Video Age International October 2015

8 World October 2015 V I D E O A G E STAND R7. K17 SEPTEMBER.2015 JUNIOR PAGE _ 7.284”x 9.055” VIDEO AGE The Best in Factual Programming www.grbtv.com • sales @ grbtv.com 6 x 60 13 x 30 4 x 60 8 x 30 (Continued on Page 10) (Continued from Page 6) Woes For ITV In-House Content T he U.K.’s ITV epitomizes the plight of today’s major media companies: making more money while their audience shrinks. ITV ratings are expected to further decline in 2016. Next year, the network will no longer have Downton Abbey , its most popular drama, or the ratings juggernaut Champions League football, which is going to BT. The broadcaster’s audience share fell four percent to 21.1 percent, its lowest in 15 years. Some of the biggest flops were programs produced in-house. About 60 percent of ITV’s programs arenowmade in-house by ITV Studios. At ITV, in-house production has traditionally had peaks (like in 2005 when it supplied 66 percent) and valleys (in 2009, it fell to 47 percent). Recently, U.S. subsidiary ITV Studios America had its own turmoil, with the exit of company presidents Paul Buccieri and Orly Adelson. However, since last August, ITV’s stock price was up three percent, while the group went on a £ 1.4 billion (U.S.$ 2.2 billion) buying spree. Since 2012, ITV has made 14 acquisitions, ranging from £100 million ($155 million) for 75 percent of Mammoth Screen (ITV already owned the rest), to £280 million ($434 million)) for Twofour, and £781 million ($1.2 billion) for Talpa Media. It is possible that ITV’s stock price increase is due to a potential acquisition by Liberty Media or Comcast. ITV ad sales also improved, increasing by five percent in the first six months of this year and were expected to rise to six percent by September, even though its market share has declined. N owadays, executives in the international entertainment industry may not only get agita from reading Dom Serafini’s “My2¢” editorials in VideoAge Monthly and VideoAge Daily, but they can also listen to them on Amazon’s audiobooks: Words of Wisdom: My 2¢ on the Television Biz ( www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/words-of-wisdom-my-2-on-the- television-biz/233915). Serafini is the editor of both publications. Out of 630 editorials published over the course of VideoAge ’s 34 years, Serafini has selected 33 for the audiobook. In his previous collection, he selected 180 “My2¢” editorials, which is available on Amazon as a print book, My 2¢ of Television Biz Wisdom. The audiobook, like its printed counterpart, is described as “comments, reports and analysis covering every aspect of the U.S. and international entertainment business.” The duration of the audiobook is four hours and 21 minutes, and is divided into seven chapters with topics that range in length from four minutes (“The Golden Globes”) to 18 minutes (“The Economy of the U.S. Studios”). This collection of “My 2¢” is Serafini’s ninth book and covers entertainment, history, regulations, finance, economics, advertising, piracy, gossip, executives, production, distribution, trade shows, new and old technologies, religion, creativity, various cultures, and printed media. Television experts and laymen alike will find something to be upset about the just 2¢ of common sense. It is intended to stimulate readers and to dispel the notion that television is an arid topic at the bottom of the intellectual totem pole. Words of Wisdom: My 2¢ on the TV Biz , Now in Audio