TURKISH DELIGHT Leading distributors discuss maintaining and expanding the interest in Turkish drama series across the globe.
ROKU MEDIA’S DAVID EILENBERG As head of content, Eilenberg’s remit at the streaming company includes The Roku Channel.
RTÉ’S DERMOT HORAN The director of acquisitions and co-productions at the Irish public broadcaster on his approach for sourcing top-notch ideas locally and globally.
TELIA COMPANY’S CATHRINE WIERNIK Overseeing services such as TV4 and TV4 Play, the company’s director of programs and acquisitions discusses her content strategy.
EMBRACING DRAMA GoQuest Media’s Jimmy George outlines the company’s developments ahead of MIPCOM.
TRENDING ON The most-viewed clips on our video portals for the last 30 days.
Publisher
Ricardo Seguin Guise
Editor-in-Chief
Mansha Daswani
Editor-at-Large
Anna Carugati
Executive Editor
Kristin Brzoznowski
Senior Associate Editor
Jamie Stalcup
Associate Editor
Alexa Alfano
Editor, Spanish-Language
Publications
Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari
Production & Design Director
David Diehl
Online Director
Simon Weaver
Sales & Marketing Director
TEAM SPIRIT Leading producers and distributors discuss the need for co-productions.
TOULOUSE TOONS IN Cartoon Forum convenes for its annual event in Toulouse from September 16 to 19.
M6 GROUP’S CORALIE BOITRELLE-LAIGLE The company’s director of youth channels in France discusses her programming strategy.
INSIDE RYA N ’S WORLD THE MOVIE: TITAN UNIVERSE
ADVENTURE Watch a video interview with the team behind the latest extension in the YouTube-originated franchise.
DUBIT’S DAVID W. KLEEMAN The senior VP of global trends on understanding what’s resonating among the 6-to-11 set.
While consumers are certainly using all kinds of different devices to access content, the good old TV set still rules, and connected-TV devices that give consumers all of their preferred platforms in one place are helping to goose the challenged advertising market worldwide.
Global advertising revenues are projected to reach $1.07 trillion this year, a 10.5 percent gain, moderating to a 7.2 percent boost in 2025, according to data released this summer by WARC. The 2024 forecast was revised upward by 2.3 percentage points, WARC said. North America leads gains with an 8.6 percent lift to $348 billion, helped by political advertising in the run-up to the November U.S. election. AsiaPac will bring in $272 billion, a 2 percent growth rate. Europe is on track for a 5 percent gain to $165 billion. Latin American adspend is projected to climb 6.2 percent to $32.1 billion. In the Middle East and Africa, WARC anticipates a 4.2 percent lift to $12.6 billion. Looking ahead, WARC expects advertising spending to rise by 7.2 percent next year and then 7 percent in 2026 to reach $1.23 trillion.
This year, online-only companies will see a 14 percent rise in advertising revenue to $735.7 billion. Pure-play platforms are set to account for over 70 percent of all advertising spend worldwide next year.
Connected TV (CTV) is a key growth driver, with revenues projected to rise from $35.3 billion this year to $46.3 billion in 2026. CTV is set to account for two-thirds of all growth in the video market this year and all growth in 2025. By 2026, CTV will account for just under 24 percent of all video adspend.
Legacy media—print publishing, broadcast radio, linear TV, cinema and out of home—has a 25.3 percent share of adspend currently. Linear TV is expected to see a 1.9 percent lift this year, thanks to U.S. political spend.
GMA Network
Widows’ War / My Husband’s Wife / Luv Is: Love at First Read
GMA Network’s Widows’ War centers on former friends who become suspects in the deaths of their husbands. In My Husband’s Wife, a woman returns home after four years in captivity to find her husband has remarried her friend. The romantic comedy Luv Is: Love at First Read follows a campus heartthrob whose nemesis turns out to be his ideal girl. The series’ “youthful charm and romantic appeal make it a perfect choice for young audiences and those young at heart,” says Rochella Ann Salvador, assistant VP of the Worldwide division.
Inter Medya
Deception / Love and Pride / The Trusted
Deception leads Inter Medya’s slate ahead of MIPCOM. The series sees a respectable family court judge’s life turn upside down when she discovers that her loved ones have been lying to her. In Love and Pride, a wealthy family with three daughters begins to struggle. A marriage proposition to Mercan, the eldest, gives the family a road to escape impending financial ruin, but she rebels. The Trusted follows a soldier who leaves the special forces to open a bookstore and spend more time with his sick daughter. When he falls in love, his destiny changes.
My Husband’s Wife
“These programs have captivating visuals, engaging storylines and top-notch production quality.”
—Rochella Ann Salvador
Love and Pride
Turkish Delight
Mansha Daswani checks in with leading distributors about maintaining and expanding the interest in Turkish drama series across the globe.
In October 2015, Turkey was feted at MIPCOM, marking the country’s arrival as a major exporter of scripted series. From early traction in the Middle East to dominating traditional telenovela slots in Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic market, cracking key Asia-Pacific territories and making an impact in Western Europe, Turkish drama has told a compelling story for the last decade. Those at the forefront of bringing Turkish television to a global stage are working
hard to build upon and scale that momentum, from innovating storytelling techniques to investing in co-productions.
“There has been a consistently high demand for Turkish content for a long time, and we continue to see this grow,” says Can Okan, founder and CEO of Inter Medya. “Our country has solidified its place in the global entertainment market, and Turkish content has become a cultural phenomenon worldwide. Today, Turkish productions are aired in over 150 countries and consistently rank among the most-watched content in each market. We do not foresee this trend slowing down anytime soon.”
Handan Özkubat, the director of Turkish drama at Eccho Rights, observes, “In 2015, there was a sense that Turkish drama was an upcoming trend, but in the time since, Turkish shows have cemented a dominant position in the global market, and there has been a permanent shift, with Turkey now the undisputed go-to supplier for high-volume, ratings-winning series with great production values and addictive storytelling.”
