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TVEUROPE
WWW.TVEUROPE.WS
JUNE /JULY 2015
NATPE EUROPE EDITION
Formats in CEE / Pay-TV Channels / Zodiak Rights’ Tim Mutimer
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TV EUROPE
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CONTENTS
European Values
FEATURES
8 LET’S DO IT AGAIN
A survey of the types of formats that are most in demand in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
The American love affair with British talent shows no signs of losing steam.
Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher Anna Carugati Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Executive Editor Joanna Padovano Associate Editor Joel Marino Assistant Editor Victor L. Cuevas Production & Design Director Simon Weaver Online Director Phyllis Q. Busell Art Director Alberto Rodriguez Sales & Marketing Manager Dana Mattison Sales & Marketing Coordinator Fiorella Martinez Sales & Marketing Assistant Terry Acunzo Business Affairs Manager
Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Europe © 2015 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tveurope.ws
If anything, it’s a particularly good time to be a Brit in Hollywood, whether on-screen in big-budget theatricals, television dramas and late-night comedy, or off-screen as writers, executive producers and network execs. U.S.-U.K. co-pros are everywhere, expanding beyond PBS and the premium cablers HBO and Starz to basic cable (AMC, SundanceTV, BBC America) and even broadcast networks. NBC recently boarded the Sky comedy drama You, Me and the End of the World, featuring a cast drawn from both sides of the Atlantic. When it comes to scripted content, the U.K. is not the only European territory getting some Hollywood attention—but interest in other markets has been fickle. Scandi noir is still very hot across Europe and there have been a smattering of adaptations Stateside—think The Killing and The Bridge (both of which are no longer on the air). Last year during America’s Upfronts week, Spain was the country to watch as adaptations of The Red Band Society and The Mysteries of Laura popped up on the fall schedules. The former failed to deliver big numbers despite its high-profile pedigree (Steven Spielberg), while the latter had better luck, securing ratings that were solid enough for NBC to order a second season. Turkey became the European content hub to watch this year as NBC greenlit a version of Game of Silence (Suskunlar) and ABC announced it was piloting Runner (Son). With steady sales of its drama series around the world and upcoming Country of Honour focus at MIPCOM, it’s shaping up to be a big year for the Turkish content industry. It’s also proving to be a big year for Poland, which has become a significant bright spot in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) media landscape. Scripps Networks Interactive has snapped up a controlling interest in TVN, and a slew of channel operators—among them Discovery, A+E Networks and FOX International Channels—are stepping up their content-creation initiatives in Poland. The pay-TV channels business in CEE is explored in depth in this edition as operators build up their presence in mature markets, work with affiliates to grow the subscriber bases in smaller territories and figure out what to do about Russia in the wake of that country’s tricky new regulatory environment. This edition also spotlights the booming format market in CEE. We also hear from Tim Mutimer about how Zodiak Rights is drawing on the strengths of the entire Zodiak Media group, and third parties, to deliver a wealth of European drama to networks across the globe, from Scandinavian thrillers to French period fare. —Mansha Daswani
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8 24 BREAKING BORDERS
A look at how international channel brands are expanding their reach across CEE.
24 INTERVIEW
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Zodiak Rights’ Tim Mutimer
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Atresmedia The Secret of Old Bridge / Down Below / Bandit Set in the 19th century, the telenovela Bandit sees a British student of Spanish literature move to Andalusia in order to fulfill her dream of writing her own novel. However, while searching for adventure, she becomes a Robin Hood-type figure in order to help the most disadvantaged. That title is a NATPE Europe highlight for Atresmedia, which is also presenting The Secret of Old Bridge. The successful novela has already aired 1,000 episodes across various seasons, and it continues to be broadcast in Spain. On the format front, the company offers the romantic comedy Down Below. Clients in Central and Eastern Europe have already shown interest in that title, according to Diana Borbón Cuchí, the sales manager for Atresmedia.
“Our series have the potential to reach audiences in countries that have a tradition of airing telenovelas.” —Diana Borbón Cuchí The Secret of Old Bridge
BBC Worldwide You’re Back in the Room / The Great Bake Off / The Office The format You’re Back in the Room was launched by BBC Worldwide at MIPTV, and the company is now making a sales push for the title at NATPE Europe. “It’s a fun, fresh new prime-time entertainment format that the whole family can enjoy together,” says Suzanne Kendrick, the acting head of format sales at BBC Worldwide. With format sales for the scripted series Mistresses and Luther already secured in CEE, BBC Worldwide is looking forward to now being able to offer scripts from the U.S. version of The Office to buyers in the region. “We now have 188 scripts available across nine seasons of this Emmy Award-winning series,” Kendrick notes. The Great Bake Off has been sold widely around the world and the company will be looking to add to this at NATPE Europe.
“Central and Eastern Europe is an important region for us—we’ve been licensing formats across the territory for more than ten years.” —Suzanne Kendrick The Great Bake Off
Red Arrow International Bosch / 100 Code / The Big Surprise Two crime dramas are among the highlights being presented by Red Arrow International at this year’s NATPE Europe. Based on the best-selling books by Michael Connelly, Bosch stars Titus Welliver (Lost) as a homicide detective. From Oscar winner Bobby Moresco comes 100 Code, with a cast led by Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Dominic Monaghan (Lost). “Bosch and 100 Code are proving of particular interest to broadcasters in CEE countries,” says Henrik Pabst, the company’s managing director. “The market is looking for shows that are original, well written and with characters that really cut through—and both of these dramas succeed in delivering that.” Red Arrow International is also showcasing The Big Surprise, a new entertainment format.
