World Screen DISCOP 2011

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THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA • JUNE/JULY 2011

www.worldscreen.com

DISCOP Edition

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contents

JUNE-JULY 2011/DISCOP EDITION Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise

departments WORLD VIEW

8

Editor Anna Carugati

A note from the editor.

UPFRONT

Executive Editor Mansha Daswani

10

New shows on the market.

WORLD’S END

Managing Editor Kristin Brzoznowski

78

Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider

In the stars.

48

30

Special Projects Editor Jay Stuart Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari

spotlight

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CONTENT MEDIA’S JOHN SCHMIDT

Executive Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Rafael Blanco

Although the name has changed, the company remains committed to quality content, says it CEO. —Anna Carugati

in focus

26

Online Director Simon Weaver Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell

AZTECA’S MARIO SAN ROMÁN

Sales and Marketing Manager Cesar Suero

Azteca has branched out beyond the traditional telenovela, explains the CEO of the Mexican commercial broadcaster.

—Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari

Business Affairs Manager Terry Acunzo Sales and Marketing Coordinator Alyssa Menard Senior Editors Bill Dunlap Kate Norris

latin beat

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Editorial Assistant Morgan Grice

TELEMUNDO INTERNACIONAL’S MARCOS SANTANA

As president, Santana has placed Telemundo on the global map as a major supplier of Spanish-language programming.

—Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari

Contributing Writers Dieter Brockmeyer Chris Forrester Bob Jenkins David del Valle David Wood

special report

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BUYERS COME KNOCKING Eastern European buyers are willing to open their wallets for the right import.

—Kristin Brzoznowski

These targeted magazines appear both inside World Screen and as separate publications.

NOVELAS FLYING HIGH Latin American distributors are still finding avid interest in telenovelas across Central and Eastern Europe 40…INTERVIEWS TVN Group’s Markus

40

Tellenbach 48… CME’s Adrian Sarbu 54

Ricardo Seguin Guise, President Anna Carugati, Executive VP and Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani,VP of Strategic Development

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FLYING OFF THE SHELF A look at the strategies needed for launching a successful licensing-and-merchandising program

64…INTERVIEWS

Saban

Brands’

Elie

64

Dekel 71…Nerd Corps’ Ken Faier 72

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world view

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR ANNA CARUGATI

Powerful Connection Each one of us has experienced the power of television and its unique ability to blend words and images and evoke emotional responses.We all have television moments that are particularly special to us—scenes, lines and images we will remember forever.

In my case I can list the Kennedy and King assassinations and funerals, the first landing on the moon, Walter Cronkite signing off for the last time on the CBS Evening News, the last episode of M*A*S*H*, the last episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, when she turns off the lights in the newsroom, Johnny Carson’s last show, and Seinfeld’s.

Now I have one more of those indelible images: Oprah Winfrey during her last show telling her viewers, “I won’t say good-bye; I’ll say until we meet again.”

I came late to The Oprah Winfrey Show. I was living in Italy during its first ten years and it was only when I moved back to the States in 1996 that I first saw it. I was familiar with talk shows. In the early ’80s I had worked for CBS in Chicago. The Phil Donohue Show was taped in the same studios and I knew many of his staff members and the pressures they went through to book the right guests. The subjects Phil addressed were often controversial and he had a loyal audiLET’S CELEBRATE ence. Oprah had a formidable competitor, but she took the talk-show genre to another level.

I wasn’t a regular Oprah viewer. I just THE MANY recorded the shows I was interested in. I loved seeing Julia Roberts and other celebriPOWERFUL ties goof around with Oprah. I saw Tom Cruise do his famous couch jumping, but more important, I was moved by the many CONNECTIONS examples Oprah gave of people overcoming adversity. She bravely confronted racists, WE WILL CONTINUE homophobes and bigots of all stripes. She repeatedly dedicated shows to child abuse and rape (she herself was a victim of abuse as TO MAKE THROUGH a child), and hardly a topic was taboo. While I greatly admired her talent, for years Oprah was just a show to me—albeit a thoughtTELEVISION. provoking and very well produced one.

Boy, did that change over the course of the last two years! On a professional level I took notice when she announced that her 25th season would be her last and that she was starting her own channel, OWN:The Oprah Winfrey Network, a joint venture of her company, Harpo, Inc., and Discovery Communications. Together they were setting up a multiplatform media company “designed to entertain, inform and inspire people to live their best lives,” the press announcement claimed.

Impressive words, but how would they deliver on that promise? Like many in the media business, I wondered 8

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what OWN would be like, and whether the Oprah brand, as hugely successful as it was, with a hit show, a magazine and a website loaded with information, could actually translate into and sustain a 24/7 channel.

OWN debuted on January 1, 2011, in approximately 80 million homes on what had been the Discovery Health channel. I watched that first night; little did I know I was about to embark on an extraordinary experience. The first show I saw was Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes, which gave a detailed look at the making of each show: deciding who would be on, booking guests, troubleshooting endless problems. But what struck me the most was Oprah herself: her straightforward manner, her respect for everyone— from stars to assistants—her management skills, her humor, her empathy, her gargantuan philanthropic activities (she has built schools in Africa and granted scholarships to hundreds of young men at Morehouse College, just to name two).

The most important thing about Oprah, in my opinion, is that when I watched her show, I would feel comforted, reassured and reaffirmed. For one hour, no matter what was happening in my life, I had a friend who cared and I felt it was OK to be me.

Oprah is a media powerhouse and has an extraordinary connection to her viewers. But she became who she is thanks to the power of television, its ability to reach into homes and touch people’s lives. While there is no one else like her, many countries have their own larger-than-life TV personalities, the ones who help shape pop culture or the national dialogue or whose satire stokes the national conscience, whether they be news anchors, talk-show hosts or presenters.

One region that had untapped talent ready to make connections with the audience was Central and Eastern Europe, and as our interviews with CME’s Adrian Sarbu and TVN’s Markus Tellenbach reveal, the stations they oversee, which have sprung up since the end of communism, have developed extremely successful news and locally produced shows with personalities unique and dear to viewers in those countries. Telemundo’s Marcos Santana and Azteca’s Mario San Román speak to the global appeal of telenovelas and their universal themes.

