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editorialDISCOP LINK NEWSLETTERContents and Format Business in CEEEDITORIALPublishers: Basic Lead & Media ArtService InternationalPublishing Director:Patrick JUCAUDBasic Lead18 Rue Jose Maria de Heredia75007 Paris, FranceT + 33 1 42 29 32 24F + 33 1 42 29 34 74patrickjucaud@basiclead.comExecutive Editor:Rastislav DURMANBul. M. Pupina 6/V,21000 Novi Sad, Vojvodina, SerbiaT/F + 381 21 420 900ceo@mediart.orgContributing Editor:Bob JENKINST + 44 203 22 00 188M + 44 781 42 42 405bobjenkins7@btinternet.comContributors: Danica A]IMOVI], NickGILBERT, Andrej MATIJA[EVI], JelenaMILOJKOVI], Anna NJEMOGA KOLAR,Olivera POPOV-OBRENOV, Tijana PRO-DANOV, Spas SPASOV, Dragana STA-NI], Biljana TODOROVIK, Milica VASI](Deputy Executive Editor)ART & DESIGNEmil OTRUP^AK & Sr|an GULINADVERTISING SALESBooking Manager: Diana RABANSERBasic Lead18 Rue Jose Maria de Heredia75007 Paris, FranceT + 33 1 42 29 32 24F + 33 1 42 29 34 74dianarabanser@basiclead.comSUBCRIBERS MANAGEMENTVladimir GRAYVORONSKIT + 33 1 42 29 32 24F + 33 1 42 29 34 74vladimirgrayvoronski@basiclead.com© Basic Lead & Media Art 2007. Allrights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced or transmittedin any form or by any means, electronicor mechanical, including photocopying,recording or any informationstorage or retrieval system without theexpress prior written consent of thepublisher.Printed by: Maxima Graf,Petrovaradin, Vojvodina, SerbiaISSN 1452-1016COBISS.SR-ID 204927751DEAR FRIENDS,THANK YOU ALL FORREGISTERING SO EARLYFOR DISCOP 08!Close to 750 participants havealready confirmed their participationout of the 2000 expected BUY-ERS and SELLERS of finished programs,scripted and unscripted formats,and packaged TV channelsexpected to attend the 16th edition ofDISCOP.Our team is already working hardon next year's DISCOP program andyou will find enclosed in this issue ofDISCOP LINK our first list of registeredDISCOP 08 SELLERS, which, as I amsure you will notice, includes theworld's most important suppliers oftelevision content.Let me also take this opportunityto announce the launch of our"revamped" DISCOP.com web sitewhich has been redesigned to better serve our DISCOP community of BUYERSand SELLERS of television content.The new DISCOP.com is set to be fully operational by the 1 st of February atwhich time we will begin to assist DISCOP participants in the organization oftheir meetings.As always, our team is ready to help you so don't hesitate to contact usshould you need our assistance.Thank you for your support!Patrick JucaudGeneral ManagerThe DISCOP Organizationpatrickjucaud@basiclead.com04 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

portraitA GOOD FRIEND: FERDINAND HABSBURGBy Bob JenkinsAlways impressed by the desire of the people of Central and Eastern Europeto learn, Ferdinand Habsburg has backed his convictions, opening Da VinciLearning, a family educational channel set to roll out across the region.Ferdinand Habsburg is a man deeplyimpressed by the people ofCentral and Eastern Europe. Havingbeen one of the founding team membersof German Pay-TV servicePremiere, Ferdinand spent manyyears working with ECM, where hegained a deep knowledge of, and likingfor, the region. After this he had aspell working away from the DISCOParea, returning to it a few years agowhen, in his words, he was, "simplyoverwhelmed by the collective desirefor quality education and the thirst forknowledge. People everywhere," herecalls, "were learning on-line, doingprofessional refresher courses, learninglanguages - it really was phenomenonal."Ferdinand believes that, "theregion has always had a cerebral culture,especially countries such asRussia, Poland and Hungary, and theway in which this culture is beingrevised impresses me very much. Ofcourse," he continues, "the region'seconomic growth has also been veryremarkable, but, for me, it is this desireto learn and to go on learning thatis the most striking aspect of the modernCEE."His observation of this desire tolearn was one of the key reasonsbehind Ferdinand's decision to launchDa Vinci Learning, a family learningchannel with the aim, says Ferdinand,"of demonstrating that science is oneof the most exciting and compellingtopics around today."The sincerity of his belief in thedesire of the people of the region totake study seriously is perfectly underlinedby the nature of the Da VinciLearning schedule. Presenters areNobel Laureates such as NadineGordimer, or world-renowned expertsin their field, such as Sir RichardAttenborough, and primetime is filledFerdinand Habsburg, 3 minutes beforethe launch in Septemberwith programming on mathematicsand genetics.If that wasn't odd enough in themodern television world, Ferdinand isadamant that Da Vinci Learning is,and will remain, a family Channel. "Iknow that is a concept that is a bitanachronistic," he accepts, "but," hecontinues, "we believe that this type ofprogramming will appeal to multiplefamily members, adults, teenagers,and kids alike, and we also believe thatwe have the ability to deliver a channelthat will meet all of these differentdemands."Although his observation of thedesire to learn was key to his decisionto launch Da Vinci Learning, whichdebuted in September on Poland's Nplatform, and which will launch inRomania in November and on Turkey'sDsmart platform in December, andmultiple platforms in Russia, TheCzech Republic, Ukraine and Slovakiathrough the first quarter 2008, it wasnot the only observation that promptedthis move."I think there are three key trendswhich will be seen to emerge in theregion over the next 18 - 24 months,"says Ferdinand, as he goes on to listthem. "The first," he enumerates, "isthere will be an explosion in the numberof niche channels on offer.However," he cautions, "there will becasualties. The region is becomingvery sophisticated both in terms ofbusiness practices and also in termsof audience demand and sub standardofferings, of which there are bound tobe some, will fail."The second observation whichgave him grounds for optimism, "is thecontinued expansion of the region'svery impressive content sector. Threeobvious examples," he continues, "arethe ITI channels in Poland, whose contentis just exceptional, especiallyTVN24 which is probably the mostprofessional news channel in all ofEurope. The fascinating animationwhich is coming out of The CzechRepublic and the hard hitting seriesout of Russia, especially those producedby NTV, which are much moreexciting then anything currently producedin the West."The third and final trend Ferdinandexpects to see emerge is, "a lotof movement and consolidation, inboth the DTH sector and also the cabsatsector."All of these trends Ferdinand seesas positive, and all played a role in hisdecision to set up Da Vinci Learning,but he cannot emphasise too stronglythat at the core of this move was, "myobservation of the regional desire tolearn and go on learning, and our willingnessto back ourselves to deliver afamily channel that makes learningfun." }DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 0707

event dossierLE RENDEZ-VOUS: THE VERY BESTOF FRENCH CONTENTBy Bob JenkinsEvery September, TV France International gathersFrench producers together in the beautifulseaside town of Biarritz on France's southwestern coast for five days showcasing the verybest of the very latest French content.This is not an event open to anyonewho wishes to attend. Attendanceis by invitation only and members of TVFrance International (www.tvfranceintl.com)decide whom they wish toinvite in late spring in readiness for theevent which, in 2008 will be held 8-12September.In addition to allowing invited buyersto view the new offerings at theirleisure in a screening room made overfor that purpose, rather than on sellersstands, and to have quality networkingtime at the many socialevents, and during the day in Biarritz'sconference centre, the event, knownas Le Rendez-Vous, is also an occasionfor TV France International topresent the annual figures on Frenchcontent exports.In 2006 French content exportsrose overall by 4.2% from 2005, hittingtotal sales of €157 million. But,that headline figure hides a number ofinteresting trends. For example, whilethe overall figure for content exportsgrew 4.2%, pre-sales grew 10.1%,while sales of completed programmesrose by a much more modest 2.3%.Of the three main French exportgenres, documentaries, animationand fiction, documentaries was theonly one which saw a rise from 2005sales of 2.1%, as against animationand fiction sales which dropped 6.1%and 1.6% respectively.Despite the drop in sales of 6.1%animation remains the largest of thethree main genres in terms of grosssales, and CEE made a significantlylarger contribution to this sector in2006 than in 2005, with year on yearsales rising from a 2005 figure of€1.7 million to hit €2.5 million in2006. The majority of these saleswere made to trans-national satelliteservices covering several of theregion's countries.Overall sales of French content inthe region rose by €1.7 million, makingit a larger market for Frenchexports than Asia. However, this risewas almost entirely due to sales toRussia, and also with pan-regionalbroadcasters, with sales to many individualcountries in the region decliningfrom the 2005 figure. Mathieu Bejot,managing director of TV France Internationalputs the dominance of Russiain France's regional content salesdown to the Moscow Showcase forFrench producers, which his organisationhas held annually since 2004.Pre-sales of fiction in 2006 weredown slightly at €2.1 million, althoughnoting that, "pre-sales of French fictionare more and more difficult tomake on the international market,"Bejot went on to observe that, "theexception to this are French speakingterritories and CEE."Amongst French producers atthis year's event was leading animationhouse Alphanim, represented byAnne Magnol, senior representativeUK. Amongst the shows attracting alot of interest in Biarritz for Alphanimwere SANTAPPRENTICE, and ZAPJNR HIGH. It is a little known fact thatSanta has to retire every 178 years,and that consequently, a trainee replacementis appointed once every 163years so that he has 15 full years tolearn the job. Nicolas Barnworth is thenext Santa learning the job, and SAN-TAPPRENTICE is the story of hisadventures told over 52 x 13 minutes.When Alistair Heath-Wilson, son ofthe secretary of state for educationdecides to snub the opportunity of aprivileged education in favour of ZapJnr High, a school definitely on thewrong side of the tracks, anythingcould happen. And did. In every one ofthe 52 x 13 minute episodes.Magnol told DISCOP.Link that, "forAlphanim, the markets of CEE are definitelygrowing in importance, especially,Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,Croatia and Slovenia." And she believes,"DISCOP is a great way for us tofocus on these territories," noting, "atDISCOP 2007 we were even visited byRussians who did not come to see usat the previous Moscow Showcase!"These resentiments echoed byCarole Brin, international sales managerAsia, Eastern Europe and Germanyat Carrere Group. "CEE, andespecially Russia," reports Brin, "arebecoming increasingly important toCarrere Group. This," believes Brin,"is partly because the countries themselvesare more significant on theinternational stage, and also becauseof a recent switch in emphasis here atCarrere towards fiction."Leading Carrere's move intodrama are six TV Movie adaptations ofnovels by best selling thriller writer,Patricia MacDonald. Four of thesetitles are available now, and, saysBrin, "we got great feedback on theseat DISCOP." The other two will be readyfor delivery in the Spring of 2008.The final representative of one ofthe 'big three' of French contentexports was Doc & Co, where acquisitionand sales manager CristinaMoya, highlighted SIN CITY LAW asone of the company's strong newofferings. Directed by Denis Poncet,helmer of HBO's Oscar winning MUR-DER ON A SUNDAY MORNING, eachof the four 2 x 1 hour programmesrevisits a famous and notorious crime.}08 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

focus on CEEPROGRAMMING NEEDSARE SECRET IN MOSTCEE TV STATIONSBy Milica Vasic, Rastislav Durman and CEE Media Journalists Network"Thanks for including us in your research," was written in the more than halfof the emails we received, "but, we cannot disclose any information aboutprogramming acquired this year, nor what programming we plan to acquirein 2008."Back in Budapest, in June 2007,we were planning the content offuture issues of DISCOP.Link and wethought that a column highlighting currentand future foreign programmingneeds would be of interest to DISCOPparticipants - both for content and formatbuyers and sellers. After eightweeks of research in twenty Centraland Eastern European Countries' TVstations, and more than two hundredphone calls and E-mails, we have toconclude that publishing informationabout foreign programming needs issomething almost everybody wouldlike to see, but is something aboutwhich very few companies were happyto share information, whether for programmingacquired this year or whatthey plan to acquire next year. Forexample, Juraj Madacky, our correspondentfrom Czech Republic informedus that he had contacted threeleading stations in his country; he hadcalled and mailed officers in programmingdepartments, and done his bestto pick up information from insiders,but found it a dead end.Obviously, most TV broadcastersin CEE take competition more seriouslythan they did only three or four yearsago, and they believe that silenceabout their programming strategy willDISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07give them a significant advantage inthe market.Besides the hurdles presented bysuch ‘classified info’, we were successfulin finding out some facts aboutprogramming strategies in CEE.BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA -REPUBLIKA SRPSKA PUBLICTV SERVICE, BANJA LUKARTRS is a public TV broadcasterand has specific programming tasks,but that doesn't mean the station isn'tinvolved in hunting for the maximumaudience share which it can achieve inits broadcasting area. It should bementioned that RTRS has improved itsstaff this year - among others, Mr.Branko Lazic came from ATV to takecare of foreign programmes."We have bought a lot of programmesfrom Paramount this year,"said Mr. Lazic. "We bought the serialsSOUS LE SOLEIL, CSI MIAMI, LEAPARKER, EGMONT, TWEEN PEAKS…We pay special attention to serial programmesmade in the Serbian andCroatian language and, generally, weare interested in almost everythingproduced in our region but, of course,everything depends on quality and sellingconditions. We bought BASKET-BALL PLAYERS, MILE AGAINSTTRANSITION and STORKS WILL BEBACK from Belgrade, programmeswhich were recently broadcast inBelgrade and have high ratings.""As a public service," - continuesMr. Lazic, "we broadcast lot of documentaries,more than 100 hours offoreign documentaries per season.Our last acquisition was from Discovery.As a public service, we alsohave to care about children's programmes.Cartoons and TV moviesfor children are usually bought fromdistributors based in Belgrade."According to Mr. Lazic, some genres- such as reality or licensed quizshows - are not in the programmingschedule at RTRS only because ofpoor technical conditions, such assmall studios and dated equipment -but these problems should be easedwhen RTRS moves into its new building.The move is scheduled for the endof next year.BULGARIA - DIEMACHANNELS, SOFIAThere are three "Diema" channelsin Bulgaria. Presently they are ownedby the British consortium "Epasemedia" and MTG - Modern Times11

