex Mahon

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Profile The drama Foyle’s War returns

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There are companies of all sizes and profiles housed under the Audiovisual from Spain banner. “Under the umbrella you can find executives and products from the major broadcasters of Spain such as Antena 3, La Sexta and Mediaset España as well as the strongest independent production companies such as Veralia, ZZJ, Boomerang TV and many other medium- and small-size creators such as Phileas Productions, Explora Films or finding4you,” says Sonsoles Huidobro, the head of the audiovisual department at the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade, ICEX. Properties being showcased at MIPTV include Horatio and the Plasticines, a co-production from Imira Entertainment; The Last Hunters, a documentary series from Explora Films; and Rascayu, an animated series from finding4you.

There are also new entertainment formats like Veralia’s Want a Ride, ZZJ’s Cooking with Kike and Phileas’s Don’t Say It, Bring It!

“Our goal is to show to the international market the best image of Spanish companies’ products and successes worldwide.”

—Sonsoles Huidobro

The Last Hunters

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Deutsche Welle/DW Transtel • A Window on… • How Nature Heals • Life’s Rich Tapestry

Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher Anna Carugati Editor Mansha Daswani Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Managing Editor Joanna Padovano Associate Editor Simon Weaver Online Director

Deutsche Welle/DW Transtel has made an effort to expand its footprint in Latin America as of late.

“With our new Spanish-language channel and a range of regional co-productions, we have really hit a nerve with viewers there and we hope to see this trend continue in the future,” says Petra Schneider, the company’s director of distribution.

This year the plans are to increase market share in Asia, Eastern Europe and Russia, Schneider notes.

“We feel that there is potential in those regions to find new premium partners and win over new viewers.” As for emerging markets, DW is targeting Asia and the Middle East. “We also hope to make inroads in sub-Saharan Africa by offering more television programming there,” says Schneider.

Programming highlights include A Window on..., How Nature Heals and Life’s Rich Tapestry.The first provides a view of major metropolitan areas, while the second looks at nature’s medical secrets. Life’s Rich Tapestry spotlights diversity in the world.

“Due to our massive expansion in the region over the past year, we have increased our presence in Latin America immensely.”

—Petra Schneider

A Window on...

Victor L. Cuevas Production Director Phyllis Q. Busell Art Director Meredith Miller Production Associate Cesar Suero Sales & Marketing Director Vanessa Brand Sales & Marketing Manager Terry Acunzo Business Affairs Manager

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP & Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Europe © 2013 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tveurope.ws

FremantleMedia International • Wentworth • The Making of a Lady • Tattoo Nightmares There are two new high-end dramas in the FremantleMedia International catalogue: Wentworth and The Making of a Lady. “High-quality U.K. drama, with all the associated hallmarks—brilliant writers, producers and casts—will always find a home in Europe,” says Justin Hatfield, the company’s senior VP of sales for the U.K., Eire and Scandinavia. “As such, we expect Wentworth and The Making of a Lady to appeal to major free-to-air broadcasters as well as premium pay-TV channels like HBO and new streaming services like Netflix, which are keen to build their brand with distinctive programming.” FremantleMedia International also has the factual-entertainment show Tattoo Nightmares. Hatfield believes that the series will be popular with buyers because it “taps into a global cultural fashion trend. Some of the world’s highest profile role models are now sporting ‘tats’ with pride; from David Beckham to Katy Perry, tattoos have become synonymous with celebrity culture.”

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“We are looking forward to showcasing all of our new programming to content distribution companies across the spectrum, linear and nonlinear.”

—Justin Hatfield The Making of a Lady

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Global Screen • Heroes • Weissensee • Charlemagne The big-budget disaster movie Heroes features a star-studded German cast. It comes from Dreamtool Entertainment, which is also behind the successful treasure-hunters trilogy that includes The Charlemagne Code, The Spear of Destiny and The Hunt for the Amber Room. Heroes will be on offer from Global Screen at MIPTV, along with Weissensee, which tells a Romeo and Juliet-style love story. “Following the smash-hit first season, we are proud to present six more episodes of this beloved series at MIPTV,” says Marlene Fritz, the company’s head of regional TV sales.The docudrama Charlemagne recounts the dramatic and violent life of one of the most powerful emperors of the Middle Ages. “It is a must-have for the anniversary year of the emperor’s death, 2014,” says Fritz.

“We will offer a wideranging portfolio of series, event movies and documentaries at this year’s MIPTV.” —Marlene Fritz Weissensee

Russia Television and Radio/SOVTELEEXPORT • Life and Fate • The Spy • Secrets of the Institute for Noble Maidens

There is an increased level of interest from global broadcasters for the content coming out of Russia, according to Julia Matiash, the director of SOVTELEEXPORT, the distribution company of Russia Television and Radio. The company is offering The Spy, centered on a German espionage agent living in the early 1940s. Life and Fate is a historical drama also set in the 1940s. It is based on a novel that was originally banned in the Soviet Union, and its characters are involved in World War II’s Battle of Stalingrad. A big new launch for Russia Television and Radio is Secrets of the Institute for Noble Maidens.

“We have a lot of business partners in Europe and Asia and now we would like to focus on such territories as Latin America, the U.S.A., Canada, Australia and the Middle East,” says Matiash.

“Companies from all over the world are getting more and more interested in Russian products.”

—Julia Matiash Secrets of the Institute for Noble Maidens

TM International • Hubert & Staller • Cosmos • The Other Wife Loveable characters, bizarre situations, suspenseful criminal cases and a stunning backdrop are the ingredients of TM International’s Hubert & Staller. Season two has been a strong performer and a third season is coming soon. TM International’s Cosmos, meanwhile, features Prof. Dr. Kurt Mündl presenting stories of nature’s wonders. As for European drama, which has been in high demand lately, the company is presenting the mini-series The Other Wife. Carlos Hertel, the head of international sales at TM International, calls the production an “emotional rollercoaster that features a high-quality, starstudded cast with Rupert Everett, Natalia Wörner and John Hannah [and is] set in one of the world’s most beautiful surroundings, the Cotswolds, in England.”

“Although traditionally more focused on the European market, we have been experiencing a notable increase of demand in Asian territories.”

—Carlos Hertel The Other Wife 140 World Screen 4/13

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TV5MONDE TV5MONDE is available 24/7 in 235 million homes in 200 territories around the world. The channel’s programs are subtitled in 11 languages. English subtitling launched in January 2012 and Spanish subtitling followed in October. French subtitling is also offered as an opportunity for the channel to serve as a learning tool for those interested in the French language.

The TV5MONDE umbrella includes nine different regional channels as well as TiVi5MONDE, a service for children that is broadcast in the U.S. This past December a new managing director was appointed for TV5MONDE, Yves Bigot. Under Bigot’s direction, TV5MONDE is confirming its support for the film industry by providing special programing and daily news from this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

“Independent international news coverage and the best of the Frenchspeaking countries’ culture and creation: TV5MONDE is one of a kind.”

—Yves Bigot Coverage of Cannes Film Festival

TVE • Isabel • Remember When • Love in Difficult Times

There are thousands of hours of programming available for the international market from TVE, which belongs to the Spanish audiovisual group Corporación Radiotelevisión Española.

“Our main strategy for this year is to focus our sales on the emblematic series Isabel,” says Rafael Bardem, the head of sales at TVE. Isabel is a historical series that narrates the life of Queen Isabella the Catholic, who is regarded as one of the most important women in the history of Spain. “Then we have our classic series like Remember When and Love in Difficult Times,” says Bardem. Love in Difficult Times is a daily series that takes viewers into the years of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship. Another lead offering is Vintage (Gran Reserva), which tells the story of two wine-producing families.

“TVE has been using a model of mixing fiction with a historical setting.”