“Crime is definitely still in demand [in CEE], and serialized content has been experiencing a boom.” —Henrik Pabst 100 Code 38 World Screen 6/15
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SPI International FilmBox Premium / FilmBox HD / DocuBox HD SPI International has been focused on strengthening the presence of its channel brands in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania. “Our FilmBox Premium channel package is now offered by most of the major satellite platforms and cable operators in those countries,” says Berk Uziyel, the director of SPI International. The company is also looking to expand distribution in the Balkans. “With three channels—FilmBox HD, FilmBox Plus HD and DocuBox HD—already available in Serbian, Slovenian, Albanian, Macedonian and Croatian, we want to increase our presence in those countries and sign distribution deals with more platforms and networks in the region,” Uziyel says.
“We are very much devoted to localizing our English-language channels for various markets in CEE.” —Berk Uziyel Nomadic Nights on DocuBox HD
STUDIOCANAL Harlan Coben’s The Five / Spotless / Section Zéro Harlan Coben’s The Five marks the first-ever TV project from the best-selling author. Produced by RED Production Company for Sky Living in the U.K., The Five centers on friends whose lives were defined by a terrible childhood event. Spotless, a sexy and dark English-language drama that is a CANAL+ Création Originale produced by TANDEM, comes from cocreators Ed McCardie and Corinne Marrinan. Section Zéro, another CANAL+ Création Originale, is an edgy and shadowy political sci-fi thriller from writer and director Olivier Marchal. “As working in both film and TV has become more attractive for actors, at STUDIOCANAL, we are in a unique position to access the best talent for both mediums,” says Katrina Neylon, STUDIOCANAL’s executive VP of sales and marketing.
“We are developing and establishing new partnerships and sales in the continued growth and positioning of the STUDIOCANAL catalogue across all media platforms in Europe.” —Katrina Neylon Harlan Coben’s The Five
ZDF Enterprises The Team / Mountain Medic / Dr. Klein There’s a second season in production of The Team, a crime and suspense series from ZDF Enterprises’ ZDFE.drama slate. The series portrays a group of European police officers fighting international crime across borders in Europe. Also from the ZDFE.drama portfolio, Mountain Medic is billed as a family drama series. The story centers on Dr. Martin Gruber, who has to give up his job in New York and return to his hometown in the Alps. He begins to find excitement, adventure, powerful emotions and fulfillment in the medical challenges he encounters every day in the Alps. Dr. Klein, meanwhile, is about a pediatrician, who stands only 1.32 meters tall. She must balance her work at a children’s hospital with the needs of maintaining a household and family.
The Team 40 World Screen 6/15
Mountain Medic
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Let’s Do It
AGAIN! Keshet International’s Rising Star on TV2 in Hungary.
Kristin Brzoznowski surveys the types of formats that are most in demand across Central and Eastern Europe. espite a protracted advertising recession that’s left countries across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) facing mixed fortunes, the format landscape in the region has been resilient. Distributors, in fact, are reporting progress in several areas: in the number of territories commissioning content, in the slots dedicated to formats and in the range of genres that buyers are evaluating. This has contributed to an overall positive sentiment from those looking to ramp up their format business in this part of the
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world, be it established players trying to make further inroads or newer entrants working to lay a foundation for long-term success. Red Arrow International, for example, has been present in this market for a while now and is seeing its format sales in CEE gain momentum. “Our business here is growing,” says Henrik Pabst, the company’s managing director, “including in the Balkans and Bulgaria, Romania and the Baltics, which are increasingly open to trying new ideas and forms of content.”
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BBC Worldwide has seen scripted-format sales increasing in CEE, with a local version of The Office airing in the Czech Republic on CT1.
and Ukraine. Our most recent license is in Estonia with TV3, where it is the first reality-based cooking format that they’ve had in the market. We’re quite excited about Estonia. In Turkey, we have a daily, stripped version of Bake Off. There are a lot of broadcasters across Central and Eastern Europe that are interested in the [idea of stripping the show] and how it might work for them. We’re having some really great conversations at the moment.” Big, shiny-floor entertainment formats have been the top sellers for FremantleMedia in CEE, including the megahits Idols, The X Factor and Got Talent. “Talent shows are still doing really well in this region,” says Daniela Matei, the CEO for the Nordics, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans at FremantleMedia. “It has a lot to do with making dreams come true and the aspirational values and emotional stories. The story arcs are addictive! Audiences are [rallying] for their favorite candidates and really want to see them win.”
