There is a general opinion heard at the corridors: ‘The mix of the economic situation, the increase of local production and the new media boom is transforming the traditional business models in CEE. The generalist channels are more focused on producing by their own, but the new channels need fresh and ready-made contents’.

So, where is the foreign canned programming going?, Prensario wanted to know. Some distributors agree: ‘Even though the price paid is lower than what free TV stations accept, there is a larger demand from the new media platforms, including DTT stations, VOD, SVOD, Web, Mobile platforms, and the new cable channels’. There is a lot of this happening in Hungary, specially, as well as in Russia, to mention some cases.

RTL Klub will launch its ninth cable channel, RTL II, before the end of 2012; TV2, its main competitor, is mulling over launching a fourth one, after Pro4 and FEM3; and, MTVA released at the beginning of this week its 3D channel, M3D. ‘We have here a solid opportunity. We just have to stop saying that the CEE market is slow and go for the new players’, highlights another distributor.

RTL Televizija (Croatia) is a good example of how the business evolves: more and more broadcasters are launching international departments, while producing many hours per year. ‘We have a strong catalog headed by local prime time series Ruza Vjetrova, scripted reality shows, cooking shows and movies. All is dubbed to Croatian, that’s why our main focus are the former Yugoslavian countries, like Macedonia, Bosnia and Montenegro’, explains Dragana Kos, program acquisitions and sales manager.

Tomaz Krzicnik, head of acquisitions of ProPlus Slovenia, purchases for terrestrial channels ProTV and Kanal A, the six-channel subscription package Pop Non Stop and the SVOD platform Voyo. ‘20% of the Slovenian people receive TV via antenna and cable is strong, as well. Most of them don’t notice from where they are receiving the contents, but we do because the prices to pay are different. Moreover, the pan regional networks sell their contents at a premium, but they have been exhibited on cable several times and when they arrive to free TV, they don't not work as well as expected. It's something we need to solve’.

Svetlana Vassileva, CEO, Nova Television Bulgaria, explains: ‘Competition in our country is really tough, so we have to be careful about our programming strategy. We are looking for big entertainment shows, to be complemented with our strong local drama series’.

In the first daily report we highlighted the strong Asian presence in Budapest. Son Chang Yong, deputy director of Korea Communications Commission, stresses the assistance of eight broadcasters that are looking for new partners in CEE. 'Korean programs are not only popular in Asia, it also happens in Hungary, Romania and Poland’. KCC is holding a showcase in London on June 29th for the main British broadcasters: BBC and ITV, plus Channel 4 and Channel 5.

Fabricio Ferrara

Full Story June 27 | June 26