MIPTV 2011 Quick review

April 2011

MIPTV Daily News Qu i c k Re v i e w

www.miptv.com

Cannes 2011: star names, big deals, and the future of content MIPTV 2011 hosted 11,500 participants, 3,957 companies, 4000 buyers, and 1,548 exhibiting companies

This report gives you a snapshot of the international multi-platform content industry as reflected in activity during MIPTV 2011. Apart from business-as-usual the focus was on formats, documentary, 3DTV, and the technologies that are changing the way we consume content. The Quick Review is written exclusively for MIPTV, MIPDoc, MIPFormats and Connected Creativity delegates, by editor-in-chief Julian Newby and reporters Andy Fry and Gary Smith

World premiere ...

MARKET MOVES TO MASS-MARKET 3D

Akira Shimazu

SONY Corp. reinforced its position at the forefront of 3D technology with its from-thelens-to-the-living-room 3DTV Broadcast Content Experience in the Palais. Sony’s activities right along the 3DTV value chain underscored the industry’s collective desire to grow the 3D market worldwide.

And that growth of the 3DTV market received an unexpected boost with the launch of Nintendo’s 3DS, helping to mainstream the technology. This, along with Sony’s ‘3D-ready’ PS3 technology in millions of homes will contribute towards a move for 3DTV into the mass-market.

Sony Corp.’s Akira Shimazu said movies, sports and nature are the genres currently attracting consumer attention.

While Sony is teaming with rights owners including the All England Tennis Club at Wimbledon, and world soccer body FIFA to develop content, a number of producers are increasingly willing to invest and are seeing a growing list of clients. “A year ago, you could probably count 10 customers around the world. This week I’d estimate between 60 and 70. It’s pretty good growth,” David Pounds of the UK’s Electric Sky said. Mike Lolato of Canada’s Canamedia said: “Next MIPTV 3D will have exploded.”

MIPTV 2011 is driven by star power and the big issues MIPTV hosted 11,500 participants, 3,957 companies, and 1,548 exhibiting companies from 100 countries.

While it was big business as usual on the sales floors, MIPTV’s new Connected Creativity event focused on the the future, as new technologies change the way we produce and consume content.

Leading industry names headlined a packed conference programme , while star power continued to play a significant part in cut-through and branding both for content and for MIPTV itself, drawing media from all over the world.

The presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger promoting A2 Entertainment’s animated series The Governator, stars John Barrowman and Bill Pullman of BBC Worldwide’s Torchwood, Jack O’Connell from All3Media’s Skins, and Eva Green, Joseph Fiennes and Jamie Campbell Bower for GK-tv’s Camelot, also drove deal-making in Cannes.

Camelot was this year’s World Premiere Television Screening at MIPTV, and its stars walked the red carpet for the International Digital Emmy Awards ceremony and Opening Night Party.

The premiere also brought movie producer and head of GK-tv’s parent company GK Films, Graham King (The Tourist, The Departed) to Cannes.

Big international co-productions like

The Governator: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Camelot mean high production values at affordable prices for channels that increasingly need event programming to cut through channel clutter.

“Canal+’s pay-TV business model is based on exclusive and brand-identified content — something shared with HBO, Showtime, Sky and other pay-TV broadcasters around the world,” Canal+’s Rodolphe Belmer said in his keynote speech. “And a strong cultural aspect, which elevates the content above pure entertainment.”

In the Palais, country and umbrella association pavilions from China, Brazil, France, Malaysia, Canada and Spain, plus UK independent producers’ association PACT, proved to be highly effective as des-

tinations for small producers. And the idea is spreading. “The South African Screen Federation (SASF) is hoping to bring 15 companies to MIPTV 2012 to form an African Independents Pavilion,” Shadow Films’ David Forbes said.

Stars of Camelot: Jamie Campbell Bower and Joseph Fiennes

Brands move into the picture BRANDED entertainment and product placement continue to grow in importance for producers, with advertising agencies increasingly pro-active, and increasingly looking for a share in IP. “But business models for branded entertainment must remain flexible,” Colby Gaines of Leftfield Creative warned.

Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide CEO Miles Young gave the Branded Entertainment keynote during which he declared: “In a world where meaning is deficient, brands make meaning.”

The realities behind product placement were also under the microscope.