From the Red Arrow International catalogue, Married at First Sight recently aired on Nova TV in Bulgaria “with huge success,” according to Pabst. “We have a deal [for the series] in Latvia with Viasat, and also a deal in Estonia. So, sales are GET IN THE GAME picking up.” Matei also points to the game show as a genre that’s makAnd this momentum is widespread, he notes. “We have ing noise in CEE. “A lot of game shows were on the air new seasons of My Man Can in the Czech Republic, Slovenia before, then they went off for a couple of years, and now, and Lithuania. Our long-running factual flagship show Galileo like any good golden classic, they are coming back,” she is a continuing success story throughout CEE, with local versays. “Family Feud and What’s My Line are on top of the sions in Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, list. Out of the recent titles that we launched at MIPTV, we Lithuania and Serbia. Galileo is everywhere! Therefore, is had a nice reception to 10 Questions You Wouldn’t Ask on the business good for us? Yes! It’s great.” a First Date, as well as Beat the Brain. One is very much BBC Worldwide is also reporting healthy gains in its CEE lighthearted and fun; the other is full of really addictive format sales, notably with its big entertainment brands. brain exercises on TV.” “Central and Eastern Europe is a really important region for us,” says Suzanne Kendrick, the company’s acting head of format sales. “We’ve been licensing formats across the region for more than ten years now. We’re always excited to work with new broadcasters and producers, and we’ve had some great success stories.” Among those success stories is Dancing with the Stars, which has been licensed into 16 countries across CEE. Slovenia, in fact, was the 50th country in the global market to commission the format. Dancing with the Stars has had 16 seasons in Poland, “which is utterly amazing,” says Kendrick. “Season 15 rated phenomenally well for Polsat. In Georgia, season five scored shares as high as 62 percent, with an average of 45 percent.” Kendrick says that she’s starting to see this success pattern replicated in the region with The Great Bake Off. “We’ve made that series now in several territories across CEE, including Poland ITVS GE’s Hell’s Kitchen, which has a strong track record, has been adapted for Polsat in Poland. 46 World Screen 6/15
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Following its strong performance in such markets as the U.S., Married at First Sight was licensed by Red Arrow International to CTC in Russia.
“Scripted shows tend to do well in Russia and then travel through CIS,” Kennedy says, referencing the comedy Traffic Light, which has aired for seven seasons in Russia. Given this increased demand for scripted formats, all3media international has high hopes for future CEE sales for Step Dave, a dramedy from New Zealand’s South Pacific Pictures, and Red Rock, a drama from the U.K.’s Company Pictures. Natalia Sterlikova, a format sales executive at all3media international, also mentions the enduring popularity of constructed-reality formats among buyers in the region. “A new adaptation of Filmpool’s Niedrig und Kuhnt will be premiering in Ukraine this summer, while new adaptations of Cases of Doubt launched earlier this year in Romania and Bulgaria,” she says. Next up in this genre from all3media international is Berlin Models, a constructed-reality soap opera set in the world of fashion.
Avi Armoza, the founder and CEO of Armoza Formats, reports a similar mix in regard to what’s in demand in CEE. “Prime-time studio entertainment is still leading the way, and the industry continues to look for the next big thing in this genre,” he says. Armoza highlights the success of the entertainment variety show I Can Do That!, which has sold COST-CONSCIOUS into a number of markets globally, including Bulgaria. Red Arrow International has also placed a number of “Game shows are also a popular choice in the region, and constructed-reality titles in the region. Pabst says that this in particular those with strong potential for several seasons,” type of show is a popular pick with CEE buyers because of he continues. “We recently launched Babushka, our new the relatively low production cost. prime-time game show that we developed in cooperation In addition to looking for cost-effective buys, channels with Ryan Seacrest Productions and TF1. We see strong across CEE are seeking out formats with a proven record of potential for this format in the CEE region: a strong visual element—the giant babushka dolls—combined with a thrilling, high-stakes game where you never know what to expect ensures that it will hold the prime-time slot.” Armoza Formats’ game show Upgrade has had six successful seasons on Russia’s Peretz, and has also aired in Romania, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia, among other territories. “This demonstrates that long-running game shows are important, and that on-location [productions] work as well as studio shows,” he says. Cynthia Kennedy, sales director at Keshet International, backs up this view that entertainment and game shows are now in higher demand in CEE. “Our entertainment formats continue to attract fantastic audiences for TV2 in Hungary,” she says. “Master Class season three is often the leading show across the country, and Rising Star in Hungary performed brilliantly.” On the game-show front, she adds, BOOM! has been renewed in Kazakhstan following a strong debut outing, and Prima TV in Romania was the first broadcaster to get on board Trade Up. “The Keshet brand is making great strides in CEE,” Kennedy says. Another genre picking up steam in the region is scripted formats, but only in select markets. The Global Agency format Rivals-in-Law has run as a daily strip on a number of channels in CEE. 48 World Screen 6/15
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Televisa Internacional believes that the strong performance of the Polish version of Little Giants on TVN will lead to further CEE format sales.
success, according to Pabst. “If there’s no track record, the buyers are reluctant,” he says. “Most of the time there is a U.S. or U.K. track record [with our formats], since within the Red Arrow group we have a lot of strong companies in both territories that deliver good shows. So, this hasn’t really been a problem for us.” However, Ukraine and the Baltics are willing to be among the first to take on a new format, Pabst notes. “They are not yet there on trying out paper formats, but when they see something that they want to move forward with, they jump on it,” he says. “The buyers are more conservative with their investments, so they tend to look for tried-and-tested formats, whether they are long-running established brands or newly launched ratings successes,” says Jennifer Ebell, the VP of sales for southeast EMEA at ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE). “For instance, I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, which has run for 14 seasons in the U.K., is now finding success in CEE. Pro TV in Romania launched its first season in March with an overall average audience share of 30 percent.” ITVS GE has also seen steady recommissions in the region for its established hits Come Dine with Me, Hell’s Kitchen and The Chase. Claudia Sahab, the director for Europe at Televisa Internacional, explains that the general pattern she’s seen is that a format will launch in one of the larger Western European countries (such as Spain, Italy or France) before it sparks interest in Central or Eastern Europe. “It would be very rare—and I haven’t seen it yet with any country in this region—for [a CEE buyer] to take a risk on a paper format,” she says. The Televisa format Little Giants has made its way to the region, following success in Spain, among other territories. 50 World Screen 6/15
“We’re very happy to share that Little Giants is now on air in Poland on TVN,” says Sahab. “It’s been a huge success there; it is the absolute leader on Saturday evenings at 8 p.m., beating all the rest of the broadcasters in Poland by about 10 percent in market share.” While Televisa Internacional only started making a real push in the format arena a short time ago, the company had early success in the region with Dancing for a Dream. That show has been adapted in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Serbia and, most notably, Romania, where a 15th season has been ordered by Pro TV. Sahab says that most of the interest from buyers in this part of the world is for big, buzzy, shiny-floor shows. “The channels here don’t produce too [many local productions], so when they do, they prefer to do them for prime time,” she notes.
