TV Europe MIPTV 2016

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TVEUROPE

WWW.TVEUROPE.WS

APRIL 2016

MIPTV EDITION

Europe’s Leading Program Buyers / Sky’s Gary Davey

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CONTENTS FEATURE

Lessons from Europe

8 HIT SEEKERS The acquisition of nonlinear rights is a key issue on the minds of leading European buyers as they vie for the next breakout hit.

For so many years, in media and in other aspects of society and popular culture, trends that start in the U.S. eventually migrate to Europe.

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

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Europe © 2016 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tveurope.ws

Hollywood feature films and TV series have moved eastward to European countries for decades. In the ’80s, the proliferation of channels started in the U.S. market first and then in Europe. One current that traveled in the opposite direction is formats, with so many shows originating in the U.K., Holland and other European countries and finding their way into U.S. prime-time schedules. And now in politics, or should I say the reality-show spectacle of the U.S. Republican Party’s primary elections, the Silvio Berlusconi effect of billionaireturned-politician has also migrated westward. The New York Times columnist Frank Bruni referred to Donald Trump as “Trumpusconi”. Trump should have learned that successful businessmen are hard-pressed to learn the art of compromise and adopt the skills required of an effective leader.

I lived and worked in Europe during the ’80s and ’90s and saw firsthand what European producers were so good at: doing more with less. High-quality scripted series were being made at a fraction of what their Hollywood counterparts had to spend. The European production industry has since blossomed. Few U.S. imports make it into prime-time schedules nowadays, while numerous European scripted series, either in their original form or as formats, have aired on U.S outlets, including Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, Broadchurch, The Bridge and Deutschland 83, just to name a few. In this issue we talk to leading European programming executives about the various sources they have for securing shows for their linear and nonlinear services.

The Europeans have also mastered the art of co-producing.

For this issue I interviewed Gary Davey, the managing director of content at Sky, which has placed several series in the U.S., including The Young Pope, an international co-pro that originated in Italy and drew CANAL+ and HBO as partners.

U.S. networks and producers have benefited greatly from ideas, shows and partnerships with Europeans. The U.S. cable industry could take a lesson from the European pay-TV industry. Davey and I found we share a pet peeve: lousy customer service. Sky subscribers are extremely fortunate that the company places a premium on providing the best service possible. I only wish I could say the same about the U.S. cable companies that have “served” me. Yes, there is much to be learned from Europe.

—Anna Carugati

INTERVIEW

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Sky’s Gary Davey

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Filmax International I Know Who You Are / The Red Band Society / Barça Dreams Filmax International’s I Know Who You Are is one of the 12 series selected to be presented at the inaugural MIPDrama Screenings. “A story of intrigue, love and second chances, this is one of the most hotly awaited European series of the year,” says Ivan Diaz, head of the company’s international division. “There has already been a lot of buzz about the series among our international clients.” Also featured for the market is The Red Band Society, which has been adapted in countries such as Germany and Italy. “More big adaptations are expected shortly, so the property is still very hot for more deals at MIPTV,” says Diaz. Additionally, Filmax International is offering Barça Dreams, a documentary about the FC Barcelona soccer club.

“Barça Dreams is a spectacular documentary about the world’s best soccer club today.”

—Ivan Diaz Barça Dreams

Imagina International Sales Locked Up / Night and Day / Naranjito & Me Imagina International Sales, which distributes a variety of genres, is presenting Locked Up, a high-concept thriller that chronicles the lives of the inmates and officials at a maximumsecurity penitentiary center. The first season aired in a prime-time slot in Spain, with the second run scheduled to debut this year. “We will see a world of vengeance, alliances and betrayals,” says Laura Miñarro, the general manager of Imagina International Sales, about season two. Other highlights include the thriller Night and Day, about a forensic pathologist who makes a discovery that will turn her life upside down, and Naranjito & Me, a docuseries chronicling a young man’s trip through 56 countries and four continents without a cell phone and with only the aid of road maps.

“Our range of titles makes us able to cover all of our clients’ different needs.”