—Rafael Bardem

Isabel

ZDF Enterprises • Mako Mermaids • House Husbands • Last Secrets of the Third Reich The ZDF Enterprises sales divisions were restructured recently into four separate thematic categories. ZDFE.junior presents Mako Mermaids, from Jonathan M. Shiff, who was also behind the hit H2O: Just Add Water. “Our first mermaid collaboration with Shiff was a runaway hit, so we’re confident that Mako Mermaids will be just as—if not more—successful,” says Fred Burcksen, the COO of ZDF Enterprises. The ZDFE.drama highlight House Husbands is “touching, warm-hearted and very, very funny,” Burcksen says. Headlining the ZDFE.factual collection is the historical documentary Last Secrets of the Third Reich.

“In the ZDFE.entertainment field, we’ll be giving MIPTV buyers some quality time with the perennially popular Wanna Bet?, with its revised concept and new team,” Burcksen adds.

“Sales have been consistently picking up in Eastern Europe and we’re keeping our eyes on the Caucasus, Kazakhstan and its neighbors.”

—Fred Burcksen Mako Mermaids 142 World Screen 4/13

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Public &Proud

BBC Worldwide’s The Paradise.

By Jay Stuart

While European public broadcasters can boast of many successes in the television world, they have to defend their turf in the digital space. s the television business mutates in the digital multiplatform universe, Europe’s public-broadcasting companies are strong and vulnerable at the same time. While financial and political pressures endure for many of the institutions, seemingly permanent features of the public-sector landscape, they are not under regulatory siege from their commercial TV competitors as they once were. The market has moved on into a new phase of competition being played out digitally, with more players and a new tug-of-war over the rules.

Like Gaul of ancient times, the present situation of public broadcasters is divided into three regions in terms of the biggest challenges facing them, according to Ingrid Deltenre, the director general of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which includes 74 active members in 56 countries.

In Northern and Western Europe, including Germany, the U.K., Benelux and Scandinavia, public broadcasters face economic challenges of course, as do all companies nowadays.

“But the bigger challenge is driving innovation and staying relevant to younger audiences,” says Deltenre.

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“In the former Soviet countries and in North Africa, the challenge is mainly about independence and dramatically improving editorial standards,” continues Deltenre. “Their situation is probably the most challenging because funding is a serious issue and it is also a weapon used to limit their independence.

“In the Mediterranean area, it’s all about increasing efficiency and productivity, which is quite difficult because of strong unions and heavy internal structures,” she says. “This takes away a lot of managerial attention. They are very busy with internal discussions about how they’re going to organize themselves and what they are going to look like in five years. It’s definitely not an ideal world when you’re being distracted from your core business.”

The financial pressure has been particularly acute in Spain and Portugal.

In Spain, there have been cutbacks at the regional public channels. In 2012, the national broadcaster RTVE took a massive budget hit. The government cut funding by €200 million from €1.2 billion in 2011. In 2013, the reduction has been about €50 million to around €950 million.

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Personnel costs account for an estimated 40 percent of RTVE’s budget.The public broadcaster is looking to trim these costs. In February, its board stated that in negotiations with the unions it would aim to maintain staffing at current levels in return for greater flexibility in order to increase productivity and cut costs—with a goal of a €35 million reduction.

In 2009, a new law on the funding of RTVE took effect and advertising was removed from all TVE channels at the start of 2010. The change introduced taxes on the revenues of the private broadcasters and the telecom operators (later dropped) to fund public TV. At the end of 2012, the Spanish government said it would not backtrack on the removal of advertising from the RTVE channels.

The French government decided to ban prime-time advertising on public broadcaster France TV in 2009. The 2012 Olympics scored big ratings for public TV in France, but advertising revenue from the games was estimated to be less than half of what it was during the 2004 Athens Games (the previous edition in a European time zone).

PRIVATE EYE

Who’s there?: Austria’s ORF is known for high-end documentary output such as Der Flug der Eule, which is being sold worldwide by ORF-Enterprise as Owl’s Odyssey.

In Portugal, the government has debated a proposal to privatize or partially privatize RTP, which is a state-owned corporation.

Earlier this year, the government postponed the plans but said it would still aim to sell off one channel at the right time—and stressed that RTP would have to live on its fee income (levied though electricity bills) and advertising to cover the budget (about €540 million in 2012). The government, which has underpinned RTP with subsidies in the past, said the company would face a “painful” restructuring program of cost cutting.

This isn’t the first time privatization has been on the table for a troubled public broadcaster. It happened in Italy in 1996.

Winter warmth: Danish public broadcaster DR dramatically raised its international profile with the hit drama Forbrydelsen (The Killing).

“You had exactly the same kind of discussion about RAI,” explains Deltenre. “They even passed a law saying that RAI might be privatized. But there is a market reality. Public-service broadcasters are not-for-profit organizations.That’s not going to change, because in many countries state broadcasters are part of the constitution and you would have to change the constitution. So you have big not-for-profit organizations, with political influence involved in many cases.Why on earth would any bank or anyone else want to invest money and buy shares knowing that they will never have a dividend? In Italy it has never happened and I think that will be the case in Portugal.You can have the idea that it might be better to have the private sector running the broadcaster, but privatization means you need someone to invest. I think it’s just not an attractive proposition for a commercial entity.They can launch their own channel.”

French market leader TF1 remains the only case of a major public channel being privatized, way back in 1987 in a very different world.

One development to keep an eye on, however, is experimentation with a new mixed model, a sort of semi-privatization. In Denmark, the private sector has been allowed to take on a public-service role in broadcasting—with public funding. It was decided that one of the radio channels would not be run by the public broadcaster but by a commercial broadcaster, and the commercial broadcaster has been given public money to do so.

This has not been tried in television yet, but in principle it would seem that it could be applied, at least to digital niche services.

BRAVE NEW WORLD

The advent of new ways of consuming TV content on multiple devices has fundamentally changed a market in which the public broadcasters are central providers. Germany has been the first country to change the funding of public broadcasting to reflect this. At the start of the year, Germany abandoned the concept of basing the license-fee payment used to fund public broadcasting on ownership of a TV set or other device and instead charges a fee for every household. Since 2009, Ger146 World Screen 4/13

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many had charged one fee for a radio or a computer with Internet access and another higher one for a TV. Smartphones and other mobile devices were left out. The new model does not differentiate between devices. One household equals one fee.

Where several people share a place, one person must pay the fee.

The annual fee in Germany of €216 per year remains less than the license levels in Switzerland (€377 for TV and radio) and Austria (about €250, but this varies by state), but exceeds the levels in the U.K. (€168), France (€131) and Italy (€110).

PAYING THEIR SHARE

“Everybody is watching Germany carefully to see how the new household fee works,” says Deltenre, who was CEO of Schweizer Fernsehen, the public broadcaster in Germanspeaking Switzerland, before taking over at the EBU. “If it works, it’s a model that may be adapted elsewhere.The license fee based on the television or radio set is probably not going

Made in Germany: ARD has a strong drama slate, including Global Screen’s hit series Storm of Love (left), and the TV movie Herbstkind.

to last forever, but there will probably always be a fee. The German model looks promising.”

When it comes to how they invest their funding, public broadcasters face more constraints than ordinary companies that don’t have a public-service remit.

“As public broadcasters they have an obligation to provide a service to a universal audience, meaning young and old, minorities and others, and it’s not an easy task,” she says. “They cannot focus on only the young, the audience between 15 and 40 or 45.

They have to provide programming for everybody. They have embraced new technologies very well and are present on new platforms where the young audiences are, and if you look at the content that young people are accessing, it is still predominantly TV content. Some broadcasters are doing better than others. I don’t think any of them would say they are getting it exactly right, but all of them probably now have specific objectives in terms of young audiences in their annual or short-term plans.”

To fulfill their public remit, state broadcasters need more than one channel, ideally a family of channels. How many channels are sufficient depends not only on the market conditions of the individual country but also on the financial limits of each broadcaster.

