Videoage International October 2017

I N T E R N A T I O N A L www.VideoAge.org THEBUSINESS JOURNALOF FILM,BROADCASTING,BROADBAND,PRODUCTION,DISTRIBUTION October 2017 -VOL.37NO.5 - $9.75 T he Cable TV industry, particularly in the U.S., has somany challenges thatonly a few can be listed in this report in order to avoidmaking the story too pedantic. However, Rocco B. Commisso (pictured on the right), an Italian immigrantwhobuilt from scratchMediacomCommunications, America’s fifth-largest cable TV operator, seesonlyopportunities. Since celebratingMediacom’s 20 th anniversary last year, Commisso has been a regular fixture inmany sympathetic Italian newspapers, cable TV trades and sports publications. But now is the first time he’s ventured into what he might call the “lion’sden,”bybeing featured in VideoAge , a magazine seen as representing the interests of content suppliers, a sector with whichhe’softenatodds. “You have misconceptions about cable;we’re not amonopoly [satellite television representsmore of a competition in rural areas whereMediacom operates, than in metropolitan areas] and we’re the only industry thatmakeshousecalls Fifth-Largest U.S. MSO Monetizes Competition (Continued onPage 20) My2¢:Markets,giveus abreak.20events in two monthsare toomuch! ClaudeS.Perrier: Int’l TVDistributionHall of Fame honoree Italy’sbroadcasting resurgence.NewTV channelscrowd theair The L.A.Screenings dominateMIPCOM with 500 new series Page62 Page56 Page40 Page34 F or Canadians, their own Upfronts inToronto startafter they return from the L.A. Screenings. Canadians need to be at theScreenings inCalifornia since manyhotshowsareboughtandsold outsideof smalloutputprotections. At the L.A. Screenings this year there were the three main Canadian buying groups, plus a smaller indiegroup leadbyChannel TheComplex WorldofCanada’s TVUpfronts (Continued onPage 52) (Continued onPage 42,44and 46) I t seems that in Europe and in Canada, kids’ TV cannot exist in its current model without assistance from the state, even though these two regions supplymost of the kids’ TV content worldwide. Yet, new children’s TV channels continue to spring up (just recently, onewas launched in Italy from SonyPictures and two in Canada fromRogers). In this edition, VideoAge tackles these issues from the viewpoints of producers, distributors and a broadcaster. Considering the imposed limitationsandrestrictions, one wonders how the sector continues toprosper. Kids’TVtothe WorldAgainst AllOdds 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.) AKIKO KOBAYACHI (JAPAN) DAVID SHORT (AFRICA) MARIA ZUPPELLO (BRAZIL) PUBLISHER MONICA GORGHETTO BUSINESS OFFICE LEN FINKEL LEGAL OFFICE ROBERT ACKERMANN, STEVE SCHIFFMAN WEB MANAGER BRUNO MARRACINO DESIGN / LAYOUT CARMINE RASPAOLO PREPRESS CLAUDIO MATTIONI VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL (ISSN 0278-5013 USPS 601-230) IS PUBLISHED SEVEN 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 This is an official request for the establishment of a “clearing house” for organizers of int’l film, TV trade shows to avoid staging 20 trade events for 83 market days in three months. Page 62 6. World: Greece, U.S., Russia, China, EE.UU. Famous Quotes, Letters 12. Book Review: The political drama surrounding the film High Noon during the U.S.’s blacklist era 24. Lunch with A+E Networks’ Sean Cohan 26. Market Report: At NATPE Budapest the U.S. studios showed their power, buyers responded, indies benefitted 32. LATAM Biz: Argentina’s Jornadas as a TV window in the South Cone 34. L.A. Screenings Review: U.S. FTA upbeat, improving with age 56. Int’l TV Distribution Hall of Fame: Claude S. Perrier, the French anchor to Jules Stein and Lew Wasserman’s MCA 60. Calendar of events and travel news Features Cover Stories The complex world of Canada’s Upfronts Exploring European and Canadian animation Rocco Commisso’s fifth-largest U.S. MSO monetizes competition 14. MIPCOM Preview: Consolidation, peak TV, disruption and the usual villain (Netflix) 40. Italy’s new FTA TV channels crowd the airwaves 42. Children’s TV in Italy. Luca Milano opens up to VideoAge 44. Canadian animation. Telefilm, tax credits, treaties, talent: The four “Ts” of Canada’s triumphs 46. Comedy rules in European children’s TV animation 48. Canada’s TV pioneers: Still going strong News