Group Broadcasting. According to theratings, the Diema channels are themost popular of the cable TV stationsin Bulgaria - right after the nationalterrestrial channels.Since the beginning of October,they have been presenting and implementinga new programming schemetogether with new-look logos. TheDiema channels have a new programmemanager as well - her nameis Olga Lozanova. She started her TVcareer as part of the crew on themost famous (and also the only one,at that time,) political talk-show,PANORAMA, on Bulgarian NationalTV. Later Lozanova held the position ofprogramme manager at Nova TV andfor the last couple of years she hasbeen running her own small "boutiquetype"PR agency. Now she is back onthe TV trail."It has become much more difficultto develop good channels inBulgaria because there are more qualifiedplayers on the stage with a clearvision of what makes the best TV forBulgaria" - she says. "What we are tryingto provide is 'entertainment TV ofthe highest class'. For now the productionshown on Diema channels is100 % foreign - films, sitcoms, telenovelas,animation and sport. For theprogramming needs of autumn 2007alone, two thousand (2000) hours ofnew programmes and shows werepurchased.The Diema channels are well positionedand each of them has its owndefined profile.The Diema Family is, of course, afamily channel that focuses on femaleviewers. Every day from 12.40 till6.00 p.m. animations are shown -such as TOM & JERRY, SCOOBY DOO,DEXTER, SILVESTER AND TWEETY,THE PINK PANTHER, as well as somechildren's and teenage shows fromthe 'communist' childhood of the generationwho are presently 35-40years old and are very happy andthrilled to be able to show their kidsthe shows they once adored (Bulgariais currently riding the crest of a waveof nostalgia) - for instance, the hungariananimation MEIZGA FAMILY andthe Czech series ARABELLA."The Prime-time schedule of DiemaFamily is targeting 'mums' - this is thefirst Bulgarian TV channel to broadcastsoap-operas (telenovelas) from6:00 p.m. till midnight with no interruptions.Among the first to be shownare ANGEL REBELDE, THE WINGS OFLOVE, and TWO FACES OF ANNA.Diema 2 is just the opposite - apure ‘men's channel’ based on the formula‘sports plus movies’. Futurestrategies includes the more of the socalled‘lifestyle component’.The Third of the Diemas - in fact,the original one - Diema is aiming onbecoming ‘the city channel’ by capturingthe attention of the young audienceby showing the best possibleselection of movies and programmes -sitcoms being the key-word of Diema.Some examples include: COLD CASE;PROFILER; FATHER DOWLING MYS-TERIES; MURDER, SHE WROTE; JAKEAND FATMAN. Diema is more thanproud to present the premiere of SIXmadeby the creators of LOST expectedto become a real discussion pointin Bulgaria.FYR MACEDONIA -TV A1, SKOPJEAt one point - in the middle ofnineties - FYR Macedonia was theEuropean country with the largestnumber of TV stations in comparisonto its number of inhabitans. Of course,transition in the country reduced thenumber of TV broadcasters, but thenumber of on the market is still substantialenough to oblige those thatexist to actively compete.Aneta Veterova, TV A1 ProgrammeDirector told DISCOP.Link thatwhen purchasing programmes shewas mainly oriented on titles whichgive quick results and that they werelooking for new episodes of serieswhich already have an audience, suchas LOST, DESPERATE HOUSWIFES,CSI NY, CSI MIAMI, CSI LA, THESOPRANOS, ACCORDING TO JIM, andsome other Sony packages.Disney productions also have fansamong young audience in Macedonia,so TV A1 bought MICKEY MOUSECLUB HOUSE and LITTLE EINSTEINS.TV Metropolis is not amongst thetop three most watched TV stations inSerbia (Serbian Public Service TV, TVPink and TV B92), but it doesn't meanthat it will not be in the future. Accordingto its broadcast licence, TVMetropolis covers only the teritory ofthe capital city Belgrade and the suburbs(more than 2.5 million inhabitants),but including cities covered bycable, the size of the potential audienceis enlarged. It should also beunderlined that TV Metropolis has avery clear idea about its target groupas well as an idea of how to attract it.The entire TV Metropolis film andserial range is diverse, both in genreand in concept. The diversity of thecontent includes a long list of titlesfrom the great and good of the filmindustry, Hollywood productions, aswell as high quality European films, aswell as so called 'festival' and authorfilms produced by small and lessknown production companies. Once aweek, our audience has a chance torefresh their memories, by watchingsome of the classics or some significantfilms produced in the past."By creating genre and author filmcycles, we hope for better and clearerconcept of our film programming,"states Sasa Jankovic, Head of Filmand Serial Department for TVMetropolis.According to Jankovic, in 2007TV Metropolis closed two remarkablearrangements with domestic distributioncompanies DELTA VIDEO andCENTAR FILM. The series programfocuson CEEIn sport, the main purchase was THEPREMIER LEAGUE.“This season we bought thelicense for WHO WANTS TO BE MIL-LIONAIRE, which is one of our biggest‘in house’ projects,” said Ms. Veterova.“We are also preparing our versionof UGLY BETTY for next year. Bythe end of December 2008 we shouldhave the rights to broadcast the Foxseries 24.”Acording to Ms. Veterova, TV A1is already looking for programmes fornext season. They should be titlesmade for commercial TV stations andtitles that have already achieved bigratings in other countries.SERBIA - TV METROPOLIS,BELGRADE12 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

ming addresses the younger part ofthe audience. Firstly, they want toemphasise good, old series that theyounger generation haven't had achance to watch, until now, such asMARCO POLO (1982) and BONANZA(1959); as well as some series producedmore recently - BLUES (sevenseparate episodes about the history ofthe blues, directed by seven of themost famous directors in the worldtoday); The documentary seriesWORLD TOWNS (40 towns of theworld in 40 episodes) and MAFIA (thehistory of the mafia in 10 episodes).Strong old film titles will be in the focusof the programme schedule in 2008too. They have the pleasure of announcinga big cycle of westernmovies, starting on December 15 th2007 which should last until June 15 th2008. Within this cycle, the viewerswill have a chance to watch some ofthe most significant films of the westernfilm genre, created in the secondhalf of the twentieth century. Primarily,there will be films directed byJohn Ford, Sam Peckinpah, MichaelCurtiz and others, mostly starring thegreatest Western film actor of alltimes- John Wayne.In 2008, TV Metropolis plans tocontinue its business cooperation withthe distribution company TUCK, fromwhich their station usually purchasesbroadcasting rights for airing Hollywoodand French films, as well assmall author and festival films. Atleast once a week, TV Metropolisbroadcasts films produced by smalland lesser known cinematic traditions(Bhutan, Argentina, Iceland, etc).Once a week the audience can watchcycles of famous directors (LuisBunuel, Jacques Renoir, John Ford,etc) and actors (Jean Paule Belmondo,John Wayne, Alain Delon,Marcello Mastroianni, Romy Schneider,etc).As one of the few urban and musicalchannels in this region, TV Metroplisis doing its best to fulfil the expectationsof its audience and to keep theaudience, but also to present somenew trends and content and attractnew viewers. Film and serial programmes,as an important part of itsschedule as a whole, are a very importantmeans of achieving that, in tryingto indulge a wide range of viewers, butalso in understanding and penetratingthose specific prefernces of particlularsmall groups of the audience, concludesMr. Jankovic.SLOVAKIA - TV MARKIZA,BRATISLAVATV Markiza is a leading commercialTV channel targeting wide audiences(12+).“We are looking for commercialcontent including action, crime,thriller features, TV movies andseries, mainly for PT slots acquiredfrom US Studios, French, German andCzech distributors and Independents.We also air formats and locally developedseries. Singing and dancing formatshave been successful for TVMarkiza recently,” Peter Chalupa,Head of Acquisitions, MARKIZA-SLO-VAKIA Spol s.r.o. told DISCOP LINKTURKEY, GENERALfocus on CEEIn Turkey, for the last 2 years,morning programmes aimed atwomen at home, series and talentshows on televisions have had reallyhigh ratings. More than 300 privatetelevision channels have tended to airmostly series during prime time, andtalent shows at weekends.The authorities in one of Turkey'smost popular channels claim that the‘series fashion’ will go on during 2008too. They mention that the producers,the channels and the staff that workfor the series have benefited wellfinancially and there is no reason tostructure programming without them.The series mostly made up of storiesrelated to the inner circle of a family ora relationship. They tend to be structuredaround the leading actor andactress, and their relationships (mostlyregarding their lovelives). The programmersmention that they tooksome foreign films and series' storiesand will adapt them for Turkish television.This has happened before.Recently, a private channel, Star TV,has shown a series called FEDAI whichis adapted from THE BODYGUARD.CNBC-E is a channel that airs economicprogrammes during the dayand series in the evenings. At the beginningof this season they purchasedforeign series like HEROES, DESPER-ATE HOUSEVIWES and TUDORS. Theyintend to follow that strategy in 2008.Another important format alsowith relatively high ratings is the talentshow. In the past few years the formatsfor BIG BROTHER on Show TV,POP STAR ALATURCA on Star TV,DANCE SHOW on Channel D andDANCE ON ICE on Show TV have beenpurchased from foreign companies.The networks tell us that these showswill go on past their 3 rd seasons.More or less as happens aroundthe world, television channels inTurkey tend to invest in ‘easy going’and ‘quickly consumed’ programmes.During the 2008 season, Turkishviewers will mostly watch love stories,talent shows and foreign series. }14 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

new kid on the blockMTV HUNGARYFOR SUCCESSBy Bob JenkinsThese days the opening of a new channel hardlyconstitutes news, but the recent launch of MTVHungary throws a revealing light on the group'schannel plans for the entire region. Bob Jenkinstalks to Bhavneet Singh, managing director andsenior vice president, emerging markets, MTVNetworks International, to find out more.Bhavneet Singh is managing directorand senior vice president,emerging markets, MTV NetworksInternational. As such, he heads upthe division responsible for channeloperations in Russia, Central andEastern Europe and the Middle East.And, reveals Singh, "our channelstrategy is always the same; that is, tobuild a portfolio of channels servingthe demographic they are designed toserve. We have," he continues, "threedifferent demographic groups weserve; kids with the range of Nickelodeonbrands, youth with brands suchas MTV and Viva, and older audienceswith channels such as VHI, Spike, andComedy Central."Although Singh insists,"we do put a lot of researcheffort and work into decidingwhich channels are rightto launch next, and in whichterritories," he also acceptsthat, "there is, however, nodenying that sometimes ithappens more naturally,and MTV Hungary is a casein point." He goes on toexplain, "When we boughtViva, we bought a wellestablished and successfulHungarian music channel.And so, for a time, we feltthere was neither room nor demandfor MTV."Several factors combined tochange that perception. "Firstly," saysSingh, "the ad market in Hungary isstable, not growing that quickly, butstable, and research told us thatthere was a gap in the youth musicmarket for something that looked andfelt more edgy and Western - but inHungarian!" The killer observationthough, was, he reveals, "the digitalmarket was growing quite quickly,offering important ancillary opportunitiesfor our businesses."Outlining the importance of thisobservation to the decision to launchBhavneet Singh, Managing Director &Senior Vice-President, Emerging MarketsGroup, MTV Networks InternationalMTV Hungary, Singh explains that,"we see ourselves as a content business,not just a channel business.Consequently, we want to be everywherethe audience is, everywhereour consumers are. In Hungary,broadband penetration is increasingsteadily, and the penetration of 3Gmobile is also showing good growth,and these were all," acknowledgesSingh, "important factors in the decisionto launch MTV Hungary."Although the research showedthat localisation would be an importantelement in achieving success withMTV Hungary, and this marketdemand has been met, not only bydubbing US hits such as PIMP MYRIDE, VIVA LA BAM, SOUTH PARKand MADE into Hungarian, but alsowith locally producedshows such as MY MTV inwhich famous Hungarianartists discuss theirfavourite music videos,and MTV ID with uploadedvideos and clips, thelaunch, says Singh, "isclose to the end of ourlocalisation programmefor our portfolio of musicchannels in Central andEastern Europe, as weare just about to start ona localisation programmefor our kids and entertainmentchannel brands." }16 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