So whether it’s with Oprah and her next journey on OWN, or with whatever our favorite shows are, let’s celebrate the many powerful connections we will continue to make through television.

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A+E Networks www.aetninternational.com • • • • •

Seriously Funny Kids Beyond Scared Straight Gettysburg Heavy Storage Wars

So far in 2011, A+E Networks has seen increased activity and interest from Central and Eastern Europe, having closed volume deals in Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Ukraine. “Our overall success across CEE has been with a mixture of traditional historical programming (Ancient Discoveries, Clash of the Gods), conflict (WWII Lost Films, Battles BC), Biography episodes and two-hour HISTORY specials,” says Jo Lovell, the director of program sales for Europe.“Additionally, we’ve also seen a shift towards more character-driven series like Pawn Stars, Ice Road Truckers and Storage Wars. Late last year, we added Lifetime Original Movies (Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy, He Loves Me) to our catalogue, and they have been very well received by CEE buyers.” A+E is hoping to continue its sales momentum with the real-life series Beyond Scared Straight and Heavy, the entertainment show Seriously Funny Kids and the documentary Gettysburg.

Seriously Funny Kids

“Our shows offer scheduling flexibility and have an excellent repeatability value to the broadcaster.”

—Jo Lovell

ALL3MEDIA International www.all3mediainternational.com • Undercover Boss USA • Midsomer Murders • Wild at Heart • Village on a Diet • Great British Hairdresser

Drama series are “always in demand from buyers across the CEE region,” says Stephen Driscoll, the VP of international sales at ALL3MEDIA International. He points to Wild at Heart and Midsomer Murders as series that can fill either prime-time or daytime slots. While the bulk of ALL3MEDIA’s sales success across CEE has been driven by drama, Driscoll says he’s seen the market open up. “Format sales are growing at a very fast rate for our top shows, such as Cash Cab, I Want My Mummy, The Cube and Undercover Boss, and we expect our format business to grow beyond Poland, Russian Hungary and Ukraine, which are our strongest markets.” Driscoll highlights the reality shows Undercover Boss and Village on a Diet as programs that perform well as both finished programming and formats for prime-time audiences globally. Driscoll says he also expects strong interest in Great British Hairdresser.

“Great British Hairdresser is targeted towards lifestyle channels requiring new fashion-focused programming to please both advertisers and audiences alike.

”

—Stephen Driscoll

Great British Hairdresser

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Bandeirantes Communication Group www.band.com.br • Threedom • Angels of Sex • Forbidden Passions • The League • Justice

“ Offering our products

across CEE has always been an ambitious goal for us throughout the years. We believe 2011 is the time when we are most ready to achieve this objective.

Bandeirantes Communication Group is highlighting a slate of scripted comedies, telenovelas and docudramas.

Elisa Ayub, the director of national and international content, believes that given the “exotic and cool look” of Brazilian programming, Band should garner attention from Central and Eastern European buyers. “In some ways, our culture, our landscapes are so different…that makes our production so much [more] interesting,” says Ayub. Band is offering the scripted comedy Angels of Sex, which is about angels descending from heaven to solve love problems; Threedom is also a scripted series. Forbidden Passions centers on three interwoven love stories from the early 19th century. The League is a reality series that shows situations from different points of view, giving the viewer a glance at some Brazilian perspectives. The docudrama Justice features real Brazilian cases in a TV court.

”

—Elisa Ayub

Justice

Banijay International www.banijayinternational.com • • • • •

Far Out Comedy Faces Honey, Pack the Bags!

Super Star Ding Dong Celebrity Stand-Up

“The region is very exciting right now with a lot

of hunger for new programming and new channels and slots opening up all the time.

”

—Karoline Spodsberg

At MIPTV, Banijay International secured its first commission on the entertainment format Celebrity Stand-Up, signing a deal with TV2 Networks in Denmark. Now the company is hoping to notch up some new commissions across CEE as it heads to DISCOP ready to promote the show. Banijay is also betting on the game show Faces to drum up sales across the region. “There is a very big appetite for studio-based game shows in CEE,” says Karoline Spodsberg, managing director. She continues,“Both Honey, Pack the Bags! and Super Star Ding Dong have cross-genre appeal, with strong musical and variety-show elements, and could work either as shinyfloor event programming or stripped across the week.”

Spodsberg also highlights comedy as being a top-seller.“Our comedy catalogue is very strong right now in response to a high demand for quality comedy formats.” At DISCOP Banijay is launching the comedic factual-entertainment series Far Out Comedy.

Faces

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Beyond Distribution www.beyond.com.au • The Hunks • Rodeo: Life on the Circuit • All for One with Debbie Travis • I Don't Have Time for This

Debbie Travis has fronted a number of homeimprovement shows that have made their way across Europe, and Beyond Distribution is hoping this will help drive sales on the new series All for One with Debbie Travis. “In the new series, we see Debbie relying on volunteers to complete a home-renovation project for a community hero, and the result is both humorous and heartwarming,” says Karen Connell, the VP of regional sales. “We’ve had a terrific response to The Hunks from Scandinavia postMIPTV and we feel both the U.K. version and format will perform well throughout Central and Eastern Europe,” continues Connell. Other highlights for Beyond’s DISCOP slate include Rodeo: Life on the Circuit, which Connell says is “action-packed and full of excitement while remaining family friendly.” I Don’t Have Time for This tells the story of young women building their lives despite challenges thrown their way.

“We hope that bringing format rights to

DISCOP will make our titles more attractive, since many buyers in CEE have indicated that local versions perform best.

”

—Karen Connell

The Hunks

Cineflix International www.cineflix.com • • • • •

Instant Cash

Instant Cash In-Law Wedding Wars Cash & Cari My Dream Home Dambusters

Character-driven reality shows and entertainment-led content are two genres Cineflix believes CEE buyers are looking for, says Caroline Schroeter, regional sales manager.“We have recently launched several fresh, edgy and entertaining shows and formats, including Instant Cash, In-Law Wedding Wars and Cash & Cari, which I believe have great potential in Central and Eastern Europe.” Other highlights are the house-renovation format My Dream Home and the highconcept documentary Dambusters. Formats are a new focus for Cineflix, notes Schroeter, and the company will be exploring the area further at DISCOP. “The economic downturn took its toll on CEE, as it did everywhere,” she says, “but there are still great business opportunities in the region, especially in terms of format sales. The CEE territories are eager for content with a national flavor and identity—and we believe that many of Cineflix International’s shows...offer the perfect solution.”

