TV Europe MIPCOM 2017

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TVEUROPE

WWW.TVEUROPE.WS

OCTOBER 2017

MIPCOM EDITION

State of Pay / MTG’s Jakob Mejlhede / ZDF Enterprises’ Alexander Coridass

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CONTENTS FEATURE

Choice & More Choice

8 PAY DAY A look at how Europe’s biggest pay-TV platforms are facing both the threat, and opportunity, of OTT.

We live in a world of infinite entertainment choices: countless addictive dramas; cooking and home-improvement programs; talent competitions and game shows; reality series, docs and news; and sports of all kinds.

Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher Anna Carugati Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Executive Editor Joanna Padovano Tong Managing Editor Sara Alessi Associate Editor Victor L. Cuevas Production & Design Director Phyllis Q. Busell Art Director Simon Weaver Online Director Dana Mattison Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Nathalia Lopez Sales & Marketing Assistant Andrea Moreno Business Affairs Manager

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Europe © 2017 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tveurope.ws

And there are dedicated 24-hour channels for all ages and all genres. The only thing lacking is time to watch everything.

The question could be, is there too much? But choice is always good, and when there’s competition, the quality of television improves. The problem is more about how much all this choice can cost. In the U.S., where historically media trends have started, the holy grail of the cable industry was the 500-channel universe. Operators built up huge packages and programmers created brand after brand after brand. I remember years ago, John Hendricks, the founder of Discovery Communications, drawing the analogy of shelf space in a grocery store to the cable business: Procter & Gamble, for instance, wanted many different brands of detergent to reach as many consumers as possible. Similarly, more channel brands attracted more viewers.

But today, that 500-channel universe isn’t for everyone and several factors are working against it. A lot of consumers don’t want to pay for large packages of channels because they don’t watch most of them. They have been enticed by SVOD services that cost a fraction of a cable subscription.

But one SVOD platform doesn’t offer everything, so some consumers subscribe to more than one service, and then they need an internet connection. So is the cable package that includes broadband a better deal or not? And what if that cable package was smaller?

The U.S. may have been leading the trends in media, but as a consumer, I think Europe is now offering better choice. I recently spoke with Mike Fries, the CEO of Liberty Global, and when he was describing the packages his company is offering across Europe, I couldn’t believe the prices—they are so much lower than in the U.S., with faster broadband speeds.

Liberty Global is also incorporating Netflix in its packages.

So are other pay-TV companies, as we learn from our feature in this issue, which examines the state of the pay-TV industry in major European markets. We also hear from Jakob Mejlhede at MTG, which is turning 30 this year. And Alexander Coridass talks about the growth of ZDF Enterprises as it celebrates 25 years. MTG and ZDF Enterprises are two companies that are adding to European viewers’ choice.

—Anna Carugati

INTERVIEWS

14 MTG’s Jakob Mejlhede

20 ZDF Enterprises’ Alexander Coridass

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ATRESMEDIA Televisión

The Incident

The Incident / Money Heist / Locked Up In the Spanish thriller The Incident, the day-to-day lives of the people living in a small mountain village are turned upside down when a severe storm hits—and some of the inhabitants begin to behave strangely. For example, Tania’s husband Nacho, owner of a hostel, awakens from a coma after two years; Mary, a teacher, becomes pregnant without having ever had intercourse; and Ramon, an old man with Alzheimer’s, starts showing signs of recovery. A small group of people are willing to do anything to unravel the mystery behind the incident. “Other titles we have with dramatic value and proven success are the dramas Money Heist, Locked Up, Plastic Sea and the renewed comedy Down Below,” says Diana Borbón Cuchí, sales manager at ATRESMEDIA Televisión.

“The series from ATRESMEDIA are traveling all around the world.”

—Diana Borbón Cuchí

Audiovisual from Spain The Incident (ATRESMEDIA Televisión) / Jungle Planet (Onza Distribution) / Sara Baras, All Her Voices (Film Factory) Audiovisual from Spain is the umbrella brand used to promote the Spanish content industry in all the international television trade markets and any other promotional or commercial activity of the Spanish companies worldwide. The mission of Audiovisual from Spain is to make Spanish content visible to potential international buyers and give support to both experienced and emerging producers and distributors from the country. The group will be at MIPCOM with a delegation of companies that specialize in animation, fiction, documentaries and more. Scripted highlights include the drama series The Incident, from ATRESMEDIA Televisión. Regarding factual programs, the offerings include the 4K doc series Jungle Planet, from Onza Distribution, and the doc feature Sara Baras, All Her Voices, from Film Factory.