AFTERNOON DELIGHT Global Agency, meanwhile, has had success in the region with formats for daytime and access prime slots. In particular, Shopping Monsters, Blind Taste and Rivals-in-Law have been selling well in Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and CIS countries. “These three are daily formats, stripped five days a week,” says Izzet Pinto, the company’s founder and CEO. “That is ideal for broadcasters looking [for volume] to fill their schedules. Also, budget-wise, they are easy and cost-effective to produce.” Pinto highlights that these formats present potential for sponsorships, which CEE buyers are always keen to explore for daytime programs. “We’ve had some great conversations about daily strips,” says BBC Worldwide’s Kendrick. “In the past, most broadcasters in
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TV JOJ in Slovakia and TV Prima in the Czech Republic pooled their resources to jointly adapt FremantleMedia’s Got Talent format.
the region were focused on big, prime-time shows for the weekend, because that’s where the budgets are. The idea being that, if you’re going to spend the money on a local production, it needs to be in a big slot. We’re now seeing access-prime-time slots starting to open up, notably, for things you can do at a high volume and strip daily.” “As channels are building [their brands] and economies in some places are recovering after a couple of tough years, new slots are opening up,” affirms FremantleMedia’s Matei. She says that much negotiation nowadays with CEE format buyers is centered on scheduling needs, in addition to the ever-present issue of affordability. “There’s always the discussion about ways to help them fit their budgets or schedule requirements,” says Matei. “Maybe one country needs more live shows, maybe another one needs fewer. Others want something to air twice a week—this has been coming up lately. We can work with them around these requests.”
MONEY MATTERS Red Arrow International’s Pabst does acknowledge that budgets can present a challenge, but he says that working within these constraints is all part of the adaptation process. He commends broadcasters and producers in the region for delivering high-quality versions while often working with budgets that are “a small percentage” of the cost of the original. “These producers have an enormous amount of expertise and creativity when it comes to adapting formats, knowing that the budget is much smaller. We really appreciate it. We are always keen to keep [the quality of] our brands, but we cannot expect these territories to [have the same budgets] as some larger territories.” Given the smaller budgets, conversations for format adaptations in CEE generally involve how to maintain the show’s essence while keeping the costs down or working with fewer production days, according to Armoza. “The smaller countries often require more assistance with 52 World Screen 6/15
elements such as casting,” he adds. “This is where we are able to help more with our experience and knowledge of how to be creative with solutions and produce costeffective shows that still have the appearance of big-budget productions for our partners.”
LEARNING TO SHARE Armoza says he sees a lot of potential for using centralized production hubs in CEE in the future, in particular for the smaller territories. “This is a huge opportunity that will help several countries make large-scale studio entertainment shows more spectacular than would have otherwise been possible, as well as enable them to be accessible, costeffective and quicker to produce.” He points to a few other reasons why he’s optimistic about doing more business for formats in CEE. “Due to new regulations, whereby Ukraine can no longer buy from Russia, there is a new formats market opening up in Ukraine, and in particular for scripted formats,” he says. “In general, the scriptedformats genre is a new opportunity in the CEE region and one that we predict will continue to grow.” FremantleMedia’s Matei sees potential increasing in this region for comedy formats. “There’s a clear need for comedy— it helps people forget about all the terrible things happening out there in the world,” she says. “In terms of channels in CEE developing and evolving, there’s more of a need for original content in access [prime slots],” Matei adds. “It used to just be reruns in access prime time. Slowly we can see that the schedules there have room for very careful and selective original programming. That’s for scripted, for the broadcasters that can afford to do it, or for game shows, because they are totally affordable and very entertaining and addictive.” With new slots opening up and buyers assessing a wider range of genres, format distributors are looking at CEE as a region where opportunities are ripe for exploration.
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TIM MUTIMER
ZODIAK RIGHTS is Versailles, which [is shot in English]. Huge budget, an epic scale, huge ambitions and great showrunners; it really gives a whole new dimension to period drama. It’s really fantastic storytelling; a must-watch TV series.
TV EUROPE: I understand the story focuses a lot on the relationship between Louis XIV and his brother. MUTIMER: That’s right. Obviously you’ve got the backdrop of an incredibly interesting period of history in France, but that relationship in particular is quite a complex one and it’s very interesting to see it through the lens of what was going on in France at the time. TV EUROPE: Is a key to successful drama today finding something that the audience hasn’t seen before? MUTIMER: Yes. Viewers around the world are being stretched all the time and pushed further. There was a time when television used to underestimate viewers, but I think the audience is incredibly intelligent and likes to be challenged and pushed. New technologies have aided that and demonstrated it. People now are able to consume series within a night. If it’s something that really grabs their attention, they can devour it and become more obsessed with it. So, a key differentiator is storytelling that enables people to become obsessed and brings something new that people thought they knew but didn’t.