content report60 YEARS AFTER, THEVOICES OF THE EXODUSBy Françoise LazardAs the 60 th anniversary of the creation of Israel approaches, two youngIsraeli film makers are getting ready to release a unique film on the threeheroes of the tragic odyssey of the EXODUS 1947 boat and its 4,515refugees. Co-produced by Israel's Channel 8, DISPLACED is distributedthroughout Central and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia by Paris-basedIDEAS FOR FILMS who will be represented at DISCOP 08.At the end of World War 2, the fateof the quarter of million ‘JewishDisplaced Persons’ living in camps inGermany, Austria and Italy was stillunclear. Many of them were at thevery end of their strength, dying everyday from exhaustion and diseases.Some Jews were able to reachPalestine, many by way of dilapidatedships. Between August 1945 and theestablishment of the State of Israel inMay 1948, 65 ‘illegal’ immigrantships, carrying 70,000 people arrivedfrom European shores despite increasinglyharsh immigration policiesimposed by the British.From August 1946, Holocaustsurvivors caught in ‘illegal’ ships weredeported to Cyprus and interned thereon the basis of considerations ofPalestine's economic absorptive capacity,but very quickly, the Britishauthorities strengthened their positionagainst the partition of Palestineinto two states and decided from thenDISPLACED will be available formid-April 2008 delivery, in time to beprogrammed on any TV channel interestedin commemorating the 60thanniversary of the creation of Israel.More information and a trailer can beobtained by contacting FrançoiseLAZARD / IDEAS FOR FILMSfrancoiselazard@ideas4film.comT + 33 1 45 51 42 54.Ike AHARONOVICHon to send ‘illegal’ immigrants back totheir port of embarkation in Europeinstead of deporting them to Cyprus.The 4,515 passengers of theEXODUS 1947 (a worn out boat soldas scrap) including 655 children,most of them German and Polish survivors,were the first group of Jewishrefugees to be shipped back to Europeunder this new policy.As the heroic commanders of theEXODUS 1947, Ike AHARONOVICH,Yossi HAREL and Mordechai ROZ-MAN played a significant role in thecreation of Israel and in the diplomaticswing of sympathy towards the tens ofthousands of ‘Displaced Jewish Refugees’with no ‘future’ in sight.60 years later, DISPLACED is thefilmed account of a formidable intimacycarefully built over two challengingyears between these three solitary‘heroes’ and two young, award-winning,Israeli filmmakers, both of themdescendents of Holocaust survivors,who found, thanks to these encounters,a chance to tell the importantstory of the EXODUS in a different way.At a time when historians wonderwhether there is really anything of sig-18 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

content reportnificance left to say about the creationof Israel, DISCPLACED is all the moreremarkable as the film concentrateson the inner thoughts and the constantself-examination and soulsearchingprocesses of these threeheroes on the Eve of Israel's 60 th birthday,rather than providing a documentedaccount of the EXODUSodyssey.DISPLACED also provides anamazing account of the unique lessonsthat were learned in these powerful,but terrible times.Nevertheless, throughout thefilm, billboards appear at times tounderline and simply explain the chronologyof the events that took place.This is a voluntary understatement ofthe historical facts in order to betterenter the lives and minds of Yossi,Mordechai and Ike as they approachthe end of their lives.Frontal interviews have not beenprivileged. Rather, the camera followstheir respective day to day routine andsoon enough, the personal tragediesto which they are still confronted, thequestions related to the faith of theEXODUS that continue to haunt them,the gap between their dreams asyoung immigrants and the hardshipsthat current day Israel holds, emergeas the retaining backbone of this film.At 84, Ike, the captain of the EXO-DUS, looks likes a character out ofPRIZZI'S HONOR. Three years ago, hiswife passed away after severe depression.He made fortunes and lost themYossi HARELDISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07Mordechai ROZMANall, and today, Ike lives alone in a housebuilt as a ship. He spends most of histime dreaming about the love of hisyouth whom he has not seen in 60years.Mordechai, 89, was the leader ofthe EXODUS refugees. He is half paralyzedand has difficulties breathing,but his speech and his witty mind arestill fascinating. Mordechai livesalone, penniless, in an abandoned Kibbutz,far away from one of his sonswho left Israel many years ago tobecome a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.Yossi, 88, the man in charge ofthe entire EXODUS operation, was thehealthiest of the triumvirate until veryrecently. He made millions dealingwith Art and now lives in a beautifulhouse that overlooks the Mediterraneansea.After keeping away from eachother for many years, Ike, a chainsmoker weighing less than 45 kilos,and Mordechai, nicknamed ‘TheOrator’ on the EXODUS, started tomeet again as if no time had passed,ready to argue again!Yossi prefers to stay afar from theother two. However, he is often immersedin lucid self-examination processes,somehow expecting Ike andMordechai to fuel the ‘discussion’ withtheir numerous conflicting points ofviews!All images of Ike, Yossi andMordechai have been shot in Israelexclusively and no more than 10 interviewsof key witnesses based inFrance and in the United States will beintertwined with these images.The simple structure of the filmenhances the feel of intimacy as theseinterviews punctuate DISPLACED witha simple and chronological account ofthe EXODUS odyssey.No archival material has beenused, except at the end of the film:The grainy black-and-white footageof DISPLACED JEWISH REFUGEESaboard the EXODUS that will be usedwill look like any other home movietaken on a cruise ship with passengerswaving and leaning on the boatrailing, despite the fact that this wasno ordinary cruise. }19

event announcementEARLY BIRD CATCHESTHE SUITE500 international suppliers of finished programmes, scripted andunscripted formats and packaged TV channels are expected at DISCOP 08!With 7 months left before the next edition of DISCOP, the following SELLERShave already agreed to take part in next June's market. Meetings betweenBUYERS AND SELLERS will be organized from 1 February on.2WAYTRAFFICErna SCHMIDT, Manager EventsRichard JAKAB, Managing Director4 KIDS ENTERTAINMENTBrian LACEY, Executive Vice PresidentAARDMAN INTERNATIONALSian-Elin DAVIES, Sales ExecutiveABS-CBN GLOBAL LIMITEDReena DE GUZMAN GARINGAN, Head of Int. Sales &DistributionABSOLUTELY INDEPENDENTErik DE WINTER, Sales ManagerAETN INTERNATIONALJonathan SOUTH, Director of Content SalesALFRED HABER DISTRIBUTIONChris BROUDER, Director of Intl. SalesALL3MEDIA INTERNATIONALPaul CORNEY, Sales ExecutiveStephen DRISCOLL, VP International SalesAMERICAN CINEMA INTERNATIONALChevonne O'SHAUGHNESSY, PresidentGeorge SHAMIEH, CEOAP TELEVISION NEWSTobias OSMUND, Head of Entertainment SalesARMOZA FORMATSAvi ARMOZA, CEOARTIST VIEW ENTERTAINMENTJay JOYCE, Vice President of SalesBASIC LEAD / HOT LEADChristophe AUDRAN, New Business ManagerBAVARIA MEDIA TELEVISIONHelge KOEHNEN, Head of Eastern European AffairsBBC WORLDWIDEChristina MULLER, Sales Executive EMEIAHannah MCNEISH, Senior Sales ExecutiveSuzanne KENDRICK, Sales ExecutiveBOLLYWOOD OPTIONArun KUMAR, General ManagerCherian CHACKO, DirectorCARACOL TVAlexander KOCHEN, Sales ExecutiveCBS PARAMOUNT TELEVISIONAmelia PLANT, Sales ManagerMichelle PAYNE, VP Regional SalesStephen TAGUE, SVP EuropeTim WRIGHT, Director of SalesCHANNEL 4 LEARNINGTricia HUGHES, International Sales DirectorCHANNEL ONE RUSSIA WORLDWIDE NETWORKAnna KREMENETSKAYA, Head of Sales Europe and CISMasha RUBAN, Programme Sales ManagerCHELLO ZONETim MACMULLEN, Programme Sales Manager20 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

event announcementCHINA INTERNATIONAL TV CORPORATIONChunli CHENG, Marketing Director GeneralQiaoqiao WANG, Intl Sales TV Marketing ManagerCINEFLIX INTERNATIONALKate LLEWELLYN-JONES, Sales ManagerCINETEL FILMSEric BERNSTEIN, Vice PresidentCOOKIE JAR ENTERTAINMENTWiebke HOEFER, Director of European SalesCZECH TELEVISION / CESKA TELEVIZEAlena MULLEROVA, Editor in Chef MarieMagdalena NOVAKOVA, Sales ManagerDARO FILM DISTRIBUTIONMichael WOLTER, Sales ExecutivePierre-Andre ROCHAT, PresidentRazvan ENACHE, Sales ManagerDEUTSCHE WELLEEva SEEBERGER, Distribution ExecutiveUlrich WARTMANN, Head of Distribution EuropeDIC ENTERTAINMENTClive JORDAN, VP International Home EntertainmentDISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS DEUTSCHLANDSaevar LEMKE, Manager Program SalesDORI MEDIA GROUPAurelia FURNARI, Regional Sales Manager Latin AmericaElena ANTONINI, Regional Sales Manager Eastern EuropeMichal NASHIV, VP MarketingNadav PALTI, CEO and PresidentSilvana D'ANGELO, Head of Intl Sales & MarketingTali FINK, Marketing DirectorDORI MEDIA INTERNATIONALConrad HEBERLING, General Manager and CEODPM INCDominique MOUGENOT, Production ConsultantSophie VIDAL, Sales AssistantECHO BRIDGE ENTERTAINMENTDaniel MARCH, Head of International SalesEM ENTERTAINMENTPatrick PHELAN, Sales Manager - Eastern EuropeENDEMOL INTERNATIONALMaaike BIJSTERVELD, External Markets CoordinatorEUROPRODUCCIONES TVMarco FERNANDEZ DE ARAOZ, Head of SalesFAPAEMaria Jose VADILLO, DirectorFILM UA GROUPEvgeniy DRACHOV, International Operations ManagerIgor STORCHAK, Head of DistributionFINZIONI ENTERTAINMENTDorothea Silvia SCHMIDT, CEOFREMANTLEMEDIAAnna MASON, Events AssistantGERMAN UNITED DISTRIBUTORSElina KEWITZ, International Sales ManagerGLOBO TV INTERNATIONALAndre MEIRELLES, Sales ExecutiveClaudine BASTOS BAYMA, Marketing DepartmentVictor TEIXEIRA, Sales ExecutiveGRANADA INTERNATIONALDorit SCHILLING, Sales Executive for CEEGUANGZHOU BEAUTY CULTURE COMMUNICATIONAlice LAN, Sales ManagerGUINNESS WORLD RECORDSRob MOLLOY, TV Sales and Licensing ManagerSimon GOLD, Development ProducerHIGH POINT MEDIA GROUPLisa GIFFORD, Territory ManagerHIT ENTERTAINMENTAlex GODFREY, Rights Syndication Manager EMEAThekla ORFANOS, Programming Distribution ExecutiveEMEAHOLLYWOOD CLASSICSDavid LLEWELLYN-JONES, Director of SalesICEX - SPANISH INSTITUTE FOR FOREIGN TRADEPaz ALVAREZ, Head of Dept. Promotion of CultureRelated Ind.Pilar DE LLANO, CEOIDEAS FOR FILMSFrancoise LAZARD, General ManagerIMAGINA INTERNATIONAL SALESBarbora SUSTEROVA, Sales Executive22 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

event announcementIMG MEDIARichard TULK-HART, Head of Business DevelopmentRichard WISE, VP DVDVictor BLUNDELL, Head of Acquisitions Eastern EuropeISTITUTO COMMERCIO ESTEROMaria Gisella DE PACE, Consumer Goods DivisionKOREAN BROADCASTING COMMISSION / KBCEunice PAEK, Deputy Director Intl Affairs Division -BroadcastingLAKESHORE ENTERTAINMENTElisabeth COSTA DE BEAUREGARD, SVP Intl SalesLIONSGATEAmanda CORDNER, Vice President, SalesMARC DORCELGregory DORCEL, General ManagerJean-Charles LAISNE, Export SalesMichael AFLALO, International SalesMARVISTA ENTERTAINMENTBeatrice MCMILLAN, VP of International SalesMGM TELEVISIONGeorgina CULME-SEYMOUR, ManagerMONDO TVMatteo CORRADI, Sales ExecutiveRoberto FARINA, Sales CoordinatorMTV NETWORKS INTERNATIONALHelen CURTIS, Sales ManagerLouisa TRIGG, AssistantNATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADANancy MARIE, Sales ManagerNBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION DISTRIBUTIONEliza MILBANK, Liaison ManagerMaxim MIKHAILOV, Liaison ManagerNadia PORRATI, Liaison ManagerWarren SMITH, Director of On Demand LicensingNBD TELEVISIONLauren MARRIOTT, Sales ExecutiveNEPTUNO FILMSAlba SANI, Sales ManagerNEW FILMS INTERNATIONALNesim HASON, PresidentNTV BROADCASTING COMPANYMaxim POGIBELNY, Deputy Head of SalesVitaly SHEVCHENKO, Head of TV RightsOASIS INTERNATIONALPrentiss HOLMAN, Director of International SalesORF - OESTERREICHISCHER RUNDFUNKBeatrice RIESENFELDER, Head of SalesMonika NEUBAUER, Sales ExecutiveSabine GRUBER, Sales ExecutivePHOENIX SATELLITE TELEVISIONLinda WAN, Programme Distribution ManagerPORCHLIGHT ENTERTAINMENTJ.D. BEAUFILS, Vice President Worldwide SalesPREMIUM MEDIALuciana EGURROLA, Sales ExecutivePRIME ENTERTAINMENT GROUPDavid FREYDT, General ManagerPROFOUR FILM KFTAndrew SEBESTYEN, CEORCTV INTERNATIONALJuan FERNANDEZ, Vice-President of Intl. SalesRDF RIGHTSNaomi BIGGINS, Sales ExecutiveRIGEL ENTERTAINMENTBryan HAMBLETON, International SalesJohannes VON MALLINCKRODT, Executive SalesAssistantRIVE GAUCHE ENTERTAINMENTGary MACKINNEY, Sales and AcquisitionsRTBFVictoria METZGER, Sales ManagerRTI SPAClare MCARDLE, Sales ManagerPatricio TEUBAL, Head of SalesRTL2 FERNSEHENAnabell KORNMANN, Junior Project Manager ProgramSales Juliane RAUNO, Head of Sales and AcquisitionsRUSCICO / RUSSIAN CINEMA COUNCILYelena GOROKHOVA, Head of Sales24 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

