Videoage International January 2021

I N T E R N A T I O N A L www.V i deoAge.org THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, BROADBAND, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION January 2021 - VOL. 41 NO. 1 - $9.75 (Continued on Page 22) N ATPE Miami is the first TV trade show of 2021, and as such encourages those in the TV biz to mull over several issues that will surely affect future TV markets, especially in a new year that is rife with uncertainty. The first consideration is that many companies are tired of the ple- thora of virtual markets that they’ve been invited to “attend.” As one Turkish TV distributor bluntly put it: “We have stopped participating at virtual markets.” On the other hand, as all of the execs interviewed for the main story in VideoAge ’s December issue indicated, NATPE Virtual “is all we’ve got, and we’ll make the best of it.” Hollywood’s Exodus Put Tribes at JobCrossroads My 2¢: The verdict is in. The “old” way is way better YouTube executive tells the story of the platform’s success Greece increases film-TV production cash rebates U.S. TV ad revenues are expected to rebound in 2021 Page 26 Page 12 Page 8 Page 6 T he major U.S. studios have been reducing headcount since May 2020, when the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic became evident. Warner- Media announced a 20 percent reduction in payroll. NBCUniversal and Discovery are now planning or implementing similar cuts. Lionsgate announced a 15 percent reduction in force. Partially to reduce headcount, Sony is com- bining several divisions, and Fox may well be closing some divisions. Disney’s production team is also announcing layoffs, separate and apart from its theme park layoffs. In late November, AMC Networks laid off 10 percent of its workforce. Over La Tormenta Perfecta en TV de Argentina (Continued on Page 20) NATPE Miami Preview: The Indies to the Rescue C ompletamente a contramano de lo que sucede en los prin- cipales mercados audiovi- suales del mundo, en Argentina, el gobierno del presidente Alber- to Fernández ha cerrado 2020 ahondando las políticas inter- vencionistas en el sector de las te- lecomunicaciones, con un impacto directo sobre la industria de la (Continued on Page 18) Then again, the pandemic made many TV content distribu- tors realize that business was still conducted without the help of physical markets this year, meaning that they are perhaps not needed in the future. At least not as many as there were in the past. Another school of thought is