By Anna Carugati
Tim Mutimer has seen the international distribution business from a number of different perspectives: first from that of a leading commercial broadcaster when he was at ITV Studios Global Entertainment, and then from that of a major public broadcaster, while at BBC Worldwide. Now, as CEO of Zodiak Rights, the commercial arm of super indie Zodiak Media, he oversees a sales group and catalogue that includes programming produced around the globe. He continues to see the success of English-language product, but also the growing acceptance of series shot in other languages. As he tells TV Europe, what captures broadcasters’ attention are ideas and stories that haven’t been seen before. TV EUROPE: Zodiak has placed a big emphasis on drama. MUTIMER: We’ve had a very strong track record with shows such as Braquo, Wallander and Being Human. We’ve got a lot of shows that have traveled well internationally. In particular, we’ve developed a bit of a niche in representing TV series that aren’t filmed in the English language, and they have resonated around the world. We’re launching some exciting new series. We’ve got Occupied from Yellow Bird, makers of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Occupied is a Scandinavian drama that is a twist on the Scandi noir genre. It’s a starkly topical political thriller about an invasion of Norway by the Russians. It’s an incredible series—really strong. We’ve got The Disappearance, which is an eight-part French show for France Télévisions. It’s doing incredibly well audience-wise and is being labeled the French Broadchurch. And of course, the big one for us this year
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TV EUROPE: What’s been the strategy behind Zodiak’s factual slate? MUTIMER: Over the last six months or so we have focused more on the bigger projects that are airing on big platforms in key markets. We’re trying to pick up fewer one-offs. We have a big catalogue and we want to focus on what’s important within that catalogue, shows like The Supervet, Hardcore Pawn and The Operatives. We are trying to identify the one-offs that we think are pilots and could go on and grow. So, something like The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds, which was a Channel 4 onehour, is now being recommissioned by Channel 4 as a series. It has sold into Denmark as a series and it’s really going to take on a whole new life internationally, thanks to the kind of footprint that Zodiak companies have. The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds is a one-off that absolutely pays off because it becomes a series. So, we’ll look for one-offs that we think have that potential, or one-offs that we think really stand out on their own as really interesting pieces of television that broadcasters can get behind and market. And audiences will come and be interested in them because the shows will be loud and different. TV EUROPE: What trends are you seeing in the format business? MUTIMER: I guess the trend is that everyone wants a hit! We benefit from being a big group. The key is that the companies within the group are talking much more with each other. The key creatives come together regularly and share their development slates, and that helps IP travel around the group. So, a show like The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds that we launched at MIPTV will be produced as a local version in a number of
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Zodiak Rights’ drama slate includes the Scandinavian political suspense thriller Occupied, which comes from the Zodiak Media company Yellow Bird. territories. We have another show called The Best Singers, which is from FTV, a Dutch production company that we work with. The show started its life in the Netherlands, became incredibly successful in Scandinavia and is now spreading throughout Europe. It’s been hugely successful in Germany on VOX. In fact, last year, the best-selling album in Germany was not from a huge U.S. or German artist, it was actually The Best Singers’ compilation album. The first season in Belgium ended recently and more than 20 percent of the tracks on their music chart came from The Best Singers. So, this is a format that really engages the local audiences and is also a way to sell new music. The Best Singers is a hit in so many territories. We’ve got a few territories left to go and that is a key focus for us. We are also looking at what shows worked in the past and what we could bring back. We’ve got a show called Don’t Forget the Lyrics!, which you might remember from the U.S. At the moment, it’s on in France. It’s gone from being a prime-time show in the U.S. to being an access-prime show in France, and it’s doing extremely well. It gets a 14-percent share, with two episodes per night airing on France 2. Year on year the numbers are up by 60 percent in the commercial target. One of the things I want us to do this year is take Don’t Forget the Lyrics! into other territories and say, If you are looking for hits, this is a hit—maybe think about it in a slightly different way. It might have been a prime-time show, but it could be something you strip in your schedule. We’ve got another show like that in the U.K. called Tipping Point. It does really well here. It’s been the top-rated show in its slot. It’s been on air for four years, and over those four years it has grown 35 percent in terms of share. That’s something that we really want to push in other territories now. We launched a show called Wild Things, which features people dressed up as forest animals in the woods performing crazy kinds of games. That is so different that people have really fallen in love with it, and that is a show I think we will see travel quite quickly. People want hits, but they are always open to something that is a little different and will stand out. TV EUROPE: How have you been growing your business in the Americas? MUTIMER: The Americas is a tough territory. You have so much fantastic production coming out domestically, but there has been a real opening in the last few years, whether it’s for formats
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or finished shows, coming from other markets. Some of the on-demand services have helped that as well because there is now space for more content. Andreas Lemos, who is selling into North America for us, also wears an acquisitions hat, so often he’ll come with an idea that is being partially commissioned somewhere in Europe or Australia, and then look for a coproduction partner in the U.S. That really helps because it gives the U.S. broadcaster the ability to shape the editorial of the show a little bit. Being such a huge market, it’s key that American broadcasters have content that feels relevant. So, we will certainly be looking for opportunities to do more of that. TV EUROPE: Does windowing become more complex by the day? MUTIMER: It does and it doesn’t. People have started to realize that exclusivity is something that is really important in terms of bringing subscribers in. So people will be prepared to pay more for exclusivity. In some ways we are seeing less windowing than before because people will pay up in order to buy holdbacks. You’ll still do windowing after that, but there is certainly an initial period when people will pay a significant amount of money to get exclusivity. I think it’s less complex than it was four or five years ago. TV EUROPE: You went from ITV to the BBC to a super indie. Is anything significantly different when you do business today than when you started? MUTIMER: I remember when I started, I sold to Italy. Trying to sell British drama into Italy was a real uphill battle because they looked at our production values and our slow stories, which they thought were boring, and all of this costume, which didn’t really work. It was a battle, but in the end I sold Agatha Christie’s Poirot to Mediaset. They were a fantastic partner and tested it. It worked, and they carried on working with it and we formed a great relationship. But, when I look back, it was such a struggle to sell a British show, and now what British drama doesn’t sell into Italy? The world has changed a lot. I love working here at Zodiak. It’s great because it’s got that international perspective from having colleagues all around the world and production entities in different countries. I have a great team here that is really engaged and wants to do a good job. I’m loving it!