“In the last year, CEE broadcasters have

been demonstrating their openness to, and enthusiasm for, quality factual and factualentertainment content.

”

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—Caroline Schroeter

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Comarex www.comarex.tv • Grachi • Empress • Within My Soul • Under a Red Sky

Comarex is the exclusive distributor of productions from the Mexican broadcaster Azteca and will be at DISCOP with the telenovelas Empress, Within My Soul and Under a Red Sky. “We are fortunate to have [had] a constant presence in this region, and there is still demand for telenovelas, particularly for the classic novelas,” says Adela Velasco, the company’s sales executive for Europe and Africa. The new launches follow the success of Morena and Daniela across Central and Eastern Europe. Beyond the Azteca fare, Comarex represents a number of third-party productions, among them Grachi. The teen telenovela, recently renewed for a second season on Nickelodeon in Latin America, focuses on a girl who discovers she has magical powers.

“It’s important that we offer quality content with new and innovative themes that engage audiences,” Velasco says.

“We are expecting to secure good

deals, finalize sales, network and establish contacts [with] the new DTT and cable channels.

”

—Adela Velasco

Grachi

Dori Media Group www.dorimedia.com • • • • •

Diggers First Love Checked In New York Simon Cupid

Simon

For Dori Media Group, series based on popular themes without local-market barriers are gold.The company has had great success in CEE, with sales ranging from Bosnia to Bulgaria, Belgium to Monaco. “Most of these countries are loyal to our fiction projects and open to get to know our latest news and releases,” says Elena Antonini, the VP of sales. “They are keen on our formats Simon, First Love and Checked In New York.” Diggers is a 60x30minute series about 14-year-old Jonathon, who was left in a foster home more than ten years ago. The 150x4minute First Love features short stories about young people in love. Checked In New York is a docu-reality format about individuals reminiscing at locations that marked their lives in New York City. Simon is a reality series based on trendy street games, while Cupid is a 120x1-hour series about two divorce lawyers who die in a car accident and are on their way to hell.

“DISCOP is a great

opportunity to get together with our clients, have the pleasure to meet them in person and catch up with them.

”

—Elena Antonini

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Mediaset Distribution www.mediasetdistribution.com • • • • •

Beyond Fashion

Follow Your Dreams Beyond the Lake Like a Dolphin Italian Cooking Presto Beyond Fashion

While Mediaset Distribution has been successful for some time with its fiction series, Manuela Caputi, the international sales manager, says the company is looking forward to presenting clients with lifestyle fare. “For the first time ever we are able to bring our lifestyle programming, with topics for which Italy is famous worldwide like cooking and fashion,” notes Caputi. Beyond Fashion looks at trends, events, and what’s new in fashion, design, cars, art and architecture. Italian Cooking Presto teaches viewers ideas for simple and tasty traditional Italian dishes. Among the fiction highlights from Mediaset are the mini-series Like a Dolphin, about a champion swimmer who is training delinquent youths to become athletes, as well as the family-entertainment series Beyond the Lake, about a woman trying to move on after the death of her lover, and Follow Your Dreams, featuring the story of a ballerina.

“ We would like to explore the opportunity to

present our clients a new kind of product, like lifestyle programming.

”

—Manuela Caputi

Passion Distribution www.passiondistribution.com • • • • •

Over Your Head

Over Your Head Meteorite Men Quirky Unleashed by Garo Supersize Grime

Passion reports solid business across Central and Eastern Europe, with a slate of new lifestyle, fashion and doc series to present to buyers in the region. “For the past 12 months, looking at the number of hours that we’ve licensed, it’s been a very good market,” says Beatrice Rossmanith, regional sales manager. “We’ve got really solid relationships in Poland, Russia, Hungary, and at this market I’ll be focusing on Ukraine, Romania and other territories that are picking up.”

Rossmanith will be showcasing the DIY show Over Your Head, a lifestyle series with a practical edge, as well as Meteorite Men, taking viewers on a scientific treasure hunt. Quirky, a Sharp Entertainment production for Sundance Channel, spotlights a business dedicated to unique technology innovation.Also for Sundance Channel, Unleashed by Garo follows a couture fashion designer who enables his clients to unlock their true selves. Supersize Grime, produced for Channel 5, looks at filth and grime on an industrial scale.

“ The Central and Eastern European

markets have been very busy and dynamic; that’s why we’re happy to be coming back to DISCOP.

”

—Beatrice Rossmanith

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SevenOne International www.sevenoneinternational.com • You Deserve It! • My Man Can • Isenhart • Zone City • Russian Roulette

“Over the past years, DISCOP East proved to be an

excellent market for us and, especially with the launch of new digital channels all over Central and Eastern Europe, more content is needed.

”

SevenOne’s relationship with Dick de Rijk has brought to the catalogue You Deserve It!, a game show with a feelgood approach. ABC has produced the first episodes for the show’s U.S. treatment, while further sales for the format include Germany, Italy and the Middle East. Another format topping SevenOne’s slate is My Man Can, which watches as four women gamble with the abilities their partners possess. On the fiction side, SevenOne is presenting action events such as Isenhart, the long-running cop series Zone City and the thriller mini-series Russian Roulette. “All of these programs have a high-quality production standard in common and fascinate with their fast-paced storytelling,” says Axel Böhm, the regional sales director and head of international fiction acquisition. “We are sure these programs will match the expectations of the CEE buyers,” he adds, noting that the CEE markets are very important for SevenOne.