“The demand for Turkish dramas today is as strong as ever, if not stronger,” reports Firat Gulgen, the CEO and founder of Calinos Entertainment. “Their appeal lies in the general themes of love, betrayal, family, struggle and resilience, all told with an emotional appeal that transcends cultural boundaries. Growing VOD investment in Turkish content has made them widely accessible to global audiences beyond the reach provided by traditional broadcasting in Western markets, and it’s been a game-changer for producers here. The industry is continuously evolving to meet the needs of global audiences, and we believe the demand will continue to grow.”
Ekin Koyuncu Karaman, the global distribution and partnership director at OGM UNIVERSE, adds: “As an industry, we are now on
Mediaset in Italy recently acquired Calinos Entertainment’s hit series Farah .
the verge of expanding our reach further by embracing diverse platforms, especially streaming services. This evolution allows us to connect with different viewer demographics, particularly the younger generation. This approach will keep Turkish content a prominent force in global entertainment for many years. By staying true to our core storytelling essence while diversifying our narrative styles, we can engage audiences across conventional TV and new digital platforms.”
Volume and an intensely competitive domestic broadcasting landscape have been key factors driving global demand for Turkish shows.
“It’s great to see that there has been a continuous interest in Turkish dramas for more than a decade,” says Aysegul Tuzun Yildirim, the managing director of MISTCO. “An aggressive strategy for production has a key role. Each season, around 35 dramas are being produced, creating nonstop offers from Turkish distributors.”
Elif Tatoğlu, distribution strategy and sales director at Kanal D, expresses a similar opinion: “Intense domestic competition drives higher production standards, making our shows more attractive internationally. However, high domestic ratings don’t always translate abroad, which is why our evergreen titles, rich in traditional Turkish storytelling, continue to draw significant interest globally.”
Gulgen believes that the stiff competition within Turkey has strengthened the sector’s international sales capabilities. “With numerous high-quality productions vying for viewership domestically, the market naturally filters out only the most compelling and well-received shows. This helps broadcasters and platforms abroad feel more confident acquiring content that has already proven its appeal in a highly competitive environment. Strong domestic performance is a quality benchmark, demonstrating audience engagement and content viability. Additionally, Turkish productions often have a built-in fan base due to their global reach, making them even more attractive to international buyers.”
Eccho Rights distributes I Am Mother , which was renewed for a second season by Show TV.
Özkubat says international buyers interested in Turkish drama keep a close eye on what’s resonating in the market, “keenly following ratings reports and all the comings and goings behind the camera. It is a highly competitive drama scene, with eight major linear broadcasters putting up between five and seven major titles each week. Being able to stand out from that crowd gives a huge head start and does a lot of the work of choosing the best titles for the international acquisitions teams.”
Okan, meanwhile, has found that Turkish ratings are becoming less of a factor for international buyers. “There have been cases where series that perform exceptionally well in Turkey don’t achieve the same success internationally, while content
with moderate or low ratings domestically has broken records abroad. These outcomes are influenced by various factors, such as audience preferences, current global trends and broadcast timing. Furthermore, when evaluating a series’ performance— locally or internationally—it’s crucial to consider additional factors beyond viewership ratings. For this reason, we believe that a series’ performance should not be the sole evaluation metric but rather seen as data providing valuable insights into audience preferences and behaviors. We also believe that factors like a show’s social media presence, online view counts, local media coverage, fan feedback, etc., should be taken into account during acquisitions.”
With the competitive environment for drama series domestically and globally, Turkish producers have been innovating their storytelling beyond the traditional melodramas that still dominate the sector.
“Turkish storytelling has significantly evolved, now encompassing a broader range of genres to meet changing viewer preferences,” says Koyuncu Karaman at OGM.
Inter Medya recently clinched deals for Deception in LatAm and Central and Eastern Europe.
The growing usage of streaming platforms in Turkey has helped to drive this genre diversification, says Kanal D’s Tatoğlu. “This evolution has enabled us to reach broader audiences and remain relevant in a fast-changing global market. However, traditional Turkish narratives continue to resonate strongly with free-to-air audiences and maintain their appeal.”
Calinos’s Gulgen agrees, observing: “While emotional and rela tionship-driven narratives remain central, there has been a notable rise in genres such as crime thrillers, historical epics and action-driven series. Sci-fi and fantasy elements have also begun to emerge. This shift highlights the industry’s adaptability and the ambition to cater to domestic and global audiences with fresh, innovative content.”
Eccho Rights’ Özkubat adds: “The emergence of streaming platforms has allowed creators to experiment with less traditional subject matter and seen a rise in more risk-taking sci-fi, fantasy and crime series. But the truth is that for a Turkish series to succeed on linear television, a grounded human element—family and romance being key themes—is still essential. That said, as the market has become more competitive, these traditional stories have to find new ways to stand out, so the stories are becoming more sophisticated, and so too are the productions, which are becoming more ambitious and cinematic for every new season.”
As Tuzun Yildirim at MISTCO notes, linear TV remains the biggest buyer of Turkish drama series. Still, opportunities with digital platforms have expanded over the last few years.
“AVOD, particularly YouTube, remains a crucial revenue source for us, and developing the right strategy is essential,” says Koyuncu Karaman. “Our content production plans and strategies for AVOD and FAST are not as defined as those for SVOD. We pri marily
extensive slate of Turkish dramas includes Come What May .
use these platforms to further monetize our library.”
OGM’s SVOD business has been significant, with six series for Netflix and one each for Prime Video and Disney+. “The nature of SVOD platforms allows us to produce bold and innovative content, providing us with a significant creative playground,” she says. “We have begun marketing and licensing our SVOD content globally and are confident this will help us reach new countries and audiences.”
Gulgen has seen exponential gains in the SVOD and AVOD demand for Turkish fare, with Calinos having done deals with Disney+, Max, Prime Video, Pluto TV and others. “In some regions, the demand for Turkish content on VOD is higher than the demand for free TV,” he observes. “We have done quite a few FAST channel deals in the U.S. and LatAm, for instance, with Sam sung TV Plus in Brazil.”