Jungle Planet

Filmax International I Know Who You Are / The Red Band Society / Welcome to the Family A reputed lawyer must prove his innocence after being accused of murdering his niece in the thriller I Know Who You Are. “One of the biggest fictional series to grace Spanish TV screens this year, the show is also enjoying widespread international success, such as being broadcast on the prestigious channel BBC Four,” says Iván Díaz, the head of the international division at Filmax International. I Know Who You Are comes from the team behind The Red Band Society, another highlight for Filmax International that is “still making waves in important territories such as Germany, where VOX is currently broadcasting its local adaptation, and France, where TF1 has already shot the first episodes of the French adaptation.” The slate also includes Welcome to the Family, from Filmax Group’s TV production outfit Arca Audiovisual.

“Throughout 2017, Filmax has cemented its reputation as a producer of great TV.” —Iván Díaz

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FremantleMedia International

Wasted! The Story of Food Waste

Picnic at Hanging Rock / Hard Sun / Wasted! The Story of Food Waste A reimagining of Joan Lindsay’s novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock stars Game of Thrones alum Natalie Dormer. “Picnic at Hanging Rock is an enchanting, modern and mysterious drama,” says Jamie Lynn, the executive VP and head of sales and distribution for EMEA at FremantleMedia International. “The fans of the haunting Peter Weir film from the ’70s will see the story in an entirely new vision.” Hard Sun is a new drama from Euston Films that was created by Emmy-nominated writer Neil Cross.

“The brilliant Jim Sturgess and Agyness Deyn play detectives who uncover the terrifying and deeply classified information that the world is facing complete destruction in just five years,” says Lynn. Wasted! The Story of Food Waste, meanwhile, is an eye-opening documentary fronted by American chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain.

“Our business has seen continued growth across Europe.”

—Jamie Lynn

Imagina International Sales I’m Alive / Lifeline / Crush A new thriller for Spain’s TVE, I’m Alive (Estoy Vivo) is being presented by Imagina International Sales to buyers attending the market in Cannes. The story follows an inspector who, after suffering a fatal accident, is returned to Earth in another body to track down his killer. “Its first broadcast had the biggest audience ratings for a new series on TVE in the last two years,” says Beatriz Setuain, the company’s managing director. Another highlight is Lifeline (Pulsaciones). “A hot-blooded thriller for Antena 3’s demanding audiences, it spins from a medical plot to a grounded supernatural twist,” says Setuain. There is also Crush, a game show that “has it all,” according to Setuain, including “a big prize to win, a high-impact stage and a very intense challenge among the players.”

I’m Alive

“We are bringing a very exciting and bold lineup of fiction series and entertainment formats.”

—Beatriz Setuain

Red Arrow International

Strike Carrier

A Matter of Life and Debt / The Story of Toys / Strike Carrier Red Arrow International continues to expand its factual and factual-entertainment slate, with new highlights that include A Matter of Life and Debt, which uncovers the reallife stories of people applying for money loans. The series The Story of Toys takes a playful look at some of the world’s most iconic toys. Each self-contained episode is dedicated to one specific toy group, from high-tech toys and dolls to costumes, monsters and miniatures. Strike Carrier is a new threepart documentary about life aboard the largest, most advanced and powerful warship ever constructed in Britain. “Our nonscripted slate at MIPCOM highlights our commitment to working with some of the world’s top creative talent to deliver stand-out programs to broadcasters and platforms,” says Henrik Pabst, the company’s managing director.

“We continue to work with a range of talented in-house and third-party producers to deliver a growing slate of factual shows.”

—Henrik Pabst

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HBO’s Game of Thrones on OCS in France.

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Steve Clarke analyzes how the region’s biggest cable and satellite platforms are facing the threat, and opportunity, of OTT. cross Europe, pay-TV companies are reinventing themselves to compete with their newer online and telecom rivals. Some, like Sky, are making it easier for their customers to “spin down” to cheaper packages. Others, such as Liberty Global, are bundling Netflix into their offers to keep subscribers loyal and to prevent them from churning. With so much competition and an increasingly restless consumer base, standing still is not an option for European pay-TV outfits in the age of on-demand entertainment.

This trend toward greater customer flexibility is most evident in Western Europe. Here, market consolidation has tended to lead to one or two cable companies in each territory dividing up the market between them.

“By comparison, Eastern Europe still has some way to go,” observes Mohammed Hamza, senior research analyst for media and communications at S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Eastern Europe is made up of small markets, which, in TV terms, have very localized content and are best served by local content owners.”

Europe’s biggest pay-TV outfit, Sky, continues to reassess its business model and diversify its content and distribution methods. It knows that millennials are unwilling to tie themselves into a traditional pay-TV multichannel package, which nowadays is sure to contain online add-ons. Sky recently rebranded its sports channels, which are now

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dedicated to particular sports, and customers can save money by adopting a pick-and-mix approach.