event announcementSANDRA CARTER GLOBALDaniella KILIM, VP, New MediaSandra CARTER, PresidentSESAME WORKSHOPJennifer MONIER-WILLIAMS, VP / Intl. DistributionRenee MASCARA, VP / Intl. TV DistributionSEVENONE INTERNATIONALAxel BOEHM, Sales ManagerJens RICHTER, Head of SalesSONY PICTURES TELEVISION INTERNATIONALRob FELDMAN, Vice President, Int'l ProductionSONY PICTURES TELEVISION INTERNATIONAL -EUROPEAlex ELLIOT, Executive DirectorSPORTSBRAND MEDIA GROUPAndrew MULCAHY, European Sales ManagerSTAR MEDIA LTDOlesya SLAVOVA, Sales ManagerSTRANA DISTRIBUTION GROUPJulia KOZHEVNIKOVA, General Producer / DirectorTARGET ENTERTAINMENTChris BLUETT, Senior Sales ExecutiveTELEFE INTERNATIONALMichelle WASSERMAN, Head of SalesTELEMUNDO INTERNATIONALMaria Alicia PARKERSON, VP Sales Europe & Middle EastMelissa PILLOW, Sales ManagerTELEPOOLIrina IGNATIEW, International Sales ManagerTELEPRODUCTIONS INTERNATIONAL - TPILarry HIGGS, President Ron ALEXANDER, Marketing andSales ManagerTELESCREEN BVTheo VAN DER SCHAAF, General ManagerTELEVISA INTERNATIONALBeatriz RODRIGUEZ, Sales Manager Eastern EuropeClaudia SAHAB, Director of Sales EuropeJose Luis ROMERO, Director of FormatsManola MARTIN, Sales Manager, Eastern EuropePatricia PORTO, Sales Manager Western EuropeTOEI ANIMATION EUROPEAkira YAMAGUCHI, Video ManagerTV AZTECAAdela VELASCO, Sales ManagerMarcel VINAY, Vice President SalesTV FRANCE INTERNATIONALCatherine CHARMET, Markets ManagerTV2 WORLDAnne KOEHNCKE, Sales ExecutiveKatrine HERFORTH, Sales ExecutiveTV3 - TELEVISIO DE CATALUNYAOriol BAQUER, Head of SalesVictor CARRERA, Head of Intl. RelationsTVE TELEVISION ESPANOLAMar LUCERO, Sales ExecutiveMilagros GARCIA MAYI, Head of SalesTVNAneta ZAREBA, Sales ExecutiveVENEVISION INTERNATIONALAND AFFILIATESCristobal PONTE, Exclusive Authorize RepresentativeTamas IZSO, Business ManagerVISION FILMS / VISION MUSICAndre RELIS, VP of International SalesWARNER BROS INTERNATIONAL TELEVISIONDISTRIBUTIONNicky WOOD, Vice President, Scandinavia & EasternEuropeWORLD WIDE ENTERTAINMENTKylie SEAMAN, International Business ManagerSam THOMPSON, International Business ManagerWORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENTDominic HAYES, Vice President, International TelevisionSophie STONE, Manager International TVZDF ENTERPRISESBarbara FEKETE, Sales ExecutiveChristian MASSMANN, Sales ManagerZODIAK TELEVISION WORLDAgnes MBYE, Sales ExecutiveJorg ROTH, Managing Director26 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

DISCOPRO 08THE ENTERTAINMENT MASTER CLASSCOMES TO DISCOPBy Bob JenkinsMost area of expertise has its special, academy. An institute whosegraduates have instant acceptance everywhere. One area of expertise thathas lacked such a venerable seat of learning has been the entertainmentindustry. Until now. Germany's Erich Pommer Institut has now launchedThe Entertainment Master Class - and it's coming to DISCOP.The Entertainment Master Class isa first of its kind, a school of excellencefor talented young professionalsin the field of entertainment. The firstcourse will run from May 2008through to February 2009, and willconsist of five modules, each five daysin duration, and each held in a differentcity.The Master Class is organised bythe Eric Pommer Institut, founded bythe famous German film producer,whose name it bears, and regardedas one of Europe's leading media thinktanks. The course is also run in associationwith a select group of partnersincluding Canada's CBC, BBC Worldwide,Nordisk, The Rose D'Or, Prosieben,Medienboard and C21 Media.Professor Klaus Klein of the EricPommer Institut says, "ideally we arelooking to recruit young professionalsaspiring to work in the internationalformat business," adding, "and it isvitally important that candidates havea real determination to succeed andexcellent spoken and written English."The Institut has put together animpressive 'Advisory Board', includinggiants of the entertainment industry,many of whom will be teaching thenmodules, such as Peter Bazalgette,CCO Endemol UK; Daniela Matri, seniorvice-president formats and production,ProSiebenSat.1; Paul Jackson,director of entertainment and comedy,ITV; Julie Bristow, executive director,factual entertainment CBC Canada;Gary Carter, president, creativenetworks and CCO, FMX Fremantle-Media and many more.CBC's Bristow says, "I think we areall agreed that the ideal candidate issomeone with good skills and someexperience, but not so set in theirways that they are only looking to ticka set of boxes. I think we are lookingfor someone with talent, and also withtheir finger on the pulse of what audiencesare looking for; someone intouch with the popular zeitgeist."ITV's Jackson agrees. "I think thecourse will best suit someone whoalready has some experience butprobably not yet at a managerial level,"he speculates, going on to suggest, "Ithink a majority will come from marketswhere the origination of formatsis not as well developed as it is in someother countries." Although he is quickto assert, "of course I am not rulingout Americans, Brits or Canadians."The timetable for those wishing toparticipate in the first course is tight.The deadline for applications is 17December 2007. All applicationsmust also be accompanied by a full CV.Of those applying some will be askedto supply a written statement of motivation,those selected to progress tothis stage will be notified no later than15 January, and the deadline forreturn of the statement will be 15February. Based on this, a furtherselection will be made, and those chosenwill be invited to take part in a telephoneinterview, which will be held inFebruary or early March and the finalselection will be announced 15March.Once the successful candidateshave been selected the course onwhich they will embark will be as follows.Module 1, covering sitcoms,sketch comedy and panel comedyshows will be held in Lucerne,Switzerland from 2 nd - 7 th May 2008.The second module, coveringgame show formats, will be held inToronto, Canada from 17 th - 22 nd June2008.The third, covering entertainment,variety and event show formatswill take place from 2 nd - 7 th September2008 in Berlin.The fourth in Danish capitalCopenhagen will cover factual entertainmentand reality show formats,from 3 rd - 7 th December 2008.And the fifth and final module willtake place in London 3 rd - 8 th February2009 and will cover format distribution,exploitation and new media.The cost of this course, includingdidactic material, hotel accommodationand full board is €15,000, but itshould be noted that travel costs arenot included.ITV's Paul Jackson sums up thecourse this way. "I think the coursecould well be seen as analogous toRobert Kee's writing course. Peopleused to tell Kee that you can't teachpeople to write, to which Kee wouldreply, I am not saying I will teach anyoneto be Beethoven, but I can showthem where the notes are on the keyboard.In the same way, there are elementsof the creative and businessprocess that do operate to welldefined rules and I do think that issomething we can usefully teach." }28 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

DISCOPRO 08DISCOPRO 2008:A VERY SELECT EVENTBy Bob Jenkins2007 saw the launch of DISCOPRO immediately before the main event ofDISCOP. Next June in Budapest will see a revamped and expanded version ofthe co-production event. Not all the details will be available until late Januaryor early February. But in an exclusive interview with DISCOP.Link,Patrick Jucaud, DISCOP's General Manager gives a sneak preview ofsome of the extensive changes he and his team are lining up.Patrick Jucaud begins, "the firstthing that should be emphasisedis that DISCOPRO 08 will be targetedexclusively at Central and EasternEuropean producers wanting to getinvolved in pan-European co-productions."Jucaud goes on to explain that,"one of the consequences of this isthat the DISCOPRO 08 programmewill be limited to companies fromcountries that lie within the CEE andwhich are also member states of theEU" This means that there will be nocompanies from any countries outsidethe CEE attending DISCOPRO 08.Explaining the reasoning behind thisdecision, Jucaud noted, "this is themain difference between DISCOPRO2007 and DISCOPRO 2008." Adding,"our goal with DISCOPRO 2008 is tonurture content suppliers from withinthe CEE, and then to offer themaccess to CEE buyers through the DIS-COP Market."That geo-political restriction is byno means the only change from2007's inaugural event. "We are designingDISCOP 08," reveals Jucaud,"as a training programme as distinctPanel discussion at DISCOPRO 07from last year's event which was muchmore of a networking and conferenceprogramme. Our aim," he continues,"is to bring together, probably notmore than about twenty companiesfrom within the CEE which are ready,willing, and able to get involved in coproductionswith EU partners."The training programme at theheart of DISCOPRO 2008 is being codesignedby Jucaud and his team withGermany's world renowned ErichPommer Institute, and will provideparticipants with first-hand case studieson such important topics as, legalframeworks, government subsidies,production financing and rights clearancemechanisms. This will includedetailed information on all the benefitsavailable from the Media Plus Programmeof the European Union.The cost of attending the two dayevent will be €500 per company, andeach company will be permitted amaximum of two delegates. Jucaud iskeen to stress, however, that, “we arelimiting the number of companies totwenty, giving a maximum attendanceof forty people," adding, "the qualificationprocedures will begin in January2008, with the final DISCOP 08 programmeof workshops and socialevents published at the end of thatmonth or early February at the latest."For those companies selected forDISCOPRO 08 who also wish to attendDISCOP 08, there will be a DISCOP 08reduction of 50% of the non-exhibitingsellers fee, representing a saving of€400 per person on the usual fee of€800.Although full details of qualifyingcriteria, application procedures andconference schedule will not be availableuntil the New Year, Jucaud waswilling to give DISCOP.Link some exclusiveinsights into the factors that willplay a significant role in determiningselection. "Firstly, as stated before,"Jucaud reminds us, "DISCOPRO 08will only be open to companies fromcountries that are both within the CEEand also the European Union. Afterthat," he continues, "we will be greatlyinfluenced by the project itself. For onething, it must be at least partly funded.Projects with no funding at allattached will not be given a place.Also," he adds, "we will limit each participatingcompany to just one project."Having laid out these restrictionsJucaud is, however, at pains to stressthat, "our aim through DISCOPRO 08,and with the help of the Media PlusProgramme of the European Union, isto stimulate TV content production inCentral and Eastern Europe, andthrough DISCOP to stimulate panregionallicensing opportunities." }30 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

usiness opportunity reportTHE BENEFITS OF UNIONBy Bob JenkinsThere are many financial benefits available in the form of subsidies and loansavailable to companies located in and individuals who are citizens of theEuropean Union, via the MEDIA Programme. Members of the office of theMEDIA Programme will be at DISCOPRO 08 to inform producers of theopportunities. But ahead of that, DISCOP.Link has been talking to MatteoSolaro of the Education, Audiovisual and Cultural Executive Agency,to find out what is on offer and how to access it.The overall aim of the MEDIA programmeis to facilitate collaborationbetween European broadcasters,producers and distributors in the makingof programming with both a distinctlyEuropean flavour, and an internationalappeal. In order to achievethese goals the MEDIA programmesets out a number of parameters tothe awards and eligibility criteria thathave to be met before a project will beconsidered.Awards are made for the financingof fiction, animation, and creativedocumentaries. The award is in theform of a subsidy, which therefore hasto be repaid, and for fiction and animationcan cover a maximum of 12.5%of the budget up to a maximumamount of €500,000. For documentariesthe award may cover a maximumof 20% of the budget, but nomore than a total of €300,000.Criteria which must be met beforea production becomes eligible for considerationinclude a requirement thatat least three European broadcasters,from different European countries,are involved and that a minimum of50% of the budget already be confirmedin writing before the applicationis made. Of this sum, at least halfmust be from EU sources. There is,however, no requirement that productionshould already have started. Additionally,the licenses sold to broadcastersmust allow for the return ofthe rights to the producers afterseven years in the case of a pre-buy,or ten years in the case of a co-production.Finally, the applicant company hasto be the majority producer, and mustbe registered in an EU country, or in acountry participating in the MEDIAscheme, which, in addition to EU countries,also includes Norway, Iceland,Liechtenstein and Switzerland.Every year, the MEDIA programmemakes a 'call' for proposals forfunding under this scheme, and that'call' is published on the web site(http://ec.eurpoa.eu/media) aroundthe middle of November. Following theissuing of this 'call' there are two deadlinesfor applications. In 2008 the firstis 22 nd February, and the second the13 th June.Provided all of these criteria aremet, and the application is made on orbefore one of the two deadlines, allproposals will be considered on individualmerit, in the light of the MEDIA programme'sdesire that proposals receivingbacking should have as great apotential for international distributionas possible.Matteo Solaro admits that, "in thepast, this has favoured big productioncompanies from big European countriesas they are more likely to produceprojects with international potential.However," he continues, "companiesfrom smaller countries have beenfinanced in the past, and we will shortlybe publishing new guidelines whichshould make it easier for producersfrom smaller countries to accessMEDIA financing."While it is rare for a project toreceive backing from the MEDIAscheme, and for it to then be abandonedbefore completion, "because,"Solaro points out, "we insist that atleast fifty per cent of the budget be inplace before committing funds," hedoes accept that this has occasionallyhappened in the past. "If a project isselected, a contract signed, and it issubsequently abandoned before completion,a producer must explain thesituation, and justify the project'sabandonment. If the producer presentsa cost report showing all thecosts incurred prior to the abandonmentthen the MEDIA programme willwrite off the maximum permitted percentage,12.5% for fiction and animation,and 20% for documentaries."Although at the time of writingSolaro revealed that, "our exact activitiesat DISCOPRO 08 have not yetbeen defined," he did insist that, "wewill definitely be there as DISCOPRO isthe perfect place to inform producersof the possibilities offered to them bythe MEDIA Programme."And we all look forward to welcomingMatteo and his colleagues toBudapest next June, but before then,anyone interested in applying shouldlook for the new call and guidelineswhich will be published shortly on theweb sitehttp://ec.eurpoa.eu/media.}32 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

