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Natpe Europe: CEE problems and opportunities, on the same table
Today, June 24, starts the second day of NATPE Europe, and after the US studios screenings are finished, the independents expect to see more buyers at Hilton Hotel. Though most of the distributors have complained about the major screenings the first market day, they have coordinated a good quantity of meetings. And the second day promises to be better, they agree.Regarding the exhibiting spaces, most of the sellers are in the market floor and meeting tables this year, while about 20 of them continue on first floor suites, and some Hollywood studios stay on the 8th-floor suites. Key distributors have moved to the market floor, arguing that suite corridors are ‘narrow’ and make difficult to identify companies.
It is also true that there is a lower traffic of attendees at the first floor suites. ‘In Budapest it was easier to find someone, as from the lobby you were able to localize people in the floors because of the format of the hotel. Here, it seems to be two different markets with no connection. Maybe next year we will move to floor’, remarks an important distributor from Europe.
Yesterday, there were two major screenings: CBS in the morning and NBCUniversal in the afternoon. Though both events have covered all the day, some strategic buyers visited the independents. ‘For us, assisting to the screenings closer to our country is easier and cheaper, and allows us to watch much more content. Nevertheless, the same day we visit some companies at the Hilton’, says a Croatian buyer.
As it happened last May Screenings in LA, buyers consulted by Prensario agreed that from CBS the two top shows were the drama Zoo, ‘very suitable for our audience’, said a leading broadcaster from Czech Republic, and the comedy Angel from Hell. From NBCUniversal, the preferred series were the thriller Mr. Robot, the medical series Heartbreaker (the new Grey’s Anatomy) and The last Kingdom (as Game of Thrones).
Does Crisis bring opportunities? Two global distributors confirmed that Russian market is now more open now for ready-made content, as there is less money to produce. The same does happen in Ukraine? A local source explains: ‘Ukrainian TV market is not only affected by the economical situation, also due to politics: Russian content is not allowed, broadcasters cannot plan their annual acquisitions strategies. But at the same time, the country is becoming a hub for format developments’.
Distributors agree. Can Okan, CEO, and Ahmet Ziyalar, managing director, ITV Inter Medya (Turkey) say the main challenge their business is facing are politics. ‘Several political decisions are affecting the industry, mainly in CIS territories but also in Middle East. Piracy is another big problem, especially when it is related to Internet. We are discussing within Turkish industry to create an entity (broadcasters + distributors) to protect these rights and face the problem, not only local but also internationally’.
Trends? According to a survey by Milward Brown for APA, the Czech producer association, released by NATPE, almost half of the inhabitants (46%) in Czech Republic watch audiovisual content on Internet, being movies and TV series the most popular series.
‘But short YouTube videos and online TV Sream.cz also play a major role. Viewers only search 15% of movies and TV series on specific TV channels websites, and 13% of them access to content through paid-video libraries. About 6% of the Czechs regular pay a service, 3% pay often, 30% occasionally and 62% would never pay’, stresses the report.
Fabricio Ferrara, from Prague