“European pay-TV growth has slowed down considerably of late,” says Tim Westcott, director of research and analysis for programming at IHS Markit. “In the more mature Western markets, pay-TV growth is either flat or declining. Of course, there are variations from country to country. The U.K. is proving more resistant to cord-cutting than some other European countries, but most of the growth is at the lower end of the market—from Sky’s over-the-top NOW TV service and cheap TV packages bundled in with broadband and telephony.”

SKY HIGH The U.K. and Ireland accounted for 88 percent of Sky’s operating profit in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017. Sky is wellpositioned to absorb the chilly winds of online and telecom competition, despite reporting a recent dip in profits; operating profits for the past year declined by 14 percent in the U.K. to a far from inconsiderable £1.3 billion. This was blamed on the escalating costs of buying Premier League soccer rights—an extra £629 million in 2016.

Phone giant BT’s move into TV sports in 2013 has led to hyperinflation in the local football rights market that both platforms are praying will end when the next round of negotiations start. This looks unlikely, especially if the online players emerge as serious bidders.

Sky said it had added 280,000 new customers in the U.K. and Ireland in the fiscal year, including 150,000 new TV

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Sky—for ATP tennis tournaments by paying a reported £10 million per year in a five-year pact.

Meanwhile, Amazon Channels has been available in the U.K. since May. Today, Sky likes to say that it is no longer defined by a satellite dish, comparing its various tiers of service to market segmentation in the automobile sector. “We used a pretty simplistic analogy; within the overall BMW brand family you’ve got the Mini, you’ve got the core BMWs and you’ve got those luxury ones,” the company’s COO and CFO, Andrew Griffith, recently told the Royal Television Society.

“So, you’re going to have different products in a more mature market. You’re going to have a more segmented approach. The good news is, that grows the overall market.”

CALLING IT IN

Virgin Media in the U.K. has stepped up its investments in content exclusives, among them Full Circle, which was made available as a box set on-demand.

Incumbent pay-TV platforms are facing competition from telecoms operators outside the U.K. as well. In Spain, the main TV operator today is Telefónica. In France, Canal+ has forged a strategic alliance with Orange. Meanwhile, SFR, like BT, has entered the soccer rights market.

Across the five biggest European pay-TV markets—the U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Italy—a common factor appears to be uncertainty. “The market is in a state of flux,” says David Bouchier, chief entertainment officer at Virgin Media, the U.K. cable company owned by Liberty Global. He maintains that since Britain possesses such a dynamic TV market, innovations introduced in the U.K. are often subsequently copied by pay-TV providers in mainland Europe.

As an example, he cites Virgin Media’s decision, announced in September 2013, to add Netflix to its service (the streaming service’s first deal with a pay-TV outfit). This

products. But churn was increasing, up from 11.2 percent to 11.5 percent over the year. The company said the rate had fallen since March but was still too high. At rival Virgin Media, churn increased from 14.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015 to 14.8 percent in the same period in 2016.

Sky reported a total of 22.5 million customers across the U.K., Northern Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy at the end of June 2017. But competition is constantly increasing.

It’s estimated that this year, Netflix has some 10.8 million subscribers in the U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Italy, under half of the Sky figure. However, not all of Sky’s subscribers are video customers. Some customers only take broadband.

“More than any other pay-TV company, Sky has led the way in diversifying its activities,” explains S&P’s Hamza. “Sky has invested in services, platforms and technology that can expand its distribution capabilities. Whether that’s online, traditional pay TV, or even taking content abroad, they’ve been diversifying a lot.”

Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch has acknowledged that the pay-TV paradigm is shifting. “It is a competitive world out there,” Darroch told the Guardian this summer. “There is more movement between platforms than in the past. We need to keep focused and keep executing our plans. We have good plans in place.”

These include launching a new online service in Spain and introducing Sky-branded, broadband-delivered TV in the U.K. This will mean that more Sky customers will no longer need a satellite dish.

The company’s online budget service, NOW TV, has proved popular in the U.K., where Sky is competing fiercely with Netflix and Amazon. Amazon recently concluded its first non-U.S. sports rights deal by outbidding competitors—including current rights-holder British telco BT has made a big bet on sports, landing shared rights to Premier League matches.

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was followed by last year’s announcement that Netflix would be made available to Liberty Global customers in more than 30 countries in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Last year, Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said that Virgin Media’s TV subs with access to Netflix “pay more, churn less and are happier.”