Another key growth area for Turkish content distributors is co-productions. “We see significant opportunities to expand our reach, enhance creative collaboration and share production costs,” Gulgen says. “By partnering with broadcasters, streaming platforms and production companies from different regions, we can blend Turkish storytelling expertise with local cultural insights, creating content that resonates across multiple markets. Co-productions also allow us to access new talent,
MISTCO’s
locations and audiences while aligning with the global trend of creating cross-border content that appeals to diverse viewers. Additionally, co-productions provide the opportunity to tap into various funding and distribution avenues, maximizing the commercial potential of each project.”
It’s a similar story for Inter Medya, with Okan noting, “We identified significant potential in this area and decided to concentrate heavily on it. We’ve had excellent partners with whom we’ve aligned on mutual goals, and we plan to bring many more coproduc tions to life. Coproductions offer numerous advantages, especially in terms of IP rights and other commercial benefits. These projects, entirely developed and produced by Turkish creative teams, with a distinctly Turkish DNA, are specifically designed for international distribution but have also been aired in Turkey.”
Özkubat at Eccho
Rights, meanwhile, highlights the increasing interest in Turkish scripted formats, “which has great potential to open doors for international co-production,” she says. “The wider production community is aware of the brilliant writing talent in Turkey. As more scripted formats are picked up, we see a chance to establish greater creative collaboration across borders.”
Stickman is among the scripted series available from OGM UNIVERSE.
The Roku Channel routinely ranks as one of the top ten streaming platforms in the densely competitive U.S. landscape, securing a 1.6 percent share of viewing in July, according to Nielsen, ahead of Peacock, Max, Paramount+ and Pluto TV. Meanwhile, per Parks Associates, Roku dominates the streaming media player device market, serving as a key hub for consumers to access a wealth of entertainment options. As David Eilenberg, head of content at Roku Media, showcased at this summer’s FAST Festival, the company is using its ubiquitous presence to both boost usage of The Roku Channel and help consumers find content that appeals to them from elsewhere in the streaming ecosystem.
David Eilenberg Roku Media
By Anna Carugati
WS: How are you positioning The Roku Channel?
EILENBERG: We have a broad general entertainment offering in both on-demand and FAST. The critical thing that’s been the secret to our success from the beginning is that we are completely free and ad-supported. There was a moment when we all understandably felt like subscription was going to be the dominant financial model and on-demand was going to be the dominant viewing model. However, in recent years, we’ve seen that
there’s still quite an appetite for free ad-supported and the linear experience.
WS: What has been your strategy for originals?
EILENBERG: We’re still fairly new to originals. The food and home categories have been important for us, and the latter began with the acquisition of This Old House. In food, we have a number of originals, [including] The Great American Baking Show, the U.S. version of Bake Off. Comedy has been great for us. That started with Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, with Daniel Radcliffe, for which we won an Emmy. And then we’re programming around sports, finding our way in that increasingly important realm.
“The critical thing that’s been the secret to our success from the beginning is that we are completely free and ad-supported.”
WS: What is your strategy for acquisitions?
EILENBERG: We have thousands of titles within The Roku Channel, both on-demand and in FAST. Certainly, when you find a motivated fandom, you want to super-serve it, and that can be for a genre or a single title. One of the interesting things about the FAST universe is how successful single-title channels have been. We’re continuing to see opportunities to bring those forward.
Roku’s array of streaming media devices includes its own lineup of connected TVs.
WS: How do you balance programming for a broad audience against serving niche groups?
EILENBERG: We strive to serve a broad audience, which we can do via our home-screen scale. Roku is the operating system for more streaming households in the U.S. than any other; if we want to promote something in a mass way, whether it’s on our behalf or for a content partner, we can. But then, as you get deep er into the funnel, we want to personalize and, like everybody, serve you recommendations that we think you’ll enjoy based on what we’ve seen from your viewing habits. It’s a balance between mass reach on the one hand and personalization on the other, and it’s about how you program different touchpoints within the user experience.
WS: Does discoverability remain challenging?
EILENBERG: Discoverability is a challenge for everyone in streaming as we build the best possible version of it for the viewer. At the platform level, we’re building zones that aggregate content—not just our own but as many of our partners as we can. These curatorial tools are of great service to the viewer.
WS: What opportunities do FAST channels offer advertisers?
EILENBERG: There is a large-scale migration of advertising interest from linear into streaming, which is not surprising—advertisers are following where the viewers are going. Places that didn’t have an
ad tier a few years ago now do. One of the things I do get to do as head of content is oversee the Roku Brand Studio, a unit devoted to helping advertisers tell stories that are more narrative length. The 15- and 30-second spot will always be important to any advertisers’ plans, but we are seeing an uptick in advertisers and media agencies wanting to be directly involved in longer-form storytelling. That’s where the worlds of content and advertising directly overlap. We’re trying to become a good home for advertisers to tell stories that are important to them.
WS: What is the future of advertiser-supported services compared to SVOD services?
EILENBERG: There’s going to be a harmonious balance that emerges, and it’s all going to be based on what different kinds of consumers want. With a couple of exceptions, I imagine that every subscription service will introduce an ad tier. You may have one group of consumers who are happy to have the ads if it means that they get the service at a lower rate. Another group of consumers may want to pay more for an ad-free experience. It all boils down to choice. You want to give the viewers as many choices as possible without overwhelming them. That’s the interesting balance that everybody is trying to strike right now: how do we get to the right amount of choice without choice overload?
Roku rolled out a sports hub to make discoverability easier for its users.
As the director of acquisitio ns and co-productions at the Irish public broadcaster, RTÉ, Dermot Horan is charged with buying and jointly developing and producing programming with partners for its linear channels and streaming platform, the RTÉ Player. Budget cuts at U.S. SVODs have led to reductions in commissions and the amount of English-language content available to the global market. Horan is finding plenty of content elsewhere while co-producing scripted fare that is drawing international praise and attention.