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The big public broadcasters already operate a slew of digital channels in addition to their main networks. The audiences are relatively small, but they add up. In Germany in 2012, the public children’s channel KiKA averaged a decent 1.4-percent share. ZDFneo averaged 0.6 percent, ZDFinfo 0.4 percent, ZDFkultur 0.1 percent, 3sat 1 percent, Phoenix 1.1 percent and ARTE 0.8 percent. On the digital front in Italy, RAI’s channels, including RAI Premium, RAI 4, RAI Movie and RAI YoYo, earned a 6.2-percent share. In the U.K., at the end of 2012, BBC Three’s audience share was up to 1.4 percent, BBC Four had 1 percent and the preschool channel CBeebies had 1.2 percent, while the children’s service CBBC had 0.6 percent. BBC News had 1.1 percent. In 2012, France 4 averaged 2.1 percent overall and was the prime-time leader among digital terrestrial channels 42 times during the year. It had 54 programs pulling audiences of over a million viewers.

France 5 grew to a share of 3.5 percent, with 87 programs draw-

ing more than a million viewers. In Spain, RTVE’s children’s channel Clan equaled free-TV network La 2’s share for the year with 2.5 percent, while RTVE’s news channel 24H had 0.9 percent and sports channel Teledeporte had 0.8 percent.

SPORTING CHANCE

The present cornerstone of relevance for public broadcasters (other than news) is probably strong sports programming.

Major sports events always draw large audiences, and if state broadcasters want to remain relevant and offer water-cooler events, they must offer sports.

While many countries have so-called “listed events” regulation for major sports tournaments, this only requires that events like the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup be on free-to-air television, not on public TV. In some cases, public broadcasters, such as BBC, have shared rights with pay-TV operators.

Public-broadcasting channels were the market leaders in three of the five biggest West European markets—Germany, Italy and the U.K.—and the sports offer played a big part.

Sports programming also pulled the biggest audiences for Spanish and French public broadcasters.

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Grapes of wrath: While facing financing challenges, Spain’s RTVE has worked to maintain its output of local fiction like Gran Reserva.

In Germany in 2012, ZDF scored a daily average of 12.6 percent, up from an overall share of 12.1 percent in 2011.

ARD scored a daily average of 12.3 percent, down from 12.4 percent overall in 2011.The two main public channels pulled 15 of the 20 biggest audiences in 2012, eight of them Euro 2012 football matches.

In Italy, RAI maintained leadership in audience last year with 39.8 percent for the whole day and 41.3 percent in prime time. RAI 1 earned 18.3 percent overall (19.4 percent in prime time), RAI 2 had 8.4 percent and RAI 3 had 7.7 percent. RAI 1 pulled nine of the top ten audiences of the year, seven of them Euro 2012 matches.

LONDON CALLING

In the U.K., the Euro 2012 championships and the Olympics, along with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, helped deliver a yearon-year improvement in market share for the BBC as viewing grew from 20.7 percent in 2011 to 21.3 percent in 2012. The top four programs of the year were on BBC One: the Olympics closing ceremony (24.5 million and a share of 79 percent), followed by the opening ceremony, England’s last game (versus Italy) during Euro 2012, and the Olympic 100 meters final.

BBC One pulled 13 of the top 20 shows, including its version of The Voice format and its own Strictly Come Dancing.

“The Olympics were undoubtedly a centerpiece moment for us,” Danny Cohen, the controller of BBC One, said of the year’s performance, “but it was 17 days out of 365 and you can’t get 150 World Screen 4/13

that growth, and growth in peak time, without a strong year overall.” BBC Two, which did not carry Olympics programming, suffered an audience drop from 6.6 percent in 2011 to 6.1 percent last year (down from over 11 percent a decade ago).

HOME OF CHAMPIONS

In Spain, RTVE did not show Euro 2012, but had the other national team matches and the UEFA Champions League, which delivered its top audiences last year. Flagship public channel TVE1 fell in viewing share from 14.5 percent in 2011 to 12.2 percent in 2012, dropping from first place to third place. La 2 slipped slightly, from 2.6 percent to 2.5 percent. Spain’s regional public channels also lost share, dipping to 9.8 percent in 2012 from 10.4 percent the previous year.

The Olympics gave the main channels in France their best viewing figures in years. France 2 was the number one channel every day for two weeks during the London games with an average audience share of 22.6 percent, while France 3 averaged 15.3 percent. The 2012 Olympics also produced the biggest audiences (other than news and current affairs), appearing 11 times in the top 100 (10 times on France 2, once on France 3).

France TV’s overall market share grew to 30.3 percent in 2012 from 29.9 percent the previous year. France 2 held steady at 14.9 percent—the first time since 2004 that the channel has not lost share. France 2 was the prime-time leader on 48 nights in 2012 versus only 31 nights in 2011. France 3 also stayed level, for the first time since 2006, with a share of 9.7 percent.

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On the case: The crime drama Nero Wolfe is one of the popular shows on Italy’s RAI.

Part of the reason for French public broadcasting’s success was the strong performance of fiction programming, as 59 episodes of dramas and comedies on public channels pulled more than 3 million viewers in 2012, against only 14 episodes the previous year.

In Spain, TVE 1 was the most successful channel with fiction series. Its top series, Águila Roja, was the only program other than football to average more than 6 million viewers last year, with 6.076 million for three episodes. Historical drama Isabel averaged 4.035 million for 13 episodes.

BBC continues to be the U.K. market leader in drama, while Italy’s RAI 1 scored with last autumn’s six-part Questo nostro amore, among others. A symbol of longevity, German channel ARD’s police show Tatort, on the air since 1970, is still a ratings winner.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

A good many years ago, commercial broadcasters were busy lobbying against public broadcasters because the latter not only received public funding but they also collected advertising revenues. Commercial networks maintained that this constituted unfair competition. Since then, in a number of countries, the commercial activity of public broadcasters in advertising has been reduced, most notably in Spain and France.You don’t see commercial broadcasters fighting against the public-service side in the same way.

“We define public broadcasters as the ones who receive public funding, whether through license fees or government grants,” says Ross Biggam, the director general of the Association of Commercial Television (ACT), a mirror image of the EBU on the Brussels lobbying front, with 33 member compa152 World Screen 4/13

nies active in 37 countries. “Public support remains strong in the traditional bastions of public broadcasting, and that translates into political support.The biggest issues for ACT are now the protection of exclusive content and antipiracy.The competition with public broadcasters is always bubbling, but it is not at the top of the list as it was ten years ago or more, when it was a defining issue.

The rules are well understood and better implemented than they were.

“The emphasis now is very much on how far the public broadcasters can extend their services into the new-media space, especially online,” continues Biggam. “It’s not about radio and television. The debate is being pushed much wider to include telcos and newspaper publishers. The latter have had to move online and they come up against competition from the public broadcasters, which have good journalists working for them and almost by definition offer their information for free. So the print groups that are struggling with finding ways to monetize their content online have a real issue. It’s more of an existential issue for the publishers than for commercial broadcasters.”

MARKET DISTORTION?

The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) has stressed that more should be done to ensure that the huge investment of publishers in developing online services is not undermined by the digital activities of public-service broadcasters. Ivar Rusdal, the president of ENPA, has said: “The rapidly expanding online offers of public-service broadcasters are distorting the digital market…and too often go far beyond their public-service remit.”

This is a battle that will undoubtedly continue, as publishers struggle with trying to migrate online, establish pay walls and find business models that will ensure their survival.The ENPA wants the online activities of public-service broadcasters made subject to a public-value test through independent bodies.

Public broadcasters, on the other hand, feel they have a responsibility to the people who pay the license fee. “It’s in the interest of citizens to have strong public broadcasters on the Internet because they provide the service that others have never provided or can’t provide,” says the EBU’s Deltenre.“I respect that the publishers have financial problems and that newspaper journalism is valid and very important. I hope that we can find a way to coexist without weakening the public-service broadcasters, whose services are essential and are going to be even more important in the future than they have been in the past.”

In this new digital playground, just as in the traditional tele vision world, the challenge for public broadcasters is to remain relevant while providing content and services that justify the public funding they receive.

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Bauer sucht Frau on RTL.