late-night programmingLATE NIGHT'SWAKE UP CALLBy Bob JenkinsResearch by Piotr Socha & Andrej MatijasevicLong regarded as the schedule's wasteland, late night is starting to be moreproperly valued by advertisers. DISCOP.Link discovers why.Robert Blagman, managing partner,Media Ops Inc, says, "all overthe planet, people are living in a 24/7society." This, believes Blagman, is themain reason why late night television,long seen as an advertising wasteland,is beginning to develop realvalue. Although this is by no meansthe only reason he holds this view."Late night is suddenly becomingmuch more important," explains Blagman,"not just because people arestaying up later, but because they aremoving all over the schedule, and it isbecoming much harder, if not to sayimpossible, to get a critical mass ofany one demographic in any one slot.The time," continues Blagman, "whenyou could rely on getting a good femaleaudience in the afternoon, or hoardsof 18 - 25 year old males for the newsare gone. Audiences are all over theplace, and so advertisers have to beas well, including late night, and thatinevitably makes it more valuable."Blagman also believes that latenight is enjoying something of an advertisingrenaissance because, "whileit is an area of the schedule that hasPOKER AFTERDARK Logoalways offered cheap advertising, ithas traditionally not offered efficientadvertising, and has, therefore largelybeen overlooked by both advertisersand broadcasters." However, Blagmanbelieves that is about to change."It is no longer the case," he insists,"that it is necessarily now inefficient. Ifhandled properly, late night can bevery much more efficient than hadpreviously been the case, while stillremaining a cheap advertising option."Croatian journalist, and mediacommentator, Andrej Matijasevic,agrees with Blagman that, "late nightprogramming is becoming much moreinteresting to advertisers the worldover, and its value is definitely closingthe gap on other day parts." However,Matijasevic does not believe that Croatianbroadcasters are properly exploitingthe opportunity this part of theschedule offers."When schedules went 24/7,and the country was still Yugoslavia,"he explains, "everyone was delighted.Then it offered the opportunity, for thevery first time, to watch foreigndrama, comedy, sports and entertainmentcontent. In a word, everythingthat was chronically lacking in thedaily, primarily political, schedule." Norwere foreign programmes the onlynew delight offered by broadcasters inthe hours of darkness. "This part ofthe schedule," recalls Matijasevic,“became known as Programme Plus,and, in addition to the foreign programming,it also offered, again forthe first time, low budget, soft porncontent, which, refreshingly, was presentedas it was, and not under a spuriouscloak of artistic intent."Such content is also a key elementof the Austrian late night programming,although Ina Bauer, assistant tothe CMO of Austria's ATV, is at painsto stress that, "it is important to makeclear here that ATV is not responsiblefor the content or the advertising inthis part of the schedule." Bauer goeson to explain that, "from midnight untilbetween 2 am and 2.30 am we playregular programming, often repeatsof primetime series, as well as movies,sitcoms and dramas. However,the hours from the end of this timeslot through to 5.30 am are of no realinterest to mainstream Austrian advertisersand so we effectively 'sub let'this part of the schedule to a thirdparty who is then responsible for organisingall of the content and advertising.The content that does run hereis mainly erotic movies and short clipsacting as interstials."In Croatia, however, Matijasevicbelieves that this area of the schedulehas either stagnated or actually deteriorated.Although he does acknowl-34 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

edge that," a few years ago RTL madethe only serious attempt at innovationin the late night schedule, when theyallowed the cameras from their versionof BIG BROTHER to keep runningthrough the night so that viewerscould peep into bedrooms in the earlyhours. Presumably in the hope of seeingsomething that was sadly missingfrom the reality of their own lives. Buteven that small innovation," says Matijasevic,"has now been abandonedand, although RTL still does showsome extra BIG BROTHER footage, inline with their competitors they nowmostly show repeat movies and seriesuntil 1 am when they start KUNOLO-VAC, a two-hour quiz show in whichviewers call in trying to win a bigmoney prize, although this has recentlyattracted criticism from both theregulator and also consumer groupswho think that callers do not alwaysget fair treatment."Matijasevic says much the sameis true of the late night programmingof other Croatian broadcaster such asHTV who broadcast repeat moviesand American series until 3 am afterwhich they switch to a schedule ofmagazine shows and political showsuntil regular morning programmingresumes at 7 am. Nova TV is very similarwith late news followed by importedcomedies and drama until 4 amwhen the station runs a low budgetfeature or TV movie.However, these examples are notthe real low point of Croatian late nightprogramming, that dubious distinctionMatijasevic awards to NET, a localbroadcaster operating out of Kutin,"who invited viewers to send, via SMS,nude photos of themselves, or, better,or worse depending on your viewpoint,clips of them having intercourse."After being reprimanded by theBroadcasting Council, the bodyresponsible for the issuing of Croatianbroadcast licenses, the station toneddown the requests and now, saysMatijasevic, "only show still photographsof male genitalia alongside theowner’s telephone number!"And when not plumbing thedepths of poor taste and indecencymany local stations, reports Matijasevic,"fill much of their late nightschedules with direct response television,urging you to 'call now and youcould be the first on your block to getthe very sharpest knife in history. Ever.Honest.' Or premium rate phone linesoffering to tell your fortune by readingcards or beans or crystal balls."This is also the situation in theCzech Republic where Pavel Krumpar,commercial director at state broadcasterCeska Televize says, "most ofour late night slots are filled withdirect response television," but Krumpardefends this situation, explaining,"the amount of spot advertising CeskaTelevize is allowed to show is verystrictly limited, and therefore we preferto use spots in the daytime andprime time when they can commandRobert Blagman, Managing Partner,Media Ops Inc.much greater sums." By way of illustratingthe significant differences inrevenue generated by spot as opposedto DRT, Krumpar estimatesthat spot advertising, "generatesaround €5.7 million a year, while thedirect response of late night generatesslightly over one quarter of this,at €1.5 million."Krumpar believes this basic economicsis at the heart of the currentmalaise with regional late night schedules."Certainly," he insists, "growth inlate night income, and therefore improvementin the content shown, willonly come with competition, which willforce stations to look for new sourcesof revenue." And on that score he isoptimistic, "I believe this will happen asdigitalisation takes hold over the nexttwo years, and more and more channelsare launched, then, not only willlate-night programmingcompetition increase, but we will seethe emergence of new forms of latenight programming such as downloading,competitions and advertiser generatedcontent."This is a view shared by ATV'sBauer who says, "there has not beenany significant change in the level ofadvertising in late night as mainstreamAustrian advertisers are mainlyinterested in the time period from 1pm through to 12 am. Hence thealternative income formats such asteleshopping, call in programming andthe erotic flat fee deal for providing airtime."However, this is not necessarilythe situation throughout the DISCOPregion. Piotr Socha, a producer atPoland's TVP Rzeszow says, "untilquite recently late night television inPoland used to be associated withendless repeats of series and films,except on public service stationswhich played opera and other programmingof a high culture nature,which they were obliged to play, butwhich would not have rated well instronger slots," although he acceptsthat, "this did offer an opportunity forthose who missed the original transmissionto catch up," he also believesthat it was not the best possible use ofairtime. And, he says, "recently, Polishstations began to realise that latenight might not be the hopeless partof the schedule that had always seen itas being. Over the past few years,"explains Socha, "a number of ideashave been imported from the USA andWestern Europe, based on interactiveparticipation of viewers in competitions,quizzes or game shows." However,there were initially problemssince the companies hired to producesuch series had little or no experienceof them and this lead to a quick turnaround as show after show failed andwas replaced with another doomed tothe same fate."The turning point," reportsSocha, "came with the introduction ofthe CALL TV system, mastered byHungary's Telemedia InteracTV." Thecompany, which Socha describes as,"a global phenomenon," produces programmingfor fifty countries worldwideoperating out of twenty studios. ForPoland alone it produces thirteenhours of programming daily, includinglate night programming for each of36 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

Poland's three largest terrestrials,Polsat, TVN and TVP.By far the most successful ofthese programmes is NIGHT RIDDLESwhich Telemedia produces for TVP2.The show, which transmits from 2am, attracts between sixty thousandand one hundred and sixty thousandviewers but, says Socha, "for thisshow ratings are not what really matter.What really matters," he goes on,"is that people, sometimes as many asten thousand, call in during the hourlongshow in an attempt to win a prizeof €150, and each of those calls generatesaround 1 Euro per minute."Nor is TVP alone in Poland in capitalisingon the power of interactive toinvigorate Late Night. Polsat hasrecently entered into an agreementwith 4Fun Media which sees the privategroup producing shows whichallow viewers to communicate withother viewers during the course of aprogramme, influence the outcome ofshows. Viewers can also vote for theirfavourite tunes, develop play lists,download ring tones, wallpapers andother mobile applications.Generally speaking, profits generatedin this way are split three ways.The Polish telephone operators takefifty percent and the remaining half isdivided between the producer and thebroadcaster.These developments go some ofthe way to addressing the shortcomingsdescribed earlier, but, Blagmanbelieves, much more is possible."There are," he enthuses, "so manydifferent strategies an advertiser canuse in late night. The most straightforwardone," he goes on, "is to do justthat - advertise. However, a more sophisticatedversion of this has beenaround for sometime - the 'infomercial'.This typically lasts a half-hourand, in the US, has been especiallysuccessful in late fringe." There aremany advantages from an advertiser'sperspective to the infomercial, asBlagman explains. "An infomercial," hepoints out, "allows an advertiser tocreate their own content completewith their own product placement.Additionally, it allows them to buychunks of air-time from various broadcastersin different markets andthereby effectively to create their own'unwired network'." Despite theseadvantages Blagman accepts thatanother truth about infomercials isthat, "the majority of the audiencewatching one are there by accident.They came across it while channelhopping and stayed. Very few will havetuned in specifically to watch theinfomercial."This realisation has led to the developmentof what might be termed,'entertainment infomercials'. Essentially,these shows, which can beeither one-hour or half-hour, are entertainmentshows which offer all thecommercial opportunities of infomercialsbut, because of the inherententertainment values, draw significantlygreater audiences. Blagmantakes up the story. "Among the firstexamples of this genre were showssuch as POKER PARTY and POKERSTARS," he recalls, adding, "not onlydo they allow the advertiser to puttheir logo all over the show, and puttheir own ads in then break, they alsoare a very efficient tool for driving audiencesto the appropriate poker website."In January 2006, NBC played ashow called POKER AFTER DARK from2 am to 3 am Monday to Friday and 1am to 3 am Saturday. In America, thetime between 2 am and 5 am is knownas 'overnight' and, says Blagman,"networks have traditionally not understoodthe value of this time period andhave only used it for direct responseshows." However, POKER AFTERDARK was both a revolution, and a revelation,not only did it deliver ratingsof between 1 and 1.5 in key demographics,but in some markets it wasactually beating the TONIGHT SHOW.But, as Blagman explains, the rawnumbers are not the whole of thisexciting story. "People who were notup at 2 am were recording the showto watch later and that's a greatbonus," he enthuses, "as an audiencewatching what it wants to watch,when they want to watch it, have avery much stronger focus."Blagman is almost evangelicalabout the potential offered by this previouslyneglected part of the schedule.NIGHT RIDDLES, Telemedialate-night programmingSo much so that his company is, in hiswords, "putting all of these opportunitiestogether in a drive to help broadcastersin both the CEE and WesternEurope maximise their ability to monetizelate night."In addition to utilising the schedulingopportunities he has already outlined,there are other advantage onwhich Blagman hopes to capitalise,particularly what he describes as, "theincreasing presence of global buyers."He goes on to outline what he meansby this. "There was a time," explainsBlagman, "when ad agencies had apresence in all the major advertisingmarkets, but these days there is anincreasing tendency for them to haveone global buyer, typically located inNew York or London who buys for territoriesall over the world. What weare doing," he continues, "is saying tothese individuals, instead of makingtwenty-seven different deals in twentysevendifferent countries, why don'tyou make one deal with us and we willdeliver all twenty-seven territories." Inaddition to this offer, Blagman and hiscompany are also setting up full backofficeservices, including fulfilment, inall appropriate countries opening thedoor in these countries to new productsand commerce not previouslyavailable in these countries. "There isan enormous amount of local differencesin matters such as customsregulations, as well, of course, as languageand culture," observes Blagman,noting, "therefore, one of the keyattractions of our offer is that we candeal with all the issues raised by theselocal differences, right down to altering,not just dubbing, the ad to complywith local tastes and customs if needbe."There are three types of contentwhich Blagman identifies as currentlyworking particularly well in late night,and these are, Interactive, in whichviewers call in to participate in somesort of a competition, Poker andGaming. But he does not believe thattrinity is necessarily set in stone, "I believe,"asserts Blagman, "that thereally great advantage late night offersadvertisers is the opportunity to trythings they would not try in other dayparts because the direct competitionis different and the cost is less. It is,"he asserts, "time we all woke up tolate night." }38 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