Dermot Horan RTÉ
By Anna Carugati
WS: What is your view of the drop in U.S. production due to budget cuts and the two strikes last year?
HORAN: We had probably reached peak levels of commissioning scripted content, and once the strikes finished, they were an excuse for people to reevaluate how many series they actually needed. Some of the big studios saw that the volume of dramas they were commissioning wasn’t necessarily bringing in the requisite amount of profits to their VOD players. That being said, there are other parts of the world where things aren’t as bad because they never exploded in the same fashion. In certain territories, particularly
“ The biggest drivers of audience to the RTÉ Player are our commissioned and co-produced dramas.”
the U.K., a lot of producers had started making series for Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+, and they have certainly been badly affected. But if you look at the other territories within Europe, and maybe Australia, many local players have continued to commission. I’m a vice president of the European Broadcasting Union TV committee. The public broadcasters across Europe do spend billions on content. They don’t have shareholders; they have license fee payers. They have a mandate to continue to commission drama, comedy, high-end natural history and documentaries. The public broadcasters have never had the explosion the streamers had, but equally, they’ve never had the implosion that’s happened now.
WS: Looking at RTÉ and RTÉ Player, how much do they rely on acquisitions in general and U.S. acquisitions in particular?
HORAN: Much less on the U.S. than in the past. We have some huge hits from the U.S. Yellowstone has been a hit on the RTÉ Player, and there have been some really good series, like Love & Death. We’re looking forward to Apples Never Fall landing on the Player. We also provide classic series like Mad Men , Frasier and The Good Fight. Those classic box sets are doing
well for us on the Player. But the biggest drivers of audience to the RTÉ Player are our commissioned and co-produced dra mas, and, more recently, some of the brand-new British and Australian dramas as well. What works on the Player is quite different from what works on network television. Shorterrun series are preferable, and so is serialized drama if you want to drive people to watch another episode. Our policy, not unlike a lot of the Scandinavian broadcasters and the BBC, is with most acquisitions after the first episode on linear, we continue to run episodically week by week on linear, but we drop the whole series on the Player. The old-fashioned American crime procedurals run 22 episodes. For me, instead of buying one 22-part network series, it’s probably better to buy three six- part series because I get three different series on the carousel. So, I’m varying the offering for the audience. Viewers see that we have more volume.
WS: How do your acquisitions complement the commissions?
HORAN: Like most broadcasters of our size, we can’t commission the volume of scripted content and high-end natural history and world documentaries that we would like to. We still have movie slots, and we do invest in quite a lot of Irish movies.
Hidden Assets is an Irish, Canadian and Belgian co-pro that has run for two seasons on RTÉ.
We know the audience likes a lot of scripted content, so we have to buy to complement what we commission. We are commissioning more, and we have recently announced a five-year strategy that aims to double our scripted content to around 60 hours a year. That will include some children’s drama and scripted comedy but will substantially increase the amount of local Irish drama. We’re getting great traction with drama and making international partnerships. That also creates a unique Irish catalog on the RTÉ Player. We can never compete with the likes of Netflix for volume. But we can compete with the fact that we are uniquely Irish. If somebody wants a repository of our current and back catalog of all the best Irish comedy and drama made in recent years all in one place, that’s quite compelling. But as I said, you get through content on an on-demand player quickly, so you need to feed the beast. That means we need to commission more and complement what we commissioned with acquisitions. That’s working very well as a strategy.
The Dry ’s second season was commissioned by ITVX in association with RTÉ.
Teli a Company specializes in telecommunications and is active in the Nordic and Baltic countries, with its two main markets being Sweden and Fin land. Among Telia’s holdings are TV4 in Sweden and MTV in Finland, as well as the streaming service TV4 Play. As director of programs and acquisitions, Cathrine Wiernik oversees three departments that are key to providing consumers with various viewing options, from free TV and cable to AVOD and di ff erent tiers of SVOD. As Wiernik tells World Screen, her teams’ focus is on fewer and bigger shows and their strategic placement on both linear and digital.
Cathrine Wiernik Telia Company
By Anna Carugati
WS: Starting with the linear channel TV4, what is the programming strategy, and what are the most popular program genres?
WIERNIK: We don’t have a strict linear strategy. We have one strategy that needs to feed both our linear and digital spaces, and these days, it’s definitely fewer and bigger. We need to cherry-pick more and focus our efforts on optimizing those titles throughout our ecosystem of channels and into TV4 Play. We don’t commission anything that we don’t feel has strong digital potential. It’s all about total delivery. Viewing of linear channels is rapidly decreasing and we still
have to pro tect our linear revenues, but we do that with total viewing in mind. As long as a show delivers strongly or even stronger in the digital space, the total viewership is still what matters in the end. Overnight ratings are not as relevant today.
Being a national broadcaster, our spine consists of local content. News and sports aside, our main focus is on big entertainment shows—appointment TV—that bring in a broad audience without leaving the young ones out. We need to stay relevant in the
“We need to cherry-pick more and focus our efforts on optimizing those titles throughout our ecosystem of channels and into TV4 Play.”
younger demographics (20 to 44), as that is key to delivering reach. A few good examples are our versions of The Masked Singer, Solsidan (a scripted comedy) and The Traitors.
Another important genre is reality, such as MasterChef , Sur vivor, The Farm, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Farmer Wants a Wife and Love Island. We do a lot of stripped reality to feed the VOD platform and get viewers back daily. We also acquire the international versions (U.S., U.K. and Australia) of most of these big reality brands to help strengthen our business case but also to create continuity and a steady pipeline between the Swedish local series and give the viewers more of their favorite shows all year round.
Another genre that is important for us and has the potential to stick out and reach new viewers is documentaries. We’re not looking for volume but a high-interest, spectacular premise, like The Tinder Swindler. Anything between two to four episodes and a current topic with the potential to stick out in order to grab enough people. These are also published as box sets as the first episode is published on linear and tend to drive strong subscription numbers.
