I N T E R N A T I O N A L www.V i deoAge.org © TWIN PEAKS PRODUCTIONS, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. @cbsintltweet www.cbssi.com © 2017 CBS Studios Inc. THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, BROADBAND, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION March/April 2017 - VOL. 37 NO. 2 - $9.75 There are 39 days from the closing of MIP-TV to the openingof theL.A. Screenings. While the development process for the new U.S. TV season started last December in Los Angeles, the advertising market that invests in new and returning content will start in New York City on May 1 with the Newfronts. Some 24 digital content players are expected to pitch Madison Avenue, wrapping up on May 12. The major U.S. TV networks’ announcements, better known as the Upfronts, will then begin in New York City on themorning of Monday, May 15, and finish on the morning of Thursday, May 18, the day Fox starts the Studios’ screenings with its LATAM buyers in Los Angeles. Fox’s salvo means that the indies will start their own LATAM screenings on Tuesday, May 16, and prepare their suites at the InterContinental Hotel the day before. The rest of the schedule will follow its usual pattern, which can be consulted at www.videoageinternational.net/ l-a-screenings-2017/. L.A. Screenings Under The Signs of Rooster, Trump (Continued on Page 26) My2¢: A better mouse trap for TV trade shows to attract buyers, sellers Canadians prepare for meeting buyers at MIP-TV The complex world of video streaming’s various definitions Best and worst TV days of the week around the world Page 34 Page 20 Page 16 Page 8 The U.S Hispanic TV industry can be divided into two eras: BC and AC — Before Carlos and After Carlos (Barba). He created the line “This is Show Business! No Show,NoBusiness,”andwasinvolved with both Telemundo and Univision. Barba was an actor, a broadcaster, a producer, a distributor, and a TV ad sales rep, and he became a pioneer of Internet TV channels, which he still manages at age 82. Carlos Barba In the Int’l TVDistribution Hall of Fame (Story on Page 28) (Continued on Page 24) It’s possible that the past is a foreign place; they do things differently over there! But with MIP-TV once again awarding veteran TV executives with Medals of Honor and VideoAge continuing its Hall of Fame recognition, the past keeps coming to the forefront of the TV industry, and becoming more and more familiar. The four recipients of this year’s Medals of Honor are: Alexander Coridass, president and CEO of Germany’s ZDF Enterprises; Los Angeles-based Roy Price, vice president of Amazon Studios and global head of Prime Video Content; At MIP-TV, The Future is Like It Used To Be
STAND P3.C1 sales.aenetworks.com A New Scr ipted Ser i es f rom Execut i ve Producers DOMINIC MINGHELLA and JEREMY RENNER
MAIN OFFICES 216 EAST 75TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10021 TEL: (212) 288-3933 E-MAIL: admin@videoageinternational.com WWW.VIDEOAGE.ORG WWW.VIDEOAGELATINO.COM WWW.VIDEOAGE.IT P.O. BOX 25282 LOS ANGELES, CA 90025 VIALE ABRUZZI 30 20123 MILAN, ITALY YUKARI MEDIA YMI BLDG. 3-3-4, UCHIHIRANOMACHI CHUO-KU, OSAKA JAPAN TEL: (816) 4790-2222 EDITOR DOM SERAFINI EDITORIAL TEAM SHERIF AWAD (MIDDLE EAST) ISME BENNIE (CANADA) ENZO CHIARULLO (ITALY) LUCY COHEN BLATTER LUIS POLANCO CARLOS GUROVICH LEAH HOCHBAUM ROSNER SUSAN HORNIK (L.A.) BOB JENKINS (U.K.) AKIKO KOBAYACHI (JAPAN) DAVID SHORT (AFRICA) MARIA ZUPPELLO (BRAZIL) PUBLISHER MONICA GORGHETTO BUSINESS OFFICE LEN FINKEL LEGAL OFFICE ROBERT ACKERMANN, STEVE SCHIFFMAN WEBMANAGER BRUNO MARRACINO DESIGN/LAYOUT CARMINE RASPAOLO PREPRESS CLAUDIO MATTIONI VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL (ISSN 0278-5013 USPS 601-230) IS PUBLISHEDSEVEN TIMES A YEAR: JANUARY, MARCH/APRIL, MAY, JUNE, JULY, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER/DECEMBER. PLUS DAILIES BY TV TRADE MEDIA, INC. © TV TRADE MEDIA INC. 2017. THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT IN THE U.S., U.K., AND ALL COUNTRIES SIGNATORY TO THE BERNE CONVENTIO AND THE PAN-AMERICAN CONVENTION. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL, 216 EAST 75TH STREET, SUITE PW, NEW YORK, NY 10021, U.S.A. PURSUANT TO THE U.S. COPYRIGHTS ACT OF 1976, THE RIGHTS OF ALL CONTENT DONE ON ASSIGNMENT FOR ALL VIDEOAGE PUBLICATIONS ARE HELD BY THE PUBLISHER OF VIDEOAGE, WHICH COMMISSIONED THEM News 12. NATPE Review: Fighting “badgeless” people, bringing music to the table 14. LATAM sports at SPORTELAmerica: Sales, copyrights and technology challenes addressed in Miami 16. Streaming: IPTV Does Not Mean Internet Television Building on the successful and innovating formula of MIP Cancun, advice for similar, smaller TV markets and for small indies attending larger markets. Page 34 4. World: Print is alive and well with millennials. Trump card played in Poland’s new TV rules. U.S. airlines compete to give you less. Best and worst TV days of the week around the world. 10. Book Review. Analog is getting its revenge: zeroto-one 20. Territories: Canada at TV Markets. TV trade shows attendance might vary, but they’re still essential for business 32. Calendar of events and how to beat U.S. airlines’ anti-consumer sanctioned attitude Features Cover Stories L.A. Screenings under the signs of the Red Fire Rooster and Trump Int’l TV Distribution Hall of Fame: Carlos Barba elevated show business to an art form At MIP-TV the future is like it used to be, but more of the same is no longer the same