CEE dossierTHE YOUNGEST, BUT NOT THE WEAKESTBy Milica VasicOnly a year and half was enough time for TV Atlas to establish itself in themarket and become one of Montenegro's more popular channels, mostlybecause they have chosen their programmes according to the needsof the audience.Atlas TV, from Podgorica, is theyoungest commercial TV networkin Montenegro. In merely year and ahalf in business, they managed to positionthemselves reasonably high andwith the fastest rating increase.The marketing manager, SrdjanFilipovic, says that the licenced programmesfit into the Atlas TV programmeconcept perfectly. The maincriteria which must be met whenchoosing programmes are their qualityand their attractiveness for theaudience, and in establishing partnershipswith copyright owners, theychose assertive subjects with goodreferences, such as, Filipovic says,Croatian Television (HRT) and MotionAvenue.According to Filipovic, "Radio TVAtlas has a clearly defined path aheadof it, and that is toward the leadingposition in the market. According toour goal, our main priority is not makingprofit, but investing in high techequipment, innovations and creatingcapable personnel, which after all areour network's most valuable asset."The secret of success is, accordingto ATV management, in good programmingstrategy. There are a fewprogrammes which stand out andshould be mentioned. We should startwith the most popular one.The game-cum-talk show PIRAMI-DA (PYRAMID), cretaed by DubravkoMerlic, the manager of the Croatianindependent film company CastorMultimedia, is the most popular showin the region for the second year running.In May 2007 at the KKL hall inLucerne, Switzerland, PIRAMIDA wonthe Golden Rose in the category ofShows, one of the world's most prestigiousTV awards, the equivalent of anOscar in the TV industry.In short, the PYRAMID is an interactivegame-talk show, with a competitivestructure and rules that providethe participants with equal opportunitiesof vying for viewer votes throughbeing original, concise and interestingin their treatment of topics.There are three participants oneach show, all three public figures,and while time is strictly measuredthey talk about five topics from thepast week as selected by the editors.The events are not limited to any onefield, but are selected according to themain criterion of their interesting andtopical nature. It is aired weekly andduring the show, viewers vote for theirfavorite and their votes decide the winnerwho moves to the next level of thePYRAMID, namely the next round ofshows that bring together winnersfrom other PYRAMID shows from thesame level.SAVRSEN PAR (THE PERFECTCOUPLE) is a new reality show on TVAtlas in which everyone is a potentialparticipant: the young ladies and menwho apply for the show, the audiencein the studio cheering and supportingthe contestants, and the audiencewatching at home who can send smsmessages with questions for the contestants.In doing so, they are eligibleto win one of numerous prizes. Theshow is hosted by Silvija Vucinic.Another show worth mentioning isFIGHT CLUB. An hour long quiz TVAtlas considers to be suitable for all. Itis produced and hosted by VericaLjesevic and Darko Prascevic. Duringthe one hour long programme, theaudience themselves have a chance towin prizes, as well as the various contestants.In November of this year, TV Atlashas started broadcasting anotherattractive show - TELEFON (THE TELE-PHONE). The biggest and the mostcomplex reality show we've ever had achance to watch in this region. Theproduction company Rikoset, in cooperationwith Dutch Park Lane Productions,has started filming the first seasonof the show TELEFON throughoutthe cities of Montenegro.Rikoset, production companyfrom Belgrade, plans to bring this realityshow to life on the territory of fiveformer Yugoslavian republics.TV Atlas also aims to make theirfilm and series programming rich anddiverse. The main sources of AtlasTV's film content are Paramount andUniversal, which guarantees themwith long-term top quality film programmingwith high ratings. Theschedule includes blockbusters andclassics, comedy, science fiction, horror,thriller and drama.The series broadcast on TV Atlasinclude BBC sitcoms such as MENBEHAVING BADLY, a forty four episodelong comedy premiered in 1992,which had great success in the territoryof the former Yugoslavia. There isalso Dick Wolf's LAW & ORDER:CRIMINAL INTENT, the popular, EmmyAward-winning legal crime drama, andTHE HUNGER, a TV series producedby the Scott brothers' Scott Free company.TV Atlas' schedule is also enrichedwith the Hallmark mini series, FUR-THER TALES OF THE CITY and A GIRLTHING, and Hallmark/Carlton films,such as THE CASE OF THE WHITE-CHAPEL VAMPIRE, MURDER IN THERUE MORGUE, and so on, as well aswith the light drama series SOUS LESOLEIL, produced by the CentreNational de la Cinematographie(CNC). }40 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

CEE dossierTV MARKET PATTERN INBOSNIA & HERZEGOVINABy Dragana StanicAt the moment, in the territory ofBosnia and Herzegovina someforty televisions broadcast their TVprogramming. Interesting enough,the Public Broadcasting System inB&H also operates well. It comprisesthree public radio and TV stations -two entity broadcasters, the Radio-Television of Republika Srpska and theRadio-Television of the Federation ofB&H, and the third one being theleader on the federal level, the PublicBroadcasting Service of Bosnia andHerzegovina. Competition for audienceshare in B&H goes on two levels.On the second level are small TV stationsfrom the beginning of this report.The first level is occupied by thebig ones. In the struggle for audienceshare, beside the above RTV systemsand TV stations like ATV Banja Luka,NTV Hyatt, TV PINK, TV BN, and OBNonly the strongest survive. Also, thereis a growing number of competitive televisionstations from Serbia andCroatia, which viewers in B&H watchvia a cable network.Elvir Svrakic, director, NTV Hyattsays that they broadcast satellite programmingvia the cable network inAustria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland,Sweden, France, Slovenia, andMacedonia, but not in Serbia and Croatia.“On the other hand, cable networksin B&H illegally broadcastHTV1, 2 and Nova TV, which is provedby the contracts signed with contentdistributors. From Serbia only RTSbroadcasts, based on settled rights,"maintains Svrakic. "We have done ourbest to protect our legal rights, however,we failed. They keep broadcastingthe same content as we do, and inthe same language."For those who want to betterunderstand the media situation inB&H and the neighbouring countries,the important fact is that some contentdistributors treat Serbian, Croatianand Bosnian languages as thesame language. "If you ask me how tokeep our viewers, I will tell you that inB&H we and Nova TV broadcast thesame sports events. The audienceshare, however, is on side of Nova TV,"says Svrakic. "Our own production iswhat differentiates us from our maincompetitors. In addition, we acquiretop quality world programming. By theend of this year we expect to becomeNo. 1 TV station in B&H," Svrakic isdetermined.The situation in the public broadcastingsector is slightly different. Theposition of the Public BroadcastingService of Bosnia & Herzegovina doesnot depend on commercial televisions."The difference between commercialand public televisions," explains InesMrenica, PR PBSB&H, "is most obviousin terms of broadcasting globalevents. Every TV station may acquirequality content or buy a feature blockbuster,but only the No. 1 Public BroadcastingService may get the EuroSong Contest or the Olympic Games”.One of the great problems theBosnian media market has to tackle isthe fact that neighbouring televisionsinterfere in their television marketthus decreasing the advertising timefees. Mrenica says that PBSB&H hasmade a deal with the Association ofCable Operators according to whichthe signal of the neighbouring televisionstation is being coded during exclusivesports live broadcasts (ChampionsLeague, FIFA WORLD CUP).Jasmin Durakovic, general manager,RTVFB&H, says that Radio-Television of the Federation, being thepart of the Public Broadcasting System,is the most influential electronicmedia in B&H. "During the pastyears," explains Durakovic, "we hadthe greatest share in our primary territory(B&H Federation), and certainlythe greatest market share on theB&H television market. Our dominationon the Federation TV market isthe result of our investments intodomestic (local) production whichmade us the leaders in the productionof news and fiction programming. FTVis the major producer of successfuldocumentaries, arts and culture contentand programmes targeting childrenand youth in B&H. As for entertainmentcontent, we keep our groundrelative to commercial televisions, inparticular to Pink B&H being our maincompetitor on the market."Durakovic also stresses out thatthe development of cable networks,arrival of regional and world TV stations,and new forms of TV contentdistribution will further fragment themedia market, which will lead to furtherrating decrease of domestic TVstations. "Regional markets (particularlyin Croatia and Serbia) are considerablystronger than ours. Also, televisionsfrom these countries havegreater production potentials and are,therefore, stronger than B&H TV stationsin terms of finances and advertising.FTV tries to tackle this problemby producing the best possible localcontent, and to offset the influence ofthe neighbouring TV stations by enteringregional co-productions. Consequently,FTV is now producing severalprogrammes in co-operation with theCroatian private TV stations (RTL andNOVA TV). I believe that these formsof co-operation should also be developedbetween public service broadcastersin the region, because this willbe the only appropriate response toglobal TV companies penetrating thismarket," concludes Durakovic. }42 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

CEE dossierNEWS CONTENT IN HUNGARY & CEEBy Istvan BodzsoniOne of the major problems Central European broadcasting systems aredealing with after the break-up of the former Soviet Union is to providereliable and technologically advanced information sources.In the first years of transition, broadcasterscovering domestic issuesprimarily drew their information fromnational news agencies which continuedtheir operation under the newmanagement, although their obsoletetechnology and not quite professionalediting personnel remained. Ofcourse, the greatest change was thearrival of foreign, first of all Westernnews agencies which earlier could notbe used as information sources.Reuters, AP, WTN, CNN and manyothers flooded the new markets andbombarded editorial offices hungry forvarious alluring and not too expensivevideo packages. Small and medium TVstations could daily acquire 30-40video reports about the main worldevents for only 20-30 thousand pondsa year. The reports included everything,from the Middle East crisis,through uniting of the two Germans tothe typhoon in the Caribbean, butwere filtered by the taste of variouseditors-in-chief. Soon, a strange situationoccurred. The news programmingof the 'liberated' Central Europeanstate televisions included theevents in South Africa or Hong Kong,but not those happening in the neighbouringcountries. Their lazy and easygoingeditors-in-chief preferred readymadevideo footages received byrenowned world news agenciesinstead of searching for interestinginformation in their own neighbourhood.And the renowned news agenciesalso seldom dealt with the saidneighbourhood. The exception werewars, natural catastrophes, electionscoverage and political crises as werethe news about protocol meetingswith European politicians and businessmenin power.No major agency was dealing withthe Central European region. Additionally,technological connections betweenthe news agencies in the regionwere a catastrophe. In Budapest itwas easier to get some video materialfrom Washington D.C. than fromBucharest or Subotica across thestate border. Old analogue terrestriallinks had not been repaired or werecompletely destroyed, as was thecase in Serbia. Optical cable systemwas advancing very slowly and couldnot be used for video signal distribution.Majority of TV stations could notafford the expensive satellite equipment.EBU and some other companiesdid offer some video materialdelivery arrangements, but the servicewas too expensive. Ten minutes ofsatellite time cost almost €3,000,which was too much for most TV stations.As a result, people in the transitionalcountries knew little about thesituation in the neighbourhood. Theywere perfectly briefed about theAmerican election campaign, yet theywere quite unaware of the names ofthe people in power in the neighbouringcountries. Western news agenciesin a way colonised former socialistcountries. That was, certainly, alsofacilitated by the fact that people inCentral and Eastern Europe have beeninformation-hungry for over fortyyears, and those who managed towatch the Western media had beenpunished.National news agencies, however,failed to adapt to the new marketdemands. The Hungarian TelegraphAgency (MTI), for example, has not yetintroduced video reports in their offer.Despite that, over 75% of people inHungary regard television as theirmain information source. There weresome efforts in MTI to master thissegment of informing as well, but theyhad neither personnel nor equipmentfor such type of information gathering.Potential clients want semi-finishedvideo material that need be only slightlyadapted, depending on the taste oftheir editors-in-chief. They demand latestnews and attractive video footagesabout interesting events, quick delivery,option to choose and strictinstructions on the footage usage.MTI could never meet such demands.Consequently, efforts were madeto found smaller news agencies, butdue to the lack of appropriate financialsupport, they could not survive on themarket. That was the case of CENAwhich, after ten months of operationand quickly established correspondentnetwork in over 30 countries had toclose down because its founders andinvestors overlooked the fact thatsuch an investment cannot pay-off inonly one year. Currently, in Hungarythere is only one news agency that hasall the chances to survive on the market,with video footages in their offer -Fuggetlen Hírugynokseg, an independentnews agency. Behind it is RTLMedia Company which is powerfulenough to keep such a company alive.In the meantime, some Westernnews agencies became interested inCentral Europe as the source of information.For example, Reuters hasintroduced for its clients so calledCEEF (Central and Eastern EuropeFeed) service, which provides severalvideo reports from the region. Butthey primarily include interestingitems instead of ordinary dailyreports.Regretfully, EBU reports on latestevents may be used exclusively bystate televisions. Internet, as yetanother space for distributing videomaterial is a very promising platform,but has not yet reached the requiredspeed and quality in the region.The bottom line is that formersocialist countries are still waiting tobe discovered, and it is up to newsagencies and investors whether theywill use the opportunity. }44 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

