Natpe Miami 2013: Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Apple, buying at the content industry

The  appearance at the Natpe of top online and technology players, buying contents to set up new video streaming and VOD services, was the hot business news. Microsoft is preparing Xbox Video Service, a VOD proposal to be played from its video game consoles, tablets and smartphones. Ben Porter, acquisitions manager, attended the show. Amazon is at the first steps of its worldwide VOD service, plans toevolve at a fast from now on. Jason Roppel (at Netflix last year) and Anthony Bay were its digital video acquisitions executives present.

YouTube, from Google, announced during the show it will sell pay TV channels in Latin America to its customer base, at 1 to 5 dollars per channel per month. And Apple’s iTunes has nailed down a deal with Multimusic (Mexico) to develop a special section of video Latin American contents for its electronics sell-through service. Luis Gadea from Multimusic was buying at the show local contents from several Latam countries for the system. Undoubtedly, the time of the global online players has started for the worldwide content business.

Roth Perth, new CEO at Natpe, stressed at the closing press conference the relevance of the new digital media. ‘From the 200 sessions and panels we provided during the show, 41% were devoted on digital media’. And about the show itself, he said: ‘This year we’ve had important fresh energy. The show is getting better and better every year’. Natpe Miami is confirmed for 2014, January 27-29, with the same format of suites + convention center, at the Fontainebleau Hotel.

The event is becoming more international, too. This year the attendance was 45% from the U.S. Hispanic market and Latin America, 15% from Europe and Asia and 40% from the U.S. domestic market. According to Perth, ‘Latin America is the top region for the show, especially at these times when the emergent markets are so important for global content business’.

About 150 suppliers had suites or booths at the market, 15% up from last year. The Latin American distributors of telenovelas and TV series hosted  many of the gatherings and parties; the international arms of broadcasters as U.S. Hispanic Telemundo, Grupo Cisneros (USA and Venezuela) and Brazilian Globo TV kept a high profile. The Latin Americans impressed the buyers with big-budget productions and fresh scripts.

As for Europe, there was good presence from France (it had the biggest national pavilion) Spain (35% up in exhibitors) Turkey and UK, which has had for the first time an independent pavilion. Taiwan, Japan and China have led the Asian participation. As at the Cannes shows, the traditional content sellers now share the arena with new media and ancillary business suppliers: online providers, toy manufacturers, licensing dealers, etc.

How about Natpe Miami for the worldwide buyers? Ricus Jansegers, SVP international programming manager at German ProSiebenSat.1 Group for other European markets, said: ‘This has been my Natpe Miami show, it has turned into a very good market for the Nordic broadcasters, to whom we provide content supply. Many European broadcasters are deciding to attend Miami and perhaps not other big shows of the first part of the year’.

Ruediger Boess, SVP Group Programming Acquisitions of the same German group, added: ‘Regarding product, Elementary is the big TV series that have made the difference in the current content market, and shows what the international broadcasters need. Concerning Natpe Miami, it's a good option for us because we are in mid-season regarding the U.S. TV series, enough separated from LA Screenings, when the upcoming seasons are ready. And Miami is of course more comfortable to us than the U.S. West Coast’.

Nicolás Smirnoff and Fabricio Ferrara

Full Story (in Spanish): Enero 31 | Enero 30 | Enero 29 | Enero 28 | Enero 27