—Axel Böhm

My Man Can

Target Entertainment www.targetentertainmentgroup.com • Crownies • In Search of Pippa Middleton • Horrid Henry • What Did I Do Last Night • Raa Raa the Noisy Lion

The royal wedding thrust Kate Middleton’s sister, Pippa, into the public spotlight.Target Entertainment is offering In Search of Pippa Middleton, a documentary that tells her story. Target also highlights Crownies, a new drama from the producers of Underbelly. The kids’ series Horrid Henry has a third season in production and a 3D feature-length film coming this summer. Raa Raa the Noisy Lion is from the producers behind the global preschool hits Roary the Racing Car and Fifi and the Flowertots. The factualentertainment series What Did I Do Last Night shines a light on the drinking habits of seemingly “normal” drinkers. Target is betting on these titles to bolster the success the company has had in the region. “CEE is a key market for Target Entertainment, and we have seen huge growth in the region in the last 12 months,” says Kanwal Hayer, regional senior sales executive. “This is something we intend to build on in the future.”

“ We are currently averag-

ing a new show every week, so our catalogue is growing fast and we want our broadcasters to understand that if they are looking for something, there’s a good chance we’ll have it.

”

Crownies

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—Kanwal Hayer World Screen

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Telefe International www.telefeinternational.com • The One • Superclumsy • A Year to Remember • 80’s Crush • Everybody Against Juan

A Year to Remember

Telefe has high expectations for the titles Superclumsy, The One and A Year to Remember at DISCOP, according to Michelle Wasserman, the head of international sales, programming, formats and international production services.

The teen comedy Superclumsy is about a teenage super heroine who dreams about three things: to be a singer, to make her neighbor fall in love with her and to save the world.

The One is a novela about an ambitious and arrogant lawyer who, after having won a lawsuit, is rewarded with a trip to Spain that will change his life forever. AYear to Remember is a romantic comedy that revolves around a woman living in an unhappy marriage with her husband. Also available are the series 80’s Crush and Everybody Against Juan.Wasserman says that Telefe has been expanding into new territories in Europe. “We are much more focused this year on producing our series,” she adds,“especially in Poland, Russia,Turkey, Greece, Spain and Italy.”

“ We aim to maintain relationships with our clients and introduce our new shows, especially for the stations that didn’t go to MIPTV.”

—Michelle Wasserman

TV5MONDE www.tv5.org • TV5MONDE Europe

Kiosque on TV5MONDE

The French-speaking international channel TV5MONDE has nine different regional feeds. Among them, TV5MONDE Europe is the signal covering all Eastern and Central European countries, with the service subtitled in six languages. “We have invested considerably in subtitling,” says Marie-Christine Saragosse, managing director. In March, the channel began subtitling in Polish. It already offered Romanian, Russian, German and others, “allowing everyone, including those who have not mastered the French language, to enjoy the content,” says Saragosse. All the while, TV5MONDE maintains its commitment to exclusive, quality content in French, with 2,500 movie showings a year, 350 documentaries, the best of French-speaking magazines, sports events and 19 news reports a day. The channel is firmly focused on its linear distribution, Saragosse says, but new modes of consumption are also being explored. “Last year we launched two web TV channels: WebTV Afrique and WebTV Jeunesse for kids. And this year we are making over 300 movies and 3,000 documentaries available in VOD.”

“ The mission of the

channel is to entertain, inform and help citizens of the world exchange points of views.

”

—Marie-Christine Saragosse 22

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spotlight

A LOOK AT THE BUSINESS OF TELEVISION

BY ANNA CARUGATI

Content Media’s

has made the content business much more challenging. But I think one protection is that we do operate in feature films, in one-hour television drama and factual television, and in digital programming, so we’re not a company that focuses on only one particular niche in content.

Television movies over the last three or four years have been hit hard; that whole business has been changed very significantly. It’s not so much a technology change, it’s more a change in programming taste. Having a deep catalogue and an acquisitions strategy that operates across film, television and digital gives us some protection. But in general whether you’re Time Warner or a small company like us, the attitude of the market and the capital allocators is still very much up in the air as to what the value of libraries is and how that is going to shake out.

John Schmidt In March, ContentFilm Plc. adopted the new name Content Media Corporation and rebranded its divisions as Content Film, previously ContentFilm International; Content Tele vision, formerly known as Fireworks International; and Content Digital. Although the names have changed, as CEO John Schmidt explains, the company remains committed to finding and distributing quality content for today’s multiplatform media world.

WS: What has been driving the company’s performance?

SCHMIDT: We’ve had a good year, and it’s based on the

incredible hard work of a great sales team.We are a company driven by sales—that’s our core competence—and Greg Phillips in television, Jamie Carmichael in film, and Jonathan Ford in digital all have superb teams. We work very hard with our catalogue, the new properties that we pick up, and the producers, to monetize every nook and cranny of the business and create as much revenue as possible. All three divisions are doing well, although the primary profit driver is television. Film is less predictable but it’s very important that we are in that space, and digital is growing nicely with some very exciting future prospects that we are developing.

WS: You have been doing some interesting deals in the

digital area.There is a demand for that product, isn’t there?

SCHMIDT: There is. Jonathan Ford runs the day-to-day

business in that area. He has established a leading position in the industry acquiring digital-based entertainment properties and selling them to multiplatform buyers around the world. We did a series with Vuguru called The Booth at the End and then expanded that into an output relationship. Now we’re in business with Alloy Entertainment, the producers of Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries, and we have a couple of digital series with them.

Electric Farm and Generate are two other great companies in L.A. that are building their digital businesses, and we have partnered with them on specific titles.

WS: Is Wall Street more at ease with investing in content

and media companies? owning content and IP in a pure-play company is something of a hedge against the disruption in delivery and distribution technologies. Good programming is going to find its home, but a weakening of the major network business model or any massive disruption in those kinds of channels trickles down mightily onto the content owners as well.That, coupled with the recession and the capital flight to hard-assets commodities over the last couple of years World Screen

side of our business right now—the intersection of social media and programming.The fact that Netflix bought their first series—the 26-hour series House of Cards—they have been very active buying second windows, but moving aggressively into original programming like that is a bellwether moment. Hulu is looking at original programming, and YouTube has announced a new programming strategy with Google’s backing. It’s an intriguing moment, and the war of words and war of strategies between HBO and Netflix, for example, a lot of that is about,“We’re going to hold on to our model and we’re going to build it out.You, Netflix, are going to have to scratch and crawl, for every inch you get.We’re not going to be so amenable with our package of movies and TV shows the next time you come back.”