—Laura Miñarro Night and Day

Mediaset Distribution Task Force 45 / Not My Son The international-distribution arm of the Italian group Mediaset, Mediaset Distribution has two new scripted series for buyers: Task Force 45 and Not My Son. The first is a flagship action series for Canale 5 in Italy. It stars Raoul Bova in the main role, alongside Megan Montaner, who is well known in Italy for the Spanish soap opera El Secreto de Puente Viejo. Not My Son is a thriller that mixes together drama and passion to tell the story of a mother fighting to defend the innocence of her son, who is accused of murder. Manuela Caputi, the head of international sales for the Mediaset catalogue at Mediaset Distribution, notes that a lot of attention went into crafting the characters in these series, which she also says contain universal themes.

“We are keeping our tradition in melodrama with the premiere of the series Not My Son.” —Manuela Caputi Not My Son 150 World Screen 4/16

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RTVE Six Sisters /The Department of Time /Carlos, King Emperor Dramas are at the top of RTVE’s slate for MIPTV, with the time-traveling series The Department of Time a particular market highlight. The scripted title, which is currently in its second season, has quickly become one of the company’s biggest international sellers, according to Rafael Bardem, RTVE’s head of programs and licensing sales. Meanwhile, the historical drama Carlos, King Emperor chronicles the life of influential Spanish monarch Charles I. Made up of 17 episodes, the production is also a continuation of the popular historical series Isabel. Another period piece is Six Sisters, set in 1913. The daily series focuses on six siblings who must take over responsibility for the family business. Six Sisters “has become a reliable product for any programmer,” Bardem says.

“We invite all buyers to spend some of their time getting to know TV productions from Spain.”

—Rafael Bardem The Department of Time

Russia Television and Radio World Order / Russian Beauty / Expedition The Russia Television and Radio documentary World Order analyzes the current geopolitical situation and includes an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also in the way of factual, Expedition offers a snapshot of Russia’s natural landscapes, shot in 4K and 6K. There are also dramas, including Russian Beauty, set against the backdrop of the fashion world during the 1960s. “Our catalogue contains big-budget historical costume dramas, top-quality screenings of Russian classic literature, entertainment series, factual programs of current interest and unique 4K nature and wildlife content,” says Julia Matyash, the director of Sovtelexport, the distribution arm of Russia Television and Radio. “Every buyer can find a special, appealing program in our vast catalogue.”

“Our catalogue is special because it includes only the best programming recently produced in Russia from different genres.”

—Julia Matyash Russian Beauty

TRT—Turkish Radio and Television Corporation Resurrection / Filinta / What Happens to My Family The fact that the historical drama Resurrection (Dirilis Ertugrul) has been a ratings hit in Turkey makes TRT— Turkish Radio and Television Corporation believe the show has strong potential for international sales. The drama tells the story of Ertugrul, the son of Suleyman Shah, who is considered to be the grandfather of the Ottoman Empire. Another period piece that TRT has high hopes for in the international market is Filinta, which follows a young police officer in the time of the Ottoman Empire. The company also highlights What Happens to My Family (Baba Candir) and the miniseries Seddülbahir, in addition to TRT’s new slate of TV movies positioned for prime time.

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We also have a European approach to original production that is working well. We have a really clever structure in which we encourage bottom-up creativity; in other words, we encourage the U.K. team, the German team and the Italian team to identify projects, get them into development and then present them.

When we see a project that has potential, we supercharge it into a Sky Europe project and then an international project. The best example of that is The Young Pope, which started as an Italian project, then made its way to Germany, then to the U.K. It became a European priority, by which time we had Jude Law and Diane Keaton signed on, so CANAL+ and HBO came in as international co-production partners. That’s what I mean by bottom-up: we find localized ideas that have potential and then supercharge them to international status.

TV EUROPE: Sky Deutschland has been a little slower at developing original productions. Is it now getting up to speed?

DAVEY: I got to Germany in 2010 and was there for four important, formative years as we got the program agenda in shape. History will tell that the three Sky entities evolved in very similar ways but on very different timelines. When we look at where Sky in the U.K. is today, we sometimes forget that it has taken us 27 years to get us here! Similarly, Italy has been a long-term project and Germany is really just beginning the production part of its journey.