“Placement is only as good as your

ability to extend that and activate it,” Doug Scott of Ogilvy Entertainment, said. “All of us face the challenge of shrinking and fragmenting audiences, but there are still networks that have not embraced the idea of working with brands, which I consider to be a

Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide’s Miles Young Be sure to visit http://blog.mipworld.com

TRENDS

precarious position to take.”

The inaugural MIPTV Brand Of The Year Award went to American Express.

Accepting the award from Miles Young, Amex’s Marie Devlin said: “By connecting our brands with the events that our customers care most about in music, sport and entertainment, we are giving them a unique perspective on the world through the lens of American Express.”

Amex’s prize-winning branded content includes Unstaged, featuring breakthrough artists, developed in partnership with YouTube and Vevo, My Movie Pitch, The Amex Skybox Report and Next Contenders.

ACTION ON THE THE KIDS FRONT MIPTV 2011 saw brisk trade among kids companies.

Disney acquired FME’s teen drama My Babysitter Is A Vampire for its international channel business, while MTV/Nickelodeon secured Power Rangers Samurai from MarVista, and Kikoriki from Russia’s Riki Group. DQE and Method unveiled a new partnership on Robin Hood: Mischief In Sherwood; DQE also sold a slate of shows to Al Jazeera’s Children’s Channel.

And there was a thirst for live action. MTV Networks International sold Victorious to TF1, RAI and Latin America broadcasters such as Chile’s Megavision and Bolivia’s ATB. “These days kids’ expectations are becoming as sophisticated as adults’, which is … why we’ve also brought three movies — Best Player, Fairly Odd Parents and The Boy Who Cried Werewolf — to this market,” said MTVNI’s Steve Grieder.

Still in live action, Content Television signed a deal with Australia’s national broadcaster ABC TV to provide 50 hours of children’s drama and comedy.

The kids sector also led the coproduction wave, Imira and RAI announcing a live-action version of Lola & Virginia. China’s Studio Chops unveiled a pioneering copro with Canada’s Title on Noga’s Ice Berg.

Industry sees no boundaries to deal-making in Cannes DEAL-making was dynamic and diverse at MIPTV 2011. A growing number of deals with emerging economies, coupled with increased spending power at international thematic channels, brought a real buzz to the Palais trading floor.

Germany’s ZDF Enterprises had a storming market, selling drama, documentary and kids shows to broadcasters across Europe and Asia.

NBC International topped 100 in territory sales for period drama Downton Abbey, while CBS Studios International president Armando Nunez said event mini-series The Borgias is on track to penetrate 200+ territories.

Entertainment One Television made a deal with Fox International Channels in Australia on the zombie series The Walking Dead.

The Walt Disney Company continued to lead the pack in terms of deal innovation. Its German subsidiary used MIPTV to unveil a joint venture with Vodafone for the start of ABC TV On Demand, offering series such as Grey’s

Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Criminal Minds and Scrubs on-demand to German audiences.

The phenomenal interest in cooking and how-to shows continued. One deal among many saw Mark Burnett Inter-

Downton Abbey: sales to over 100 territories

Territories find new trade partners HISTORIC trading boundaries are breaking down. China’s integration into the international trading community was evident as Paravision acquired My Animal Family from Czech firm KM Plus Media and Beijing Orient Henghe TV & Movie sold Three Kingdoms to Morocco’s Medi1 TV. Australia’s Beyond

sold a slate of shows to Thai Public Broadcasting. RTR Russia came to MIPTV with an impressive slate of dramas, documentaries and telenovelas.

Strong interest from buyers in Europe and Asia follows recent deals for RTR’s content, with Discovery International and CCTV China.

Shaking on the deal: Beijing Orient Henghe TV & Movie sells Three Kingdoms to Morocco’s Medi1 TV MarVista and Nickelodeon celebrate

national acquire rights to Canada’s Best Recipe Ever. Fashion and beauty was also a prevalent theme, Passion Distribution pre-selling Go Go Luckey Entertainment’s Pretty Hurts to broadcasters in Australia and Scandinavia.

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DEALS

French distributors had a successful market, making notable inroads into Scandinavia. 100% Distribution presold drama The Line to YLE Finland, and Rive Gauche sold reality TV to Norway and Sweden. Mistral Production reported buyer interest in its popular France 3 format, Paris Tout Compris.