4 World March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E Print Alive, Well With Millennials Contrary to some opinions, print media is alive with almost 170 million Americans. In fact, a recent Nielsen Scarborough study found that more than 169 million adults in the U.S. read a newspaper every month — whether in print or digital form. In total, newspapers reach 69 percent of the U.S. population in a given month. According to the study, 81 percent of monthly newspaper readers engage with the print product, with 51 percent reading print exclusively. The remaining 49 percent read a newspaper on at least one digital platform, with 30 percent reading both digital and print. Compared to previous decades, youngerreadersnowaccountfora greater percentage of newspaper readers. Notably, millennials ages 21-34 make up 25 percent of the U.S. population and, now, represent 24 percent of the total monthly newspaper readership. Newspaper readers are educatedandaffluent, and, today, their ages are more reflective of the general population than they have been in the past. For example, 13 percent of the U.S. population is 70 or older, and this age group now accounts for 15 percent of the total monthly newspaper audience. Readers, whether in print or digital, are still more likely than non-readers to be college graduates and have annual household incomes over $100,000. Over the past decade, misconceptions about print media have resulted in a loss of confidence from agencies, marketers,andevenresearchers. But based on the recent Nielsen Scarborough survey, it’s clear that newspapers remain a thriving and viable medium, and they continue to engage a larger portion of younger, affluent readers. International TV executives who plan to travel within the U.S. should be aware that Chuck Schumer, a U.S. Senator from New York, called the U.S. airlines’ new restrictions, “one of the most restrictive policies on airline passengers we have seen in a long time.” And, as CBS News explained, “They compete to give you less.” Due to deregulations, U.S. airlines are exempt from any control, and are abusing their privileges like never before. In effect, they’re creating five classes of passengers, reminiscent of the transatlantic ships in the early 1900s. For example: United Airlines offers “basic economy” fares, which will not notify passengers of their assigned seat until the day of departure. These passengers will be among the last to board, and will not be allowed to use overhead bins (their small carry-on items will have to fit under the seat in front of them). Delta Air Lines offers “basic,” “non-basic” and “premium select” for main cabin fares. Only this last option will have up to 38 inches (96 cm) of pitch (the distance between the back of a backrest and the back of the seat in front of a passenger), blankets and pillows; the seat will have a power port and passengers will have priority check-in and boarding. American Airlines offers basic and premium economy classes, too. U.S. Air Travel Deteriorated By Greed (Continued on Page 6) THE DEADLY SIDE OF FAME. WWW.BREAKTHROUGHENTERTAINMENT.COM For meetings please reach out to: katie@breakthroughentertainment.com New for MIPTV 2017 Factual 6 x 60 Minutes Canadian Pavillion: BOOTH #P-1 A.0 All New! 2017
VIDEOAGE Hollywood Studios and InterContinental Hotel May 15th LATAM Issue May 20th Studio Issue
6 World March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E Foreign media companies are not welcome in every corner of the world. Take France, for instance, which is notorious for limiting foreign ownership in the media. Now Poland is about to introduce a similarly restrictive regulation designed to alter its media landscape. The legislation primarily targets Scripps, an American media group that owns local television channel TVN, which is known for bipartisan news coverage. However, nowadays objective reporting can often be synonymous with criticism in Poland, where the current government has made a solid reputation of preferring a rather un-liberal version of democracy. “Control over TVN is crucial since it has a massive viewership and its news channel, TVN24, has a program that stands out as the most independent of the current government,” said Maciej Kisilowski, associate professor of Law and Public Management at Central European University, in Budapest, Hungary. It is speculated that the president of the conservative ruling PiS party (the party that controls both Parliament and government), Jaroslaw Kaczynski (pictured), (Continued from Page 4) Trump Card Played in Poland’s New TV Rules (Continued on Page 8) approached Scripps with an offer to purchase TVN24, its news channel, which could easily be financed by one of numerous state-owned enterprises that the government controls. Reportedly, those talks stalled at a relatively early stage and Scripps denied it had received such an offer. The proposed media law could therefore be viewed as a logical next step in the government’s strategy. Whether the government succeeds in its efforts to take over TVN24 will depend, however, on the reaction of the Trump administration, which might perceive any hostile move as an attack against American business interests, Kisilowski explained. Equally likely, however, the White House could view TVN24 as the Polish representation of the “liberal media,” which Trump famously detests. The other stakeholder interested in the issue will surely be the European Commission. Here, the government can use the example of France and other countries, making a valid argument that Poland needs to develop a high-end Polish creative industry, including media companies, to successfully execute the strategy of escaping the middle-income trap. Yet, according to Kisilowski, the Kaczynski-led government has undermined its argument here by orchestrating a remarkably aggressive takeover of the state-owned TVP broadcaster in early 2016. “The way TVP has been run undertheruleofKaczynski’sparty shows that, in Polish realities, state ownership brings rapid deterioration of the standards of journalistic independence.” Kisilowski doubts that the European Commission will be satisfied with a legal-oriented argument about the potential parallels of the text of Polish and French laws. The Polish political landscape is evenly divided between the governing right wing forces and the left opposition. In a country of 40 million people, this means a large potential TV market. As such, Scripps is expected to fight back. (By Ethan J. Baxter in Budapest) MARCH. 2017 JUNIOR PAGE_ 7.284”x 9.055” VIDEO AGE www.grbtv.com•sales@grbtv.com AD_1 14x60 14x30 1x120 BOO T H R 7. K 1 7
A children's property that'll make you take another look at your toys For more information, contact Cathy Malatesta, President of Lawless Entertainment at +1 (323) 201-2678 or visit www.lawlessent.com