The
is among the acquisitions that have performed well for TV4 Play.
WS: Where does scripted programming fit into the mix?
WIERNIK: Scripted is a very important and central part of our mix. Consumption of scripted has increasingly moved to our digital platform over the last few years. It does super well on TV4 Play and is key to driving subscription sales. It has become an essential part of our subscription tier offering, where we release most of the titles a week or two before linear. However, we are now moving toward publishing all scripted series at the same time as linear to maximize the potential of the linear figures and avoid having to market the shows twice. Scripted has the potential to bring in broad numbers with a nice hit in younger demographics.
Sommerdahl Murders
WS: How important are acquisitions for the group?
WIERNIK: They are a very good, cost-effective complement to our local programming. During the last decade, we’ve had an aggressive local strategy for our prime-time schedule. You wouldn’t see an acquisition in prime time. However, since the beginning of 2023, we’ve tried a few more acquired shows in prime time, as they are cost-effective compared to our local shows but also drive strong consumption on TV4 Play. U.K. light crime shows like Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise are excellent examples. Danish crime also works very well for us; for example, Fatal Crossing (Nora Sand) and The Sommerdahl Murders. Overall, acquisitions are key for TV4 Play, as they drive high consumption and help reduce churn. Many of these titles are published exclusively on our service with no linear window. A great example is Hayu, which is an exclusive offer on both our SVOD tiers and caters to reality fans in the younger demos. We acquire mostly English-speaking shows from the U.K., Australia and the U.S. and, of course, [series] from the Nordics (Norwegian and Danish). But we have also tried some European shows, for example, Turkish soaps. We’ve had an unexpected super success with Golden Boy. We did buy some Korean programs, both non-scripted and scripted, in the aftermath of the success of Squid Game, but it’s not a big acquisition strategy. It’s case by case. We try out a specific title to see if it works, then buy more.
The local version of The Traitors has been a hit for TV4 and TV4 Play in Sweden.
Embracing Drama
GoQuest Media’s Jimmy George outlines the company’s developments ahead of MIPCOM. By Alexa Alfano
In the lead-up to MIP COM, GoQuest Media has “had a busy few months,” says Jimmy George, VP of sales and acquisitions. “Our plan is to maintain a steadfast focus on building a premium library, close important deals and connect with like-minded partners to collaborate on producing more Turkish dramas. We want to find stories that can be licensed worldwide and find the right partners to co-produce with.”
The goal to create a catalog featuring “premium IPs and maximize their licensing opportunities continues with the recent acquisition of Amuz Distribution’s titles,” explains George. In July, GoQuest and Amuz Distribution entered a
GoQuest Media’s Kuma (The Other Wife).
distribution pact in which GoQuest has become the representative for Amuz’s content in Asia, Oceania, MENA and non-French-speaking African territories.
“We want to find stories that can be licensed worldwide and find the right partners to co-produce with.” —Jimmy George
The company has also been shooting more episodes for its first co-production, Kuma (The Other Wife), in Turkey. Kuma follows a young woman unjustly accused of murder as she becomes entangled in an intricate web of family obligations. “We’re in the midst of closing some exciting presales for the series,” notes George, who adds that GoQuest looks forward to presenting the title at MIPCOM.
More highlights of the company’s MIPCOM offering include Absolute 100 and South Wind: On the Edge , both from Telekom Srbija. “Absolute 100 and South Wind are among the most coveted titles recently produced in CEE, and we’re excited to introduce them to a global audience,” George says. The crime thriller Absolute 100 follows as Sonya, a gifted young shooting athlete, uses her father’s gun to fatally shoot a local criminal. South Wind: On the Edge takes a look into the life of Serbian drug lord Petar Maraš as it approaches its inevitable conclusion.
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Ricardo Seguin Guise
Publisher
Mansha Daswani
Editor-in-Chief
Anna Carugati
Editor-at-Large
Kristin Brzoznowski
Executive Editor
Jamie Stalcup
Senior Associate Editor
Alexa Alfano
Associate Editor
David Diehl
Production & Design Director
Simon Weaver
Online Director
Dana Mattison
Sales & Marketing Director
Genovick Acevedo
Sales & Marketing Manager
Ute Schwemmer Bookkeeper
Survival Skills
Find opportunities within the chaos. That was the overarching theme at the TV Kids Summer Festival in June, where we explored the major challenges in the business today, including risk-aversion, reduced content spend and the struggle to get kids to discover new shows.
CONTENTS
TEAM SPIRIT
Amid a great reset in the children’s content business, leading producers and distributors discuss the resurgent need for co-productions.
401 Park Avenue South, Suite 1041, New York, NY 10016, U.S.A.
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Website: www.tvkids.com
The tips for coming out the other end of an unprecedented reset in the children’s content business include dusting off your co-production skills, having a well-thought-through monetization plan and being strategic about how you seed and build a brand. And in this landscape, having a brand that has some awareness already is paramount. According to Dubit’s David W. Kleeman, the shows resonating with the key 6-to-11 set are largely based on known IP, including the perennial SpongeBob SquarePants. M6 Group is also keen on big brands for its array of assets, as we heard from Coralie BoitrelleLaigle, director of youth channels in France. And speaking of IP with built-in brand awareness, this edition includes an interview with the family behind the massive YouTube brand Ryan’s World.
Whether you’re financing a show based on an existing property or a brandnew idea, innovative solutions are crucial, but many producers are returning to the tried-and-true co-pro model. We explore the ins and outs of financing partnerships ahead of Cartoon Forum, where Europe’s heritage of pulling together projects will be on full display. Mansha Daswani
TOULOUSE TOONS IN Cartoon Forum convenes for its annual event in Toulouse from September 16 to 19.
M6 GROUP’S CORALIE BOITRELLE-LAIGLE
The company’s director of youth channels in France discusses her programming strategy.