So it’s a matter of timing. We all have very similar ambitions and

GARY DAVEY SKY

By Anna Carugati

Gary Davey has had a front-row seat to the development of the international pay-TV industry for most of his career. He was CEO of STAR TV in Hong Kong and managing director of BSkyB in the U.K. He spent four years in Italy at Sky Italia, providing more choice to viewers in a market that had been dominated by two broadcast groups—Rai and Mediaset. In 2010, Davey became executive VP of programming at Sky Deutschland in Germany, where he helped kick-start the growth of the platform in a country that had previously been unable to develop its pay-TV industry. While maintaining his title at Sky Deutschland, Davey returned to London in January 2015 to take up the role of managing director of content at Sky. He now oversees Sky’s entertainment, movie and news channels, guided by the principle that quality content is what keeps customers happy and coming back for more.

TV EUROPE: Sky made a significant commitment to original production a few years ago. How has that strategy been working out?

DAVEY: We are two or three years into a big commitment to investing in original productions, and we are starting to see some interesting signs of maturity coming out of that strategy.

First, we’ve got five dramas, Fortitude, Penny Dreadful, The Tunnel, Gomorrah and 1992, and four comedies, Stella, Trollied, Mount Pleasant and Yonderland, returning this year. That’s a pretty big deal; getting a series to come back is always a challenge, especially in the comedy category. Second, we’ve got six of our shows in U.S. prime time this year: You, Me and the Apocalypse, The Last Panthers, Penny Dreadful, Fortitude, Gomorrah and The Young Pope. And our ambition is to double that number over the next three years.

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that is best illustrated by the way Sky Atlantic has worked so well in each of the three territories. It ticked all of the boxes that we had in each of the territories: achieving a high level of quality, achieving a high level of serialized shows, and being able to go into places that free TV couldn’t or wouldn’t or maybe shouldn’t go— more challenging stories, more complex, edgier and riskier stories. So Sky Atlantic is the poster child for our common ambitions.

TV EUROPE: Sky recently closed an important deal with Showtime.

DAVEY: Yes, we are delighted. We are really proud to have the Sky brand alongside HBO and Showtime. We’ve been the custodians of the HBO brand for about five years, and it’s worked really well for both of us. Showtime has seen how that’s worked and is happy to be part of this big family. We are in a position to present the Sky original content right up there alongside HBO and Showtime [on Sky Atlantic]. It was a perfect fit.

TV EUROPE: Germany has historically been slow to build its payTV business, for many reasons. What did Sky Deutschland get right and what growth potential do you see for it?

DAVEY: Unfortunately, the company suffered from poor execution for a very long time. When News Corp. eventually got effective control of it, we had such a lot of work to do. By the time I got there in 2010 there was a plan to aggressively go after a younger audience. We had established an older audience through football, but I think a whole generation of younger people in Germany had gone from free TV to the internet and had completely bypassed pay TV. And, to be honest with you, for pretty good reason because I don’t think there was an awful lot there to attract them. I got

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there at about the same time as then CEO Brian Sullivan, who pretty quickly identified the need to come up with a set of products that appealed to a younger profile. We invested really heavily in Sky Go as an app. I tried to get my teams excited about the idea of visualizing a 22-year-old watching True Detective on an iPad. If we got that right, the rest would follow. We also aired HBO content day-and-date with New York, so we were able to push an agenda that kicked off a conversation with a younger target group that, until then, had really not been engaged with Sky. This conversation continues to this day. We are pretty excited about that now and the potential is huge. I always remind everybody that in Germany we still have 34 million of the richest households in Europe to sell to. I think the German business could turn out to be bigger than the U.K. business in the long term.

TV EUROPE: Italy is experiencing tough economic times.

Notwithstanding all the problems, how is Sky Italia doing?

DAVEY: I worked there for four years and I launched cielo, the free-TV channel there. I think Sky Italia has done a fantastic job, given the economic circumstances. It’s been a real struggle. We are seeing very tiny bits of growth there, which is amazing. They have done a great job of igniting a whole range of entertainment categories that we haven’t even touched yet in the U.K. and Germany. I launched MasterChef in Italy six years ago when we launched cielo and at the time everyone said, What is Italy going to do with another cooking show? And I said, You are missing the point—MasterChef is not a cooking show, it’s a human drama.