In many countries, for traditional television viewership, the best part of the week is made up of only five days. At the most, it’s six, but Sunday is a TV ratings winner almost worldwide, with the exception of the Philippines and Russia. In a 27-country survey, performed by VideoAge, the most surprising element is represented by the low viewership days, which basically span the entire week, including Wednesday (Italy, Russia, China, and India) and Thursday (Hungary, Poland, Turkey, and Ireland). But the worst of all, for most territories, are Friday and Saturday, with the exception of Israel, UAE, the Philippines, and Malaysia, where Saturday audiences are the highest. Canada: Sunday has the largest average audience of the week, while Friday has the smallest. U.S.: Friday is the lowest rated and Sunday is the highest. Argentina: The largest number of TV viewers is Monday through Friday. The lowest is on Saturday. Sunday is a bit better. Brazil: Saturday has the lowest audiences. The highest are registered on Monday. Colombia: Sunday is the most-watched TV day from6:00 a.m. to 12 midnight, and Saturday the least. For primetime, Monday is the most watched and Saturday is the least. Best, Worst TV Days of The Week Worldwide World March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E 8 Mexico: Sunday is the day of the week when the most people watch TV, and Friday has the fewest viewers. Finland: Monday is the lowest, Sunday the highest. France: Saturday has the lowest audience, Sunday the largest. Germany: Sunday has the highest audience, Saturday, the lowest Greece: Sunday the highest, Monday the lowest. Hungary: The largest number of TV viewers is on Sunday and the lowest is on Thursday. Ireland: Sunday is the most viewed day, and the least is Thursday, closely followed by Tuesday. Italy: The best day is Sunday, the worst is Wednesday. Poland: Best day is Sunday, weakest is Thursday. Portugal: For the weeks without football, Monday is the strongest, Saturday is the weakest. With football, Tuesdays andWednesdays are strongest. Spain: Sunday has the greatest viewership and Friday has the lowest. Turkey: Thursday has the lowest viewership and Sunday the highest in terms of total day. For primetime, Wednesday has the highest and Saturday the lowest. U.K.: The highest viewership is on Sunday and the lowest on Friday. Australia: The most popular viewing night is Sunday, followed by Wednesday. The smallest viewing audience is on Saturday. China: Friday, Saturday and Sunday have the most viewers. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday have fewer viewers. India: Sundays have the highest viewership,Wednesdays the lowest. Japan: Sunday has the largest viewership and Friday has the lowest. Malaysia: There is high viewership on Saturday, low on Tuesday. Philippines: Saturday, highest; Sunday, lowest. Russia: Wednesday has the lowest and Sunday has the highest. Israel: Saturday nights are stronger. On Friday there are the least number of households tuning in. UAE: Saturday has the largest audience and Friday has the smallest. However, toward the end of primetime, the lowest viewership is registered on Monday. (Continued from Page 6) Telephone Toronto: +1-416-417-5465 - Cell: (818) 294 6724 filmonetv@gmail.com - www.Film-One.com C e l e b r a t i n g 2 9 Y e a r s I n P r o d u c t i o n This is a MASH Unit at the frontline of animal rescue, in one of the US most dangerous neighbourhood, The Pet Clinic has a daily variety of clients, some vexing, some hilarious, some arrogant and much often desperate Mis t Pet Clinic of South Central LA 26 x Half Hour The Conspiracy Show withRichard Syrett Who Killed Princess Diana? Who Really Runs theWorld? AreWe Alone in the Universe? Is the Government Hiding the Truth about UFOs and ET’s? 60 x Half Hour Show Aired on Vision TV, Discovery’s Destination America, Foxtel, Amazon, Hulu and many more Star of the TV Show The Diamond Collar, “Discovery Family Channel” for multi episode deal, Former mobster James Guiliani turned his back on a life of crime to dedicate himself to rescuing animals Tough Rescue: Brooklyn (Formerly, Mobster Turns Animal Savior) 30 x 26 min MIP-TV STAND P-1. A-0 View the professional & personal life of Botox Queens Living in Queens NY. You are in for a wild ride, meeting the amazing clients and colorful sta . Blow up Dolls, AKA Botox Queen 26 x Half Hour
10 Book Review March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E By Leah Hochbaum Rosner We live in a digital world surrounded by digital gadgets. We all have them. Lots of them. Items we never knew we needed, but now cannot fathom living without. Smartphones. Tablets. E-Readers. Laptop computers. We watch our favorite shows on four-inch screens that we hold mere inches from our faces instead of viewing them on full-sized television sets that are mere feet away. We check our e-mail every hour. Or every five-minutes. Or all the time. We spend hours choosing the right vacation pictures to post on Facebook instead of actually enjoying our holidays. We spend hours choosing the right Instagram filters for our pics instead of reveling in actual experiences. We read books on Nooks and Kindles and have forgotten how to turn real pages in even the most entertaining of page-turners. Indeed, we’re a digital people living in an increasingly digital world. But journalist David Sax is here to show us how and why all things analog haven’t gone gently into that good night. In his new book, The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter (PublicAffairs, 2016, 282 pgs., $25.99), Sax delves deeply intomany of the items that shouldprobably have become obsolete or gone out of vogue since the advent of the technology that has taken over our homes — most notably, vinyl records and actual paper books — and tried to discern how it is that they have weathered the digital storm and (shockingly) thrived. Are they anomalies? Are they the new new normal? Are they just lucky to be living a (possibly short) second life, yet are still eventually (and obviously) doomed? “The core idea is that digital technology is a transformative force that can deliver vastly more efficient products and services to consumers at a lower cost, and with greater ease, across time and space, in ways that traditional analog industries cannot compete with,” writes Sax. The advent of digital technology “ranks up there with the invention of steam power, electricity, and telecommunications. But it also creates an inherent assumption: that analog economic activity, and its associated work, will gradually be replaced or simply disappear.” This simply isn’t true, Sax asserts, as he valiantly tries to demonstrate that despite a multitude of recent digital innovations, we still reside in a predominantly analog world — one in which human experiences and interactions mean more thanwhatever drivel is currently unspooling on the ever-growing, ever-glowing