“No one was sure what the effect of Netflix would be,” says S&P’s Hamza, “but in pay TV it’s driven the pace of innovation and asset diversification. There is a lot more collaboration between Netflix and European operators. Everyone, except Sky and the other satellite operators, has integrated Netflix into their set-top boxes. Sky and the other satellite operators tend to have their own OTT offers and have a strong content play because they have deals with most of the Hollywood studios.”

However, Virgin Media’s Bouchier, who used to work for Sky, cautions against seeing the European pay-TV market as one homogeneous block. “If you look across Europe, different markets are at different stages of maturity. I know that even within the Liberty family, when I talk to my colleagues in some markets, they will say, ‘We were Communist ten years ago, so having multichannel TV is the latest, new thing.’”

CONTINENTAL SHIFTS Sky is introducing what is being seen as a version of NOW TV to Spain. This may be a trial for further European rollouts.

“We intend to launch a simple and affordable OTT service in Spain, the Eurozone’s fourth largest economy and the market that has the largest free-to-air headroom in Europe outside of our existing footprint,” Sky explained.

Telefónica is watching this development closely. “Spanish pay TV is dominated by Telefónica, whose Movistar+ brand wrapped its SVOD platform into its basic pay package,” says Simon Murray, the principal analyst at Digital TV Research. “The aim was to counter Netflix, and it appears to have worked.”

According to Enders Analysis, of the big five European pay-TV markets, Spain “has the most momentum.” The Spanish market grew by 9.5 percent in 2016, taking the number of subscribers to 6.1 million.

In Italy, Sky Italia’s business is broadly stable. The churn rate has been cut to below 10 percent, down from above 13 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, Mediaset Premium is in meltdown due to heavy losses, and Netflix has yet to establish itself as a profitable entity. Enders estimates that Netflix had 300,000 Italian subscribers last year, most of them free trials.

GERMAN GAINS Europe’s biggest economy, Germany, has historically proven to be far from a pushover for pay-TV firms, not least because of the strength of its pubcasters. But Sky Deutschland is gaining traction, having doubled its subscriber base since 2008. However, pay-TV penetration remains much lower in Germany than in other big European markets, such as the U.K. and France.

Sky’s business in Germany and Austria is the fastest growing, “with revenue increasing steadily at near or above 10 percent,” Enders Analysis reports. ARPU is flat at €35; Sky’s revenue growth is largely driven by gains in the number of subscribers. Churn in the second half of 2016 was 10.6 percent.

In France, Orange is now the largest pay-TV platform, having overtaken Canal+ two years ago; the latter has been declining for around a decade due to cuts that included the loss of some local and international soccer, plus content provided by studios such as HBO. Despite recently investing in more domestic drama—a trend evident across pay-TV firms throughout Western Europe—Canal+ lost more than 100,000 subscribers in Q1 2017, Enders Analysis says, with churn reaching a record 17.2 percent. Canal+’s difficulties have led to a reduction in overall French pay-TV revenues, which Enders estimates fell by 8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017.

As telcos and other online providers entered the French market, Canal+ was forced to rethink how it sells its services and, belatedly following Sky’s lead, has begun to offer more flexible packages. “In France, people signing up for a pay-TV offer weren’t taking Canal+,” says IHS’s Westcott. “As a result, the company completely missed out on the growth at the lower end of the market.”

Meanwhile, SFR has invested in its own pay-TV channels.

These include SFR Sport, which is bundled as part of its

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BBC Worldwide’s The Collection marked Amazon’s foray into original programming in the U.K.

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Telefónica has committed to expanding Spanish platform Movistar+’s base with originals like the bigbudget historical drama La Peste.

premium broadband packages. Beginning next year, SFR Sport has exclusive coverage of Europe’s Champions League.

In Scandinavia, the early availability of high-speed broadband gave a big boost to OTT services. But unlike Canal+, MTG, which operates the Viasat pay platform, as well as Viaplay and Viafree, realized early on that it would have to provide its own online packages or risk being marginalized.

“Although the market is saturated, we are still growing our revenues by encouraging people to trade up,” explains Anders Jensen, the executive VP of MTG and the CEO for MTG Sweden.

“There are a lot of DTT households that are migrating to fiber.”

Any cord-cutting and shaving that has occurred so far in Sweden has yet to hit MTG’s bottom line. However, Jensen is cautious regarding what might be around the corner.

“We are conscious of the fact that it will change in the not too distant future.”

So far, MTG has resisted the temptation to introduce à la carte services. Instead, the company continues to beef up its exclusive content, investing in sports (including the U.K.’s Premier League, the Champions League, Swedish soccer and ice hockey) and high-end, homegrown drama.

MTG also continues to diversify by investing in online gaming. This year it bought Kongregate, a U.S. cross-platform games publisher and developer, for $55 million.