MasterChef was a great success. Almost immediately after that we brought The X Factor and then Got Talent to Sky Uno, which enabled us to really supercharge Sky Uno as the leading commercial entertainment channel. They have done a great job of carving out a unique position for Sky in Italy that has helped it defy the odds and very difficult economics.

TV EUROPE: Linear channels have been the backbone of Sky, but how important have on-demand offerings become?

DAVEY: Very. We offer a balanced portfolio and always have.

We are so focused on the customer experience that it’s completely natural for us to keep inventing new and different ways for the customer to get the most out of a subscription. That’s what drives us every day. On-demand in all its various forms is part of our day-to-day lives and has been for a very long time. And now we have a scenario in which our consumers can enjoy content in seven different modalities—not just linear and on-demand, but a multitude of different services and devices: pull VOD, push VOD and so on. The measurement system can’t keep up. The BARB panel barely covers three of those seven modalities. So it’s interesting to see how old-fashioned traditional measurement looks when you see the way we cater to our customers. We have shows for which less than 20 percent of the consumption is linear. A recent example of this is the new HBO drama Vinyl on Sky Atlantic: 88 percent of the audience in the U.K. viewed the first episode either on demand or on their Sky+ recordings, which makes it the highest nonlinear viewing for a drama launch on Sky Atlantic over the past year. We love the idea that our customers decide when, where and on what device they watch a show. I really don’t care as long as they watch the show.

Our business model is based on engagement. If a customer is engaged in our content, we keep the customer. How they exercise that engagement is really not relevant.

TV EUROPE: There has been a lot of talk about cord cutting in the U.S., related in part to disposable income. But I believe customer service also plays a part. What is your view?

DAVEY: One of the things I loved most about coming back to the U.K. was seeing the leadership of this company. Every time they speak about this business they use three words: content, innovation and service. They were the three pillars upon which this company was built 27 years ago; they still are.

In my office I have a little wooden stool with three legs, and each leg has one word on it: content, innovation and service.

We talk about content and innovation a lot, right? But the service piece of what we do is completely integrated into the other two. In the U.K. we have 12,000 staff members focused on customer service. They manage 42 million phone calls a year (that’s 115,000 phone calls a day), as well as 3 million engineer visits a year (8,200 a day). I remind my staff regularly that our greatest privilege and our greatest responsibility is [to serve the] millions of families in this country who have given us permission to take money out of their bank accounts.

And that is a responsibility we should take really seriously.

That core commitment to customer service doesn’t appear to exist in the U.S. cable industry and now I think they are paying the price. I think it’s really that simple. In the latter half of 2015 a lot of people were trying to make the connection about cord cutting to us, but the structure of the market is so fundamentally different, it doesn’t really apply. That’s probably best illustrated by the fact that we now have a lot of OTT competition, as we have for three or four years, and yet we have the best churn rate we’ve had for ten years. This demonstrates that we have maintained a very positive relationship with our customer base. We work very hard at it. Every day we get out of bed thinking, How can we make the customer experience better today? A perfectly natural part of this whole technology, innovation, video-on-demand journey is that focus on customer service.

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An example of Sky’s committment to highend original British drama, Fortitude, sold by Sky Vision, is returning for a second season.

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Twentieth Century Fox’s The X-Files.

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HIT SEEKERS The acquisition of nonlinear rights is a key issue on the minds of leading European buyers as they vie for the next breakout hit.

By Steve Clarke

uropean buyers attending this spring’s MIPTV know there is one constant in the contemporary TV business: change. Consolidation continues to sweep across the sector. Meanwhile, there is intense competition from traditional rivals as well as online behemoths Amazon Prime and Netflix.

Buyers like Rüdiger Böss, executive VP of group programming acquisitions at ProSiebenSat.1 Media, need no reminding of the streaming giants’ growing presence.

“Netflix and Amazon are very aggressive, and it doesn’t cost a lot to subscribe to their services,” he says. “Personally, I think they are too cheap. Our SVOD platform, maxdome, is popular, but the cost of rights is climbing.”

With increasing competition from streaming services (both Disney and NBCUniversal announced new U.K. SVOD platforms in the last six months), European broadcasters attending MIPTV are thinking hard about issues surrounding the acquisition of linear and nonlinear rights.

