VIDEOAGE January 2024 Miami TV Marts 24 Thus far, it seems that the international TV sector hasn’t yet decided which market should or will survive. It is hoped, however, that after the upcoming events the results will reveal a clear path for future editions, but no one knows for sure. Plus, knowing the resourcefulness of the competing market organizers and the importance of both the market, location, and the calendar year, one wouldn’t be surprised if the one that appears to “lose” the first round ends up pulling a rabbit out of a hat for 2025, thus bringing the TV sector back to square one. This is the first time in its history that the international television industry is dealing with a situation in which two competing TV trade shows are held back to back in the same city. In the past, there were times when film market MIFED competed in the same period with other events, first against MIP in April, and later versus MIPCOM in October, but at least those were all held in different cities. The former took place in Milan, Italy, while the latter happened in Cannes, France. The two competing international TV markets taking place in Miami, Florida within 10 days and 2,000 meters of each other are NATPE Global and Content Americas. NATPE is set for January 16-18, 2024, at the InterContinental Miami. Content will follow, taking place January 23-25 at the Hilton Miami. NATPE Global, organized by Brunico, the Toronto, Canada-based publishing and exhibition group that acquired the NATPE brand, runs a total of six TV market-related shows, including NATPE Budapest and the Banff TV Festival. Content Americas is organized by C21, a London, England-based TV trade publishing company that also runs five international TV trade shows. VideoAge, like many other international TV trade publications, has striven to maintain a balanced observer’s outlook to the competing markets, and has left it to the markets’ exhibitors and buyers to play referee. Thus far, reps for each organizing company have been fair to independent TV trades like VideoAge despite a fact that they are direct competitors of their own publications (C21 and Reelscreen, respectively). It is now hoped that such an approach will continue if one of the Miami events proves to be the clear winner. Meanwhile, to set the stage with some preliminary intel, VideoAge has reached out to top executives at both markets to better illustrate their views. Claire Macdonald, the executive director of NATPE Global, has confirmed that while there were talks about combining NATPE Global with the competing Content Americas, ultimately, nothing came to fruition. As for the successful NATPE Budapest that took place in June 2023, Macdonald said she was happy about the recognition that the CEE region gave to the market and that as of November some 60 buyers had already confirmed their participation in the June 2024 event. Macdonald addressed some issues that she found most concerning to NATPE Global, including the January dates (which are very close to the end of the Christmas holidays). She said that NATPE Global simply replicated what the previous NATPE had done for many years, but that the company will evaluate future dates based on participants’ responses. Another issue that Macdonald addressed was the bad feeling left by NATPE in 2022 and 2023 (before the brand was acquired by Brunico), when it first canceled its Miami market virtually overnight, and later canceled another proposed event in the Bahamas. “Our NATPE Budapest recognition and Brunico’s reputation for customer satisfaction and favorable experience will eliminate those feelings”, she said. As for the fact that two competing markets held back to back will take a toll on non-Miami based executives, Macdonald acknowledged that some participants will choose one market, while others will attend both. She noted that companies will find global partners at NATPE Global, while at Content, the focus will be on Latin America. “We already have 625 buyers and more than 80 exhibitors from 63 countries, including Europe and Asia”, she said. “In addition to all major U.S. studios, we have delegations from Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Florida, and a WAWA pavilion.” (The last entry is in regard to the Worldwide Audiovisual Women’s Association.) Similarly, VideoAge had a frank talk with David Jenkinson, the organizer of C21’s Content Americas TV market in Miami. London, England-based Jenkinson is C21’s managing director and the publishing/exhibition group’s majority owner. Jenkinson said that his company didn’t lose its Budapest market to NATPE in June because it was actually a better solution for C21 to move Content Budapest to Warsaw since Poland is a bigger TV market than Hungary. As for Miami, he’s confident that Content Americas will win its own competition with NATPE Global. Why? Because Content Americas staged a very successful market in January 2023 “not to replace NATPE — which went bankrupt — but to fill a void.” The NATPE brand, which came from a former TV association, was subsequently auctioned and acquired by Brunico. “For Content Americas 2024 we already have over 120 exhibitors and 830 buyers”, said Jenkinson, pointing out that for C21, the Miami market became its second largest after Content London, which took place November 28-30, 2023, and attracted 3,000 attendees to London. Meanwhile, the 2024 Miami event is expected to draw 2,000 people — up from the 1,500 participants at the inaugural Content Americas in 2023. C21 organizes five conferences per year in cities like Los Angeles and Toronto, and, added Jenkinson, “all have market components.” As for the question that Jenkinson has been repeatedly asked by TV executives and members of the press alike, the exec was very straightforward: “We approached [NATPE] about combining the two events, but we couldn’t reach an agreement”, he said. (Continued from Cover) The InterContinental Miami is the venue where NATPE Global will take place on January 16-18, 2023. The Hilton Downtown Miami will house Content Americas on January 23-25, 2024. This is the first time in its history that the international television industry is dealing with a situation in which two competing TV trade shows are held back to back in the same city.
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