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Great changes are afoot in the German media market, in the wake of rapid technological developments and a new system for collecting license fees.

Deutschland

By Dieter Brockmeyer

s the new system for collecting public broadcaster license fees at odds with the German constitution? That’s just one of the accusations levied against the new regulations, which went into effect at the beginning of this year. Historically, the fee was based on TV- and radio-set ownership in an individual home; now, a monthly flat fee (€17.98) is imposed on every household, regardless of the kinds of devices used. This is in response to changes in viewers’ media-consumption habits and a reflection that the TV set is no longer the only device being used by Germans to access content. Indeed, prior to the implementation of the new regulations, a German federal court ruled that smartphones and all kinds of personal computers must be considered broadcast receivers.

Critics of the new system, however, contend that this homebased flat fee is a tax—and therefore contravenes the rule in the Grundgesetz (federal constitution) stating that the government cannot influence or fund the public-broadcasting system. Some German companies are also protesting the financial burden of the license fee.The drug-store chain Rossmann, for example, has filed suit alleging that the system is unfair; it has to pay a license fee for each of its 1,700-plus branches across the country and is expecting an annual outlay of more than €200,000.

These accusations add to long-simmering resentments by commercial broadcasters toward Germany’s public brodcasters, which already receive about €7.5 billion a year in license-

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fee funding. The new system is expected to bring in an additional €1.9 billion a year for ARD and ZDF. If those predictions are right, ARD and ZDF will still be unlikely to go on a spending binge at the end of the year. KEF, an independent regulatory body, has oversight of pubcasters’ spending and is charged with setting the license fee for next year. Should the coffers be flush with cash, KEF may consider lowering the monthly fees in the future.

Indeed, ZDF has already begun preparing for a possible reduction in its primary funding source. Under new directorgeneral Thomas Bellut, a cost-reduction plan could cut up to 400 positions as part of a streamlining initiative.

However, not everybody sees the need for cost cutting in Germany’s public-TV landscape. Members of ARD have expressed a wish to launch Jugendkanal, a new digital channel for youth audiences, positioned in the gap between the kids’ and general-entertainment services. It would be run as a joint venture with ZDF, similar to the doc channel Phoenix and the kids’ channel KiKA. How serious these plans are is unclear. ZDF’s Bellut has told TV Europe that in order to launch Jugendkanal, other channels would have to be eliminated. The proposal could very well just be an argument to justify maintaining, or even increasing, the license fee when it comes up for review in two years’ time.

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351,000 customers to 3.36 million subscribers.

It also managed to narrow its loss from €155 million to €51.1 million and increased its average revenue per subscriber to €31.90, a €1.44 gain from the previous year.

THE RIGHT FOOT

Three’s company: TV movies are a key element of the Sat.1 schedule, with offerings like Drei in einem Bett (Three in a Bed).

The chances for the launch of Jugendkanal should be considered low anyway, since ZDF has already said it is not interested due to its tight financial situation. Moreover, ZDF relaunched its portfolio of thematic digital channels last year, with ZDFneo, which targets a young demographic, having already been turned into something similar to ARD’s proposed Jugendkanal.The channel delivers a mixture of young and fresh magazine formats and talk shows on topics such as games and music, plus buzz-worthy U.S. imports like House of Lies and Mad Men. Even though ZDFneo’s viewing share is well below 1 percent, ZDF considers the relaunch to have been a success story, given the channel’s slow but steady ratings gains.

COMMERCIAL RIVALS

The main critics of Germany’s public-broadcasting regime can be found at the country’s commercial broadcasters. For example, when ZDF unveiled the repositioning of its thematic channels and subsequent acquisition of a number of high-profile American series, Katharina Behrends, the managing director at NBCUniversal Germany—which operates a portfolio of pay-TV channels, including 13th Street and Syfy—argued that the pubcaster was driving up the prices for American series. ZDF, Behrends argued, could pay high prices for series to air on lower-rated channels without having to worry about recouping those investments from ad revenues or subscriber fees.

Nevertheless, the situation for commercial pay TV in Germany appears to be improving considerably. For many years, given the dominance of free TV, both public and commercial, prospects for the pay-TV industry seemed dim. Today, however, Sky Deutschland is experiencing major gains, adding to its subscriber base and limiting churn. Now owned 54.5 percent

by News Corporation, the satellite platform reported 2012 financial results earlier this year that showed an increase of 156 World Screen 4/13

At the heart of the platform’s turnaround from its beleaguered Premiere days has been News Corp.’s steady investments, as well as last year’s Bundesliga deal.

The new agreement for the popular German football league runs for four seasons, beginning August 2013, and encompasses Internet rights to the games, previously held

by Deutsche Telekom. In January, Sky Deutschland announced an agreement with the telco giant that brings football coverage, as well as other Sky-branded services, to Telekom Entertain IPTV customers. A similar deal is said to be in the works with Telekom’s competitor Vodafone for its IPTV platform.

Eyebrows were certainly raised over the €485.7 million Sky agreed to pay DFL, the German football league, per season for Bundesliga rights. “I’m quite satisfied with this deal and if necessary I would have paid even more,” Sky Deutschland’s CEO, Brian Sullivan, is quoted as saying. “Compared to the international standards, the prices in Germany are still comparably low.”

German cable operators are also seeing gains, thanks to broadband and triple-play rollouts.With download speeds of over 100 megabits per second (mbps) in the highly populated urban centers of Germany, cable is blazing past the old fixed-wire network owned by the former state monopoly Deutsche Telekom—its VDSL [very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line] services are still limited to 50 mbps.

Until it can upgrade its VDSL network, Deutsche Telekom is promoting its LTE [long-term evolution] network for mobile use, where it can deliver speeds equivalent to cable in some of the lesser populated parts of Germany, which, until now, were poorly served by network operators, if at all.

Here, Telekom also has a serious competitor—Germany’s second-largest mobile operator,Vodafone.

The situation for mobile operators is changing, given the state of the DTT market in Germany. With the country’s current cable- and satellite-TV penetration, the demand for DTT services has been low. Less than 2 percent of the German population use digital terrestrial television as their primary TV source. Citing the need for costly investments in digital terrestrial infrastructure and government uncertainty about the DTT spectrum, RTL revealed in January that it

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would cease its DTT transmissions, beginning in Munich this year, followed by the rest of the country in 2014. This situation will free up part of the spectrum, which could be used by mobile operators to expand their services, for which there is expected to be strong demand.

ON THE GO

The sky’s the limit: Sky, which has a local content slate that includes Sky Magazin, has seen gains in its subscriber base over the last year.

As a matter of fact, German TV players, free and pay, are also investing heavily in mobile apps, over-the-top services and second-screen applications. Sky has its Sky Go application for mobile devices, which offers feature films and TV series, Sky Sports News and some live sports feeds. It is, at least for the time being, included for free in the premium packages for movie and sports. ProSiebenSat.1 Media operates two streaming media platforms, MyVideo and maxdome. The ad-supported MyVideo is similar to YouTube but is increasingly being Just the facts: Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international broadcaster, delivering used to as a second window for popular TV shows like Business Brief, with European financial news, worldwide. programs. The VOD platform maxdome offers movies and series as individual rentals or for Springer’s efforts to buy Haim Saban’s stake in ProSiebena monthly subscription fee.

Sat.1 in 2005.

Competition in this online content Those decisions were criticized by many industry spectaspace is building, thanks to YouTube’s tors, largely because they were seen as preventing German European expansion and the German companies from competing on the same playing field as the availability of the Amazon-owned overglobal media conglomerates. the-top service LOVEFiLM. Netflix, which currently has limited European CATCH-UP TIME In the meantime, all the major free-to-air networks have their reach, is said to be eying further rollouts in the region, including in Germany. The own catch-up services. In order to better monetize those serstreaming platform posted a classified ad on its vices, the major broadcasters, through their representation in the ratings agency AGF, are exploring ways to add online viewership website last year calling for “experienced linguists” in seven European and Asian to linear viewing data. Regular reporting is expected from early languages, including German, to next year, with test reports set to be available this summer.