“We simply wouldn’t make a deal today that didn’t cover online distribution, too, as it is such an important part of what we are doing on Viasat, Viaplay and our free-TV channels,” explains Jakob Mejlhede Andersen, executive VP of programming and content development at the Modern Times Group (MTG).

In the Nordics, MTG premiered the reboot of The X-Files by screening the sci-fi show simultaneously on free to air and streaming service Viaplay. At the same time, the entire X-Files archive was made available to binge-view on Viaplay.

The next window was pay channel Viasat Series.

In Sweden, Cathrine Wiernik, director of programs at commercial broadcaster TV4 Group, says that online rights are making negotiations with distributors far from straightforward. She describes the situation as “a jungle,” adding, “If the SVOD rights have been sold already, do you want the

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linear license? SVOD is where the competition is. It used to be a linear war. Now it’s an SVOD war.”

BUYERS’ DEMANDS “On-demand rights have always been very important to us,” observes Sarah Wright, Sky’s controller of entertainment acquisitions. “At Sky we have the services to use all the rights— for example, download and download to own. The Sky Store [a buy-and-keep movie service] is very important for us. Later this year we are adding series to our buy-and-keep service.”

The recently launched Sky Q set-top box enables subscribers to watch shows they’ve recorded via their PVRs on tablets, at home or on the move.

So what shows are on shopping lists as MIPTV approaches?

Sky seems to be ruling out nothing, despite its recently announced extensive deal with U.S. premium channel Showtime.

“Sky is looking for great dramas, great documentaries, and concerts for Sky Arts,” Wright says. “We’re also looking for box sets. I am also interested in short-form content our customers can snack on—not huge amounts, but it’s something that’s on our radar.”

Additionally, the pay-TV firm is seeking “little foreignlanguage gems that don’t necessarily compete with BBC Four [the upscale British network that brought The Killing to the U.K.], but have a Sky flavor.”

Wright adds that “everybody is looking for a big lightentertainment show. We always look at what formats there are.”

With a dearth of big, new, global entertainment hits, Sky is not alone in hoping to identify a non-scripted format that could be the next The Voice or The X Factor.

At the other end of the content spectrum, the success of Netflix’s true-crime documentary Making a Murderer is on buyers’ minds. “I think Sky got there first with HBO’s The Jinx, but we do need sticky, factualized drama that’s grounded in authenticity,” Wright stresses.

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Local drama has become increasingly important to Sweden’s TV4, which has seen strong ratings with Modus, represented

by FremantleMedia International.

In February, the BBC finally axed youth-skewed BBC Three as a TV channel to save money. BBC Three now runs an online-only service. Rivals hope their own channels can take advantage of the market gap by strengthening youthfriendly services.

TAKE FIVE At the U.K.’s Channel 5, executives will use MIPTV to assess content aimed at the under-35s, among other things. They would like niche network 5STAR to attract some disaffected BBC Three viewers.

Recently, money was pumped into 5STAR as part of Viacom’s overall double-digit investment in Channel 5. The idea is to make 5STAR “a louder youth-entertainment channel,” explains Katie Keenan, head of acquisitions at Channel 5 and Viacom International Media Networks U.K. In February, the broadcaster announced that its ondemand service was improving functionality as part of a rebrand. Keenan is seeking exclusive content for the offering, retitled My5. “It’s very early days. We want to understand more about the users of our VOD platform,” she says.

Rival British broadcaster Channel 4 is also targeting content appealing to a younger demographic. E4 wants shows with the potential to play well next to the channel’s stable of established U.S. network comedy and drama, according to Nick Lee, Channel 4’s acquired series manager. More4 needs lifestyle-based factual, international drama and some “select documentaries.” All 4, Channel 4’s AVOD service, has experienced recent success with exclusive shows “that land squarely with linear catch-up,” Lee says.

Lee adds, “The successful launch of Walter Presents [an online foreign-language scripted initiative] has proven to All 4 the value of curated acquisitions.”

ITV, the U.K.’s most popular terrestrial station, faces big changes following the departure of Peter Fincham, director of television. However, for Sasha Breslau, ITV’s head of acquired series, it looks like business as usual at the market.