Volume deals were a big trend, as thematic channels sought to fill their 24/7 schedules with lifestyle and reality programming. Germany’s ohm:tv sold a raft of shows to South Africa’s Home Channel, while ITV delivered 150 hours of content to Foxtel in Australia and New Zealand. Alfred Haber’s sale of Ghost Hunters to NBC Universal and AXN, alongside the sale of Firecracker’s My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding to Discovery International and XYZnetworks Australia, pointed to international channels as an important new buying block.

DOC AND FORMAT DEALS DONE • NATIONAL Geographic offered its most expensive production ever, Great Migrations, and sold 20 hours of 3D content into the Polish pay-TV market.

• ZDF Enterprises high-end docs sold well including Hitler’s Lost Battleship (NGC US and NGCI); America Before Columbus (TF1 Histoire); and Secrets In The Dust (History UK, France 5, NHK, Russia’s TV Kultura).

It may be factual, but it still needs a good story THIS year’s MIPDoc attracted 767 participants, a 6% rise on last year. Business was fuelled by two distinct styles of show: the reality-driven approach of shows like Jersey Shore, MasterChef and Undercover Boss; and the more traditional wildlife and historical event productions, popular at MIPTV for decades. And despite the differences between them, Sheryl Crown of The

Documentary Company said both subgenres need to obey the same rules. “To get a show with real market potential produced, you need stories that are universal, however small they seem at the start … and, most of all, great ideas that can travel,” she said, adding: “Any producer needs to aim for a demonstrable 120% return on investment.”

Patricia Boutinard Rouelle of Nilaya

• KBS Korea sold Architect to France and The Amur to Hong Kong and Thailand.

• NHK Enterprises’ distribution team brought 100 new HD titles to the market, many of which were factual shows.

Nilaya Productions’ Patricia Boutinard Rouelle

• FremantleMedia Enterprises’ sale of the Idols format to MBC in the Middle East underlined the growing importance of that region.

• Colombia’s sale of telenovela Betty La Fea to The Middle East, Thailand and Malaysia underlined the global nature of MIPTV’s format business.

• FremantleMedia also reported a slew of sales for its co-venture with Fuji, Total Blackout. It also unveiled a new Fuji/FM JV called Troubleshooter.

• The Japanese have never been more active internationally. Examples included Shine Metronome’s collaboration with Nippon TV on The Shuffle, TBS and Yoshimoto’s new format Serious Fun With Oka, and TV Asahi’s large slate of new and established formats.

Productions identified three significant factual trends in France that have global relevance: “Green docs work because they resonate internationally, docu-dramas are also flourishing, and documentary formats are also growing in popularity.”

Deal-making in Cannes showed there is strong demand for high-end documentary from around the world.

Brazilian producer Grifa will team up with partners in France and Canada on a second series of Extinctions, the first of which sold to 50 countries.

A new co-production model is emerging around independent producers, which are building global franchises with distributors and international thematic channels. At MIPTV Tuvalu Entertainment showcased its 10-part debut production, Innovators That Changed The World. Also at MIPTV, Zodiak Rights pre-sold documentary The 27 Inch Man to lifestyle channel TLC.

Formats: exciting, creative, economical AFTER last year’s successful launch, MIPFormats expanded to a two-day programme.

A keynote was delivered by format guru Dick De Rijk, whose You Deserve It! format broke out internationally with deals in Germany, Italy and the Middle East. He was also presented with the 2011 C21Media/FRAPA Format Awards Gold Medal at MIPFormats.

All3Media CEO Steve Morrison said in his MIPFormats keynote, that hybrid genres like reality soaps are growing fast because they represent content that “excites audiences and marries creativity with economy”.

Scripted and unscripted formats are booming. Endemol sold Big Brother to Five UK, Spanish producer-distributor Veralia licensed Lady Burlesque to France, Talpa sold The Voice to Finland, Dori sold In Treatment to China, and All3Media sold The Cube to Italy, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.

TF1 acquired ITV Studios’ Four Wed-

dings, to be scheduled alongside Endemol’s Million Dollar Drop and FremantleMedia’s Push The Button. TF1 has also had recent success with its own version of DRG’s drama Doc Martin.

While the UK, Netherlands and US dominate the format business, there are signs of change. Aside from the German, Israeli, Spanish and Japan-

ese deals cited, MIPTV saw Tim Crescenti’s influential Small World IFT pick up Thai format The Fan. Thematic channels are important customers. Discovery lifestyle channel TLC picked up DRG’s Don’t Tell The Bride for Poland and Romania. On the eve of the market SPT sold Plain Jane to MTV International.