The Netflix deal is a great indicator of the disruption in the changing landscape. We do a lot of business on Hulu, just pure ad-supported business from our deep catalogue, which is fantastic for a company such as ours. It’s a little more disruptive for first-run network programs.

An important part of our digital strategy is a new business we just created, Spirit Digital Media, with Peter Cowley, who joined us from Endemol.This is very much about the social-network and virtual-gaming and augmentedreality side of the digital assets that go with a TV show or a film or any piece of original programming. We believe that will be an increasingly important part of our business.

WS: What are your goals in the next year?

SCHMIDT: Our goal, our bread and butter—is to sell, sell,

SCHMIDT: I think the fear is still out there. I think that

24

WS: And the impact of social media and online?

SCHMIDT: That’s just an intriguing, absolutely fascinating

sell! It’s in our bones. It’s really about continuing to acquire programming that the audience wants to connect with, whether it’s on their television at night, or on their iPad as they get on the bus, or on their mobile phone when they go to school. It’s about battling for great shows and great IP across all areas. It’s really pursuing the best properties we can in all three areas and continuing to sell as best we can to our traditional buyers as well as directly to consumers as new digital delivery models emerge.

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in focus

HIGHLIGHTING GAINS BY LEADING INDUSTRY PLAYERS

BY ELIZABETH BOWEN-TOMBARI

Azteca’s Mario San Román Azteca has recently announced it is entering a new stage, one focused on adapting to consumers’ new viewing habits.

As Mario San Román, the CEO of the Mexican commercial broadcaster, explains, Azteca is first and foremost a producer of content. With 12,000 hours of original productions, Azteca has branched out beyond the traditional telenovela and is having success with TV series.

WS: Despite the global economic crisis, which hit Mexico

severely, Azteca had a 65-percent increase in net profits in 2010 compared to 2009.What factors led to these results?

SAN ROMÁN: We work hard. This has always been the philosophy of Ricardo Salinas [the president of Grupo Salinas], and independently from whatever the market conditions are we believe we are an island of productivity. We have always tried to focus on the positive and use it to our advantage. During all crises there are always clients who, in one way or another, will continue to invest and want to gain market share. In a crisis there are always two types of clients. The one that decides to slash budgets and the one who is the most aggressive and says, “This is a great opportunity to gain market share.” We have concentrated our efforts on working with this type of client, who sees important possibilities, and we want to become his partner.

One of the most important strategies nowadays, not only for television but for any business, is that we don’t just have clients—we consider our clients to be our partners. But we refer to “partner” in the broadest definition of the word. By this I mean we need to know the strategies for each of the brands of each of our clients in order to help their marketing goals succeed. Today the emphasis is on giving added value to the brands that have been loyal to us, and this is what we do, we stay very close to brands and make the most of opportunities so that we can continue to grow.

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WS: You recently announced the beginning of a new stage, including the launch of a new logo, which was motivated by the advent of new media and new ways of watching television. What can you tell us about this new era, and will you keep the slogan Señal con valor (TV with value)?

SAN ROMÁN: For now we are keeping the slogan. The reason we are changing [the name] is that Azteca is first and foremost a producer of content. Our vocation is to make the best content for Spanish-language broadcasters and platforms. And we want it to be the best content for each platform. For quite some time, Azteca has been producing for television as well as for the Internet, including Facebook, and for venues with a much more direct contact with the audience, such as theater, events or concerts.

We are producing all types of content, and this is the reason for the change in name, because we believe Azteca is much more than television. One of our businesses is the distribution of our content, but our core business is the production of content.

WS: The success of the show La academia and last year of La academia bicentenario allowed you to work aggressively with advertisers to position their brands, and at the same time increase your revenues. Will you follow the same strategy in 2011?

SAN ROMÁN: Yes, we will. La academia is one of those shows that will last more than one season. It is a show that is already an institution in the Mexican market, and the audience likes it a lot because it talks about people’s ability to succeed. The truth is that La academia has demonstrated that people who have a lot of talent have a lot of opportunities. Every year there are more people who want to take a chance.

WS: Azteca is known around the world for its produc-

tion of novelas. You have also been producing series, which have been well received not only by the viewers but also by critics. How did this business develop?

SAN ROMÁN: This is a business we are trying to set up in other markets. The telenovela continues to be the backbone of any Latin American broadcaster, and I believe that it will remain so for a long time. Now there is a new market that has an appetite for series, and we must begin working in this genre as well to satisfy the markets that are opening up.

Last year we had Drenaje profundo, and previously we had Lo que la gente cuenta. This year we are counting on Al caer la noche and on other series we are working on.

We will be exploring different formulas so that we can compete in this market. Obviously we can’t compare the audience for series to the audience for novelas because novelas attract mass audiences, but there is an important percentage of viewers that are interested in exploring the series genre. We are producers of content and we are interested in exploring all production possibilities.

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TUNING IN TO LATIN AMERICAN TELEVISION

BY ELIZABETH BOWEN-TOMBARI

Telemundo Internacional’s

Marcos Santana When Marcos Santana spotted the potential in a Chilean novela, ¿Dónde está Elisa?, his team not only produced a version for the U.S. Hispanic market that achieved ratings that were 30 percent higher than previous novelas on Telemundo, but it sold the finished versions and the format around the world. As president of Telemundo Internacional, Santana has also established production alliances with major broadcasters and placed Telemundo on the global map as a major supplier of Spanish-language programming.

WS: What benefits have you derived

from your co-production strategy?

SANTANA: Ever since Telemundo

began co-producing, seven years ago, we have built a significant production factory and have worked in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia,Venezuela, Los Angeles, Peru, Mexico and Miami. With more than a dozen companies we’ve produced exclusively in the scripted genre, in telenovelas.

We have worked with Spanish companies in other genres like game shows and reality shows.The strategic alliances are [a very important asset].

With TV Globo, we reached an agreement on this great script, El clon. It was sold to some 100 countries and was a success not only on our network in the U.S., but also in other countries, including Mexico, where it managed to be the number one telenovela in its time slot.

The benefits of co-productions are evident in the case of El clon—where we joined forces in international distribution. Globo distributed El clon in a number of territories; together we designed an international strategy that was extremely beneficial for both parties.

