Convenciones
MIPTV 2013: fresh energy, trends, business deals
How is MIPTV 2013 going? It might be said that it is the best MIPTV considering the last 3 or 4 editions. While at previous years people felt attendance and business going down, this time the positive energy seen at Mipcom 2012, Natpe Miami 2013 and Discop Istanbul 2013 is once again present. Yesterday weve stressed two key pillars: new business angles (new media, branded content) and emergent markets. Now, here come news about fresh trends and elaborated deals.To evaluate MIPTV, you must take care of not comparing it to Mipcom, which is another story. Monday was almost as a Mipcom day about people traffic, Tuesday was quieter and today Wednesday promises to quiet down sensibly, yet almost everybody feels pleased about the business picture. MIPTV is a good show for buyers, especially to check the whole independent community, they say.
Piv Bernth, head of drama/production, Danish Broadcasting Corporation, and Ben Stephenson, controller drama commissioner, BBC (UK) agreed about the appetite for co-productions during a panel. Bernth: 'Our in-house budget is 4% of our total budget, but we have more external financing: we are open to all kinds of projects developments’. Stephenson: ‘The trend for increased co-production comes from two things: first, creative talent's ambition; second, audiences are becoming more au fait with all things worldwide, they don’t mind subtitles’.
Maarten Meijis, Talpa (Holland): ‘Our new big success in the Netherlands is What do I know?, a quiz show with an integrated app for people to play directly from home through the Internet’. Gertjan Van Valen, Absolutely Independent (Holland): ‘Broadcasters now want fresh genres, cost-effective ideas for access prime time. For all of them we have scripted realities availables; they are a 2013 hit with the Dutch people audience’.
Adrien Muselet, RioFilme (Brazil): ‘We are at MIPTV to take productions to Rio de Janeiro, develop tehm for Brazilian pay TV channels. For every US dollar the channel invests, we pay another dollar, up to USD 500,000 per project. It is a great opportunity for co-productions with international companies’.
CCTV-China and ORF Austria have signed a memorandum of understanding to exchange expertise and to co-produce new wild life and nature films. A+E Networks formed a strategic partnership with Canal+, the top pay TV operator in France. It includes the launching of multiple channels in the second half 2013, on the CanalSat platform, a deeper distribution of A+E content through the D8 and D17 channels, and the joint development of new digital opportunities in France.
Televisa (Mexico) signed an exclusive agreement with Selecta Vision (Spain) to manage Televisa’s child and teen properties in Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Greece and Turkey. Miss XV, a teen co-production between Televisa and Nickelodeon Latin America, will be aired on Frisbee Italy, and La CQ, co-production between Televisa and Cartoon Network Latin America, will be on Turner pay TV channels of Spain and Italy.
Rai (Italy) launched a new pay TV channel, Rai World Premium, aired in the US through EchoStar. Piero Corsini, CEO: ‘We are the broadcaster with more TV channels in Europe. Per just 10€ per month, the audience has 14 channels (mostly of them thematic) to choose’. Comarex (Mexico) has announced the distribution of Conectados, a game show format where people participate on real time from the world through webcams.
Online titan Amazon bought content at Natpe Miami earlier this year, now attends MIPTV with an active acquisitions team for its VOD online service. Jason Roppel, VP acquisitions: ‘We are looking for all kinds of TV series, from all possible origins’.
Nicolás Smirnoff and Fabricio Ferrara