screen in your hand. That people still crave interpersonal relationships even as they spend more and more time alone with their devices — even amongst friends. That not every job can (or should) be automated. That people might want (and need) to disconnect for a bit each and every day, even if only for a little while. And astonishingly—and happily, I might add—he does manage to prove it. Sax did a heck of a lot of legwork for this book, visiting schools, shops and factories in multiple countries to find the things that he contends are getting their revenge on digital by simply refusing to die. He checked in at the Shinola watch factory in Detroit, Michigan, where watches are (mostly) manufactured in-house and tended to by real humans—not just machines. He stopped by Book Culture, a successful bookstore on New York’s Upper West Side, where people seemed to happily pay full price for books they could get at a discount — with free shipping — on Amazon.com. A place where people purchased real paper books — not something to be read on their Nooks or their Kindles. Why? Sax calls reading a paper book “a vastly superior experience…I couldn’t annotate to the cloud as I read in print, but I could underline, write notes, fold down corners, and never get lost by accidentally tapping the page with my finger.” He called in at the Milan, Italy-based headquarters of Moleskine, a luxury line of notebooks that seem to be all the rage these days — especially amongst hipsters. “For a thoroughly analog object, the Moleskine is one of the iconic tools of our digitally focused century,” Sax writes, noting that he sees them “everywhere.” He popped in on Snakes & Lattes, a board game café in Toronto, Canada that he says is constantly packed despite the fact that “the tables are wobbly, the chairs uncomfortable; there is no Wi-Fi, and the food...well, let’s just say it’s not a draw.” Why then are people so attracted to it? Sax calls it a “mecca of analog fun,” a place where you sit with your friends and enjoy their company. Sure, you can play a game with your pals on your iPhone, but half the fun of tabletop games and card games is actually getting to watch your fellow players bluff poorly, sweat profusely and be the sore losers you always knew they’d be. You simply cannot replicate the experience with any kind of hand-held device—no matter how immersive it might seem. He dropped in onUnitedRecord Pressing, a vinyl pressing plant in Nashville, Tennessee, where 40,000 actual old-school records are produced every single day. Although the advent of the eighttrack, then the cassette tape, then the CD, then MP3 downloads, then iPods should have killed the record industry, it is alive and well and being discovered anew by younger people each day. And the reasons are riveting. “Once music was divorced from any physical object, its supply so vastly exceeded demand that people simply refused to pay for it,” Sax writes. “Suddenly, an album was no longer a desirable object worthy of consumption. All digital music listeners are equal. Acquisition is painless. Taste is irrelevant. It is pointless to boast about your iTunes collection or the quality of your playlists on a streaming service…Meanwhile, the previous disadvantages of vinyl records now became attractive. Records are large and heavy; require money, effort and taste to create and buy and play; and cry out to be thumbed over and examined. Because consumers spend money to acquire them, they gain a genuine sense of ownership over the music, which translates into pride.” While all of these various businesses and their ability to cling to analog are interesting, the most fascinating thing in Revenge is Sax’s assertion that “the digital world values analog more than anyone.” The author visited a slew of digital companies, where one might assume that all things analog were anathema, only to learn that the exact opposite was true. The engineering floor at Yelp, which publishes crowd-sourced reviews of local businesses, is packed to the gillswithwhiteboards — not smartboards — where folks can manually write down their ideas as they come to them. Percolate, a New York-based software company, has banned all digital devices from company meetings because people were pretending to listen to a speaker while instead sitting and texting their friends, and found that meetings have since become shorter and more productive. And scores of workers at Adobe’s San Francisco office stop whatever it is that they’re doing to meditate for 15 minutes a day — every day — in order to stay centered and think just a little more clearly about what it is that’s important in life. “Steve Jobs didn’t let his kids play with the very iPads he created,” writes Sax. And “Evan Williams, who co-created the digital publishing platforms Twitter,Blogger, andMedium, livedina technologyfree house, with a huge library of books.” This, to me, is the real essence of the book. The fact that the very creators of the technology we worship shun it in their own lives. That they knew that unplugging (at least on occasion) is the best way to be. That they understood that the analog world cannot and should not be discounted. Because it’s the world that we live in. However, one thing Sax’s analog mind forgot to retrieve: The fact that, paper, an element of analog storage, has lasted for 22 centuries, while the best digital data storage system or device reportedly has a lifespan estimated at just 100 years. Analog’s Revenge: Companies In The Digital World Still Rely On Low-Tech Devices