Netflix’s success in Scandinavia has had a big effect on traditional pay providers, but so far Amazon Video (only an Englishlanguage service is currently available in Scandinavia) remains peripheral to the market. “We expect that to change,” Jensen warns. “And we are following the situation carefully.”

which traditionally markets itself on fast broadband speeds, has recently begun to screen exclusive scripted fare. “Every quarter we deliver an exclusive series,” Bouchier says. “In our on-demand environment, our original programming is consistently in the top five.” Meanwhile, sister company all3media—owned by Liberty Global and Discovery Communications—is producing shows for Virgin Media.

“It’s fair to say that this business has a clear superiority in broadband, and maybe we were a bit neglectful of our TV proposition,” Bouchier adds.

Enders calculates that Virgin Media’s revenue from TV subscriptions is declining, while growth is coming from telecoms services. Bouchier, however, insists that regardless of the onward march of Netflix and Amazon, legacy pay-TV operators have a healthy future.

“There is room for all of us,” he says. “The pay-TV market is a broad church. The old and constant key value drivers will always remain premium sports, kids, diversity programming across different genres and the flexibility of subscriptions. You may see more flexibility in that area, in the way that programming is saved, i.e. server-delivered via the cloud. The core components of what pay delivers—choice, variety, premium channels and a cutting-edge viewing experience across multiple screens—is something we will continue to do.”

Bouchier predicts that five years down the line, social viewing and personalization will become increasingly important. Surely, however, as competition gets even hotter, there will be casualties?

One analyst thinks that several middle-ranking channels that rely on carriage fees from pay platforms, rather than advertising, could disappear from viewing menus across Europe. “Pay-TV operators are having to be more selective about what they take,” he says. “In the future, we might see fewer channels in the U.K. and other parts of Western Europe, including Germany and possibly the Netherlands.”

Whether or not this prediction turns out to be true, there is no doubt that all pay services need to think smart. “Ultimately, in such a competitive market it comes down to a mixture of strategies,” S&P’s Hamza warns. “These need to be constantly innovated, or people will end up churning.”

CONTENT WARS The U.S. streaming giants have built their businesses on giving audiences exclusive, predominantly scripted shows like House of Cards, The Crown, Stranger Things and Transparent. The incumbent pay-TV companies have responded in kind.

“European production of original series by subscription services is booming,” Enders Analysis reports. “They are regarded as essential to stand out in a more competitive market and to define a brand with unique content and a local flavor.”

The increasing importance of original content (especially drama series) to European pay-TV platforms is especially evident in the U.K. Here, Sky’s recent flagship shows have included Riviera and Jamestown. Even Virgin Media,

The French SVOD platform SFR Play acquired the rights to Taken, based on the Luc Besson film.

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MTG @ 30 Jakob Mejlhede MTG has gone through a lot of changes since it arrived on the Scandinavian scene as the media division of conglomerate Kinnevik AB in the late 1980s. Its first broadcasting asset was TV3, launched in 1987 in Sweden and subsequently expanded to Norway and Denmark. Production operations came next, with Strix Television, and then pay TV with Viasat. There was geographic expansion too, into Africa, but the last few years, under the leadership of president and CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, have seen MTG focus in on its core broadcasting assets in Scandinavia, its production operations and digital. Today, MTG has five areas of operation: free TV, subscription TV, radio, studios and MTGx, which houses the increasingly lucrative gaming, eSports and social-network assets. Jakob Mejlhede, as the executive VP of programming and content development, is responsible for content acquisition, programming and development for MTG’s Nordic pay-TV businesses and group-wide online free-TV businesses. He is also involved in format sourcing and co-productions and sits on the board of DRG, which is part of MTG’s nice entertainment group production-and-distribution division. Mejlhede tells TV Europe about MTG’s investments in original content, his approach to acquisitions and the

By Mansha Daswani differences in programming for linear and nonlinear audiences.

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works as a marketing tool for the linear premiere. Sometimes SVOD can broaden a show that is very niche in nature, and that makes it quite interesting.

TV EUROPE: On the acquisitions side, what are you looking for on the international market? And what’s doing well for you?

MEJLHEDE: We have many amazing shows that work well.

Lethal Weapon has been a big success for us, The Blacklist has worked well, Blindspot has done a great job, so has Preacher. I’m very proud of the Amazon shows we have, such as Transparent. What we need from our acquisitions is a high degree of flexibility. When we buy a co-production, we don’t need to take a big package of content; we can get the programs that suit our platform needs.

U.S. acquisitions are a key fixture on MTG’s pay platforms, with a slate that includes CBSSI’s NCIS.

TV EUROPE: Tell us about the rising importance of original content creation for your group of channels.