CEE dossierFREQUENCY SWITCH IN BULGARIABy Lilly GoleminovaIn Bulgaria, in order to be able tobroadcast, TV networks need twotypes of licenses - a programminglicense issued by Bulgarian Council forElectronic Media and a license for thefrequency, which is given under theauthority of the Commission forRegulation (Broadcasting Council).But due to the lack of clarity in medialaw in Bulgaria and because of the lackof activity from the UEM and Commissionmentioned above those playerswho are more flexible and reactivehave the space to maneuver and tomake various combinations with thelicenses they possess. Quite a goodexample would be the recent 'frequencyswitch' performed between BBTand 7 Days TV. BBT had a programminglicense for cable broadcasting, 7Days - a frequency for the over-the-airbroadcast for the territory of the capitalSofia. The two TV stations made adeal - so BBT can now be watchedwithout relying on cable distributors,whilst 7 Days became cable only. Bothnetworks changed their formats - BBTThis fall seems to be quite a dynamic season forBulgarian TV. A new big player is entering thestage - TV 2.went towards being the "TV of the capital"with more and more news emissions(the new manager of BBT is theformer Head of News for BulgarianNational Television, Simeon Vassilev, aman with a strong European background).7 Days moved to a new complexwith totally new studios and muchbetter equipment. "Entertainment,lifestyle, games, quizzes and somepolitics" is the new motto of 7 Days asopposed to the idealized image of TVas a socially engaged media that voicesthe opinion of different facets ofsociety.TV2 will start broadcasting onOctober 26 th . The length of the dailyschedule will be between 6 and 8hours, in the first 3 months. The contentwill be entirely and purely commerciallyoriented - some say that isjust a 'bait' to draw a larger audience.Who knows? For now, the only thingthat is certain is that there will be aspecial evening show (Monday toFriday) hosted by one of the most popular- others would use the word "notorious"- people in Bulgaria. His name isAzis, he is of a gypsy origin. By combininghis open homosexuality (assumedby some just as a "commercialtrick"), his eccentric outlook andstrong vocal abilities, he has becomethe biggest pop-folk star, even "icon" inBulgaria. So THE SHOW OF AZIS willdo its best to rival bTV's SLAVI'SSHOW (as featured previously in DIS-COP LINK).Such is the eagerly anticipatedaccent of TV2. Beside that, moviesand sitcoms will be aired as well assome very provocative foreign showsuch as OKNA, the famous and controversialRussian talk-show. }EASY WAY WITHOUT AIRBy Rastislav DurmanThe battle for frequencies and broadcastinglicenses in Serbia willhave its victors nowadays consideringthat the Broadcasting Council is aboutto end a several-years long licensingprocess. The number of licenses isextremely high for a country with lessthan 8 million viewers - four channelsof public service, plus 6 channels withnational coverage, 34 with regionalcoverage and 148 channels whichcould be seen locally. Despite a relativelypoor market, high competitionand huge operation costs over 400companies have applied for frequencylicense.What is the innovation on the broadcastingmarket in Serbia is theemergence of TV companies whichhad not even applied for a licence, butNot all TV companies in Serbia are interested interrestrial broadcasting.decided to broadcast their programmingvia cable operators. By doing thisthey both decrease their operatingcosts and avoid an extremely complicatedlicensing process for terrestrialbroadcasting.According to the current regulationsin Serbia, the BroadcastingCouncil issues a license for cable orsatellite broadcasting not based onpublic bids but solely upon the requestof the operator who is obliged to presentcomplete documentation, thesame that is also presented duringbids, yet he is not obliged to meet specificrequirements which broadcastinglicense applicants have to meet.In addition to the existing, primarilyspecialised TV channels on the cablenetwork which cannot be seen on terrestrialtelevision (F Travel, LT, TV Navigator,and Health Channel), TV companieswhich have not won the terrestrialbroadcasting licence will comeout with their programming offer onthe cable network. Since the networkcovers all major cities and towns inSerbia, the potentials of cable TV byfar surpass the potentials of terrestrialTV operating on the regional level. }46 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

newsFULL OF WESTERN PROMISEBy Bob JenkinsThe classic opera is the newestoffering from NBDtv, now a part ofthe DCD group, and features HD recordingsof spectacular opera recordedat such prestigious locations asOpera National de Paris, Grand TheatreGeneva and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.Verdi's UN BALLO IN MASCHERA,based on the life of King Gustav 111 ofSweden is the offering from the OperaNational de Paris. Recorded in June2007, Verdi fills his opera with suchpower, passion and intensity that theaudience is transfixed from the veryfirst note to the very last. Featuringthe Orchestre de l'Opera de Paris, andthe Choeur de l'Opera de Paris, theproduction is directed by SemyonBychkov and stars Marcelo Alvarezand Ludovic Tezier.From the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence,NBDtv has DIE WALKURE, thesecond of four operas in Wagner'sDER RING DES NIBELUNGEN cycle.The production, recorded in July ofthis year is conducted by Sir SimonRattle and features Sir Willard Whiteas Wotan and Robert Gambill asSiegmund.ZORRO: THE SWORD AND THE ROSE,TelemundoDISCOP.Link takes its usual look at what's new onoffer from outside our region, and this time wehave a very varied selection from classic operathrough to classic adventure via a magical island,and one very stressed out modern mum.Telemundo has a classic offeringof a very different nature. Classicadventure with ZORRO: THE SWORDAND THE ROSE. And, as it is a telenovela,you can bet it also has a liberalhelping of tangled love! The 120 x 60minute episodes are based on an originalscript by renowned writer Humberto'Kiko' Olivieri, and boasts aninternationally renowned cast including,Christian Meier (THE STORM),Marlene Favela (GATA SALVAJE,RUBI), Natasha Klauss (THE STORM,HIDDEN PASSION) and many more.With pedigree like this one wouldexpect ZORRO to slash its way to thetop of the ratings and so far theswashbuckling hero has not disappointed.Produced by RTI and SonyPictures International for Telemundo,it debuted in Spain on Antena 3August 20 th in a 5.15pm slot averaging19.8% share, with a peak of24.1%.A dashing, handsome, romanticadventurer Zorro may be, but it cannotbe denied that he is prone to leavinga trail of corpses in his wake.Germany's ohm: tv has a show justright for anyone anticipating a visitfrom the masked man. DIE ANOTHERDAY is their new format, created byCasey Parsons, which could equallyhave been titled, 'All You Ever WantedTo Know About Dying - But WereAfraid To Ask!' In each one-hour episode,one individual gets to livethrough the experience of planningtheir own funeral. Each week, the individualconcerned has to address theuniversal difficulties of confrontingone's own death and its aftermath.From doubts, or certainties, about theafterlife to inheritance tax and will writing.Distressing and tedious it may be,but, as Benjamin Franklin observed,"in this life one may be certain of onlytwo things. Death and taxation!"And, having dealt with one, ohm:tv has another new format to addressthe other. MONEY SPINNERS is a'making money reality show', whichfirst premiered on the BBC in 2006.In each episode a financial expert liveswith participants and guides themthrough a total 'money makeover',showing them how to earn more,learn new skills, save more and selleverything they don't need. Each episodeends with the family concernedcollecting the dream cash reward fortheir efforts.Spain's BRB has just launchedPAPAWA, a 104 x 7 minute series seton an island of the same name. If yougo there with dreams anything canhappen. The island is inhabited by astrange race of creatures, who havethe uncanny ability to turn dreams intonightmares - or not, depending on themood they are in! Shot in HD and aone-of-a-kind, 'cut out' style, the Hispano-Frenchco-production will beavailable from autumn 2008.Also shooting now for delivery in2008, this time in February, is POLLYADLER a 4 x 45 minute comedydrama from Austrian state broadcasterORF. Based on the hit newspapercolumn of the same name, telling thelife and trials of Polly Adler, societyjournalist, and full-time single mother.The writer of the inventive and fastpaced comedy is Polly's alter ego, reallife society journalist and full-time singlemother Angelika Hager, who, withUli Bree invented the character in aregular newspaper column twelveyears ago.If she had a moment, which shealmost certainly does not, Polly couldprobably benefit from some quiet timeon the sofa with Portfolio's CHEF ATHOME. In each of the 131 x 30 minuteepisodes, chef Michael Smith invitesaudiences into his own kitchen andshows how easy it is to create simple,wholesome meals for the whole familyfrom whatever happens to be in thefridge. }48 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

newsDISCOP.Link brings youall the news of thelatest 'done deals'throughout the DISCOPregion.WHEELER DEALERBy Bob JenkinsAETN International's director ofinternational content sales, JonathanSouth, has been busy in theregion lately. Recently closed dealsinclude over one hundred hours withRomania's Antenna, including DECOD-ING THE PAST, a look at the greatprophecies, signs and wonders of thepast from Nostradamus to Da Vinci toThe Bible, and CRISS ANGEL MINDF-REAK. The latter starring the eponymousCriss Angel, a master provocateurwho demonstrates a new breedof modern mysticism that will amazeaudiences everywhere.South also wrapped up twentyhours of history programmingwith Russia's Kultura channel includinga look at the architectural triumphsof the ancient world in ENGI-NEERING AN EMPIRE.Emphatically in the modern world isRussia's CTC Network, whichdebuted 3 rd September with a localversion of Telemundo's hit telenovelaLOS TREINTA. Telling the story of four,thirty something, couples LOS TREIN-TA focuses on four men, all partnersin El Aire, a very modern restaurant,and the common problems they faceof money, routine, success, jealousy,infidelity, lack of desire and debts.Well, common in telenovelas anyway.Produced for CTC by A Media, one ofRussia's leading independent productioncompanies, LOS TREINTA hasalready been a big success in Romaniafor Zone Romantica as well asEcuador, Chile, Nicaragua, Panama,Cyprus and Portugal where it got a33% primetime share.Another telenovela, STORM OFLOVE, this time from Bavaria MediaTelevision, stormed has throughthe DISCOP region. So it is hardly surprisingthat the sequel, TEMPEST OFLOVE, is, reports Bavaria's head ofEastern European Affairs, HelgeKohnen, "generating strong competitionin almost all CEE countries." Insome that competition has beenresolved with Bavaria closing dealswith Slovak TV, Estonia's TV3, LatvianTV, and TV3 Lithuania.We all know that telenovelas areabout star-crossed lovers whodo have their problems. However, wealso know that, in the end, everythingalways manages to find its way to ahappy ending. Fremantle's LOVE YOUTO DEATH tells the story of starcrossedlovers whose sorry tales endwith one of them murdering the other.Starring John Waters (PINK FLAMIN-GOS, HAIRSPRAY, CRY-BABY) theseries recounts the ill-fated, and reallife, cases of spouses deciding to takewhat they thought would be the 'easyway out.' Veronika Gracher, FME'svice-president sales, German speakingEurope & Eastern Europe hasrecently sold LOVE YOU TO DEATH toTV3 Russia, RTL Klub Hungary,Lithuania's LNK, Fox Life Bulgaria andBalkans, and Ukrainian distributorCarmen Films.Love didn't feature much in the livesof England's Tudor royal dynasty.Sex did though, as did intrigue, murderand betrayal, which probablyexplains the popularity of Sony PictureTelevision's THE TUDORS, which featuresin a major multi-year contentdeal the company has just struck withCroatia's Nova TV. The deal alsoincludes major movie hits such as SPI-DERMAN 1+ 2, the Antonio Banderasand Catherine Zeta Jones vehicle,THE LEGEND OF ZORRO andXXX:STATE OF THE UNION, as well asnew TV series such as DAMAGES,starring Glenn Close, Lloyd Owen'sVIVA LAUGHLIN, CANTEBURY'S LAWstarring Julianna Margulies and LucyLiu vehicle, CASMERRE MAFIA. Alsoincluded in the deal are classic favouritessuch as the SEINFELD SHOW andthe hugely popular soap, DAYS OFOUR LIVES.Another huge package has beenstruck by MTV in Albania whereDigit-Alb has acquired 263 hours ofprogramming including 69 half-hoursof PIMP MY RIDE, 26 half-hours ofTAK AND THE POWER OF JUJU, 63half-hours of JIMMY NORTON, 68 ofCAT DOG, 40 half-hours of THE HILLS,and 42 half-hours of teenage soapLAGUNA BEACH, and two one-hourspecials. As well as many episodesfrom AVATAR, REN & STIMPY, ANGRYBEAVERS and MY LIFE AS A ROBOT.Adifferent MTV, this one Hungary'sstate broadcaster, has acquiredELIZABETH I from British distributorAll3Media. The 2 x 120-minute miniseriesstars Academy Award winnersHelen Mirren as the ageing Elizabethand Jeremy Irons as her lover the EarlOf Leicester, exposes the conflictbetween her sense of duty and theinstincts of her heart. All3Media havemade another recent sale in Hungary,to Cool TV, and it could hardly be moredifferent. SKINS, of which Cool hasacquired 19 hours, is a cutting edgeyouth drama set in Bristol and tellingthe story of an engaging group ofteenagers with attitude and humour.Finally, in a sign of the growingimportance of the DISCOP marketsin the international content businessZodiak Vostok has announced adeal with French producer A PrimeGroup to co-produce two pilot episodesof the hit daily format, TOUNDERSTAND & FORGIVE. The series,which has been a huge successof Russia's First Channel, for whom ithas been produced by Zodiak Vostok100% owned subsidiary, TeleAlliance,is a daily drama revolving around psychotherapiststrying to solve real lifeissues ranging from adultery to blackmailand rivalry. }50 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