12 March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E At NATPE 2017, the 38th edition of the annual market (and the sixth in Miami Beach), the organizers’ two-year fight to eliminate or simply reduce the number of people attending the market without buying a registration badge intensified. ThesofasandcoffeetablesattheFontainebleau’s main rotunda (the market’s headquarters) were nowhere to be found during the day (they returned at night, however) and guards were manning the bar area to prevent people without badges to conduct business. Tables and chairs were also eliminated from the bar at the pool area (another spot where people without badges would sit for hours to meet prospective buyers). However, the “badgeless” meetings moved to the hotel’s indoor and outdoor restaurants instead. The first two days of the market were characteristically busy, with the market floor, and the four suite towers buzzing. And, even though it is, in effect, a two-day market in a three-day event, the last day, Thursday, January 19, saw distributors in the suites still busy with meetings, while on the floor, before closing time at 4 p.m., Champagnewas served, courtesy of NATPE. During a closing press conference, NATPE’s new president and CEO, JP Bommel (it was the first Miami market for him since taking over the non-profit organization), emphasized the conference portion of the event, which was held at the adjacent Eden Roc Hotel, and which had a strong music business focus, considering that Bommel came from years at Reed Midem, specifically running Midem’s music trade show. Previously, the native of France held posts at Sony Music, BMG Entertainment and Capitol/EMI. But he also emphasized the U.S. station groups’ summit, which showcased original content from station groups. Although NATPE has lost most of its U.S. domestic TV focus, some local stations (now represented by station groups) are still participating. Also, NATPE’s main celebration, the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award, remained a domestic event. And, NBCUniversal’s two content sales divisions, for example, hosted a joint party for both NATPE’s domestic and international buyers. Other exceptional parties were hosted by Telemundo Internacional and Viacom. Telemundo Internacional (TI) did it again with lavish screenings, a red carpet and afterparty for over 500guests. It all startedat theEdenRocHotel with a Hollywood-style presentation hosted by TI’s boss Marcos Santana, and continued till the wee hours of the morning at the Fontainebleau’s LIV nightclub, with all TI’s stars also present. Viacom bussed over 400 guests to its studios, just over the Miami Beach causeway, for a lavish party held in a tent (the studio’s soundstages were all occupied by ongoing productions). Hosted by Viacom’s international boss, Pierluigi Gazzolo, the party featured a live performance from Argentinean music sensation Diego Torres, in honor of Viacom’s recent acquisition of Argentina’s terrestrial TV network, Telefe. On the other hand, Disney Media Distribution LatinAmerica held a couple of press conferences to let people knowmore about its original production line-up. Two drama series took center stage: Selena’s Secret (El secreto de Selena), a 13-episode series based on a 1997 book written by Puerto Rican journalist and three-time Emmy winner Maria Celeste Arrarás, about the murdered singer, who was known simply as Selena. Disney DMD-LA also announced the cast of its second drama co-production series, El César, about Mexicanboxing champion JulioCésar Chávez. The winner of six world titles in three weight divisions, Chavez is partnering with Disney MDLA, Mexico’s TV Azteca and Mexican producer BTF Media to produceEl César, a 26-episode drama series about his life and boxing career. AmongthevariouscommentsVideoAgecollected, David Ellender of Sonar Entertainment said that despite the fact that NATPE continues to be “a Latin American market, I’m [pleasantly] surprised at the European buyers that are returning,” pointing specifically to Scandinavia, France and Germany as well as OTT streaming platforms from all over the world. Ellender said he was glad to have made time to attend two sessions on Tuesday, January 17 the opening day of the three-day market — one which featured a representative from Hulu, the other from Amazon — both, he said “were well attended and informative.” Some rumblings on the otherwise impeccable event were heard about the NATPE Welcoming Party, hosted by the City of Miami Beach, which required guests to pay for drinks. In a feature about NATPE, The Miami Herald, Florida’s largest daily, reported that the NATPE convention brought to the Miami area $5.2 million worth of business, up from last year’s $4.7 million. Even though NATPE doesn’t release attendance figures, The Miami Herald estimated over 5,000 participants. During the end-of-market press conference Bommel could not estimate how many “badgeless” executives were in attendance, so it’s hard to know whether NATPE’s crackdown worked. Next year, NATPE Miami (the name it uses to distinguish itself from NATPE Budapest, which is held in June) will once again start the day after the Martin Luther King holiday, Tuesday, January 16. (Lucy Cohen Blatter contributed to the story) Fighting “Badgeless” People, Bringing Music to the Table NATPE Miami Review Viacom International’s president Pierluigi Gazzolo hosting a party at Viacom International Studios in Miami Evander Holyfield, five-time U.S. heavyweight boxing champion with (l. to r.): producer Ron Sperling, Multicom’s Irv Holender, promoter Sal Musumeci Complimentary Champagne was served on the market floor, which housed 81 stands (there were also 60 meeting tables in a separate hall) Telemundo Internacional’s Marcos Santana welcoming over 500 guests at the Eden Roc Hotel The Fontainebleau’s main rotunda without sofas and tables, to discourage meetings without registration
14 March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E SPORTELAmerica was back in Miami at the JW Marriott Marquis hotel, with this year’s impressive theme, “Meet the Elite.” The three-day market and conference, which ran March 14-16, featured an exhibition floor and four panels, covering the sports agency business, distribution rights, VR and OTT technologies. During a pre-market interview with SPORTELAmerica’s vice president, Laurent Puons, and Sportel’s exclusive marketing agent, David Jones, it was announced that after 2018 the event’s spring edition will move to Singapore in recognition of the strength of the Asian market and of China in particular. In Singapore, SPORTELAsia will be held at the Shangri-La Hotel (March 13-15, 2018). It will return to Miami, though, in March 2019. Even though China seems to be in the midst of a buying spree of sports clubs and sports agencies worldwide, Jones doubts that the trend will be long-lasting. “It’s my personal opinion that China doesn’t have the expertise to run such diversified sports groups. What I’ve learned at Sportel is that politics is an integral part of the sports business, and that’s another area in which the Chinese have deficiencies,” he said. At SPORTELAmerica, China was present with only six China-based companies, however the country registered massive participation from Chinese-owned