WS: For ¿Dónde está Elisa? you distribute not only the version that aired on Telemundo but also the format, Where is Elisa?

SANTANA: Where is Elisa? is an extraordinary telenovela and format. Chile is the last country in the region to get involved in scripted programming, [because production of the genre began] with the development of TV at the end of the government of President Patricio Aylwin. Before that, during the period of Augusto Pinochet, there were very tough restrictions in media, and producers practically did not exist.

Following Patricio Aylwin’s term, and with the administrations of presidents Eduardo Frei and Ricardo Lagos, Chile became an important source of talent and formats 28

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at a breathtaking speed.That was due to the cultural level in Chile, which is the highest in the region. It is a country that is developing a stable economy, an alternative political system and a level of education that is higher than the average education in Europe. As a result, they have developed such high-quality television. I realized this many years ago. I am very close to Chile and to the Chilean industry. In fact,Telemundo Internacional represents 80 percent of the formats that are produced in that country. We are associated with the public broadcaster TVN and I am a personal friend of the majority of the writers, directors and producers. ¿Dónde está Elisa? is the perfect example of what is happening and what is going to happen in the future in Chile.

Pablo Illanes, the writer of ¿Dónde está Elisa?, is a young, multitalented man, and in my opinion, there are only three or four great writers right now in Latin America who are capable of working in this genre: one of them is Benedito Ruy Barbosa in Brazil, the others are Julio Jiménez in Colombia and Pablo Illanes in Chile.

As soon as I saw two or three episodes of ¿Dónde está Elisa? in Chile I was captivated, so I [returned] to the U.S. to convince our studio and our programming team to produce it for the Hispanic market. We predicted then that Where is Elisa? would be produced as a local version in more than 20 territories across the world. I was mistaken.

Today it is already being produced in more than 30 countries and will be what people will talk about for the next five years around the world. It is really a phenomenon.

WS: Tell us about La reina del Sur with Antena 3.

SANTANA: La reina del Sur is an extremely ambitious proj-

ect that was rolled out in three countries: Spain, Mexico and Colombia, with an extraordinary cast [headed by] Kate del Castillo. It has been the most expensive production in the history of Telemundo: 62 hours, produced in HD, shot with exteriors and on location. It was launched at NATPE with much enthusiasm, and we are sure that it is going to captivate audiences around the world.

WS: What projects will Telemundo Internacional focus on

this year?

SANTANA: We are focused on the plan we drew up in 2010, which includes looking for strategic alliances and strengthening our presence around the world in the production of formats.We are already doing so with ¿Dónde está Elisa? in Turkey, Indonesia, Japan, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, [and we want] to strengthen that area. Of course, our focus is to sell our original productions, but to also grow our business by participating as a co-producer in each of the markets.

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s r e y Bu Come Knocking While the appetite for local product remains strong across Central and Eastern Europe, buyers are willing to open their wallets when the right import comes along.

By Kristin Brzoznowski

T

he markets of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have been seeing gradual signs of recovery. Advertising dollars are flowing again, but the money is still not at the level it used to be. There’s also a flurry of new thematic channels in the region eating up an even bigger chunk of the ad pie.

As buyers continue to grapple with reduced bud gets, their shopping lists have become quite targeted.

Resoundingly, acquisitions executives and programmers say they are looking for product that’s innovative, affordable, and can capture a diverse audience.

Casting a wide net is important for the region’s public broadcasters, including Telewizja Polska (TVP).

Its two general-entertainment channels,TVP1 and TVP2, account for one-third of the TV market in Poland.According to Maria Nadolna, TVP’s international affairs director, the channels primarily attract adults 35 and up who hail from rural areas. However, Nadolna says there’s a strong push to broaden the channels’ reach to a younger, more educated audience from some of Poland’s larger cities.

To hit their targets, the TVP channels rely mainly on inhouse productions. TVP1 programs about 60 percent of its schedule with its own shows, while TVP2 dedicates nearly two-thirds of its

Global Agency’s Game of Love.

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grid to in-house fare. Both channels feature programming blocks for children and young people, so animation is often acquired from the international market to fill these slots.

Other acquisitions, says Nadolna, include American movies and international series. The U.S. medical drama House is among the most successful. TVP has also seen a strong appetite for entertainment shows, with successful local adaptations of Name That Tune (Jaka to melodia?), Don’t Forget the Lyrics! (Tak to leciało!) and Clash of the Choirs (Bitwa na głosy).

LOOKING LOCAL

Also in Poland, TVN, a generalentertainment service with a core target of ages 16 to 49, similarly reports a greater interest in content produced for the local audience.

According to Bogdan Czaja, the deputy programming director at TVN, just above 25 percent of the current prime-time schedule for spring 2011 is acquisitions. The makeup of the schedule shifts toward more acquired shows in the winter and summer schedules, he says, though the lion’s share remains local product.

A silver lining: Poland’s TVN has seen limited success recently with international series; however, Warner Bros.’

The Mentalist has been a strong performer in prime time.

“Acquired shows are of less value than they used to be,” says Czaja.

“Foreign films and series hardly ever premiere on TVN—viewers have seen them before, not just on pay channels, but probably also on AXN, Comedy Central, Fox Life or wherever. [It’s the same for] feature films.

Not so long ago they were cornerstones of the prime-time schedule; right now they need to be led in by local shows to deliver decent ratings.”

Despite the noticeable ratings decline Czaja has seen for feature

films, he says they do remain an important part of the schedule and are often drivers of acquisitions deals.“We focus on feature films and TV movies,” he says of TVN’s buying remit, “especially package deals with independent distributors.”

With this affinity for local content, TVN often acquires formats rather than ready-made series, Czaja says. “Foreign series have long ago been relegated to off-peak or offseason slots, although we have introduced The Mentalist to late prime last

Pairing off: Tele München Group holds the rights for Haven in Continental Europe, where the series airs across a number of Central European countries on Universal Channel as well as on Sci Fi Universal in Serbia, Poland and other territories.

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fall and it does reasonably well in the 10:30 p.m. Monday slot,” he notes.