This is a necessary step for the commercial TV networks, customize the site for “target” since there are early indications that average linear consumpmarkets.Thus far, it has not formally announced any further tion time—currently at 289 minutes daily—could decline.

Moreover, previously stable viewing shares seem to have European expansion beyond its existing territories: the U.K., become more flexible, as the leading free-to-air network Sweden, Denmark, Norway RTL has experienced. Anke Schäferkordt, co-CEO of RTL Group, has said that no channel can expect to see its viewing and Finland.

Nevertheless, gearing up shares continue to rise given the increasing competition from new channels and OTT services. Even long-running hits for an increasingly comhave seen their fortunes turn; RTL’s Deutschland sucht den petitive OTT landscape, Superstar, the German version of the Idols format, has experiProSiebenSat.1 and RTL Group last year announced enced ratings erosion.

Meanwhile, ProSiebenSat.1’s second-largest generala joint-venture onlineinterest channel, Sat.1, is still struggling to recover its former video platform that was glory. ProSiebenSat.1 has committed its resources to the being billed as “the GerGerman market, shedding most of its international chanman Hulu” by the local media. Those plans were nel holdings last year. Indeed, Germany remains the econixed by the federal cartel nomic engine of the European continent, and was recently office, the Bundeskartellamt, ranked by ZenithOptimedia as the only Western European territory in the world’s top ten contributors to due to the two groups’ adspend growth from 2012 to 2015. For media compadominance in free-TV nies looking to make the most out of this market in flux, broadcasting. This is in line the emphasis will certainly be on bolstering their digitalwith the watchdog’s previmedia activities in order to fend off local upstarts and ous decisions, such as the one international competitors. to reject publisher Axel 158 World Screen 4/13

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TV EUROPE: Sky has been investing heavily in original content. What type of programming has been produced so far?

TURNER LAING: We’ll be investing up to £600 million by 2014 in original British productions. About two years ago, Stuart Murphy [the director of Sky’s entertainment channels] and Lucy Lumsden, who is our head of comedy commissioning, kicked off investing in comedy production in a way that Sky had never, ever done before. We started from zero and have grown it into 18 new comedy series, of which 11 have been renewed, which is a pretty high percentage return rate for our industry. I am really proud of what Stuart and Lucy and the team have managed to pull off. It’s the “Sky” way of doing things; we rarely do things on a halfhearted basis! They didn’t dip a toe in, they jumped fully into it on the premise that some things are going to be brilliant and others are just not going to work for whatever reason.

But you can see [the results] from the awards that we have started to win: Darren Boyd of Spy won the male performance in a comedy program award at BAFTA last year. Hunderby, which is our wonderful very dark Gothic comedy from Julia Davis for Sky Atlantic, got two new awards at the British Comedy Awards recently. I feel we’ve landed the message that we’re in comedy and we’re here to stay.

TV EUROPE: Are you going to branch out into other genres?

TURNER LAING: Next on the to-do list is drama.Anne Mensah,

who is our head of drama, has a wide portfolio of commissions and development deals across the four channels, which is very exciting. We sometimes look on in envy at the American market and their ability to deliver 22 episodes of drama. The U.K. is usually a territory [that commissions] six hours at a time.

One of the things that we are very focused on is how can we deliver British dramas that, in our terms, are long-running.We’re looking to commission ten-plus hours, which obviously is a big investment to make in drama.

TV EUROPE: Since you have planted the flag in the original-

Sky’s Sophie Turner Laing

By Anna Carugati

There are many reasons why BSkyB is one of the world’s most successful pay-TV platforms: its vast range of movies and channels; the numerous ways subscribers can access programming on television, online and on portable devices; and its state-ofthe-art electronic programming guide (EPG) and personal video recorder Sky+. Certainly, Sky’s portfolio of entertainment and news channels, including Sky 1, Sky News, Sky Arts, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living and Sky Movies, are a main attraction for existing customers and a driver of new subscriptions. Sophie Turner Laing is the managing director of content for the entire Sky bouquet. She has initiated a significant investment in original content, which, as she tells TV Europe, has not only yielded several hit shows, with more to come, but is also boosting Sky’s international distribution.

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production area, what message does this send the creative community in the U.K.?

TURNER LAING: I definitely think the creative community, in particular the production community, understands what our four channel brands stand for, who they are aimed at and what kind of shows we are looking for. We are hopefully quite clear about continually giving that message. That is quite important.

It’s also quite interesting if you are a Sky commissioner because you have a portfolio of channels to commission across.You’re not stuck in one genre, which allows for a lot of creative freedom to work with different talent on a variety of projects. But I guess the main message is that creativity is a very, very important discipline to us. We work with people that we love and admire. We are supportive but not prescriptive. There is a lot of creative freedom here. Obviously we’ve got commissioners who are very experienced. The great thing about being in this business is that it’s one of the totally naturally collaborative businesses. I’d like to think that we work with people that we admire and trust and we let them get on with it.

TV EUROPE: You acquired Parthenon Media Group and subsequently launched Sky Vision as a production-anddistribution arm. What are the plans for boosting your international distribution?

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Familiar faces: Sky’s stepped-up committment to scripted British content includes A Young Doctor’s Notebook, which delivered Sky Arts’ best-ever ratings when it aired in December.

TURNER LAING: The plan is that with an investment of

£600 million I need to create a significant return! There is no such thing as a free lunch in a very commercial organization!

One of the ways that we like to do it is by supercharging a distribution arm, because we feel that as the closest to the content, we are perfectly positioned to sell it. Equally, as a broadcaster selling to other broadcasters, we have a slightly unique perspective on the business. We totally accept that there are a lot of production companies out there that already have existing distribution deals. We are not going to not commission great ideas just because their distribution rights are already tied up, because, fundamentally, that does not put our customers first.

If you look at the new slate we have at the moment, there’s a very large percentage that is distributed elsewhere. What we hope to do is work closer and closer with talent to be part of the first-look process, whereby distribution rights will therefore come at the end of that process.

TV EUROPE: What are the strengths of your branded channels?

Do you envision changes in direction for any of them?

TURNER LAING: We’re in pretty good shape, particularly on Sky 1, the entertainment shows, whether it’s A League of Their Own or Got to Dance or the high-octane, high-energy drama Mad Dogs or Strike Back, which is our co-production with HBO. And Sky 1 has had the lion’s share of comedies.

Sky Atlantic is very well supported and driven by the content from our friends at HBO.The delivery slate of what is coming down the pipe from HBO is very exciting indeed. On Sky Atlantic what I am really interested in on the drama side is the international perspective that we can bring.We’ve announced The Tunnel, which is a co-production with Canal+, which we are keen to do, because it is very unusual.The lead male is a Brit, the lead woman is French, there’s a French director and what I love is the ability for us to bring a whole new fresh array of talent 162 World Screen 4/13

whether on screen or behind the scenes to a channel. It gives us a USP [unique selling proposition] that is very international. And joining forces with our pay brethren around the world is also an interesting concept.

Sky Arts has always been a really unusual and brilliant place for talent. Several years ago we started doing Playhouse Presents, which initially were live plays shot here at our studios at Sky. It’s gradually evolved into a who’s who of writing, acting and directing talent.We recently [aired] the mini-series A Young Doctor’s Notebook with Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe, based on a collection of short stories by the Russian writer and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov, which I’m not sure many commercial broadcasters would ever look at doing. The opportunity to have that kind of unique talent working together has been totally brilliant.

Sky Living is definitely a work in progress for us.

It started with its first big commission comedy in the shape of The Spa, which is written by the comedy writer and actor Derren Litten of Benidorm fame. We started a series of one-off dramas and comedies. They are like on-air pilots and we’ll see if any of them will lend themselves to a series.

And we have announced the co-production with NBC for Dracula, starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, partially shot here and then in Hungary.