Breslau is mainly looking for non-scripted shows for ITVBe and ITV4 at MIPTV. ITVBe is aimed at younger women. High on

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Breslau’s buying agenda are U.S. reality shows covering plastic surgery, dating and glamorous home makeovers.

In view of the success of The Great British Bake Off on BBC One, her wish list also includes a cake show that can cook up a ratings storm. Last October Bake Off was the U.K.’s most popular show of the year. “I’d love something like Ace of Cakes,” Breslau says.

As a lot of ITVBe’s shows are stripped, volume is important. Ideally series should have 20 to 30 episodes, Breslau says, “which is not to say I won’t buy a show that has one series and has been recommissioned.”

ITV4, which features a lot of live sports, including the Tour de France, is aimed at men 24 to 45. Dangerous-job shows and transactional shows are on Breslau’s radar. So are extreme fishing and car shows. “We’ve just bought the second window to The Classic Car Show,” Breslau says.

The first window was on Channel 5.

WHERE’S THE COMEDY? In mainland Europe, ProSiebenSat.1’s top priority is comedy.

“Comedy is the genre that ProSiebenSat.1 needs most right now,” Böss says. “For three to four years we’ve been coming to markets looking for new sitcoms and other comedies.”

Böss adds, “We have many hours of comedy a day on ProSieben. We need fresh blood. There has been little that’s new, from either the major studios or the big independents.”

He is targeting the 14-to-29 and 14-to-49 demographics.

“In my opinion, the British have the best sense of humor in the world, but it’s the U.S. comedy shows that play best on German TV,” Böss states.

Sky’s Wright is more upbeat regarding the prospects for American comedy. “From what I’ve heard of this year’s L.A. Screenings, comedy seems to be coming through. Modern Family works really well for us. It would be great to find a companion piece to that.”

Inevitably fiction remains a big schedule driver for most major European TV channels. But with the recent glut of U.S. drama, are broadcasters and other commissioners in danger of overdosing on the genre?

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Shows that have wide appeal and can perform well among 20- to 60-year-olds are in her sights.

“They have to be authentic and credible, with high potential for emotional engagement,” Romer explains. “Within the realm of drama, we are looking for broad, heartwarming British series.

Crime is always in demand. Zulu (aimed at 15- to 30-year-olds) is looking for stand-out edgy comedy and cool, entertaining youth programming. Feature films are in favor with our audience. We are continually looking to build our inventory.”

Regarding the requirements of his channels, MTG’s Andersen is clear: “I’m looking for great scripted series. The trend toward high-quality scripted series is here to stay.”

Drama proved its worth across Europe last fall and on into the winter. At Channel 5 in the U.K., Gotham’s second season did well. Meanwhile, the station scored its highest ratings ever for a drama with the first episode of the X-Files revival; the show won a consolidated audience of 5.1 million, a 19-percent share.

On Sky, Wright highlights The Affair, Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, Madam Secretary, Criminal Minds and Elementary as successful shows. Relegated from the main terrestrial channel, season three of The Americans has gained traction on ITV Encore; the series gave ITV a healthy consolidated audience following a successful catch-up window.

Storage Wars and Pawn Stars were hits on ITV4, while The Real Housewives of New Jersey was a success for ITVBe, Breslau notes.

“In recent months, our breakout hits on SAT.1 and kabel eins have included NCIS and Criminal Minds,” Böss says. “On ProSieben, The Big Bang Theory and new series The 100 have also been big hits.”

BBC Worldwide just began rolling out the brand-new Maigret, which presold to France 3, DR, ARD and TV4.

“There are a lot of drama series on the market, maybe even too many of them,” opines Böss. “There were more than 400 DRAMATIC HIGHS new U.S. drama series last year. I think the drama bubble At Sweden’s TV4, two British crime shows scored—Safe House might burst soon.” and season two of Broadchurch. “Occasionally a quirky show He adds, “When there is so much drama, the question is comes along that defies expectations,” Wiernik explains. A local how to best monetize it. Audiences are continuing to fragadaptation of Passion Distribution’s Make You Laugh Out Loud ment and non-linear is getting bigger. But police procedu“with just an added voiceover by one of our biggest comedy rals still perform very well for us.”

