Natpe Budapest 2017: the need to grow, together

For US major Screenings, an average of 80 buyers is estimated, almost 15-20% more than in 2015 and 2016 (60-65 buyers). But even with this growth, the independent distributors managed to be at the spotlight. Considering Natpe itself, three types of buyers can be identified: those who can’t assist to the LA Screenings and take advantage of the opportunity to approach the presentations of the studios, those who attended in May to Los Angeles, and finally, those looking for a differential product that can only be found in Budapest, and which represent about 50% of the total.

This trend is related to what Prensario showed on previous reports; audiences want more and more local content, and each country is a market on its own. But this combo not only affects the programming strategies, but also has a direct impact on one of the main global trends worldwide: coproductions.

Unlike Western Europe -which is launching for first time Conecta Fiction (Spain), focused in coproductions between Europe and Latin America-, this business model seems to be an ‘issue’ for CEE. ‘It’s very difficult to find the right partner in the region. Companies want just to receive the money and create the content by their own without having faith on its partner and this model never goes far’, explains Johnathan Young, VP original programming, HBO Europe.

According Kateryna Vyshnevska, Film.UA (Ukraine), there’s also a “problem of windows”: ‘For broadcasters, budgets are very low to coproduce with big markets like US, and Pay TV and OTT services are focused on a very different type of audience’, highlights.

Regarding original content in general, there’re some issues too: ‘Companies are afraid to invest and take risks. They prefer to be trend followers than trend setters’, say one programming executive. Adds Michaela Sabolcakova, RTVS (Slovak): ‘Original dramas are high-rating but they’re very expensive. Local production is increasing, but the most significant portion of the regions slot is covered by acquired formats’. 

But for most of the players consulted, this process is necessary in order to exploit the possibilities that new platforms gives to the region. According a report of Digital TV, SVOD subscribers in Central and Eastern Europe have grown by about 2.25 million in 2016 to a total of 5.58 million subscribers, with Russia leading the market with 44% of the region’s SVOD subscribers. Almost 12 different platforms where launched in the country, while Poland launched ShowMax, which is investing strongly in local content; and in Slovenia, where the size of the VOD market is still small with just a 7% of household penetration, companies like Pro Plus are betting on the digital windows with services like Voyo.

Rodrigo Cantisano, from Budapest