MEJLHEDE: There are different aspects to it. Originals serve our Nordic SVOD service Viaplay extremely well: an original with a Nordic skew is something that works in terms of viewing performance, subscription uptake and all of that. Then they bring other benefits from a pure broadcasting perspective. You control the original to a way higher degree than a licensed piece of material—you can use it on your premium pay channels and your network; you can use that second window, the box-set window or whatever you want. You have such flexibility. From a production point of view, of course, it’s a great thing to be in the same family with the inspiring production capabilities of nice entertainment group, comprising 30 companies in 17 countries, including Nice Drama, Brain Academy and Monster, to mention a few. We have a world of opportunities ahead of us.

We launched the dramedy Veni Vidi Vici on Viaplay in April, and we have started international sales of the show through DRG. Then we have Hassel and The Lawyer, two big Nordic noirs, in production. And we are going into production of Swedish Dicks season two, and there’s a long list of initiatives on top of that. Embassy Down is casting now, which is our big project with Red Arrow. MTG is on a journey to become the Nordic region’s leading producer of original content, and today we have over 50 amazing projects in the pipeline that will create unique experiences for our viewers.

TV EUROPE: I understand a big issue is in-season stacking. Is that still a contentious deal point?

MEJLHEDE: Yes, it is. But if you’re a broadcaster these days, there are different elements in utilizing the product, including different commercial values. With such a big part of the audience, especially in advanced markets such as the Nordic region, moving into the online or streaming world, you’ve got to be very careful not to dissatisfy them or make them feel like they had a bad experience. Discovering that some great show is on and then finding that episode one is not there for catch up—I don’t think you’re left with a happy subscriber or a happy viewer.

TV EUROPE: Are you buying drama from other parts of Europe, outside of the Nordic markets?

MEJLHEDE: We are. There is loads of room for great European stories. We believe a lot in what we call the hybrids, where different European cultures meet in a drama where the storytelling is constructed organically, so it makes sense for the

TV EUROPE: How do the viewing patterns on SVOD differ from linear in terms of what’s working with your audiences?

MEJLHEDE: The SVOD audience has broader tastes, and these are continuously evolving. As audiences are exposed to more and more ambitious or quirky products, they expect more; they want to be surprised and find something that stands out and isn’t just middle-of-the-road. There’s a difference between what a general linear audience appreciates and what engages an SVOD audience. It’s great to have an SVOD service because you can raise the bar in terms of your stories and your story arcs.

TV EUROPE: How are you experimenting with premiering shows on SVOD first? And can you use one to drive viewership on the other?

MEJLHEDE: We like to use SVOD in a first window because it does something special for the subscribing audience. You can program in a way where you drop quite a lot of episodes in one go, or even the whole box set if you please. And it also

MTG Studios’ Stella Blómkvist is being sold worldwide by Red Arrow.

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characters to speak English. Those products are quite attractive to the international market. Midnight Sun from our production group nice entertainment is a good example. It’s part French, part Swedish, the dialogue is in English, it’s a well-done piece of drama that feels exotic and sells well. We will do more of that.

TV EUROPE: What else can you tell us about your programming strategy going forward?

MEJLHEDE: We’re very ambitious about our endeavors in scripted originals. We believe we have so many assets that can make us a very attractive partner. We want to be the leading Nordic drama house because that’s where we come from, but we also need partners to make this happen, so we’re looking actively for them.

MTG’s TV3 and Viaplay platforms co-produced the hit series Black Widows.

vately owned TV channel in the Nordic region.

2007 New channel rollouts include Viasat4 in Norway and TV6 in Latvia. MTG acquires Balkan Media Group, a family of free-to-air channels in Bulgaria.

1988 TV3 arrives in Norway. Strix Television begins operations in Sweden.

2008 African expansion begins with Viasat1 in Ghana and the establish-

1989 TV1000 (today known as Viasat Film) launches in the Nordic region.

ment of Modern Africa Productions. Viasat Sport Baltic begins operations, Nova TV in Bulgaria is acquired and Viasat Ukraine launches.

1987 Kinnevik AB launches TV3 in Sweden as the first commercial, pri-

1990 TV3 is rolled out in Denmark.

1991 Viasat is launched in Sweden.

2009 Prima COOL goes on air in the Czech Republic and TV3 PULS arrives in Denmark.

1992 MTG offers up a free-to-air music channel, ZTV, for young audiences in Sweden.

2010 MTG brings free-TV sports channels to Sweden (TV10) and Bulgaria (Nova Sport). The company acquires Raduga TV, a pay-TV platform in Russia.