“American network series are too generic and don’t really connect with the Swedish way of life anymore,” complains TV4’s Wiernik. “There is too little relevance to our audience for them to actively tune in week on week. Over the years we’ve seen so many U.S. crime shows. They still work well as box sets and on other SVOD services, but not in linear prime time.”

At MIPTV her peak-time focuses are high-end British crime drama and one-off documentaries. “We’re looking for tabloid documentaries that can make an impact. They can fill holes in peak time.”

Also in Scandinavia, Anette Romer, the head of acquisitions and formats at Denmark’s TV 2, will be eyeing a broad range of genres for prime-time slots across its portfolio.

Format-wise, factual entertainment is always a focus for TV 2. Licensed from Warner Bros., Gotham has been a strong prime-time performer for Channel 5 in the U.K.

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shows, it takes a couple of weeks after the U.S. release before we can air them,” Böss says. “But we are getting quicker.

With The X-Files, [we aired it] 15 days following the U.S. release.”

Season two of Gotham premiered in the U.S. last September, but fans in the U.K. had to wait until January for the Channel 5 transmission. Keenan says the delay was because American audiences tolerate breaks in shows during a season, whereas British viewers don’t.

FILLING THE GAP

Seaside Hotel, which is represented by Nordic World, is a hit drama for TV 2 in Denmark.

What, in this increasingly complex rights world, is missing from MIPTV? Are there any genres that buyers desire but can’t find?

There is an appetite for more authentic documentary series in the mold of Making a Murderer that is not yet being met. “Audiences want the reality, but in another form than the produced frameworks of reality shows,” MTG’s Andersen says. “They want the real deal. Over the last year we’ve seen great examples of documentary series with stories better than fiction.”

Other buyers cite the lack of formats. TV 2’s Romer observes, “2015 was quite dry with respect to formats, within both factual and entertainment. With the high share demand (TV 2 prime time is looking for a 25- to 30percent share), it is not an easy task digging out strong titles. Consolidation in the market has not yet paid off creatively, and I seriously doubt it will.”

On a more positive note, ITV’s Breslau regards MIPTV’s shelf space as being full of goodies. “There is nothing that’s missing from the market. There is so much content out there. It’s an embarrassment of riches, but there is only one of me. Frankly, I struggle to keep up with all the shows that are out there.”

Others doing the rounds of the Palais this spring may relate to this sentiment.

stars performed strongly against a Swedish version of BBC staple Antiques Roadshow, broadcast on rival station SVT1.”

Two big shows for MTG were Empire and Transparent. “Both series premiered with second seasons on Viaplay during the last six months and both have been huge successes, which is interesting because they really are each other’s opposites,” Andersen says. Empire achieved record audiences for Viaplay.

A strong performer for Denmark’s TV 2 was season three of the drama Seaside Hotel, which, according to Romer, received the station’s highest-ever audience appreciation figure. Season 12 of Strictly Come Dancing was another hugely popular show, while original formats like the factualentertainment series Biggest (Storst) have done well.

Overall, acquisition budgets appear to be static or, in some cases, increasing. “Our budgets are certainly not being cut,” says Sky’s Wright. “We are flexible. It’s not either-or, it’s both. If there is a great drama that works for our customers, we will go for it.”

There are exceptions, however. For the first time ever, TV4’s prime-time fall schedule was composed entirely of Swedish commissions. “There have not been any radical cuts to our acquisitions spend, but as we invest more in our own shows we are spending less on acquired content,” Wiernik explains. “These days we don’t do output deals.

We cherry-pick, so we’re paying more for the shows we want. We need to think about the specific needs of the schedule rather than buy in volume.”

As competition intensifies and the everpresent threat of online piracy remains, there is a greater need for European networks to provide day-and-date premieres, or as near as possible to them.

“We have to be mindful of piracy and of social-media buzz,” Wright says. “We always try to get as close to the U.S. release date as possible.”

Yet when shows need to be dubbed into German, Swedish or Danish, and also meet local compliance regulations, delays occur.

“We want to get closer to day-and-date releases, but because we have to dub U.S. Zodiak Rights’s The Detectives is among the factual acquisitions for the MTG portfolio.

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