Newsline Report MIPCOM 2019

Newsline Report - MIPCOM 2019

WHO TO FOLLOW

Fernando Rovzar - @ElRovzar - Lemon Films

Fernando Barbosa - @BarbosaBox - The Walt Disney Company

Rosy Ocampo - @RosyOcampo - Televisa

Adriana Cisneros - @cisnerosadriana - Cisneros Media

Jaime Schouela - @jschouela - Blue Ant Media

Paul Robinson - @PaulRobinsonPR - Creative Media Partners

Video Interview to Francisco Ramos - Netflix

Video Interview to Tomás Yankelevich - Turner Latin America

Reed Hastings - CEO, Netflix

“It’s a whole new world starting in November when Apple is set to debut its Apple TV+ subscription service and Disney launches Disney+. A few months later NBCUniversal will debut its Peacock streaming service. And there are still Hulu and Amazon’s Prime Video to compete with. It’ll be tough competition. Direct-toconsumer customers will have a lot of choice.”

DIXIT

in company

VIMN hired ITV international exec Maria Kyriacou as President across the UK and Northern and Eastern Europe, with the overview of all its media networks and related businesses.

A+E Networks has named Steve MacDonald President, Global Content Licensing & International, it was announced today by Paul Buccieri, President, A+E Networks Group, to whom he will report.

Hirsch upped to lead Starz to president and CEO of the company. Hirsch joined Starz in 2015 as president of global marketing and product development, before being promoted to the role of chief operating officer in 2016.

Blue Ant Media continues to shore up its North American presence with the appointment of Laura Michalchyshyn to Chief Creative Officer and Co-President, Content Production, Blue Ant Studios.

360 Powwow announced that Adrián Santucho joined the company as Chief Creative Officer. The executive was part of Fremantle and Univision Studios teams, and now will be focus on the leadership of creative teams.

Sony Motion Pictures Group Chairman Tom Rothman informed Josh Greenstein and Sanford Panitch were named to the new shared position of President Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group.

BBC Studios Production appointed Tom McDonald as Head of Factual, reporting to Ralph Lee, Head of Content. McDonald will be responsible of the factual strategy, leading creative teams and increasing the portfolio.

BBC Studios named Karina Dolgiej as Vicepresident of Content Sales reporting to the Vicepresident Senior & General Manager, Latin America and USH James Wilbore, Dolgiej came from Armoza Formats and Keshet.

José Luis Gascue left his position of VP Sales, Latin America at 20th Century Fox, after 11 years in the company and in the middle of the reestructuration as a result of the merge with Disney.

Maria Arroyo joins Red Arrow Studios International as Senior Sales Manager for Italy and Iberia. Also, the executive will handle the operations in Turkey and Israel; and will report to Tim Gerhartz, SVP Global Sales.

HBO Max has solidified its executive structure ahead of the spring 2020 launch of its direct-to-consumer video offering. The team will be headed by Otter Media CEO Tony Goncalves.

Comcast CEO touts NBCUniversal’s Peacock as AVOD service

Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts touted NBC Universal’s upcoming OTT platform Peacock as mainly an ad-supported, direct-to-consumer offering (AVOD). The OTT launch is scheduled for April 2020. During the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference in New York City, he said NBCUniversal’s Peacock would be offered to Comcast’s existing customers for free, especially in the traditional cable TV space, in part to retain their loyalty in a cord-cutting era. Consumers who do not want ads or who have no Comcast subscription will be able to pay for the service. “If you do that, advertising with a light ad load, with the premium content that will be on this network, this will be unlike any advertising inventory available,” Roberts told the investors conference. He added that advanced advertising will be key to Peacock as a direct-to-consumer offering set to battle Netflix, Disney, Apple and WarnerMedia in the streaming space.

NENT Group has new organization and operating model

Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), the Nordic region’s leading streaming company, moved to a new operating model from 1 October. The new set-up is based on specialities that operate across the Group in areas such as people, sales, content, marketing and technology. This will lead to a smaller, more focused, more integrated and more operational Group Executive Management team of eight leaders. NENT Studios, the company’s production business comprising 32 companies across 17 countries, will be split into three units covering the Nordic region and central and eastern Europe, the UK and the US. The new structure will enable NENT Group to take decisions faster, work smarter, simplify areas of responsibility, and ensure even better strategic alignment across the business. It will also create skills hubs where talented employees can develop and grow.

WarnerMedia Names New Heads of Distribution

WarnerMedia has named veteran executives Sofia Chang and Rich Warren to lead the company’s distribution business. The two will have the title of president, WarnerMedia Distribution and oversee distribution for all Turner channels, HBO, Cinemax and the forthcoming HBO Max streaming platform, bringing together what had been two separate units. They’ll report to Gerhard Zeller, WarnerMedia’s chief revenue officer and president of WarnerMedia International Networks. “We will have two hugely experienced leaders who know our business inside out,” said Zeller. Over the last few months I have worked closely with both; Sofia’s experience and success in driving HBO’s digital subscriptions has been of great value as I have looked to understand the U.S. HBO business in greater depth and detail, and Rich has brought his strategic skills to the table as we have sought this way forward. Working together both will provide the strategy and direction needed to enable future growth.” Chang has been with HBO since 2000 and was most recently executive vp global digital distribution. She has helped drive subscriber growth to HBO’s digital platforms since taking over that portion of the business in 2015. Warren has been with the company for 19 years and was president of content distribution at Turner. He was responsible for multiplatform distribution of linear networks, digital brands and on-demand content.

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