Videoage International January 2018

22 January 2018 V I D E O A G E since he separated social media’s good share (like Facebook) from traffic (which is going to platforms like Instagram). However, Rezab spoke of BuzzFeed as a successful example to follow, even though the social media company was forced to fire eight percent of its workforce due to financial problems and is expecting up to a 20 percent decline in revenues. The conference portion of the ATF had four encompassing themes, one of which, “Production Day,” was sponsored by All3media. The conference aspect of the event also received the bulk of space in the official daily publication published by ATF organizer Reed Exhibitions, while the market portion received only passing notice. In addition, the Daily indicated how Singapore- centric the ATF actually is, with lots of space given to local politicians and government officials who made an appearance. Browsing through official figures, the ATF welcomed 5,498 industry professionals, including distributors from 400 exhibiting companies out of 750 participants that also encompassed a record 24 country pavilions — some really big (like France and China), and others rather small (like Canada). The ATF Event Directory listed buyers from 28 countries and exhibitors from 41, including Roxanne Barcelona and Manuel Paolo Laurena from the Philippines’ GMA Worldwide. Participating at the market for the first time (but not as an exhibitor) was Fun Union, represented at the ATF by the Paris, France- based Carina Ferreira and the Hong Kong- based Lionel Lelouch. The Hong Kong-based company was established last February as a co- venture between Russia’s Riki Group and Hong Kong investors to produce pre-school children’s programs. All the U.S. studios were exhibiting and Fox even dispatched its top executive, Gina Brogi, president of Global Distribution, 20th Century Fox TV Distribution. Missing this year among the Latin American exhibitors was Televisa, although there was a T he fact that this year’s Singapore-based Asia TV Forum (ATF) began on November 28 — much earlier than past editions — meant that visitors were not subject to endless shopping-inducing Christmas carols heard in every corner of this city-state. Nevertheless, some shopping was done, but mostly for TV content, and it was restricted to the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center, where the 18th edition of the four-day ATF market took place. “We saw a lot of new buyers,” commented Global Agency’s Isil Türksen. “There were also interesting conferences, which I could attend yesterday [November 28], but not today. With the market open, all my time is now taken by meetings with buyers.” Typically at the ATF, sales executives from exhibiting companies manage to meet with at least 25 buyers during the two-day period. Among the conferences, there were three interestingpanels. The first one, about advertising, showed that television advertising numbers are strong, because “great content will really stand out now,” said speaker Ranji David. Stephane Alpern of consultant firm Kantar did notfullyagreewithDavid’sassessmentsinceinhis “The Future of Content” presentation, he stated that “consumers will dictate the entire ecosystem of content — from financing to distribution. The other possibility is where people create content communes,” he said, which could well be the case if it weren’t for the fact that one must invest lots of money upfront and produce content before consumers can actually make any sort of choice. The third seminar of notice focused on social media. It was titled “Some Inconvenient Truths,” and was hosted by Jan Rezab, an analyst who focused on print media, rather than TV. But his data could also be useful to content providers, small presence from TV Azteca. Holding down the LATAM fort were Record TV, Globo TV and Caracol. Record’s Delmar Andrade pointed out that, for his company, Asia generates fewer than 10 percent of revenues. On the other hand, there was an increased Turkish presence, with 20 companies, including Kanal D, Global Agency and Inter Medya. Asli Serim Guliyev of Turkey’s Calinos said that Asia generates the lowest percentage of revenues for her company. This list is topped by LATAM, followed by the Middle East and Eastern European territories. Similar figures were reported by Inter Medya’s Can Okan, who added that “Asia is, however, picking up in territories such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Mongolia.” Inter Medya is also making inroads into India and Sri Lanka. Ultimately, however, for content sales, the Asian region remains challenging for all Westerns, mainly due to the diversity in programming needs from one territory to the next. Budget limitations and the abundance of regionally produced content are also limiting factors to the success in licensing Western content in Asia as a whole. Less Christmas Shopping, More TV Buying At Singapore Mart ATF Review All3Media’s Rachel Glaister (at right) with Reed Exhibitions’ Lunita Mendoza Record TV’s Delmar Andrade and Edson Pfutzenreiter Mendes at their ATF stand Fun Union’s Carina Ferreira and Lionel Lelouch with Krashy, a character from their BabyRiki series Roxanne Barcelona and Manuel Paolo Laurena of GMA Worldwide