INSIDE RYAN ’S WORLD THE MOVIE: TITAN UNIVERSE ADVENTURE
Watch a video interview with the team behind the latest extension in the YouTube-originated franchise.
DUBIT’S DAVID W. KLEEMAN
The senior VP of global trends at the insights company and gaming studio on understanding viewership trends among the 6-to-11 set.
Aardman Animations
Lí Ban / Mojo Swoptops / Big Lizard
Aardman Animations’ highlights heading into MIPCOM include Lí Ban , an animated series that features fantastical heroes, legendary villains and a heroine as a central character. The adventurous stories are “told in a thrilling and fast-paced way for kids 7 to 9 to enjoy worldwide,” says Alison Taylor, director of licensing and distribution. Mojo Swoptops is about a little truck that swaps its top. Big Lizard follows an astronaut girl who crash-lands on planet Proxima B with her dad and becomes best friends with a lizard.
NJ World
Nelly Jelly
NJ World is highlighting the animated series Nelly Jelly, which follows a girl with a rich imagination and her monster friends Jim and Jam. Along with presenting solutions to children’s real-world problems, the series aims to challenge gender stereotypes, as Jim, a pink male monster, loves books and analysis, while the green female monster Jam protects Nelly Jelly with her strength and spreads positivity. “Generation Alpha encourages us to leave common stereotypes behind and have different representations of how girls and boys can look and behave,” says Simona Krasauskienė, CEO.
“All of the new animated series we are presenting stand out from one another and in the marketplace.”
—Alison Taylor
“In her native Lithuania, Nelly Jelly is a l oved children’s boo k cha racter wi th a loyal fandom.”
—Simona Krasauskienė
Mojo Swoptops
Nelly Jelly
The only video portal for the kids’ media industry.
TEAM
Amid a great reset in the children’s content business, Mansha Daswani checks in with leading producers and distributors about the resurgent need for co-productions.
As one of the world’s leading makers and distributors of children’s content, France serves as a good barometer for assessing the state of the market. Recent data from the CNC and Unifrance is a stark illustration of the challenges the sector is facing and the opportunities still ahead.
It was a difficult year for French animation exports, with revenues falling 11.2 percent in 2023 to €51.2 million ($56.9 million), led by a 70 percent plunge in the U.S. and a 6.6 percent drop in worldwide rights. Presales fared slightly better, falling 5.4 percent. The bright spot, however, was co-pro investment, which rose by 54 percent to €36.3 million ($40.3 million). Indeed, while the SVOD streamers have scaled back their kids’ commitments, the public and commercial channels that have long been the backbone of the industry are still collaborating to get projects off the ground.
“As we are primarily a distributor, there has never been any interest in producing programs for the major streamers because there are essentially no rights left at the end of the process,” says Genevieve Dexter, founder and CEO of Serious Kids. “We have always continued to co-produce despite the convenience of producing fully funded content because it affords us more rights. Now that streamer funding for kids is much reduced, our co-production skills are fully honed, up to date and back in demand.”
Ulli Stoef, CEO of Toon2Tango, agrees: “Co-production has always been the way we do business, and we do feel that companies that did not consider co-production in the past are now open to such models. Unfortunately, the current market climate means that the number of co-productions has not increased, often because many studios or companies find financing their part of a project challenging.”
Cobbling together funding has become more challenging, and there are several projects on the market today that would not have come to fruition if it weren’t for co-productions. Dandelooo’s eight-episode The Upside Down River, made with a budget of €5.2 million ($5.8 million), needed partners, according to Emmanuèle Pétry, producer and head of international at the French producer-distributor. Aligning with Sparkle Ani mation in Portugal and Vivi Film in Belgium “helped us trigger subsidies from each country, along with the European help from Creative Europe.”
Serious Kids partnered with Keyframe Studios on Cats React to Facts .
“We could not produce our shows without the existing tax incentives and local, regional, national and European money,” Pétry says. “They are fully part of our financing models, and we are extremely thankful to be able to access these incentives, which help create a strong creative industry in France.”
“A big part of the financing comes from these sources,” Stoef agrees. “One major market, Germany, is about to increase, expand and modify its funding systems. This will give us more opportunities to keep some of the work split within Germany.”
The U.K. has also introduced new animation tax credits, which Serious Kids’ Dexter refers to as a game-changer for “bringing production into the country where previously it always went
overseas with pre- and post-. Coupled with our multiple commissioning broadcasters, we have much to offer, plus the Global Screen Fund subsidies for co-production. However, much higher tax credits available elsewhere coupled with overheated rates for creatives means many U.K. companies have again been opening overseas branches to compete.”
“Now that streamer funding for kids is much reduced, our coproduction skills are back in demand.” —Genevieve Dexter
Third-party-country tax credits are critical to the financing jigsaw, “but you have to look at your co-producer’s national tax rates, too,” Dexter observes. “A 40 percent tax credit does not compensate for a 50 percent tax on wages payable by the producer or the absence of local commissioning broadcasters. In those cases, you need to look for additional local subsidies to make it worthwhile, especially to compete with the combination of tax credits, broadcast platforms and low employer tax rates in the U.K. In addition, the U.K. budgets are coming down in the wake of inflation rises and the drop in streamer commissioning in the kids’ sector—a painful leveling process is well underway.”
Of course, you need to assess more than national tax rules when choosing a co-pro partner and determining if you want to board a project.
Toon2Tango worked with partners from the U.S., Ireland and Belgium on Hey Fuzzy Yellow .
It all starts with a brilliant idea, Toon2Tango’s Stoef notes. “Will the story hold up across international markets? Is it unique? Does it have an outstanding design? After this, we consider the partners, their ability to guarantee their part of financing and whether they will be able to deliver the quality we expect.”