sports powerhouses, such as Infront and MP & Silva. In Miami, Infront Italy was represented by its president and CEO, Luigi De Siervo, who pointed out that his division generates 50 percent of the group’s revenues. To the question of why SPORTELAmerica’s dates aren’t closer to those of NATPE Miami — since both events could take advantage of a large pool of LATAMbuyers in the Florida city—Puons pointed out that buyers for each market are different, and those attending Sportel come not only from Latin America, but also from Europe, to acquire rights for LATAM sports. This edition of SPORTELAmerica included 35 exhibitors from 14 countries, comprised of program producers and distributors, such as Brazil’s Record TV, which was in Miami to showcase worldwide all-rights for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games; football leagues such as Germany’s Bundesliga and Spain’s LaLiga; sports agents like Infront; and federations such as the International Gymnastics. At the NBA stand, Miami Heat basketball player Justise Winslow made an appearance. Also in attendance was LaLiga’s president Javier Tebas, who introduced the Spanish top league’s digital strategy to increase the value of audiovisual rights at a conference. In total, there were over 600 participants, mostly from the U.S. (100 executives). With 68 people, the U.K. contingent was the second largest, followed by Germany with 20 delegates. Among the largest contingents from LATAM, Brazil was represented by 13 executives, and Argentina, with eight. Now in its 10th edition in the Miami area, SPORTELAmerica is organized by the Principality of Monaco. The convention started in 1997 and for four consecutive editions it was held at the Wyndham Hotel in Miami Beach. In 2001, it moved 30 km west to the Doral Golf and Spa Resort. In 2003, the event took a break from Miami, but resumed in 2007 at the Wyndham (renamed Miami Beach Resort). SPORTELAmerica took a one-year break in 2008, and from 2009 to 2015, it was held annually in Asia or in America. Now the event takes place every other year at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami, which is a popular venue, even though the hotel has a serious problem of cellular reception. The 2015 edition featured 689 attendees from 355 companies and 41 countries. Of these participants, 33 percent were buyers. The main SPORTEL event, held annually in Monte Carlo, is in its 27th edition and this year it will be held October 23-26 at the Grimaldi Forum. In addition, a new SPORTEL Summit, designed for decision makers in the sports marketing and media industry, will be held in May 2018 in Miami. Sales, Copyrights and Technology Challenges Addressed in Miami Sports in LATAM Sportel’s VP Laurent Puons, VideoAge’s Dom Serafini, Sportel’s David Jones Record TV’s Edson Pfutzenreiter Mendes, Delmar Andrade WWE’s Emilio Revelo and James McEvoy Infront Italy’s Luigi De Siervo LaLiga’s president Javier Tebas
16 March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E On a technical level, VideoAge considers Netflix a streaming service because it is carried over the Internet using encoded audio and video signals in a container such as MP4 (from a windowing rights perspective it’s SVoD). But, there is abit of confusionwhengeneralizing about streaming TV services. For some U.S. studios, in terms of TV rights, streaming means “replicating a linear live event authenticated through a MVPD” and it cannot be downloaded. As for services like Netflix, they’re considered SVoD rights. Typical examples are HBO Now (SVoD) and HBO Go (streaming). HBONow is a paid streaming service that offers instant and unlimited access to HBO programs and movies. Unlike HBO Go, HBO Now does not require a cable or satellite TV subscription. HBO Now is only available in the U.S. HBO Go is an authenticated SVoD service because it’s only available with a cable subscription or through a cable operator. For Sasha Zivanovic, CEO of Nextologies in Toronto, the definition of streaming “is broad. It’s like defining ‘banking’ in that it can mean many different things,” he said. However, to non-technical people, streaming is like defining bacteria, which each human sends into the air at a rate of 37 million per hour. “There are really two types of streaming,” he explained, “the first is streaming content over an IPTV network, which is defined as a closed network delivery mechanism not touching the Internet. Or, content can be streamed over the Internet and referred to as OTT.” “Many people confuse IPTV as any Internet television. This is not the case,” continued Zivanovic, “If the originating data stream comes from a private IP (Internet Protocol) address that is not registered as a public IP address from the governing bodies that manage IP addressing, it’s safe to say that ‘stream’ is going over a private network and is IPTV. If the originating stream is coming from a public IP address then it is OTT streaming.” He then added: “Another way to differentiate between these two types of streaming is how content is licensed. Content can be licensed based on a closed loop network, or by offering it over the Internet. This seems to be the main confusion when asked what is streaming. Depending on how content is licensed can determine whether this is streaming over the Internet or streaming on a private network (i.e. streaming from a MSO or via their closed network).” But Zivanovic warns: “This is not to be confused with streaming from a MSO that has an ‘application’ that can be used outside the home. These are two different things entirely, solely because of where the originating signal is delivered from.” Then, is the definition of streaming any different from the definition of broadcasting? “In essence,” he said, “broadcasting is streaming and vice versa, but streaming always requires some form of connectivity, and it does not mean Internet.” Zivanovic further explained: “Canada’s Bell Fibe or the U.S.’s Verizon Fios for example, built a physical infrastructure into homes, and all they’ve really done is create a localized network to stream from within their network (a closedloop network). This is not the same as streaming OTT or simply streaming over the Internet. Even though Bell has Netflix on their box, which requires access to the Internet, the box will get the Netflix content from the Internet, but the TV and VoD services are originating from the Bell private