Videoage International January 2018

26 January 2018 V I D E O A G E the Jewish ABC. Recalled Pedro Leda of Ledafilms Distribution: “For logical reasons, negotiations were very delicate and a good diplomat was needed. The Jesuits sent their legal counsel, Pedro Simoncini, to New York City. Both parties were so impressed by how well Simoncini handled the negotiations that they agreed to [officially] appoint him general manager of Canal 11.” It also helped that Simoncini spoke English (which he had learned at school) and that he was a good lawyer, who was versatile with negotiations. He also speaks Spanish, “some French,” and perfect Italian without a Neapolitan accent, because, he said, “My mother was from Tuscany and we spoke good Italian at home.” Leda continued: “Canal 11 was not the number one channel in Buenos Aires, but [it was] the most profitable because it limited operational costs. Its programming was essentially based on ABC series and movies, plus local news and talk shows, and drama series. Telenovelas were not a dominant genre at the time.” In 1970, a combination of factors, including the change of management at ABC International (which went from Don W. Coyle to Dick O’Leary), to the renewed political instability in Argentina (with three different presidents from June 1970 to March 1971), led to Canal 11 being sold to Héctor R. García’s Editorial Sarmiento. Simoncini moved on to other ventures. (ABC had started the international division under Coyle in 1958.) The ABC link allowed Simoncini, and other Latin American broadcasters, to enter the L.A. Screenings in 1964 when Michael J. Solomon — who had just joined MCA (now NBCUniversal) approached Jack Singer in New York City. Singer was responsible for programming the many TV stations that ABC controlled overseas and reported to Coyle. Solomon asked Singer if he could invite the managers of the 10 or so TV stations that ABC managed in Latin America to MCA Studios in Los Angeles to screen and buy the new shows that MCA was producing, mainly for ABC. In 1973, all three Buenos Aires channels and a few channels in the interiors were nationalized by the time Juan Perón returned as president for the third time. The owners were compensated by the military, which had ruled just before Peron. With the return of the military dictatorship ( Proceso de Reorganización Nacional ) in 1976, Canal 13 was put under the control of the Navy, Canal 9 went to the Army, and Canal 11 was assigned to the Air Force. Recalled Leda: “[Members of the military] were at the stations mostly in civilian clothes, but occasionally also in uniform. Each of the three channels had a civilian manager in charge of production, acquisitions, programming and scheduling — men with previous TV experience who reported to the military interventores . And in turn, the interventores reported to a higher radio and television entity also run by the military.” In 1977, the U.S. broadcasting, producing and distribution company Metromedia appointed Simoncini as program sales representative for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Explained Paul Rich: “Pedro was Metromedia Producers’ rep in Argentina for the years when I headed the company (1982-85). Among all the sales reps we had around the world at the time — 12 in all — he was a gentle soul, a fierce negotiator and a keen student of our business, totally loyal. He remindedme somuch ofmy father, who, like Pedro, carried himself with the same self-assurance and yet [had an] approachable, lovable style. “Our relationship ranged way beyond television and selling; it embraced politics, religion, culture, and education. He was totally immersed not only in what was happening in South America but very much inwhat was going on in the U.S. on all levels.” With the return of democracy in 1983, President Raúl Alfonsín licensed Canal 9 back to its former owner, Alejandro Romay, in 1984. Canal 11 and Canal 13 both remained government-owned until 1989. When the next president, Carlos Menem, re-privatized the TV stations, Canal 13 went to Clarin and Canal 11 went to Editorial Atlántida (in 1971, Atlántida had acquired Canal 13, which was nationalized two years later). Clarin bid for both Canal 11 and 13, but having to select one, chose 13. Meanwhile, in 1972, Simoncini became a shareholder, and in 1975, the majority shareholder (70 percent) and president of Rosario’s Canal 5, and a minority shareholder at other TV stations in Córdoba,ResistenciaandNeuquén.Thosechannels, recalled Simoncini, were not nationalized. Canal 5 was founded in Rosario, the country’s third largest city, in 1964, to rebroadcast the TV programs from Buenos Aires of the state-owned Canal 7. Commented Pedro Leda: “Simoncini recognized the importance of creating a TV network that included newly licensed free-TV channels in the interior and successfully pursued agreements with local broadcasters in several cities of Argentina. These agreements allowed the local TV stations to compete in their markets by receiving the Canal 11 programing and know-how.” In 1989, he grouped Canal 5 and others in which he had investments with Canal 11 in Buenos Aires (just privatized — the government had appropriated it in 1974) to formTelevision Federal S.A., or Telefe, which, Simoncini explained, “did not denote Tele Fede (Faith) or a Catholic TV station (since Canal 11 had always been associated with the Jesuits), but federal television, as it covered much of the country. Nonetheless, our slogan was ‘El Canal de la Familia.’” At that time Telefe had as its main stockholders the partners of Televisoras Provinciales (with 30 percent), including: Canal 8, Mar del Plata; Canal 8, Tucumán; Canal 9, Bahía Blanca; Canal 11, Salta; Canal 13, Santa Fe; Simoncini’s own Canal 5, Rosario; Canal 8, Córdoba and Canal 7, Neuquén. Editorial Atlántida had 14 percent. Simoncini was the head of Televisoras Provinciales and controlled his own TV interests through Rader, a company that in 1998 was acquired by Compañia de Television del Atlántico. On the phone, Simoncini recalled that the affiliates could have been 10 TV stations and that all paid to carry programs from Canal 11 in Buenos Aires, which was branded as Telefe. The affiliates, in turn, would make money by filling spots left in the programs with local commercials. The affiliates rebroadcast Canal 11 of Buenos Aires with delayed content, at times even with a week’s delay (with the exception of news programs, which were simulcast). In effect, 29 years after creating harmony among the 120 investors of Canal 11 in Buenos Aires, Simoncini returned to Canal 11 with the task of putting together a similar number of partners to create Telefe with Canal 11 in Buenos Aires as the flagship station. With Simoncini leading the way, Telefe began producing television series, including telenovelas, and exporting them to Uruguay (Canal 4 and Canal 12). He “retired” in 1993, and five years later the network was sold to Spain’s Telefonica. Today, Telefe is owned by Viacom. At that time (and still today), Telefe owned and operated nine local TV stations, plus it continues to have nine affiliates that help to reach 95 percent of the country’s TVHH, and all remaining TV homes via cable TV and satellite. Simoncini“retired,”butonlyfromthecommercial sector, because, in 1992, he founded TV Quality, a production company for educational programs, thereby returning to his first love. In 1994, this complemented another of his creations, Educable, which distributes cultural and educational programstovariouscableTVchannelsinagreement with the Asociación Argentina de TV por Cable. According to Simoncini, “the difference between cultural and educational programs is that ‘cultural’ includes educational elements, while ‘educational’ is just a teaching tool.” Just before leaving Telefe, Simoncini became president of FundaciónCompromiso, an association of not-for-profit companies, a position he held up until the year 2000. Simoncini’s only child, Karin, began her TV career just after college in 1992 at Teleinterior, a content distribution company, and two years later she joined her father at TV Quality. In 2000, she went to work at National Geographic in Washington, D.C., and in 2010 to Australia for FOX Channels. Since 2014, she has been at ZooMoo Networks as head of Programming. Of those years with her father, Karin remembered, “He was a tough boss, but an inspiring one. What I most admired in him was that he was such a lateral thinker.” Int’l TV Distribution Hall of Fame (Continued from Page 24) Visiting the VideoAge stand at MIP-TV 1991 Simonciniand VideoAge ’sSerafiniinBuenosAireslastSeptember