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BREAKING BORDERS Major international channel brands continue to find expansion opportunities across Central and Eastern Europe. By Mansha Daswani arlier this year, Scripps Networks Interactive shelled out $615 million to secure a controlling stake in one of Poland’s leading broadcast groups, TVN. The move marked the first significant U.S. investment in Central and Eastern Europe’s media business in years, and reflects a gradually building sentiment that the sector has finally turned a corner after its protracted economic woes. And it’s the pay-TV business that appears to be offering up the best opportunities for expansion. Indeed, in a report late last year, research and advisory firm Ovum found that the region’s media sector had entered a “dynamic new growth phase,” powered by the launch of lowcost TV services. Ovum is not the only research company feeling upbeat about the pay-TV business in CEE. Digital TV Research indicates that revenues from the segment will rise by 45 percent from 2010 to 2020, reaching $7.3 billion. By then, the pay-TV penetration rate will have risen from about 50 percent five years ago to 63 percent in 2020. With numbers like that, it’s clear that there are many markets where pay TV is still in growth mode. And for major channel brands, that means seeking out new partners in stillevolving territories such as Serbia, while also drilling deeper into highly penetrated, mature markets such as Poland.
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GROWTH PHASE For many, Poland has become the CEE market with the greatest opportunities for expansion, given its well developed, active pay-TV sector—and a more welcoming regulatory environment as compared to the region’s other big gun, Russia (more on this later). “When you look at the key markets in the world, Poland is right up there as a significant territory with its size, a wonderful GDP and [high] TV penetration—it made sense to do something there,” says Phillip Luff, the managing director of the U.K. and EMEA at Scripps Networks Interactive. Luff, who is fairly new to Scripps but not to the CEE media sector, refers to TVN as “a tremendous asset, a real jewel in the crown for any portfolio and a great addition to Scripps. We’re not looking at making any significant changes to it. It’s a question of us learning from them and having a greater understanding of the Polish market.” Scripps, whose portfolio of lifestyle brands includes Travel Channel and Food Network, has been in growth mode outside of Poland as well. “There have been a lot of new launches
over the past 12 months, particularly in Russia, in the Czech Republic and a lot of CEE countries, filling in any distribution gaps for the networks,” Luff adds. In addition, the company has been reorganizing its EMEA business, including bringing in-house the activities previously handled by Scripps’ joint venture with AMC Networks International (AMCNI)—Zone. Formerly Chello Zone, AMCNI—Zone has a long history with the CEE pay-TV markets and has amassed a portfolio that covers all genres, from kids to documentaries, sports to movies, entertainment to lifestyle. Complementing those assets are Sundance Channel and AMC. All fall under the oversight of Mike Moriarty, the managing director of Central Europe and Zone at AMCNI, who has spent more than two decades working in the region.
EARLY BIRDS For Moriarty, Zone’s early presence in CEE has been extremely beneficial. “You have to have very good relationships with the distribution platforms. The market has really consolidated in the last seven years. There are not nearly as many operators, which is good for the viewers, for the channels, for everybody. We’ve been there on the ground since the beginning, supplying [platforms] with channels, having a track record. With the portfolio and all the different genres we have, we always have something [a platform] needs. It’s very difficult to break into these markets with a standalone single channel that has never been there before.” AMCNI has been strategic in its approach to expanding the reach of its brands, Moriarty explains. “We don’t have every channel in every country. But we have something in every country.” He adds, “There are pockets where we think we can territorially expand on our portfolio. In places like the Czech Republic or Slovakia or Hungary, we’ve been in those markets the longest—we’re very highly penetrated and we have most of our genres and brands. It’s a little less so as you go into the former Yugoslavia and a little less so as you go up into Poland and out through Russia. That’s changing now. Having AMC behind us, and access to all that AMC content, is just fantastic.” AMCNI has transitioned MGM Channel into AMC in markets worldwide. That brand will be looking to build its identity in CEE with buzz-generating originals like the upcoming Fear the Walking Dead. AMC Global has been increasingly securing the first window on AMC’s U.S. originals,
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Building its content initiatives in Poland, Discovery is developing original stories as well as adapting shows from its U.S. parent, such as Say Yes to the Dress for the local feed of TLC.
a move that Moriarty sees as being transformative for the brand’s international presence. “Having something like Fear the Walking Dead completely changes the conversation with the distribution partners.” The show is a companion series to the hit AMC original The Walking Dead, which airs globally in the first window on FOX. “That’s a show that has worldwide appeal and visibility. Being able to build off the back of that, via [Fear the Walking Dead on] our own channels, is very important.”
