Convenciones
ATF 2013: there is still a lot of room to grow in Asia
Asia TV Forum 2013 edition has come to an end with a very positive outcome. The executives consulted by Prensario, confirmed that business has been up from last year and there are new ventures everywhere. The attendance was both larger and better, with new TV channels from countries as Laos, Myanmar and Mongolia, more buyers from Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, which seem to be the new aims of content providers.The three-day conference program was highlighted by participants, with special emphasis on the MIPAcademy, held the last market day with seven panels attended by over 100 executives. Virginia Mouseler, CEO at the research company The Wit showed 17 successful formats in the world, such as Rising Star (Keshet) and I can do that (Armoza), both from Israel, Keep your light shining (Global Agency, Turkey), Where are we going dad? (MBC, Korea) and Unbeatable (Endemol Germany), among others.
Rob Clark, director of Global Entertainment Development, FremantleMedia (UK), spoke about the superbrands like Idols, Got Talent and X Factor. ‘The “development” is a stage that never concludes. If we want to create a successful format we need to think on these concepts: it must be transferable (easy to adapt), returnable (recover the investment) and scalable (reach as much territories as possible). We truly believe that Asia will be the next big protagonist in the format business (after the US market in the ’50-’80 and Europe ’90-’00)’.
Michael McKay, president, activeTV (Australia) showed some successful examples about how to finance projects by using the strength of social networks, second screen and branded content, the “game-changers”, as it was called its conference. Ben Hall, MD, Chalkboard TV (UK) said the worldwide format business is worth of USD 3 billion and that UK is the leading market (with 35% of the share), followed by USA and Holland.
‘For producers, it has never been so difficult to have a show on air. In the UK we are not more creative, but there is an impulse to take the risk. There is less fear to create and the industry promotes creativity: the broadcasters only take 15% of the revenues of a show, while producers receive the biggest part. This is pretty different from what happens in the world, where the broadcasters own the biggest portion (almost 50%)’, he stated.
The last panel of the day was Dealmaking & Distribution. Ann Christin Siljan, from NordicWorld (Norway) said: ‘Format business is based on trust and expectations’, while Michele Rodrigue, from The Format People (Canada), completed: ‘The format needs a structure (bible), it can’t be improvised’.
Regarding new ventures, Malaysia is preparing itself for the analogue switch off in 2018. Dato Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi, chairman of the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), explained to Prensario: ‘We will have an exciting media scenario in a couple of years with the launch of new digital free-to-air channels. There is an enormous interest of Malaysian companies to receive a license to operate a TV station’.
Something similar is happening in South Africa. An important agent from that country that attended ATF (with an important staff) remarked to Prensario: ‘Right now, we are buying not only for the existing channels, but also for the new FTA digital networks that are coming. In total, there are 17 free TV stations and 20 pay TV channels in our country. The market is mutating really fast and we need to be prepared for their content needs’.
Other picture shows Indonesia. The local currency, the Rupiah, has turned 20% down from US Dollars, affecting the strong local free TV market. ‘Instead of buying international content, which has become expensive, the broadcasters are producing more on their own, opening opportunities for low cost mainly regional formats’, commented a local distributor of the country.
Undoubtedly, the global content business must pay a lot of attention on Asia nowadays.
Fabricio Ferrara