MIPTV 2014: content business goes up

Content business is so active now, with so many new players emerging worldwide, that the market is good for sure. And this time Reed Midem has made an effort to make MIPTV attractive, with many events, etc. A big amount of announcements are being made, especially about TV production meeting digital, and vice versa.

According to Reed Midem, this year MIPDoc and MIPFormats together joined 1,535 delegates last weekend. Last year, they were 1200 together, so it'd mean a 25% up this year. Figures accepted or not, the trend is very positive. The European countries in crisis are recovering themselves, MENA is booming, Asia Pacific has many new players going international and Latin America has had unusual newcomers this year. 

Some of the announcements held: UK Channel 4 and Xbox Entertainment Studios' partner Kudos joined to produce TV series Humans, with simultaneous 2015 release in free TV UK and online in USA. Red Arrow (Germany) and online titan Amazon joined to produce in America Bosch, Hollywood appealed thrilling TV series, with Titus Welliver. They are both good examples of the new times. 

Latin distributors Cisneros Media (USA) and Azteca (Mexico) joined with AfricaXP (South Africa) to launch in Africa Romanza+, a 24 hours TV channel focused on telenovelas and Latin series, doubled to English language. It is the first time this takes place. AfricaXP manages now 5 channels in Africa, where there are 500 broadcasters in 56 territories. 

FremantleMedia's Got talent entered Guinness world record book as the world's most successful TV format ever, with 59 different versions. FremantleMedia and online producer Vice Media announced Munchies, a new multiplatform food channel for millenials (up to 34 years old) target. Malaysian FINAS announced the opening of Pinewood Iskandar production hub, investing USD 120 million.

With an investment of USD 6 million, six top production companies in China have launched yunjuchang.com, a website with 10,000 drama series episodes, where 1,000 are brand new. They are uploaded one month before they go to TV. Mediaset Italy is launching in May Mediaset Telenovelas, a new TV channel about the Latin American genre.

ProMexico confirmed a growth in the attendance of Mexican companies of 300%: 37 and 95 executives. ‘For MIPCOM, where we will be “Country of Honour”, we expect over 50 small and medium-sized companies’, says Alejandro Delgado Ayala, head of support unit and public relations at ProMexico. There are 1,500 production companies in the country, where the audiovisual industry represents 3% of the total GDP and employs 30,000 people. 

European recovery? Hugo Andrade, programming director, RTP Portugal: ‘Slowly, we are going out the crisis: the three big groups (SIC, TVI and RTP) are requesting one channel license extra each, to the Government. We are all producing a lot: 2 big shows per week’. Tibor Forizs, head of programming RTL Klub Hungary: 'Our market has a light recovery for the first time this year in ad investments. It is a first step. About genres, though, there is a trend to turn free TV channels more similar to cable ones this season, with access prime time programming till news. It is dangerous, free TV must make a difference'.

Global evolution? Broadcasters as GMA The Philippines and Saudi Broadcasting Corp. (Saudi Arabia) have booths for the first time this MIPTV. From Latin America this market we have buyers as Univision (Hispanic USA) OPMA (public station, Mexico) GVT (pay TV operator) and Curta! (pay TV channel) both from Brazil, among others that surprise sellers.

Fresh formats? Newen (France) has introduced at the show the game show Run & Buzz. Xavier Pujade-Lauraine, producer: 'We've inspired ourselves in the Lego game: very simple, many times physical, but with unpredictable combinations. And it can be played for all kinds of people, no matter age'.

Nicolás Smirnoff and Fabricio Ferrara

Full Story April 6 | April 7