FOX HOUSE The Walking Dead is one of a number of shows that air exclusively in the first window on the FOX International Channels (FIC) portfolio of brands around the world. “We are in a period of growth that includes the launch of new brands and the consolidation of FOX as our main entertainment brand in the region,” says Carlos Ortega, the executive VP for CEE at FIC. New developments include the launch of FOX Comedy in Poland earlier this year as a 24-hour entertainment channel. Poland is the only CEE market, and just the second in Europe (after Italy), to receive FOX Comedy, Ortega says. The flagship FOX, meanwhile, continues to go from strength to strength. “It has strong brand awareness across the region,” Ortega notes. “FOX was launched in Hungary in February 2014 and is becoming one of the main pay-TV entertainment channels in that market, a performance we are particularly proud of since it began broadcasting just over a year ago.” Ortega notes that major gains have been seen in Bulgaria and the Balkans this year. In April, FIC rolled out HD versions of FOX Life, FOX Crime and 24Kitchen in Bulgaria through Blizoo, a leading pay-TV operator in the country. “These launches have not only doubled FIC’s distribution with this operator, but have increased the penetration of FIC Bulgaria’s HD portfolio from 1 to 12 percent,” Ortega states.
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BBC Worldwide has been refining its international channels strategy over the last year or so. In 2014, it selected Poland as the debut market for the launch of the new channel brands BBC Brit and BBC Earth, joining the existing BBC World News, BBC HD, BBC Lifestyle and CBeebies in that market. BBC Earth has also rolled out to Hungary and Romania, among other territories.
EARTH CALLING “We’re working actively now to seek other markets to launch that brand in,” says Nick Percy, the general manager for CEE at BBC Worldwide, adding that BBC Entertainment and BBC World News are both well distributed across the region. “In the case of Earth, we’ve taken the view that it has great potential as a linear channel—but there are many other things we can do. We have BBC Earth branded blocks on TVP in Poland and on Czech TV.” A+E Networks has been pleased with the gains it has seen in its CEE business, including the creation of a dedicated office in Poland to manage its growing presence in that market. Last year, A+E Networks expanded its portfolio of channels available in Poland with the rollouts of H2 and Lifetime on Cyfrowy Polsat and nc+. With a portfolio of six international channel brands, Kiaran Saunders, VP for EMEA, says A+E Networks is focused on a strategy of “trying to launch three to six in each territory.” It recently expanded its Serbian presence with the addition of H2, and is looking at ways in which it can build its relationships with operators in the Baltics. Discovery Communications takes a similar approach to its significant portfolio in the region, according to Paul Welling, the senior VP and head of channels for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “Typically, we talk about eight key channels that we look to launch,” Welling explains, led by the flagship Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet and ID Xtra. “We’ve really been focused
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The AMCNI portfolio in Central Europe includes the Sport1 channel, which has an agreement with UEFA for rights to the Champions League.
on ID Xtra over the last year,” Welling says, calling it the division’s “most successful recent brand.”
THINK LOCAL “We’re on a drive to make our channels feel local and international at the same time,” Welling states. That has meant tapping into Discovery’s U.S. output, acquiring on the open market and developing content locally. “We’re not launching headlong into a full production model in all markets, but we are definitely looking to localize the way we position our channels,” he explains. “In some markets, that means intensive reversioning. In Poland, for instance, we do a lot of re-hosting of our ID content with local Polish celebrities. On TLC we just launched Sex Without Secrets. A big new TLC commission is Say Yes to the Dress Poland.” Welling says that Discovery Channel will soon have its own slate of Polish commissions, featuring locally relevant stories, talent and locations. “We find local commissions really useful in terms of connecting with our audience and giving our marketing teams and the platforms something to market directly to their audiences and something to connect with,” Welling continues. “It really helps our channels cut through in those markets.” FIC has been stepping up its local commissions, particularly at National Geographic Channel. Ortega lists a version of World’s Smart Cities for Bucharest, Romania, and the multimedia project Explore Bulgaria as recent examples. Explore Bulgaria, he notes, was funded 100 percent by sponsors. “It was born as a six-month-long initiative with the production of six 12-minute films and the implementation of a 360-degree communication campaign, online contests, events and social-media activities, achieving huge success that led to its expansion in 2015 with a new and even better edition of Explore Bulgaria. The current program has been extended to 30 minutes and new versions are planned for Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia.” In Poland, meanwhile, there’s Poland’s Toughest and Night Truckers, and Sensations of the 20th Century is being co-produced with pubcaster TVP.
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Discovery’s Welling says that “in order to deploy local content, you need a dedicated feed to the country in order to opt in and opt out of those shows.” The decision to employ a local feed in place of a panregional signal “is not something anyone would do lightly,” Welling observes. “We have a model for dividing our channels into flagships and what we call our passion brands. We’re more focused on the flagships in terms of localization. The passion brands would include Discovery Science and Turbo, and they work very well on a pan-regional basis. For the flagships, we really work through when is the right time to make them local—for the consumer, with local content and tune-in messages in the correct language; for affiliates, who want a dedicated channel for a core market; and for advertisers. I would look at those three stakeholders. Is the audience large enough? Is the ad-sales potential there? Do the affiliate partners have a demand for a local, bespoke channel?”