The story with acquisitions is similar in the Czech Republic, says Alexandra Ruzek, the programming director of the leading commercial channel, TV Nova. “In the Czech market, it is more and more difficult to find foreign programs that have the potential to deliver satisfactory audience results,” Ruzek says.“For this reason, we are conservative in our acquisitions and generally we place our bets on the strongest series brands.” This includes key U.S. titles such as the CSI franchise, The Mentalist and House, as well as the German action series Alarm für Cobra 11, all of which perform well in prime time for TV Nova.

“We are most interested in [buying] closed episodes,” Ruzek adds, “as our viewers are only willing to commit to regular viewing of local product.” Among the most successful titles airing on TV Nova are local scripted fiction such as the medical drama series Ordinace v ružové zahrade (Rose Garden Medical), the daily soap Ulice (The Street), the crime procedural series Kriminálka Andel (CSI Angel ) and the Czech Republic’s first sitcom, Comeback.

For the bulk of its acquisitions, TV Nova looks to the main U.S. studios, “which offer a volume of good brands for acceptable prices in this market,” notes Ruzek. “One

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of the largest investors in our parent company, CME, is Time Warner, so we are very happy to have a solid deal in place with one of the best content producers in the world! We then build around this and pick specific titles from independent distributors to suit the actual viewing trends.”

MASS APPEAL

Ruzek says she mainly buys generalentertainment products to serve TV Nova’s broad 15-to-54 demo, with romantic comedies and familyoriented movies being top picks.

“We are specifically interested in content free of violence and nudity, suitable for daytime and prime time, as we have a strict 10 p.m. watershed [time period when more mature programming is allowed] in the Czech Republic and we are finding that the market is overstocked with thrillers and R-rated programs suitable only for late evening.” She continues, “We also look to buy strong nonfiction formats for local adap-

No looking back: Italy’s Mediaset has sold a number of shows recently in Eastern Europe, among them the drama mini-series The Courage of a Princess.

tation. We currently cooperate with FremantleMedia on the Idols franchise…and are negotiating with several other suppliers.”

Meanwhile, Luminita Boerescu, the selection and programming coordinator at TVR Romania, says she’s on the lookout for high-quality films and documentaries to fulfill

her buying needs. TVR in Romania programs six channels. TVR1 is a general-service channel covering all of Romania, while TVR2 reaches 98 percent of the territory but aims for a younger, urban audience.TVR3 features the best of the terrestrial programs, TVR Cultural provides cultural news as well as

arts documentaries and TVR Info is a news service. There’s also TVR International, airing mainly Romanian programs for those living abroad.

“Since we’re public television, we are trying to capture the interest of all kinds of audiences, especially the young and active ones,” says Boerescu.“This affects our acquisitions in a positive way because we have to provide the channels with highquality and very interesting programs.” Boerescu says that it’s a good market for library acquisitions, since she has only seen “a few new interesting programs.”

AN EYE ON THE EAST

Aiming high: The long-running German drama Alarm für Cobra 11, sold by Telepool, airs on a number of broadcasters across CEE, including TV Nova in the Czech Republic.

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Korean dramas have been top performers in Romania, Boerescu says. Among the titles that have aired on Romanian public television are Jewel in the Palace, Damo: The Legendary Police Woman, Lee San:Wind of the Palace and The Legendary Doctor Hur Jun. These shows were acquired from Korea’s MBC. Also from MBC, Jumong: Prince of the Legend scored big audience ratings in Romania, and Dong Yi: Jewel in the Crown recently made its debut.

The Korean wave has also made its way to Turkey, where MBC’s The Great Queen Seondeok has been successfully airing via the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) since 2009. Like TVR

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Romania, TRT is a public broadcasting group, with a roster of 14 channels that cater to a variety of different tastes and age groups.

Addressing these broad needs, Zeynel Koç, the deputy directorgeneral of TRT, says he acquires across all genres, except for music programming. He notes that acquisitions are mostly made for movies and children’s programs, adding that only 25 percent of TRT’s programs come from the international market.

“When you aim to be as broad as possible, you have to be much more selective and picky in terms of the acquired content,” Vassileva says.

“When you look at the audience in prime time for a big national channel, it’s actually quite diverse, and finding content that is fresh, interesting, even groundbreaking, without being too provocative, can be quite a challenge.”

SOMETHING NEW

TURKISH DELIGHT

Koç says that TRT has seen an upswing in the Turkish TV market lately and that the revival of advertising budgets has had a positive effect on programming as a whole.

“While continuing to acquire quality programs,TRT has also been successfully selling programs in the last few years,” he notes. “In general there seems to be an abundance of programs all around the world, which is positive for the buyer, both in terms of variety and pricing.”

A similarly positive sentiment is being felt in Albania, according to Eglinor Ramaj, the acquisitions manager at DigitAlb, Albania’s leading pay-TV platform. Ramaj says that acquisitions budgets are relatively healthy at the moment, since the channels are requesting more quality content to attract bigger ad buys and to increase their subscriber numbers.

DigitAlb owns 31 channels and Ramaj must acquire product for all of them.With three children’s channels, three documentary channels, six movie services, a network for series, sports offerings, and much more, DigitAlb targets all age groups and interests of the Albanian-speaking audience. Ramaj says that juggling the various targets turns the acquisitions process into “a very complex activity, where many studios and distributors are involved; effective budgeting and acquisitions models are required and so are skilled programming editors.”

The most specific audience Ramaj acquires for is teens 12 to 18.

She points to the likes of Disney

Continuing to build: Beyond Distribution recently sold its lifestyle series All for One With Debbie Travis to Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Media Distribution, Warner Bros.

International Television and Viacom International Media Networks as good sources for this programming. From Warner Bros., the series Cold Case, Supernatural, Fringe and Gossip Girl have been strong performers, along with Disney’s Private Practice and Army Wives. She also says that movies from the studios are “must-have content for our channels, as are series for teens, like [Nickelodeon’s] iCarly and True Jackson.”

To serve the needs of all these channels, Ramaj is “looking for almost all genres to accommodate each age group in our audience.

We’ll be getting this content from the best players in the industry: producers, distributors and, of course, major studios.”

Ramaj says that within the Albanian market, license fees are going up, which she notes isn’t the case with most other territories in the region.

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Svetlana Vassileva, the CEO of Nova Broadcasting Group in Bulgaria, says she has seen license fees fluctuate widely across the region.