TV EUROPE: How is Sky News providing up-to-the-

minute news online but at the same time providing great programming on the channel?

TURNER LAING: At the heart of any news service, irrespective of how it’s delivered, is brilliant journalism.The best content is about great storytelling. News is no different. Sky News is very much a digital environment. We deliver news to screens in train stations, in the backseats of taxis, as well as on phones. It was one of the first news channels to go into HD. It is truly multiplatform. That is predominantly because Sky News is great at being first for breaking news. It lends itself very easily to multiplatform because it’s not restricted to a set number of bulletins during the day. It’s able to put the news out when it breaks. The interesting thing for us with Sky News is that last year we launched Sky News Arabia, which is our joint venture with the Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, so we are expanding our brand outside of the U.K. TV EUROPE: Are you starting to provide second-screen experiences for some of the programming you offer?

TURNER LAING: We started some time ago because we were one of the original investors in zeebox. I don’t think anyone has got the silver bullet on this one yet; we’re all just trying out different concepts to see what works. I look at what Sky Sports has done with Formula 1, which is, if you have the Sky Sports app, in the Formula 1 section, when the actual race is on, you can take two extra video feeds into your tablet as well as watching on your big screen. So we are at early days of experimenting with what that technology means for other genres. It’s very exciting. It’s all about how you enhance not how you distract.

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Elisabeth Murdoch set up Shine TV in 2001 as an independent production company specializing in quality programming that would stand out and capture critical acclaim. Over the years, she acquired a number of highly creative and entrepreneurial companies, each focusing on a specific genre, to form the Shine Group. The result has been a series of eclectic hit shows, including the scripted series Spooks and Merlin, factual shows such as One Born Every Minute and global formats like MasterChef. The Shine Group also branched out geographically, first acquiring Reveille in the U.S., producer of The Biggest Loser, and then setting up Shine America, and subsequently Shine Australia, Shine Germany, Shine France and Shine Iberia. Alex Mahon joined the group in 2006 as managing director of Shine TV, and was later appointed CEO of the Shine Group. Mahon talks to TV Europe about the group’s expansion and continued quest for top-notch creativity.

TV EUROPE: What has been the Shine Group’s growth

strategy? What production and media entities have you been looking for and how do they contribute to the group?

MAHON: What we’ve been looking for in the people we’ve been building companies with are creative entrepreneurs. Ideally, in every country we’re finding the best talented, creative individuals who are able to generate new ideas and build com-

makes people desperate to tell their friends about it and can’t wait until the next episode.You’ve got to go back to basics, working only with people who want to create the best stories, and those are the principles that are the same between the different Shine companies. When you get our people together they have the same passion, the same sense of excitement and desire to make the absolute best shows they can.

But I would agree, it’s not like making washing machines!

It’s all about personal relationships.

By Anna Carugati

TV EUROPE: You mentioned Rich Ross, who was recently named CEO of Shine America.What are Shine’s priorities for the North American market?

MAHON: America is a massive growth territory and a prime focus for the next couple of years, so Rich Ross is obviously a huge hire for us. He is a rare breed of an American executive who is very experienced and knows the whole system in the U.S. inside and out, but is equally very familiar with international. That’s quite hard to get. He is also extremely experienced in scripted and, because of his Disney experience, he knows how to create worldwide properties.

We are putting more investment in the U.S. market.We’ve got Rich.We’ve got Eden Gaha and our team who are making Mas-

Shine Group’s

Alex Mahon panies around them.The idea is if you are able to bring enough of those together you’ll be able to create the next wave of globally successful shows in both scripted and unscripted. If you look at some of the people we’ve partnered with, like Mark and Carl Fennessy in Australia, or Thierry Lachkar in France, or Rich Ross in America, or Metronome Film & Television in the Nordics, or companies such as Kudos in the U.K., we’re taking people who are absolutely top of their game in creating scripted or unscripted ideas and then bringing them together [and attracting the] best talent to create a new breed of group.

TV EUROPE: A studio executive once told me that managing talent is entirely different from managing a company that manufactures, say, washing machines! When managing people and encouraging creativity, there are so many changing variables as opposed to overseeing an assembly line.

MAHON: We put a lot of effort in making sure that Shine has the right culture, that our companies are allowed to be individual and unique and have their own brands and offices and their own style and people. The overarching tenets of the Shine Group are about believing in creativity and ideas.You can have those principles in common between several very different companies but you’ve equally got to aspire to be the absolute best at what you do.You must start with thinking of something brilliant that makes audiences tune in and

terChef, The Face and The Biggest Loser.We’ve just hired Cristina Palacio to run our Latin American and Hispanic business and drawing on the expertise and wealth of telenovelas from Colombia and elsewhere.And then we’ve got our scripted team who is doing The Bridge for FX.We’ve also hired Chachi Senior, who runs the new entertainment label Ardaban. We’ve got unscripted entertainment, scripted series, game shows, Hispanic programming, and then of course, one of our biggest recent deals is our partnership with Nigel Lythgoe for his new shows going forward. He’s one of the world’s foremost showrunners.

All of that under Rich Ross is a pretty heavy investment in the potential we see in the U.S. and the potential that we see in him—to be able to turn that into an even bigger business.

And that’s already with MasterChef, The Biggest Loser and The Face on the air.

TV EUROPE: Several Shine companies have been involved in

scripted programming for a long time. Is scripted becoming an even bigger priority?

MAHON: We’ve always been among the top suppliers of scripted in the U.K. and the global market with Kudos, with titles like Spooks and Hustle. We’ve been number one in the Scandinavian market for a long time with Filmlance in Sweden, where, in partnership with its neighbors in Denmark, The Bridge originally came from. We have now realized that we need to 4/13 World Screen 165

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Crossing the line: Broadchurch is a new crime drama from Shine’s Kudos Film and Television.

be present in scripted in our other markets, so we’re launching scripted in Australia and in France, we’re setting up scripted in Spain and now in Latin America and there is also the opportunity to go into the U.S. If you look at scripted commissions in the U.S. market over the past five years they have grown by 45 percent.There are just an incredible number of buyers. Six years ago there were 16 buyers of drama and there are 29 this year, and on top of that we’ve got Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. As buyers, they are much more open to ideas coming from anywhere. That wasn’t the case a few years ago.They are open to experimentation because they don’t want to invest as much in the pilot system.

TV EUROPE: Netflix recently premiered House of Cards. Are

you looking at digital platforms as an outlet for your product?

MAHON: Absolutely. Lilyhammer, which was one of our scripted shows in Norway, was one of the biggest sales ever to Netflix. So we are absolutely looking at digital. It’s been really interesting to see how House of Cards has worked and if that pattern of making an entire season available in one go will prove profitable or not. I don’t think any of us know yet. But they are a really important buyer.

TV EUROPE: In which genres or geographic areas do you

see potential for growth in the next year or so?

MAHON: We just started kids’ programming with Andrew

Davenport, who co-created Teletubbies and In the Night Garden. We’ve started working with him on his next show, so that is a new area for us. We are doing more in comedy.

We’ve started shooting the comedy Vicious in the U.K., starring Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi, which is a massive deal for us in the U.K. They play a gay couple who live together in Soho. We’ll be rolling that out at MIPTV. Gary Janetti is the showrunner, who was a writer on Will & Grace and Family Guy. We’ll do more in comedy and there is plenty going on in terms of new genres already within the company.

TV EUROPE: It will be interesting to see if a show can be launched and get noticed without a linear channel behind it to help with the promotion.

MAHON: That’s a question for all of us when we launch shows digitally. The skills that historically we have been lacking as producers are marketing skills. That’s not where we have traditionally had experience. If we are going to strike out into digital distribution, that’s what we need to learn.

TV EUROPE: Are you looking to acquire more companies? Shine has managed to balance being prudent against taking risks.

MAHON: We are always looking for the best stuff!

It’s a question of what is available, whether there is a gap in our portfolio and what the people [in the prospective company] are like. And yes, there is a fine line between balancing growth and being able Star power: Shine International is offering up the new comedy Vicious, to manage everything, but we are always looking. starring Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi.