network. “The confusion is when people refer to IP delivery. There’s IP delivery that is designed for the broadcast television world. TV companies use a mechanism to transport video from one point to another. There are TV companies that offer broadcast grade delivery using the Internet, this is a type of streaming, but not to be confused with OTT or IPTV,” he said. Zivanovic concluded: “IPTV does not mean Internet television, it can mean delivery of television signals over a private network, but not the Internet, and streaming does not always mean Internet, it can be a private network.” There you have it, clear and simple! IPTV Does Not Mean Internet Television. Streaming Does Not Always Mean Internet Clear & Simple, Not! Sasha Zivanovic, CEO of Nextologies “There are really two types of streaming, the first is streaming content over an IPTV network, which is defined as a closed network delivery mechanism not touching the Internet. Or, content can be streamed over the Internet and referred to as OTT.”
Visit us at Miptv Inter Medya Pavilion C.16.D
20 March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E In the past few decades, communication has changed dramatically between buyers and sellers of TV shows, movies, and new media. Yet, looking at preliminary attendance numbers for MIP 2017 — 11,083 participants — the need for a presence at a trade show has not changed. Some of Canada’s larger program producers and suppliers were asked to weigh in, and were unanimous: Trade shows still provide the most efficient and cost-effective way of accessing the greatest number of clients and prospective buyers. Even in the age of Skype, Apple’s Facetime, and online screening rooms “there is still no substitute for face-to-face meetings and catching up in person,” saidChris Knight, President and CEO of Gusto Worldwide Media, a producer of food and cooking content for both television and digital platforms. Shawn Rosengarten, VP, Distribution at Montreal-based Muse Distribution International, andNatalie Osborne, chief strategy officer, 9 Story Media Group, concurred that trade shows are an essential part of sales efforts and play a major role in international distribution strategy. ForCorusStudio’sRitaCarboneFleury, head of worldwide sales: “They present opportunities to pitch new content, build relationships and stay abreast of content trends and opportunities.” Christina Jennings, CEO and Chairman of Toronto’s Shaftesbury Films, added “During the early stages of project development, markets provide the opportunity to meet with multiple buyers at once, allowing you to gauge the international market’s appetite for the types of shows you are developing. In terms of selling completed product, trade shows are invaluable in getting your content in front of as many decision makers as possible.” Other companies concurred. Attending trade shows is vital to Blue Ant International’s sales and future growth. For Solange Attwood, SVP, Blue Ant International, the emergence of new content platforms means that global rights markets become a great opportunity not only to check in with existing clients, but also to continue to reach out to new ones. “Over the course of the year, each market showcases the launch of our new slate, keeping buyers informed of new acquisitions, pre-sales and co-production opportunities across all content genres,” she said. Donna MacNeil is VP, Marketing and Strategic Development for Marble Media, of which Distribution360, headed by Diane Rankin, is its sales and acquisitions arm. MacNeil finds that the knowledge and buzz that comes with the preparation for attendance at an important trade show is invaluable. And that there are still many buyers that use the key markets for their buying cycles and also as a barometer from which they evaluate programs! The same markets consistently come up in the respondents’ top three: “This year “MIPCOM, MIPTV, and NATPE are the three markets we are investing the greatest resources in,” said Rosengarten, adding that “our strategy can change year to year.” For Shaftesbury, MIP-TV, MIPCOM and Kidscreen are tops: “We specialize in scripted storytelling for all screens – these three markets have proven to be themost useful for us inmoving projects forward,” said Jennings. As a recently launched distributor, Corus is entering its second year of attending trade shows and among its priorities are MIP-TV, MIPCOM and Realscreen. “Through presence at each of these shows we are able to share our content with the worldwide marketplace,” explained Carbone Fleury. AllmarketsarecriticaltoBlueAntInternational’s success, said Attwood, “but MIPCOM, MIPDoc and MIP-TV provide a scale of business, given the large attendance from international buyers. We also pay special attention to Realscreen and ATF as buyers that attend those markets have traditionally enjoyed success with Blue Ant International content and brands.” For Marble Media’s MacNeil, MIPCOM, MIPTV, Kidscreen and Realscreen are tops due to the company’s focus on a broad selection of program categories, primarily kids, family and unscripted titles. 9 Story Media is a creator, producer and distributor of animated and live action content for young audiences. As such, its top markets are MIPJunior/MIPCOM, Kidscreen, andMIP-TV. But added Osborne: “We attend a number of markets during the course of the year, in addition to those, including NATPE, MIFA (The International Animated FilmMarket), Licensing Expo, Cartoon Forum and Asian Television Forum.” In allocating resources, Gusto currently puts more into trade shows but expects to include sales visits over the next few years, too. Per Corus Studio’s Carbone Fleury: “Both are key parts of our overall sales strategy. We are in the business of servicing our global clients and use both trade shows and sales visits to make sure we keep clients aware of the depth and breadth of our programming libraries.” Attwood said Blue Ant’s presence at international trade shows provides a home base not only for its sales team, but also for its premium production partners and adds that sales visits are a key component to its ability to deliver on those fronts. But financial and time allocations can change fromyear to year. Shaftesbury’s Jennings explained that, “it really depends on the kinds of projects on a current slate and the strategy established to best move them forward. Trade shows provide producers and distributors with the opportunity to meet withmultiple distribution platforms, fromkey territories, at once. On the flipside,marketmeetings are often condensed and can be rushed; it’s hard to replicate the quality of meeting you can have on a dedicated sales trip vs. a trade show. There are pros and cons to both strategies.” 