“If you ask the sellers, they will always say license fees are going up; if you ask the channels, they will always say they are going down,” she quips. “The truth is that right now every market is behaving differently. For example, Bulgaria is still nowhere near recovering from the crisis. As a whole, all the channels are being very reasonable with their acquisitions.”

Like Ramaj at DigitAlb,Vassileva is faced with the tricky task of accommodating a wide demographic. Nova TV, the second biggest channel in Bulgaria, operates within the 18-to-49 demo.

Nearly half of Nova TV’s schedule is culled from acquisitions, and the Diema channels in the Nova Broadcasting portfolio (Diema, Diema 2 and Diema Family) rely 100 percent on acquired content.

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Adding to that challenge,Vassileva says she’s seen a dearth of innovative standout shows on the market.

“I am looking to be surprised and excited,” she says. “It’s been a while since something big happened, and I really hope to find that special something very soon.”

Two of the last big hits to come along for Vassileva hailed from the U.S. “CSI and House are part of Nova’s identity as a channel. They are still going very strong, and through these two titles we established ourselves as the channel to go to for top U.S. series.”

Other strong pickups have come from Turkey, she says. “The whole Bulgarian market went through the phase of the Turkish series; actually, we were the first channel in Bulgaria to launch them. They still perform strongly, but we have now limited them to one title per day, and that is in the daytime, where we have a stronger female audience.”

Vassileva considers dramas and movies to be “the two main ingredients of the acquisitions portfolio.” However, this doesn’t limit her shopping list, since she believes that quality is the overall defining factor of a good schedule. “As simple as it may sound, it’s always the good content that performs well. Of course, it has to be positioned and marketed correctly. Most importantly, we should never forget that TV is not an exact science, so no one can predict what will work and what will not, which I guess is part of the excitement.”

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world’s end

IN THE STARS

Almost every national constitution forbids the establishment of an official state religion. But this secular bent doesn’t stop people from looking to the heavens for answers to life’s most troublesome questions: Will I succeed? Will I find love? Will Arnold father a love child with me?

Every day, papers, magazines and websites worldwide print horoscopes—projections for people born in a specific month, based on the positions of the stars and planets.

While many people rely on these daily, weekly or monthly messages for guidance in their lives, some readers skip over them entirely.

The editors of WS recognize that these little pearls of random foresight occasionally prove prophetic.

But rather than poring over charts of the zodiac to predict world events, our staff prefers to use past horoscopes in an attempt to legitimate the science.

As you can see here, had some of these media figures remembered to

Ashton Kutcher

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Mariah Carey

Christina Hendricks

Ashton Kutcher

Steven Seagal

Global distinction: Punk’d funnyman.

Sign: Aquarius (b. February 7, 1978) Significant date: May 12, 2011 Noteworthy activity: Kutcher, who is married to

Global distinction: Action-movie hero.

Sign: Aries (b. April 10, 1952) Significant date: May 16, 2011 Noteworthy activity: Seagal reaches out to Russian

brunette bombshell Demi Moore (15 years his senior), is to replace Charlie Sheen on CBS’s Two and a Half Men. Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel calls Kutcher a good choice for the sitcom gig, quipping,“Remember, he did a very good job replacing Bruce Willis.”

Horoscope: “You’re able to tell the solid gold from the sparkly fool’s stuff, which is extremely valuable in the world of work.” (shine.yahoo.com)

Prime MinisterVladimir Putin in an open letter, asking him to support “Russia 2045,” a program aimed at making humans immortal by 2045. “In many ways, this would almost be a kind of paradise on Earth,” writes Seagal.

Horoscope: “Aries needs to come to terms with the fact they are not super heroes, not invulnerable, and that getting the proper amount of relaxation is a must.” (astrology-insight.com)

Will Smith

Mariah Carey

Global distinction: Rapper turned actor.

Sign: Libra (b. September 25, 1968) Significant date: May 11, 2011 Noteworthy activity: While shooting Men in Black III in

Global distinction: Music diva.

Sign: Aries (b. March 27, 1970) Significant date: April 30, 2011 Noteworthy activity: The songstress gives birth to twins,

NewYork City, Smith’s 1,150-square-foot dressing trailer, which includes a lounge, a movie room with a 100-inch screen, and marble floors throughout, is parked in the middle of SoHo. Residents are irked by the monstrosity, which is eventually relocated to a parking lot.

Horoscope: “A Libran male tends to get open-handed when it comes to money and spend it lavishly for his own comfort as well for those of people near him. Be cautious that it is the right time to be doing so.” (india-server.com)

Monroe and Moroccan, while insisting that her own music welcome them to the world. Husband Nick Cannon says, “Now, my wife wanted to make sure that when the babies came out, that they came out not only to a Mariah Carey song, but a [recorded] live performance from Mariah Carey—her Madison Square performance of Fantasy—so they came out to a round of applause.”

Horoscope: “Do not hesitate to announce your talents, humility will not bring back anything to you.” (divinologue.com)

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Christina Hendricks

Global distinction: The Terminator.

Sign: Leo (b. July 30, 1947) Significant date: May 17, 2011 Noteworthy activity: In the wake of announcing his

Global distinction: Curvaceous Mad Men star.

Sign: Taurus (b. May 3, 1975) Significant date: May 23, 2011 Noteworthy activity: As the media speculates about

separation from his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, news breaks that the action star turned California governor has a secret love child. Arnie admits to fathering a child out of wedlock with a member of his household staff more than ten years ago. His planned return to entertainment is subsequently put on hold.

Horoscope: “Things can get downright ugly when Leo pride ignores someone else’s feelings. If you know you are in the wrong, admit it from the start.”(horoscopes.astrolis.com)

whether the voluptuous redhead’s breasts are enhanced, Hendricks is more puzzled about why anyone cares. “It’s so bizarre that people are constantly asking if my breasts are real or fake,” the actress tells the Daily Mail’s You magazine. “They’re so obviously real that anyone who’s ever seen or touched a breast would know.”

Horoscope: “Attractive Taurus is easy on the eyes. Let your inner beauty shine brighter than your outer beauty.” (horoscopecompatibility.co)

consult their horoscopes on significant days, they could have avoided a few surprises.

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