Videoage International March 2019

3 March 2019 My 2¢ The nature of the business is such that buyers typically only respond to sellers’ calls or e-mails when they actually know the person. I n the months of March and April, the international TV industry is preparing for an array of trade shows that will take its members to Macau (China), Lille (France), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Las Vegas (U.S.), and Cannes (France again). Many TV industry execs’ appointment calendars for those 61 days will be incredibly dense, driving them to inevitably ask: “Are all of these events really necessary”? And the answer, most definitely, is yes. For TV trade publications, it would probably be a better ROI if there were a stronger MIP-TV (or other large market) rather than a host of smaller events. This is because many distribution companies don’t allocate marketing money for events with fewer than 30 meetings each. But for content sellers, small markets save them, if not money, at least time. If those content sellers were to have to visit the number of buyers in their offices around the globe that they’re able to meet at the five aforementioned markets, it would take the better part of a year to travel to all of them. Plus, the nature of the business is such that buyers typically only respond to sellers’ calls or e-mails when they actually know the person. That’s why getting acquainted at these markets is so important. In this digital Issue, we chose to concentrate on reviewing the most important of these events: Series Mania in Lille, NAB in Las Vegas, and MIP-TV in Cannes. Combined, they will gather over 100,000 TV industry participants from every corner of the world, and they there- fore represent content events that cannot be ignored. Each mar- ket and event pre- viewed in this Issue has a purpose and importance on the international scene: Series Mania for its deve- lopment and production values, NAB for its U.S. TV stations’ presence, and MIP- TV for its buying and selling element. Obviously, it would be preferable that market dates not overlap (as is the unfor- tunate case of NAB, which will be held April 6-11, and MIP-TV, which will take pla- ce April 8-11), but this is a typical shortcoming of mar- ket organizers — failing to communicate with each other. Dom Serafini Yes, there are many — perhaps too many — TV markets around the world (with more still to come), and yet participants can find something useful in all of them. So long as they find the right ROI, in terms of money and time, that is. “My constituents want me to start a commission on why so many TV trade shows are held at the same time.” MAIN OFFICES 216 EAST 75TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10021 TEL: (212) 288-3933 FAX: (212) 288-3424 WWW.VIDEOAGE.ORG WWW.VIDEOAGELATINO.COM WWW.VIDEOAGE.IT P.O. BOX 25282 LOS ANGELES, CA 90025 VIALE ABRUZZI 30 20123 MILAN, ITALY EDITOR- in -CHIEF DOM SERAFINI EDITORIAL TEAM ISME BENNIE (CANADA) ENZO CHIARULLO (ITALY) CARLOS GUROVICH LEAH HOCHBAUM ROSNER SUSAN HORNIK GLENN HOULIHAN AKIKO KOBAYACHI (JAPAN) LUIS POLANCO MARIA ZUPPELLO (BRAZIL) PUBLISHER MONICA GORGHETTO BUSINESS OFFICE LEN FINKEL LEGAL OFFICE STEVE SCHIFFMAN WEB MANAGER BRUNO MARRACINO DESIGN / LAYOUT CLAUDIO MATTIONI, CARMINE RASPAOLO