Dexter adds, “ We are always looking for projects that offer something new or respond to a market demand. We also look to see where we can add value. For example, A Mouse Called Julian is a response to a demand for high-end specials based on literary properties and our strategy to grow IP so that it has a chance of longevity. Mercury Filmworks is based in Ottawa, while we are in London. They have an incredible creative development and studio setup, and we have extensive co-production experience and distribution infrastructure. Cats React to Facts is also bookbased, but in this case, the project is a response to kids’ changing viewing habits and a constant demand for laugh-out-loud come dy. Again, Keyframe Studios has the funny bones in a studio structure, while Serious Kids can bring the international business expertise to the party.”
Finding complementary skill sets is one of many best practices co-pro veterans highlight when discussing how to make these relationships work for all parties involved.
“To me, the most important quality is honesty and communication in order to establish a fair work share between the studios and efficient workflow that works best for both parties, in the
most financially viable way,” Dandelooo’s Pétry says. “Inevitably, many problems will appear along the way, and the parties need to talk openly about how to find solutions. Things can go wrong when the costs are artificially increased to make higher margins. For example, in this one particular co-pro, we had many original issues: the two business owners sued each other, the company
“Things happen, and you cannot plan it all out in advance, but open discussions are key to finding solutions.” —Emmanuèle Pétry
went into bankruptcy, the studio head was condemned for sexual harassment, the son of the owner grew cannabis with the studio’s electrical power—all of this we discovered along the way! Things happen, and you cannot plan it all out in advance, but open discussions are key to finding solutions.”
Dexter adds: “There are always more urgent things to attend to than a development project, so scheduling regular meetings between co-production partners is key to keeping the project moving with energy behind it. Division of responsibility is also important to recognize who makes the creative decisions and who is responsible for pulling in the commissioning broadcasters. Most of the time, there is no specific reason why a project is not progressing—it is a mix of many factors, but the key is to recognize when something is not working and move on.”
Whil e the French TV market for children’s and family content is crowded and competitive, the M6 Group channels have garnered loyal audiences for years. Its off erings for young ones inclu de Gulli on DTT, the pay-TV services Canal J and TiJi, the M6 Kid morning block, Gulli.fr and M6+. Coralie B oitrelle-Laigle, director of youth channels in France, walks TV Kids through what’s guiding some of the channels’ progra mming decisions.
Coralie Boitrelle-Laigle M6 Group
By Kristin Brzoznowski
TV KIDS: What is the role of acquired content on M6 Group’s kids’ channels and platforms?
BOITRELLE-LAIGLE: We do acquisitions and prebuys. It’s essential to propose new, high-quality content to keep our leading position among kids and families. We operate different channels and platforms. We have a free channel called Gulli, targeting children and families, and we operate two pay-TV channels in France. We’ve launched a new platform called M6+, so we are looking for AVOD rights.
TV KIDS: How has your acquisition strategy shifted in the last year or two?
BOITRELLE-LAIGLE: In France, the market is crowded, and the media industry has had to go through an intensive shift. We have to keep communicating with the digital-native generation to get closer to their new consumer habits. We have to be agile to keep proposing new content and maintain a financial balance.
“Comedy must be grounded in the daily lives of children so they can recognize themselves.”
TV KIDS: What is on your wish list in terms of genres, age demographics and formats?
BOITRELLE-LAIGLE: Gulli targets children and families, and it’s always a good start to propose comedy shows that include positive values. Comedy must be grounded in the daily lives of children so they can recognize themselves. SpongeBob SquarePants and Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks are the kinds of comedies that are a priority for us. TiJi is a preschool channel that [leans] slightly toward girls’ shows. Our main successes are [Barbie-themed content] and Zoom the White Dolphin. For Canal J, we are looking for action-adventure for children from 8 to 12. We are looking for volume because we program big blocks on the grid.
TV KIDS: Are you eyeing content that taps into the creator economy?
BOITRELLE-LAIGLE: Gulli is devoted to a young audience. We have to know what this audience likes [beyond] our TV programs. We keep an eye on YouTube and social media. We sometimes collaborate with YouTubers, but more to promote shows. YouTubers and influencers are local celebrities, and we need an international celebrity to build an IP. It’s hard for us to have special content based on a YouTuber. In our shows, we make the characters use the codes of YouTube and social media to create a close link with our audience.
TV KIDS: What would you like to see more of in the marketplace?
BOITRELLE-LAIGLE: In France, we have a lot of producers who are incredibly creative. We get lots of surprises every day and every week. I would like to see more episodic shows. It’s relevant for
Offerings on the M6 pay-TV channel TiJi include Zoom the White Dolphin .
children to find the same beginning, middle and end, and in the middle of all three points, so many things can happen.
“We are taking exclusive rights where possible.”
TV KIDS: What is your stance on exclusivity?
BOITRELLE-LAIGLE: We have different approaches depending on the franchise. We need exclusivity. We need to offer this content and this experience only on our platforms and channels. We are taking exclusive rights where possible and wherever we can, but it always depends on the IP. We’re open to discussing case by case.
Barbie-themed content, such as Barbie: A Touch of Magic , performs well on TiJi.
Toulouse Toons In
Cartoon Forum convenes for its annual event in Toulouse from September 16 to 19.
By Kristin Brzoznowski
Cartoon Forum is marking the 35th edition of the pitching and co-production forum for animated TV projects. The lineup of projects to be pitched features 75 animated series and specials, selected from 107 submissions. The selection is led by France (36 projects), followed by Ireland (eight), Italy (five), CEE countries (five projects from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia and Slovakia) and Germany (five). Denmark and Spain each contribute with three projects, while Portugal has two. Armenia, Georgia and Moldova each present a project for the first time at Cartoon Forum, joining Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, which also have one project each.
Toulouse, France
“Lately, the projects selected present more heroines and stories from a female perspective,” says Annick Maes, general director of Cartoon. “This can be explained by a growing number of projects directed and produced by women.”
“T he projects selected present more heroines and stories from a female perspective.”
—Annick Maes
Maes adds that again this year there are a significant number of projects promoting the subject of the environment. Also this year, many of the selected projects promote diversity and inclusion.