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ZDF turns 50 Thomas Bellut

By Anna Carugati

ZDF, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. For five decades, the German public broadcaster has built its reputation and viewership on quality news and current affairs, including the newscast of record, heute; popular entertainment shows, such as the long-running Wetten, dass...?; and a long list of hit drama series, from the legendary Derrick to Der Bergdoktor to the crime series Heldt. At ZDF’s helm is Thomas Bellut, a journalist by trade who joined ZDF in 1984 shortly after graduating from university and working at a newspaper. Bellut learned the business and responsibilities of public-service broadcasting from the bottom up: first in the domestic current-affairs division, where he was often on the air presenting election and breaking-news specials, conducting interviews and providing in-depth reports, and then as director of programming, a position he stepped into in 2002 and remained in for ten years.

Today, as director-general, Bellut is responsible not only for the main network, ZDF, but also for four jointventure channels: the children’s channel KiKA; the cultural and information channel 3sat; the arts channel ARTE; and the documentary channel Phoenix. ZDF also operates the digital channels ZDFinfo, ZDFneo and ZDFkultur.

Since being appointed director-general in March of 2012, Bellut has focused on making ZDF more efficient, more appealing to young viewers and more relevant in today’s digital world. The programming strategies implemented by Bellut and by the current programming director, Norbert Himmler, are working. In fact, in recent months, ZDF’s audience share has exceeded the other public broadcaster, ARD, and more important, German television’s usual market leader, the commercial network RTL Television.

Bellut shares with TV Europe his views on what it means to be a public broadcaster in today’s multichannel and digital world.

TV EUROPE: ZDF celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Over the years, in what unique ways has ZDF contributed to the German television landscape?

BELLUT: We are Germany’s national public-service broadcaster. Our counterpart is the ARD, which has one main network and nine regional state broadcasters. Our name stands above all for good fiction, entertainment and information. This is why we started attending the international markets very early on. In the 1970s and ’80s, ZDF aired many American television series for the first time in Germany. Today, news and information programs play a very important role. With nearly 50 percent of our programming devoted to information—we have the highest proportion of all TV broadcasters in Germany—[we] are still market leaders. But we also have a soft spot for laughter: we air the funniest political comedy, for instance.

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TV EUROPE: Congratulations on ZDF’s market-leading

12.6 percent audience share! That is more than ARD and RTL. What factors have contributed to that success?

BELLUT: We’ve been working hard on our programming.

We’ve improved the quality, modernized broadcasts, experimented a great deal and developed new formats. Call it trial and error, but it works! We have more viewers again, especially younger ones. Our portfolio—the main network, digital channels and online—is again as successful as it last was in the early 1990s, even though we’re now competing with more than 150 national TV broadcasters.

TV EUROPE: What is your vision for public-service broadcasting? What role must ZDF play in today’s digital age?

BELLUT: Public-service media are very important for the public debate on politics, economy and social topics in Germany.

You can completely forget commercial TV here. Apart from the top-of-the-line newspapers, we provide the arena for the major and minor debates of our society in our independent political and economic magazine shows, documentaries, talk shows and the comprehensive coverage of elections. We offer all of this in the digital world as well. Next to online portals, our ZDFMediathek is our most important platform, which, by the way, leads the on-demand offerings in Germany.

TV EUROPE: Having been the director of programming for many years, what did you learn about balancing public-service obligations and scheduling shows that get high audience shares? What types of shows can do both?

BELLUT: I have learned to listen not only to the experts, but also to my gut feeling.You have to love television and like the public, and a few years of experience do a world of good.

Programming is decisive, having the right mix of programs. If I air a great documentary after a strong feature film or sports event, I get an audience that would otherwise not tune in to it.

But if you happen to like it, you might watch such a show more often in the future. A strong public broadcaster needs strong entertainment formats, otherwise it becomes a niche broadcaster. And incidentally, news and current affairs can also be exciting. Many of our high-gloss documentaries such as Terra X combine pure entertainment and valuable knowledge.

TV EUROPE: A few years ago, ZDF set a goal of reaching more

young viewers. How has the channel succeeded in that goal?

BELLUT: Step by step. The digital channels reach younger

viewers differently than the main network.To my great satisfaction, this even happens with our news channel ZDFinfo. With high-caliber entertainment such as international series and documentaries, ZDFneo is targeted specifically to younger audiences.We can finally anchor our brand environment to younger demographics once again. Our little broadcasting family reached 10 percent of the under-50-year-olds in January—a great result.

TV EUROPE: The license fee structure in Germany has

All that drama: ZDF Enterprises has amassed a European drama portfolio that includes, from top, The Air Rescue Team, Katie Fforde, The Bridge, Rosamunde Pilcher Collection, The Dream Voyage–Collection and Verdict Revised.

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changed and this has sparked quite a bit of debate. Why was it changed and what is the value of this new reform?

BELLUT: The old model didn’t work any longer. Before, whoever had a TV or a radio had to pay a license fee. This has become pointless now since everyone can view our content with a cell phone. Now it’s one residence, one fee. It’s that easy.

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Scoring a goal: ZDF offers a variety of sports coverage, including live broadcasts of key events and weekly magazine series like das aktuelle sportstudio.

The debate doesn’t have all that much to do with the change of structure. Nothing changes for over 90 percent of the people here in Germany. For many, it will even be less expensive.

Yet we have a growing criticism of public-service radio in Germany on the whole. This doesn’t come from the viewers, but from competitors such as the newspapers. They have big problems of their own finding new business models, and suddenly see the electronic media as rivals.

BELLUT: Here we’re in a competition the likes of which

you won’t find anywhere else in the world. It’s impossible to reach the entire society with one single channel.

It’s easier with the additional digital channels. ZDFneo, for example, targets the 30- to 50-year-olds. And it works! We schedule popular younger formats. We test new formats, and [conduct] experiments that would be impossible on the main [network]. We produce and pur-

TV

EUROPE: Regarding ZDF’s advertising revenue, will ZDF be allowed more than 20 minutes of advertising per day before 8 p.m., or advertising after 8 p.m.?

BELLUT: We’re taking a different direction here. Sponsorship after 8 p.m. has been prohibited since the beginning of 2013. Additional sources of revenue are being reduced rather than expanded.

TV EUROPE: What has

been the strategy behind ZDF’s bouquet of digital channels? How have they helped bring in a more diverse audience for ZDF programming?

Reliable sources: Since its launch, news has played an integral role on the ZDF schedule, led by the flagship news magazine heute journal.

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chase more economically. And it’s paying off: in the digital market, our three digital channels have already garnered a market share of more than 2 percent.

TV EUROPE: Are there plans for launching more digital channels? I have read reports of plans for a youth channel with ARD. BELLUT: There will be no additional channels. The idea of starting a joint ARD/ZDF youth channel has been floating around. But this would require eliminating other digital channels. And don’t forget, you also can’t leave German media politics out of the equation.

TV EUROPE: You started your career as a journalist.

Looking at how the Internet is changing the way viewers receive their news throughout the day, what are the main priorities for ZDF’s news division?

BELLUT: News is no longer an exclusive offering. More and more people inform themselves via other sources, at any time, any place, and generally free of charge. This is why TV news has to offer more. We have highly experienced editors and a worldwide network of correspondents. Our strength is that we can competently assess national and international events and developments, and shed light into their backgrounds. People trust us here. We’re also increasingly using new graphic techniques to explain complex processes in a simple and easily understandable way. There is a great need for this as well [among our viewers].

TV EUROPE: How does ZDF.de fit into ZDF’s overall dig-

ital strategy?

BELLUT: ZDF.de is no longer an add-on. It is an essential

component of our content offering. We long ago stopped being a TV broadcaster to become a multimedia content provider. We offer our content on all the platforms used by our audience. The journalistic work for ZDF.de is thus brought back into the classic editorial department. The staff is no longer responsible only for individual time slots on the TV channel, but for all platforms.