Format guru Dick De Rijk receives the C21Media/FRAPA Format Awards Gold Medal

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MIPDoc & MIPFormats

CONNECTED IDEAS FILM-MAKER Jon Chu spelt out the current realities of connected creativity: “I love the fact that we’re in an era where you can now release a film and then talk to your audience while they’re watching the movie, then continue that conversation after the movie and find out what they thought about it.”

Before his address, Chu tweeted his 250,000 followers worldwide, whose responses could be seen instantly in the conference room.

Facebook's Christian Hernandez Gallardo spoke of how Facebook Places enables people to check in to "a time and place", and said that broadcasters and producers should "think about having a time and a place around every single episode of your series".

In the session Entertainment Everywhere, Cash In, Cash Out, TF1’s Sylvain Audigier said broadcasters are concerned about connected TV giving consumers access to pirated content — which Google’s Patrick Walker countered, saying: “It’s unavailability that’s causing the problem.”

FremantleMedia’s Claire Tavernier said: “The main danger for television isn’t piracy, it’s apathy. It’s people not caring enough to watch TV.” Author of The Pirate’s Dilemma, Matt Mason, said: “We see piracy as being this problem and this threat, but it’s also an opportunity.”

Cloud drives tectonic shift in distribution of content THE POSSIBILITIES offered by connected digital platforms were a major feature of MIPTV 2011 with the newly inaugurated Experience Hub and the Connected Creativity Forum showcasing future technologies and interactive possibilities.

Connected Creativity at MIPTV drew some 500 participants from around the world, with partners including industry giants Intel, Orange and Vivendi, along with digital entertainment technology firm Rovi and personalisation solutions provider Sidebar.

Research by Ericsson reveals that smartphone owners spend three

quarters of their phone usage time doing things other than voice calls.

Currently there are 600 million mobile broadband users, and by 2015, there will be five billion mobile broadband users. According to Ericsson’s Hans Vestberg, who gave the Connected Creativity keynote: “90% of the earth’s population will have mobile coverage by 2015.”

But smartphones account for a small proportion of the world’s handsets, and Connected Creativity speaker, author and 3G strategy consultant Tomi Ahonen, said that the industry should look at the bigger picture. While there are

Ericsson’s Hans Vestberg

about 100 million iPhones on the planet, that only represents 2% of mobile phone users. “If you develop an iPhone app and you are a media brand, you are deliberately ignoring 98% of your available audience,” he said, adding: “There are 5.2 billion total mobile phone subscriptions globally — versus 1.7 billion TV sets.”

Driving the tectonic shift in content distribution is the cloud, which is bringing down the cost and raising accessibility for people to host applications and services on networks.

It is predicted that 90% of IP traffic will be video, and that within five years, roughly two-thirds of all consumer electronics devices will have some form of connectivity. The TV industry will rapidly start to find new, non-traditional revenue streams when it understands how to target groups.

Currently, though, this trend remains nascent. A survey of 14,000 European consumers revealed most content is not connecting with consumers, only 3% having paid for digital TV shows in the last month, while 14% say they would do so in the future.

Facebook and Google change the game FILM-MAKER and artist Tiffany Shlain, in her Connected Creativity/MIPTV keynote, and screening of her “connected documentary” demonstrated how technology is changing our lives and the way we think. This was reinforced later with findings on the human brain by scientist, writer, broadcaster Baroness Susan Greenfield, during her Connected Creativity keynote.

Nick Thomas of Forrester Research said: “People are interacting with content, and these things are becoming mainstream, and Facebook is blurring the definition of content. It is now one of the top five sites for viewing videos

TV is on to something with its idea of in the US and in Europe.” a television meeting a search engine,” People spend five hours a day watching Thomas said. “And generally, we overTV, but in 2010, 55% of internet users estimate the short-term impact of new spent 2.9 hours a day on Facebook and technology, but under-estimate its 42 million people watch videos on long-term impact. If I come back in 10 Facebook for around 15 minutes a day. years, we can talk about the long term Connected TVs will increasingly link impact of Google TV.” to other devices. Google is reportedly planning to launch around 20 professional content channels on YouTube and spending up to $100m commissioning programmes, as part of a major overhaul designed to take Connected TV in on traditional broadcasters The Experience Hub and cable TV firms. “Google

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Film-maker Jon Chu

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MIPTV: CONNECTED CREATIVITY