“Series targeting children from preschool to 11 years old and families remain the main focus of European animation production,” Maes says. “This year at Cartoon Forum, 68 percent of the series selected target these audiences. This year, projects targeting children seek to teach them fundamental values such as inclusion, diversity, empathy, solidarity and the importance of friendship and family ties, but there are also stories that, with humor and endearing characters, deal with more complex and sensitive subjects such as gender and environmental issues.”
Cartoon Forum will offer networking opportunities after its pitching sessions. One-to-one meetings will be organized on Sep tember 19. “Come and engage with animation professionals and get the chance to meet the Italian delegation, new buyers, financial partners and publishers,” says Maes.
Inside Ryan ’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure
By Jamie Stalcup
Over just a few years, the Ryan’s World franchise has exploded from YouTube, where the channel has over 37 million subscribers, to include numerous TV series such as Ryan’s Mystery Playdate and Super Spy Ryan and several video games. The brand has now added a featurelength film to its repertoire, with Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure debuting in theaters across the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland in August.
Fronted by child star Ryan Kaji, the face of the franchise, the film combines live action and animation to tell an imaginative superhero story in which Ryan transforms into the Red Titan to rescue his younger twin sisters Emma and Kate from the Titan Universe comic-book world before their parents notice. Though he is no stranger to filming, the experience on a movie set was completely new for Ryan. “In the
[YouTube] videos, usually there was just one phone or one camera, and then we usually improvise,” he explains. “In the movie, there were a bunch of different cameras everywhere, and there were lines to memorize. It was just a whole different experience.”
“My favorite part was that I got to do it with my whole family. ”
—Ryan Kaji
The movie was a family endeavor that involved not just Ryan and his sisters but also his parents, Shion and Loann Kaji. Shion and Loann not only appeared on-screen alongside their children but co-produced it with pocket.watch through their production company, Sunlight Entertainment.
“My favorite part was [that] I got to do it with my whole family,” Ryan says. “It was fun to see my sisters act.”
“It was a fun collaboration with our family,” agrees Shion, adding, “Another big component of the movie was collaboration among influencers.” Magician Dan Rhodes makes an appearance in the film, as do Evangeline Lomelino of GEM Sisters and Stella Wallace of The Stella Show, all of whom are fellow YouTubers and digital creators within the pocket.watch network.
“We hope it opens the door for other influencers after this project,” Shion says. “And hopefully, we’ve created a new genre of movie.”
David W. Kleeman Dubit
Unde rstanding the 6-to-9 set is paramount for tracking where kids’ media consumption is headed, as is cracking the discoverability problem. That was the key takeaway from an insightful TV Kids Summer Festival conversation between Dubit’s David W. Kleeman and independent media consultant Emily Horgan. Kleeman serves as senior VP of global trends for Dubit, which is both a research and consultancy firm and a gaming studio, providing him with a crucial vantage point for understanding what kids are watching—and where. Horgan is an independent consultant who covers developments in kids’ media via her newsletter, The Kids StreamerSphere, and podcast, Kids Media Club.
TV KIDS: What about the 6-to-9 set makes it so crucial for understanding kids’ media habits?
KLEEMAN: It’s the age when they’re starting school and splitting off into peer groups. They’re developing their own interests. It’s when the parents cede control over the remote or the mobile device. It’s where the audience fragments for the first time. In preschool, it’s much easier to figure out what will work for a broad audience. When you get to 6 to 9, you’ve got your gamers, your TV kids, your YouTube kids, and they have different hob bies. It can be hard to gain traction at that age. We talk
about 6 to 9, and then a little bit of 9 to 12, as the “middle kingdom.” A lot of times, if they are an older sibling, they’ve got control of the remote for the first time. If they’re a younger sibling, they have to struggle to watch what they want to watch. You’ll see that things not for the 6-to-9 age group often come up as things that they like best.
“Long-running franchises have done a good job of diversifying out into different platforms and recreating themselves every couple of years.”
TV KIDS: What shows and franchises resonate with this audience?
KLEEMAN: Many of the top programs for kids have been around for quite a long time. If the show itself hasn’t been around for a long time, then at least the IP has. SpongeBob SquarePants still tops the charts. Long-running franchises have done a good job of diversifying out into different platforms and recreating themselves every couple of years, whether going out to a platform like Roblox, Fortnite or Minecraft or coming out with new takes on the series. So many kids between 6 and 9 pick Roblox as maybe even their first game beyond, say, Candy Crush Saga. It’s such a “do anything that you want” platform. You’re likely to find your favorite content from television there. As a means of new IP discovery, it is still one of the great outlets.
TV KIDS: How should IP owners be using gaming extensions to help build their brands?
KLEEMAN: Television is, by and large, still stuck in the 3- to 5-year development cycle. It’s hard to be immediate, relevant and timely for kids if it takes that long to bring something new to air. Not to mention that if you are a hit and have a second season, there’s another wait. How do you keep kids engaged with the content in between those seasons? That is where games and YouTube come in. It’s in the producer’s interest to keep attention on the stories even when you’re not bringing out new content. It’s also in the interest of the distributor to make sure that when you drop something new, people haven’t forgotten you. With Roblox in particular, you don’t have to build a big world and keep adding to it to keep attention. We’ve been putting brands into existing games. In the gaming world, there are many lower-cost, lower-timeinvest ment ways of bringing an audience in. Having a strategy to start with is important. We often advise people: don’t distribute yourself too thinly. Don’t immediately say, I’ve got to be on every platform at once. We used to have the term 360 commissioning, which was the commissioners’ 360. It was their anxiety about not reaching every kid on every platform on every device. It was not the kids’ 360. It’s so important, if you want to preserve your franchise, to spend wisely at the beginning and figure out the most likely platform for discovery, engagement and fandom.
SpongeBob SquarePants topped recent Dubit research tracking the top shows for kids aged 6 to 9.