1993 Kinnevik launches a TV channel in Estonia.

2011 The SVOD platform Viaplay goes live in the Nordics, TV8 launches in

1995 MTG is incorporated as subsidiary of Kinnevik.

Lithuania, Viasat History HD and Viasat Nature HD roll out in 22 countries and Prima LOVE switches on in the Czech Republic.

1996 TV3 launches in Estonia and Viasat expands to Finland.

2012 Jørgen Madsen Lindemann takes the reins as president and CEO. New HD pay-TV channels are launched in Russia and CIS. MTG acquires Latvia’s second-largest free-TV operator, LNT. New HD and catch-up channels are made available in the Nordic region.

1997 MTG is spun off from parent company Kinnevik.

1998 TV3 launches in Latvia.

1999 Viasat Sport begins operations in the Nordic region.

2000 Hans-Holger Albrecht is named the president and CEO of MTG. Hungary welcomes a free-to-air channel, Viasat3.

2001 Viasat becomes the first European TV platform to fully digitalize its broadcasting services. MTG takes a 75-percent stake in the Russian network Darial TV.

2013 MTG unveils a global digital entertainment business, MTGx, and acquires Bulgaria’s largest digital-media company, Net Info. New channel launches include TV6 in Norway and Prima ZOOM in the Czech Republic.

Boosting its content production-and-distribution operations, MTG acquires nice entertainment group and a majority interest in DRG. 2014 TV1 launches in Tanzania and MTG acquires 75 percent of Trace TV.

2002 MTG acquires 37 percent of StoryFirst Communications, owner of

2015 This is a year of “strategic transformation,” with the opening of a

Russia’s CTC network. In Lithuania, MTG unveils the youth-focused network Tango TV.

state-of-the-art transmission facility in the U.K. and investments in the eSports companies DreamHack and Turtle Entertainment, the digital media house Splay Networks and the MCN Zoomin.TV. MTG also offloads its Russian and international pay-TV operations and its Hungarian free-to-air assets.

2003 Viasat Explorer launches in Eastern Europe. MTG takes ownership of TV3 Lithuania.

2004 This busy year sees the launch of Viasat History in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and CEE; and the rollout of six TV1000 premium pay-TV channels and Viasat Sport 1, 2 and 3 in the Nordic region. In addition, Viasat is the first broadcaster in Sweden to offer TV via broadband across the entire country.

2005 MTG acquires FTV Prima, the Czech Republic’s second-largest commercial TV operator.

2006 TV6, a male-skewing free-to-air channel, is launched in Sweden.

2016 Digital investments continue with InnoGames and Engage Sports Media. Viafree launches across Scandinavia and Viaplay is launched in the Baltic region. MTG enters the 4K space with the Viasat Ultra HD. The company also rolls out Viasat Sport Premium and TV3 Sport HD in Sweden, a VR app and an eSports TV channel. The company also sells off its stake in CTC Media as well as its Ukrainian pay-TV business and its Ghanaian and Tanzanian free-TV operations.

2017 Investments this year include games publisher Kongregate. The company also dispenses of its Czech TV assets.

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contacts with studios and producers, and at the same time, we professionalized the buying process by negotiating better prices, terms, etc. We still render this service to our shareholder today and are still extremely proud to be part of that business, because ZDF is one of the most important buyers globally.

On the distribution side, 25 years ago, the catalog consisted only of output from the pubcaster ZDF, which by nature was limited with regards to language and quantity. So, our strategy was to continually extend our catalog. First, we started to invest in international co-productions. Second, we took over distribution mandates from domestic and international producers and broadcasters, and third, we undertook in-house development. Finally, we entered the corporate business and established a small portfolio of production companies. Today, we hold shares in 13 companies, most of them in the production sector. For some, we are the 100-percent shareholder and for others minority partners. ZDF Enterprises’ most recent corporate acquisition was a stake in World Media Rights in London, run by the brilliant Alan Griffiths. We will continue to look for new opportunities to broaden our corporate portfolio both domestically and internationally.

TV EUROPE: What have been ZDF Enterprises’ most important accomplishments?

CORIDASS: Perhaps this sounds banal, but the thing I am most proud of is that we didn’t only talk about things; we made

By Anna Carugati

In 1993, the German public broadcaster ZDF set up a commercial arm, ZDF Enterprises, with the task of selling ZDF product, including longrunning drama series and high-quality documentaries, around the world, and acquiring films and other programming. Since then, ZDF Enterprises has dramatically increased its range of product and revenues. As Alexander Coridass, president and CEO, tells TV Europe, in addition to distributing and acquiring content, the company coproduces and co-finances dramas, documentaries, children’s and youth programs. It has also been investing in production companies, all the while positioning itself in today’s media landscape as a reliable and long-term partner for broadcasters and nonlinear platforms.

