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Mipcom 2017 outcome: the culture of Twist
Mipcom 2017 has finished yesterday with a clear sensation: many new content business ways are taking shape. At the closing press conference, Reed Midem said that there were 13,900 delegades, including 4,800 buyers, from over 110 countries. This is about 5 percent more from last year. Booth exhibitors were 70 more than last year. Digital buyers already are 1,700 from 460 OTT different platforms. MIPJunior had 1,600 participants, and record 660 buyers.During these days on the daily newsletters, Prensario has been stressing the trendy highlights: What is the main thing? The big entertainment formats have taken again the main European prime times, mainly with physic, fast and shiny-floor games and talent shows. What is the new big news? Big online platforms are starting to buy and produce entertainment formats, promising to change the non scripted business as it is known. New types of shows, specific for on demand, bingewatching consumes must be made.
Fiction? The ‘Big Drama’ fever goes on with more and more players focused on handling original content, through alliances, co-productions or fresh business models. Window schedules are crossed from one end to the other, premium series push Pay TV titans vs. OTTs, and viceversa. In feature films, Netflix opposites Amazon about including Theatrical or not in the exhibition row. Both in scripted and non scripted, there is a culture of twist: to modulate, skip, shorten, avoid business rules or traditions to get new fresh results.
According to Reed Midem, companies with booth for the first time have included China’s Tencent, Huace Film & TV, Awesomeness TV, The Africa Channel, and WME/IMG. Some of the digital platforms present were Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, SFR Play, Virgin Media, HBO Go, Fox Play, China’s Youku, Hulu, Maxdome, Stan and first-time attendees iflix, KKTV, Acorn TV, PlayKids and Showmax, which is extending its African reach into Eastern Europe. Netflix, it is said, will invest up to $8 billion in original content in 2018.
Were there more attending people this year? Many opinions taken, considered the opposite, though everybody agreed business is up. For sure there were less people per company, and more companies. A U.S. producer exposed a good theory: ‘There is a transition between the traditional industry, which is being impacted by the changes, and the digital one, which is still not prepared to bring so many executives to the shows. That’s why we feel that there is less intensity’. Other mentioned that The Palais is now distributed in more pavillions, and so on… business is healthy, the important thing.
During the week we’ve mentioned many alliances and deals. Others: social media company Snap is partnering with NBCUniversal to create a digital content studio focused on original shows, which will debut on the Snapchat platform. NBCUniversal wants to take mobile TV content to the next level, it was said. This partnership brings a new big player to the online market, dominated by Netflix and Amazon. Recently, it was seen the launch of Facebook Watch platform.
Also, Mexico’s TV Azteca and Israel’s Keshet unveiled an agreement to co-produce a new 60-episode, currently untitled series. And LA-based IM Global Television signed a joint venture with France’s Newen to create original content for the international market. Japanese NHK said that the positive reaction to its 8K UHD footage shown at Mipcom has encouraged the company to create more content and take the technology on a European tour in 2018, due to 2018 Winter Olympics.
National Geographic, known for its iconic factual programming, has moved into the scripted content field. Courteney Monroe, CEO, confirmed that the company is working with such high-end Hollywood talent as Ron Howard, Morgan Freeman and Leonardo DiCaprio. ‘Our core business remains factual but scripted made sense as long as the drama is fact-based and authentic’, she said.
What’s next? Dominique Delport, chairman of Vivendi Content, said its Studio+ short-form video service, which was first unveiled at MIPTV 2016, now has 5 million subscribers. He remarked: ‘Content is king, but distribution is queen. We’re living in a world where kings and queens are equal’.
‘Mipcom has confirmed that barriers are tumbling throughout the TV and digital industry. New partnerships are being formed between established television companies and digital platforms. Major groups are embracing change and taking a long-term approach by investing heavily in new content destined for all devices. And there is an increasing acceptance that great content, tailored for different audiences, will be a key to success in the future’, concluded Laurine Garaude, head of TV division at Reed Midem.
Nicolás Smirnoff, Fabricio Ferrara and Rodrigo Cantisano