Videoage International October 2017

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 October 2017 - VOL. 37 NO. 5 - $9.75 T he Cable TV industry, particularly in the U.S., has so many challenges that only a few can be listed in this report in order to avoid making the story too pedantic. However, Rocco B. Commisso (pictured on the right), an Italian immigrant who built from scratchMediacomCommunications, America’s fifth-largest cable TV operator, sees only opportunities. Since celebrating Mediacom’s 20 th anniversary last year, Commisso has been a regular fixture in many 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’s den,” by being featured in VideoAge , a magazine seen as representing the interests of content suppliers, a sector with which he’s often at odds. “You have misconceptions about cable; we’re not a monopoly [satellite television represents more of a competition in rural areas where Mediacom operates, than in metropolitan areas] and we’re the only industry that makes house calls Fifth-Largest U.S. MSO Monetizes Competition (Continued on Page 20) My2¢: Markets, give us a break. 20 events in two months are too much! Claude S. Perrier: Int’l TV Distribution Hall of Fame honoree Italy’s broadcasting resurgence. New TV channels crowd the air The L.A. Screenings dominate MIPCOM with 500 new series Page 62 Page 56 Page 40 Page 34 F or Canadians, their own Upfronts in Toronto start after they return from the L.A. Screenings. Canadians need to be at the Screenings in California since many hot shows are bought and sold outside of small output protections. At the L.A. Screenings this year there were the three main Canadian buying groups, plus a smaller indie group lead by Channel The Complex World of Canada’s TVUpfronts (Continued on Page 52) (Continued on Page 42, 44 and 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 supply most of the kids’ TV content worldwide. Yet, new children’s TV channels continue to spring up (just recently, one was launched in Italy from Sony Pictures and two in Canada from Rogers). In this edition, VideoAge tackles these issues from the viewpoints of producers, distributors and a broadcaster. Considering the imposed limitations and restrictions, one wonders how the sector continues to prosper. Kids’ TV to the World Against All Odds