TV EUROPE: When the company started, what were your goals and what was the strategy for growing the business?

It has grown quite a lot, hasn’t it?

CORIDASS: Absolutely, we have grown tremendously—I say this not to highlight the top management’s part in our success, but to express my respect and gratitude to my staff and our partners. Our profit is now eight to ten times as big as it was 25 years ago. At that time, we were the classic outsourced unit of a public broadcaster, acquiring and distributing programs. This is a highly respectable task, but our operating range was limited.

As for acquisitions, at that time ZDF bought a lot via programrights traders who acted as intermediaries between the original rights-holders and us. ZDF Enterprises reestablished direct

them happen. We participated in hundreds of co-productions and projects. When we started, there were almost no international co-productions, at least not the kind where we could distribute international rights. We created a portfolio of companies with a total turnover of more than €300 million. We had ideas of how to grow the business and how to become a respected player in the market and we achieved that goal. It’s not easy for me to say I especially like this and that project. Of course, we are proud we did all the teenage live-action series with our Australian and British partners, for instance The Worst Witch, the recent big joint project with CBBC; or our Scandinavian co-pros, which created a globally successful brand; or our highly successful documentary series; or Italian and German drama series like Maltese, Ku’damm 56 and Ku’damm 59. On a more general level, I would say I’m proud of the ability of my team to first, analyze a situation; second, develop an idea and a strategy; and third and most important, execute it—these three steps are the reason behind our success.

TV EUROPE: What is ZDF Enterprises’ reputation in the market? How do buyers view the product you offer?

CORIDASS: You have to ask the buyers! But I at least hope we have managed to position ourselves as a creator of outstanding programs, a successful distributor, and a reliable partner (especially also, when times get a little bit tough).

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company,” and so the experience we gain is not just personal, but it becomes part of the DNA of the company. Consequently, it is the whole team that learns from what we have done, the accomplishments and the mistakes.

ZDF Enterprises, ZDF and CBBC co-produce the live-action tween hit Wolfblood.

We have focused on certain genres—drama, children’s and youth, and factual programming. We try to offer the best to satisfy the needs of broadcasters and platforms.

TV EUROPE: Speaking of platforms, over the last 25 years the media landscape has changed so much it’s unrecognizable. What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced and some of the lessons learned along the way?

CORIDASS: The challenge is not only change as such but its speed, and it’s still accelerating. Whenever you think there is a new trend or a new technology, it has already been surpassed, and it is really hard, but crucial, to provide enough answers for today’s challenges. It might sound a little old-fashioned, but even in these fast-paced times, with all these changes in technology and content, we always try to create and maintain long-term, reliable partnerships. Of course, nowadays “longterm” can mean five or seven years and not 20 or 30 years, but we believe in win-win situations and structured partnerships.

If you ask me personally what I have learned during these years, I’d say you can never do enough to improve your knowledge of programming and to identify new and exciting ideas and projects. You can never do enough to make the company efficient, innovative and customeroriented. You never can do enough to form a good team, coach your people to give them enough space to develop while at the same time including them in a common idea and vision. You will fall flat on your face again and again— I have done it many times—but then you have to get up again, learn your lesson, and move on. The only thing I personally regret is that when you acquire experience, you would need almost a second life to use all the experience you gained and do better the next time. But it’s not about a single person; ZDF Enterprises considers itself a “learning

TV EUROPE: You mentioned the ZDF Enterprises team. What will it be concentrating on in the next 12 to 24 months?

CORIDASS: We have a mid-term plan for the next three to four years and the number one issue is digitalization. When talking about digital, I think you have to differentiate between three completely separate issues. The first is in the field of processes and organizational structure. We are quite far, but we want to become a company whose processes and organization are completely digitalized, from the first idea of a project to development and production, to the rights and materials information five years later. We are in good shape, but we want to be at the forefront as far as this is concerned.

The second issue is the programming needs of digital, nonlinear platforms. As far as this is concerned, I think we are extremely far along; 30 percent of our turnover comes from digital clients and five years ago it was less than 1 percent.

That shows how dynamic the growth has been. Even though we’re doing a lot, we’ll have to maintain our efforts and become even more aggressive in creating content specifically for digital platforms and OTT services.

The third element of our digital strategy consists of acquiring, getting control of or forming our own channels. This is a huge part of our planning process and vision: to grow beyond the handful of channels we have already established by getting control of certain outlets. These are the three main points that the company will focus on and I am 100-percent certain that we will succeed. Because even in a nonlinear world, it’s always about content. Without being redundant, we will continue to develop, produce and distribute content B-to-B and B-to-C—to business partners or the end consumer.

Tabula Rasa, a Dutch thriller, is being launched at MIPCOM.

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