TV EUROPE: How does ZDF.de rank among other websites in Germany? What is it offering viewers and how is it supplementing the ZDF linear channel?

BELLUT: We have a good online presence, but it isn’t our core business. Compared with the websites of the major newspapers, we’re rather in the middle. We concentrate primarily on video content.This is our core competence.What’s important to us are the social media platforms. There we exchange views with the fans of our shows and obtain [input and new ideas] for our work.

TV EUROPE: What challenges and opportunities do you see

for ZDF in the next 12 to 24 months?

BELLUT: We want to maintain a strong position among the

Tween dreams: ZDF Enterprises has become a key supplier of live-action tween shows to the global market, including Dance Academy (top) and, from Jonathan M. Shiff Productions, H2O: Just Add Water (middle) and Lightning Point, also known as Alien Surf Girls (bottom).

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competition, but we don’t have to remain the market leader.

Much more important is the quality of our programs. We will have elections this year in Germany. Political and economic themes will thus play an important role. In view of the discussions about the public-service system in Germany—which we are ready and willing to contribute to—we want to satisfy our viewers above all through the quality and relevance of our programs.

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with excellent programming in all genres, from Scandinavian drama to U.S. documentaries to Australian live-action teen series. All these programs have been successful on ZDF, and ZDF acquired them for a favorable price-to-quality ratio. So besides the direct financial contributions that I mentioned above, we are very proud to have provided ZDF with excellent programs and international content.

TV EUROPE: What reputation does ZDF Enterprises have

among international co-production partners?

CORIDASS: Each year we invest between €30 million to €50

ZDF Enterprises at 20

Alexander Coridass While ZDF celebrates 50 years, there is another birthday this year in the German public broadcaster’s family: its commercial arm, ZDF Enterprises, marks its 20th year in the international distribution and co-production business. President and CEO Alexander Coridass talks about the company’s many accomplishments, which are all focused on one objective: quality programming.

TV EUROPE: How has ZDF Enterprises contributed to ZDF? CORIDASS: Our main job is to generate additional income for

ZDF. We deliver all our annual profit to ZDF every year. Last year this amounted to roughly €10 million, which, for a midsized company like ours, is a result we can be proud of.There are two other financial streams that flow from our firm to ZDF. There is our direct investment in ZDF programs, which ranges from €5 million to €10 million. And as far as we sell ZDF programs without prior direct investment, we pay a certain percentage of our sales volume to ZDF as a compensation for the rights.

So we provide three financial streams to our shareholder. Over the years, this has amounted to several hundred million euros that have gone to ZDF. The value of ZDF Enterprises is also much higher today than it was 20 years ago. Plus, we have formed a small portfolio of subsidiaries, mainly production companies, which all amounts to a considerable corporate value for the ZDF Enterprises group.

Last but not least, through our co-productions and international partnerships, we have been able to provide ZDF 176 World Screen 4/13

million in new programs with money generated from our own cash flow—not from license fees collected from German TV spectators.These are either projects originating from third parties or from ZDF; but I would say that in general, the major part goes into programs and third-party projects and a minor part into ZDF programs.

What co-production partners can expect is a co-producer who is willing and able to provide input into the editorial development. We want to be involved in the production process and, in return for our investment, we need to obtain the rights.There is no general pattern for co-productions; they vary from case to case. Sometimes we are just a co-financer: we let our partners do most of the job and we just [provide] some additional financing.

In other cases we are in the driver’s seat, so to speak, and are the ones who are really developing a production. One example is Alexander, about Alexander the Great, which is a project [written

by Michael Hirst] that we are carrying out with one of our subsidiaries [Gruppe 5 Filmproduktion] and with Beta Film.

There is a broad range of arrangements as far as our involvement in co-productions is concerned, but our partners can always count on us to be very dedicated and fair.

TV EUROPE: Over the years, what has been the strategy to broaden the ZDF Enterprises catalogue?

CORIDASS: We are extremely proud of the programming we obtain from ZDF, but it goes without saying that it is limited, as ZDF’s output is aimed primarily at the German market and is not necessarily suited for international distribution. Thus, some 10 to 15 years ago we reached the decision that if we wanted to grow, to have a broader catalogue and to enter new markets, we would need additional programming. We strive to obtain this through co-productions or distribution mandates from German or international producers.We even buy finished product.Twothirds of our catalogue has nothing to do with ZDF; it is programming we have acquired from third parties or co-produced.

This is something that became necessary—it wouldn’t have been enough to just be the sales arm of ZDF. TV EUROPE: ZDF Enterprises has done a number of deals with digital platforms.

CORIDASS: I wouldn’t have thought that we would have such great deals with partners like Netflix and Hulu, not only for our Scandinavian crime series but also for other German programs.

We talk so often about how complicated it is to sell nonAmerican product to the U.S., but this has changed. Outlets like DIRECTV, along with Netflix and Hulu, are really very open and we’ve made very satisfying deals with them. In Germany and the rest of Europe, digital and VOD platforms are becoming more and more important. Since we have a huge catalogue, the digital world is really a great opportunity for us.

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Foyle’sWar REIGNITED

By Kristin Brzoznowski

s the long-running detective drama Inspector Morse was coming to an end, ITV began its search for something to fill the void for its viewers who loved the sleuththemed show. This is what led to the commission of the World War II–era Foyle’s War. “In 1999, Anthony Horowitz and I responded to an ITV tender for a major new detective series to replace Morse,” explains Jill Green, the managing director at Eleventh Hour Films and executive producer of Foyle’s War. “Competition was tough, but Foyle’s War was one of three pilots made, and the only idea to survive. More than 20 films later, Foyle’s War remains an enduring, much-loved brand.That’s down to Anthony’s brilliant character creation of Foyle, expertly played by Michael Kitchen, and Sam, the delightful Honeysuckle Weeks, and the authenticity of the themes, settings and moral depths that Foyle plunders.”

The show began running in 2002 but was axed by ITV in 2007. However, public demand and complaints about the cancellation led the channel to revive the show. “Sheer outcry of surprise and horror from both critics and a very large and loyal audience” are what helped to bring back the show, says Green.

“It was still one of ITV’s ‘jewels in the crown’ when it got cancelled. ITV’s Peter Fincham [director of television] listened to the fans and restored it—a rare decision in commissioning meetings, but a brave and wise one.”

The three new two-hour installments provide a fresh take on the classic Foyle’s War but also remain true to the original in many ways. “Anthony Horowitz has so cleverly evolved the series into the world of intelligence, the emergence of MI5 and the early 178 World Screen 4/13

Cold War,” says Green. “1946-47 is a period not well covered on TV, so he is again unearthing fantastic true stories to provide tense, mysterious and interesting episodes.We cover atomic spies, corruption amongst politicians, secret interrogation chambers, prefabs as social housing, German war criminals and the endless ‘smoke and mirrors’ of that period. Foyle fits seamlessly into his new role as an intelligence officer with Sam as his slightly overwhelmed PA. MI5 was on Curzon Street, so it’s a London set, rather than Hastings, and the Russians are the new enemy. But, like [in] the ‘old’ series, Foyle still searches for the truth.”

ALL3MEDIA International represents the new Foyle’s War episodes, along with the 22x2-hour library.“We’d always admired Foyle’s War and thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to represent another top-quality detective series, so we were delighted when the distribution rights became available and our bid for them was accepted by Acorn,” says Louise Pedersen, the managing director of ALL3MEDIA International.

The series sold widely across Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and English-speaking markets, according to Pedersen.“Our ambition is to add a few of the major European markets to this list.”

She adds,“The new installment will be eagerly awaited by the existing fans of the series internationally; we hope that the new episodes will help with our drive into new markets as well.”

As for why the show will appeal to global buyers, Pedersen says, “Foyle’s War is a truly classic and classy detective show, and demand for top-quality shows in this genre is high. It has a great cast, a wonderful look and compelling stories, and we strongly believe that it has an ongoing appeal to buyers.”

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