9 Story strongly believes that attending markets is not enough. Osborne elaborated: “Our distribution strategy uses them to complement regular, regional sales trips, which can offer the opportunity for more focused meetings. Markets by nature can be costly endeavors. We have a large team, across distribution, development and marketing that attend some of our key markets, which is a considerable investment. Our sales trips are equally important and must work handin-hand with our market strategy.” Marble Media plans each year a bit differently depending on the programs being offered. “The trade shows provide a different kind of marketing opportunity to the sales trips. A trade show is about putting your company’s best foot forward with a key focus on title launches and branding exercises that are about both sales and acquisitions. Dedicated sales trips are more focused and can often close deals that may have been started elsewhere, but they are also about showing commitment to your clients and to getting to know their territory better,” said MacNeil. Do the seminars and conferences at trade shows benefit sales results? Shaftesbury finds, generally speaking, the majority of conferencebased seminars are beneficial as a way to gather market intelligence and get a good feel for what international buyers are looking for. “As both producers and distributors, we sometimes find inspiration and often discover emerging trends at seminars and conferences thus benefiting sales. They can also provide networking opportunities,” said Jennings. For 9 Story, though: “Because markets are such an investment, you need to maximize your time with clients and partners. When we do have the opportunity, we try to attend selective topics that resonate. Kidscreen in particular tends to be a good venue for panels and we typically will try to attend some of the seminars at MIP Junior,” said Osborne. “It’s hard to assess whether these have any impact on our sales results; they generally serve as an opportunity to hear from peers and partners in the industry, which helps inform trends and strategy.” But most sales companies find the sheer volume of meetings they book often precludes attending seminars. However, Corus executives do review the seminars’ linksmade available online through By Isme Bennie TV Trade Shows’ Attendance May Vary, But They’re Still Essential For Business Canada at TV Markets (Continued on Page 22) Rita Carbone Fleury, head of Worldwide Sales, Corus Studio
22 March/April 2017 V I D E O A G E Canada at TV Markets trade show websites after the shows. “This adds a lot of value as it means the market experience extends beyond the actual show days. We can be more reflective on the information shared, putting the leads and opportunities reviewed to use,” explained Carbone Fleury. Blue Ant International executives often participate in seminars and panels at international trade shows throughout the year. “Their participation on various panels offers us a platform to discuss current industry trends with our peers and position ourselves as thought leaders in our areas of expertise. It is also an opportunity to share the lessons and hear the results of other companies and their work. With shifts in consumer viewing habits, it is key to understand the challenges that our clients are facing in order to help them find solutions for their respective businesses to thrive,” said Attwood. Over and above the regular business of buying and selling, in any year a company may have particular objectives that influence its market strategy. At MIP, for instance, said Muse’s Shawn Rosengarten, it will be completing the pre-sales for its miniseries. Blue Ant International is keen to seek additional co-production partners, listen and experiment across new funding models and diversify its slate of genres to sell internationally. 9 Story, for this MIP-TV, has an expanded space in the Riviera section of the Palais: “It will give us a whole host of benefits, including more room for the team and our clients, a greater presence and a private boardroom. Lastly, seven members of our team will be attending and working on their respective objectives,” said Osborne. “Discoverability is always the challenge at any market for Gusto,” said Knight. “We are always looking for new and innovative ways to reach potential customers, in particular, using the most costeffective form of advertising.” Today’s political climate does not seem to be a deterrent to participation. “But one must always remain flexible and ready to respond to issues as they present themselves,” Gusto added. And, within an ever-evolving industry, business issues can arise. For Muse “programming with global appeal across all platforms keeps us insulated from industry fluctuations,” said Rosengarten. 9 Story, Osborne says, also tries to mitigate any risk by acting globally. She finds the emergence of digital platforms has created a great deal of opportunity, particularly for content creators and producers in the kids’ space. “Children and family programming is a major driver of subscription retention for OTT platforms, and as a result has created a tremendous demand for new programming and library content.” These sellers all hope to meet with buyers in the best circumstances. And the buyer’s view is no different: “No matter how seamless the technology is over which we now communicate, the importance of a face-to-face interaction cannot be underestimated,” said DavidKines, president and cofounder of Canada’s Hollywood Suite. “It’s only when we’re sitting across from each other that you can see the nuances, body language and emotions that make up the individual you’re dealing with. Even in a short meeting, you have the time to listen to each other and gain some understanding of each other’s goals and challenges without interruption or distraction (though ameeting on a beach in Cannes can make that challenging!).” (Continued from Page 20) Contact us to explore distribution opportunities. Natalie Osborne, chief strategy officer, 9 Story Media Group
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5