BUYING TIME Launching local feeds is one way in which international channels are looking to up their share of the advertising pie—which, most would attest, has struggled to expand over the last few years. “The ad markets were terribly horrible for a couple of years!” says AMCNI’s Moriarty. “They’re starting to come back. Most of the domestic U.S. channels probably run 50/50 subscription revenues to advertising. In Central Europe that number is more like 85/15 or 90/10. Advertising is a small but growing part of the business. We’re expecting a huge uptick in advertising sales across the AMC channel, mainly in the Central Europe feed. We have a dedicated feed for Hungary. We expect to see real advertising growth on those two.” Scripps’ Luff adds that having a better understanding of viewers will be essential as the company expands its advertising revenues. “We are working very closely with the advertising industry, with agencies and directly with advertisers, to do a range of things, from sponsorship to full-on brand partnerships through to advertiser-funded productions.” “The ad-funded model is an interesting one,” notes Discovery’s Welling. “It’s more difficult in markets that are
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BBC Earth, home to such natural-history and wildlife fare as Life Story, has rolled out in several markets across CEE.
Ofcom-regulated. And it’s more difficult when you talk about long-form content as opposed to short-form. We’re exploring both of those options actively in a lot of our markets. Typically, what advertisers like is a channel that delivers a pretty good share already and has robust pillars of international content, and then has an additional layer—local [content] or a local host, or even a host for an international show who comes from that region. [Advertisers like] having that hook that makes [the channel] feel very rooted in the country.” At A+E Networks, Saunders observes that the key global franchises across his channels have enabled the company to expand its ad revenues. “As we grow our audience and our reach, obviously our ability to monetize that increases. The launches in Poland, for example, are really helpful. The Serbian launch is helpful. What we tend to do is use a third-party representative rather than set up our own ad-sales house. That enables us to tap into the scale that they can offer and the local knowledge. It’s very hard to bucket the whole of Central and Eastern Europe into one [category], but it’s a buoyant market.”
FUTURE PROOFING Much like pay-TV channels anywhere else in the world, CEE’s big pan-regional brands are eagerly exploring TV Everywhere opportunities. “There are very advanced television markets in Central Europe,” AMCNI’s Moriarty says. “In a place like Poland, almost 90 percent penetration of TV households have some sort of multichannel television. Hungary is 85, 86 percent. Slovakia is a high number. Romania is a very vibrant industry. HBO is there with its GO [streaming] product. All the big operators have [TV Everywhere] apps. From a technology point of view and an offering point of view, it’s much more advanced than a lot of people would think. We don’t have the huge OTT players like Netflix or Hulu, but we expect them to show up at some point.” FIC has moved quickly in the TV Everywhere space, unveiling its own authenticated nonlinear services FOX Play and Nat Geo Play. FOX Play began its CEE rollout in Poland with pay-TV affiliates, kicking off with Vectra. FOX Play and Nat Geo Play will reach Bulgaria this summer via Blizoo. “Most of the major platforms have deployed significant consumer-facing video on demand and viewing options across multiple devices, using OTT,” says A+E’s Saunders. “They are creating an environment where the customer is getting what
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they want and possibly don’t need OTT. OTT may be a deepdive VOD library for people to add on to their packages, rather than a replacement of pay TV. That won’t apply everywhere, but there is a way OTT can coexist happily in the market. Certainly in some of the territories, pay TV has quite low penetration, so there’s no reason why both markets can’t grow together.” As all of the executives spoken to for this piece will attest to, owning your own content certainly makes conversations with any affiliate partner about TV Everywhere extensions much simpler. “We’re quite flexible and are able to be quite effective in working with affiliate partners for catch-up or streaming or VOD packages,” says BBC Worldwide’s Percy. “When we’re working with affiliates around BBC Earth, we’re always interested to see if there is more we can do. In some territories it may be that there are standalone digital packages with the First or Brit or Earth brands.” While OTT may not be an obstacle for channels as they’re building their business, a new complication has developed—in the form of Russia. In a ruling that took effect this year, commercials have been banned on pay-TV channels that air mostly foreign content. And by the end of 2016, foreign ownership of media outlets in Russia will be restricted to 20 percent. In late 2014, CNN announced it was ending broadcasts there, and in January NBCUniversal’s Universal Channel and E! were pulled. For international channel brands looking to continue expanding in this massive territory, there are no easy answers; indeed, CNN this March received a license to resume broadcasts in Russia. “Despite the difficult regulatory environment [in Russia] for the last 6 to 12 months, we are growing quite rapidly through distribution gains,” says A+E’s Saunders. “Russia is still an important market for us,” says Welling at Discovery, which announced a significant investment in Russia just a few years ago. “It’s a big country and we’re committed to operating there. Our channels are very well loved. We’re looking at ways to continue the businesses there. More is going to come later this year on our intentions.” So the verdict on Russia is: watch this space—everyone is still trying to figure it all out. Poland is set to remain the most commercially viable of the CEE markets. And everything else in between will be fair game as channels look to expand their reach, relevance and ratings.
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