newsBENEATH THE RADARBy Bob JenkinsUkraine's growing importance hasbeen underlined by two recentdeals. In the first of them Ukrainianentrepreneur Igor Kolomoisky took a€76 million stake in Central EuropeanMedia Enterprises (CME) representingapproximately 3% of CME's outstandingcommon stock. Mr Kolomoiskyalso took a seat on CME'sboard of directors. Mr Kolomoisky is aprominent businessman in the Ukraine,being a controlling shareholderand supervisory board member ofPrivatBank, one of the country'slargest commercial banks, and amajor shareholder and member of thesupervisory board of Ukrnafta, Ukraine'slargest oil and natural gas company.The country's growing importancewas further underlined byMichael Garin, CME's CEO who welcomedMr Kolomoisky's investment bycommenting, "this investment by MrKolomoisky should confirm CME's viewthat Ukraine will be a powerful growthengine for the future."The second deal underscoring therapid growth currently being experiencedby the Ukrainian content businesswas the acquisition of a 75%stake in YS Films, by Sweden's ZodiakGroup. YS Films is currently the secondlargest Ukrainian production company.Routed through Zodiac's Russiansubsidiary, Dixi Media the acquisitionis seen by the Swedish group asan important step in its plans forexpansion into former Soviet states.Zodiak currently owns 100% of ZodiakVostok, which in turn owns 51% ofTeleAlliance, with the brands Tele-Format and TeleRoman, and DixiMedia with the brands Dixi and Rytm.Commenting on the acquisition ofa stake in YS films, Zodiak presidentand CEO, Patrick Svensk said, "myexpectation is that YS Films growthwill be similar to the very positivedevelopment our Russian subsidiariesare currently enjoying, and I am convincedthat Ukrainian growth will bevery strong over the next couple ofyears."DISCOP.Link takes a look at some of the key eventsthat have happened recently in the region.In a move that will raise eyebrows insome quarters billionaire Georgianbusinessman Badri Patarkatsishvilihas turned to Rupert Murdoch to protectthe editorial independence ofImedi, Georgia's largest privatelyowned broadcaster. Mr Patarkatsishvili,who is currently financing theopposition to President Mikheil Saakashvili,said of Mr Murdoch, whoseNews Corp has owned a 49% stake inImedi for over a year now, "I haveknown Rupert Murdoch for manyyears. I trust him. He is a man of hisword and he will try his best to keepthe channel independent." NewsCorp, which is known to have plans toexpand into Europe's emerging marketswill increase its stake to 51% andtake temporary control of the remaining49%. Marty Pomadur, executivevice-president News Corp, and chairmanof News Corp Europe commented,"this is not a political move as faras we are concerned."Yet more merger and acquisitionactivity, this time between Polandand The Czech Republic with Polishmobile content company One-2-Oneannouncing the completion of theacquisition of its Czech counterpartATS for €3 million in cash. One-2-One,which lists MCI Management S.A.(29.69%) and Tomasz Dlugiewicz(19.57%) as its two main shareholderssays that it plans to greatly expandATS' activities in both The CzechRepublic and Slovakia with a closefocus on the convergence betweenmobile and the Internet.Also planning an expansion of itsactivities is L.A. based RiveGauche. The company recently announcedthe completion of a multi milliondollar capital increase from privateinvestment fund Cedar Lane. RiveGauche chairman Jon Kramer promisedthe new funding would be allocatedtowards corporate expansion,increasing the company's acquisition,development and co-production activities.As part of the planned expansionthe company has re-organised intothree distinct groups all operatingunder the Rive Gauche Entertainmentbanner. Rive Gauche Television will bededicated to production and distributionof original television programming;Rive Gauche Motors & More willsupply quality men's lifestyle programming,while Rive Gauche Films willassume responsibility for the distributionof the company's film library ofclose to one hundred films.The expansion also sees theappointment of two senior salesexecutives; Gary MacKinney joins asvice-president international sales andRobby Amar as international salesexecutive. Both report to DorothyCrompton, senior vice-president internationalsales and administration.There are new appointments too atthe emerging markets division ofMTV International. Alex Chien joins ashead of Nickelodeon Emerging Marketswith responsibility for managingNickelodeon's existing portfolio ofchannels in the region as well as furtherexpanding the Nickelodeon brandpresence and developing the brand asa multi-platform kids' entertainmentbrand. Chien will report directly to thedivision's managing director and seniorvice-president Bhavneet Singh.Two others join the department,Erinn Thompson joins in the newlycreated role of Program and AcquisitionManager with responsibility for allacquisitions and scheduling in the region,Lisa Wakefield joins as marketingexecutive with responsibility for allmarketing activity across the region.Both are based in London and reportdirectly to Chien. }52 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

tools of businessTHE ART OF THE PRE-SALEBy Bob JenkinsThere are two distinct types of pre-sale and negotiating, each has a verydifferent psychology. Bob Jenkins talks to some experts and discovers thatthe one thing they have in common is it helps if you like playing poker.Sandra Carter, President, Sandra CarterGlobalAccording to Sandra Carter, presidentof Sandra Carter Global andan experienced producer / distributor,"there are two distinct types ofpre-sale. The first," she expounds, "iswhen the producer / distributor needsthe sale in order to complete theprogramme's funding. The second iswhen the seller has a programme thateveryone knows, or at least believes,will be a big hit, and everyone wants it.Both situations have interesting, althoughsubtly different nuances," sheexplains. "In the first," continues Carter,"two things will almost inevitablebe true. The first is that a substantialpart of the funding will already be inplace, and the second is that thebuyer knows that if you don't get thesale, there will be no programme tobuy, and, for the same reason, theyalso know that there is a minimumamount they have to pay."Carter's point about the amountof funding that would already have tobe in place is echoed by Anita Barnard,sales manger Asia, Central andEastern Europe at 3DD. "Usually,"believes Barnard, "where a pre-sale ispart of the funding of a programmethen it is almost always more of a coproductionthen a pre-sale, and that isa different ball game." This is a sentimentechoed by George McGhee, controller,programme acquisition at theBBC. "We would not normally acquiresomething just to get it made," revealsMcGhee, "unless we really believed init, and/or the talent involved. And," hecautions, "one of the pitfalls of such anacquisition from a buyer's perspective,is that you are told one thingabout the property, especially in regardto talent, and then it all changes,leaving you with a very different property.As a result," says McGhee, "inthe rare instances where we do makesuch an acquisition, we would generallyuse caveats requiring any changesto 'key' elements, especially casting,to be agreed with us."The second situation in which thepossibility of a pre-sale might be envisagedis where there is a general perceptionthat the property concernedwill be a huge hit. "The over archingfactor in this instance," says Carter,"is who started the process. If the selleris utterly confident they have a wildlystrong property," she goes on, "it ispossible that they will instigate theprocess, typically by calling for sealedbids. But," warns Carter, "this is a highrisk strategy. It is possible, especially ifone or more buyers decide not tomake a play, that the seller will endwith a low bid at which point, unlessthey are themselves a major player,they are in big trouble. If, however, abuyer approaches the seller with aAnita Barnard, Sales Manager for Asiaand CEE, 3DDhigh offer conditional on immediateacceptance without the propertybeing offered to others in the market,that sets up another fine call."3DD's Barnard agrees that, welcomethough high offers are, "whenyou are selling a hot show, it is veryimportant," she insists, "to be verycareful that you do not damage yourrelationship with other broadcasters.This," says Barnard, "is especially truein Central and Eastern Europe wherenew channels are being opened all thetime."Sandra Carter concurs. "If you sellwhat turns out to be a hit againstother broadcasters, without even lettingthem have a shot at getting it,then clearly, they are not going to bevery pleased with you," she observesdryly. But that is not the only potentiallynegative consideration that has tobe factored into any final decision."Additionally," explains Carter, "at thetime at which the offer is made youhave no way of knowing whether thatis, in fact, the best you could achievein that market, and, the only way inwhich you can establish that is by offeringthe property to other broadcastersthat will see the original offerwithdrawn, and it might be that thiswas indeed the best and it will then nolonger be possible to resurrect it."Underlining this dilemma, theBBC's McGhee says, "every project isdifferent and the circumstances arenever the same. Sometimes a pre-buywill be cheaper and have better termsand sometimes it won’t."Ultimately, Sandra Carter probablysums up the truth most succinctly."In the end," says Carter, "there is no'right thing' or 'wrong thing' to do, it allcomes down to how strong you believeyour property to be, how much youhave been offered and how much youenjoy playing poker." }54 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

CONFERENCEThe IBC Conference opened withthe "Broadcasting by Broadband"theme day. Sessions included "Wiredand Wireless Technologies and IPTV","The Future of Broadband BroadeventdossierIBC 2007By Sinisa IsakovIn early September Amsterdam in The Netherlands hosted yet anotheredition of IBC. Between September 6 th -11 th , at the conference and thetechnical exhibition, as well as at the accompanying events, almost50,000 people passed through the Amsterdam RAI Centre.Although this was IBC's 40 th anniversary,there was neither anyparticular celebration nor retrospectionto its past. Thanks to new technologies,the industry is spreading intonew fields, and IBC does its best tomaintain its importance as the relatedannual event. There were a total of1,360 exhibitors, an increase of 5%.The number of visitors also increasedwhen compared to last year, and whatpleases the organisers most is thefact that, after many years of stagnation,there was a significant increasein visitors from Central and EasternEurope. Although their share in thetotal number of visitors is still underten percent, there are indications thatbroadcasting will develop more quicklyin the forthcoming period.And what is the name of the industrytoday? Not long ago, IBC itselfabandoned its full title - the InternationalBroadcasting Convention - andreplaced it with IBC. 'Electronic media'is a term that was for some time quiteappropriate, as was the term 'multimedia'.Recently, there has been agrowing number of supporters of thesystem 'media and entertainment'promoted, among others, by IBM andMicrosoft. Currently it seems to bethe best description of the industrywhich, in addition to one-way terrestrialbroadcasting, also includes IPTVand Mobile TV, together with the innovationsthat will follow the convergencewith IT technology.The twenty pavilions in the RAICentre were not enough to host all theinterested exhibitors. Therefore a separatepavilion was dedicated to IPTVdevices. The Mobile and IPTV Zones,on the other hand, were located onthe premises of the former IBCRestaurant. The success of thesezones heralded the era to come. Let itbe noted that IBC launched the zonesin order to promote future technologieswhich are partially available and,to varying degrees, still in the developmentphase. At numerous microstandsthe producers were given theopportunity to present prototypedevices, to meet end users andexchange ideas and attitudes withthem and maybe to make agreementsregarding testing and trials. Theresult was something half way betweena conference and an exhibition,something which has proved to be asuccess.IPTV technology is used by deviceproducers both small and large, but aparadox is that interest in the IPTVZone is even greater. In fact, the interesthas shifted from the technologyitself toward the development of abusiness model, that is to say, towardsthe application of technology inpractice. Apart from broadcastersand content creators, important partnersalso include cable operators andthe telecommunications industry. Thecommon topic of all discussion andthe IPTV business model developmentprocess is the creation of the contentitself: How to create a sufficient quantityof top quality content, particularlyinteractive content which is appropriatefor IPTV distribution, is a challengeshared by all of the parties involved.IPTV technology is, to a largeextent available, both for SD and HDvideo quality distribution, to the enduser over a broadband network.Further development of compressiontechniques will make the increase inthe number of channels within thesame cable possible, not to mentionthe improvement of the video signalquality. It is inevitable that HDTV will,apart from satellite distribution, soonfind its place within IPTV distributionas well, and that will happen evenbefore complex regulations are adoptedto enable HDTV distribution via terrestrialbroadcasting.A similar scenario was seen withthe Mobile Zone. As many as three differenttechnologies are available,each of them having their advantagesand disadvantages, and all three aremature and ready for application. Inrecent years dozens of trials havebeen performed, one even during IBC2007 in Amsterdam, so there are notechnological uncertainties. However,one large question has been posed:How do mobile users actually consumevideo and TV content today? Theanswer to that question should be ofgreat help in finding a perfect contentfor Mobile TV. Together with the contentcreators, broadcasters also seekthe answer to this question, that theymight open their archives to MobileTV. Telecommunication operators andreceiver device manufacturers arealso standing by, ready to plunge intoMobile TV.56 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07

casting", "Multimedia Delivery, Anytime,Anywhere", and in associationwith the IEEE BTS, IPTV Tutorial: thetechnology behind broadband broadcasting.Under "Digital Lifestyles"theme day, the participants examined"Implications of IPTV and InternetVideo for Marketing-Led Businesses"and "Connecting Content with Consumers:What to Deliver". A full-daytutorial in association with IET andWorld DMB "Digital Delivery: the Essentials"covered IPTV and Mobile TV.During Mobile and IPTV businessbriefings participants observed "Fixed-Mobile Convergent TV Services:Unleash the Revenue Potential", "PayTV vs. Free-to-Air Mobile TV BusinessModels" and "Fully Automated Reframingof Video for Mobile Viewing - aMarketing Myth or a Product Reality?"Recordings of all business briefingsessions can be downloaded as mp3files at www.ibcsessions.com.The following topics drew greatattention: "Are you being YouTubed?","The rise of user-generated contentand its impact on TV professionals"and "Copyright or right to copy? Arepresent regulations dysfunctional?"AWARDSThe IBC 2007 InternationalHonour for Excellence went to SteveWozniak, founder of Apple. A gurubehind hardware in the past and agreat evangelist for technology today,he is also deeply involved in educatingthe next generation of scientists andengineers.IBC also presented a unique anniversaryaward, marking its own 40 thbirthday and the 50 th year of the recipient:the BBC Natural History Unit.The world's leading wildlife documentarymaker, it has pushed manufacturersand their products to the limit andbeyond in order to be able to bringremarkable scenes to our livingrooms."Throughout our 50 years of programmemaking, innovation in technologyhas been absolutely critical toour success in bringing new perspectivesand fresh insights to our audiences,"said Neil Nightingale, head ofthe Natural History Unit. "I am absolutelydelighted that, with thisaward, IBC has recognised our contributionto broadcasting the wonders ofnature."The IBC Innovation Awards celebrateboth technology and its application.The winner in the content creationcategory and the recipient of theJudge's Award, was CNN for its remarkabledigital newsgathering project,first rolled out in the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in July 2006. CNNreporters filed hundreds of livereports, using portable IP transmissiongear, from remote locations closeto the action, bringing viewers close tothe story as it unfolded."This is exactly the sort of projectthat deserves recognition," saidMichael Lumley, chair of the judgingpanel. "A major broadcaster had aclear idea of what it wanted to achieveNeil NIGHTINGALE, Head of the BBCNatural History Unitand brought together a team of technicalpartners to make it happen."Winner of the IBC InnovationAward for content management wasRTL-TVi for its instant tapeless project,on which it worked with serverspecialist EVS. The content deliveryprize went to UK news provider ITN forNeMeSys, an application designed toremove the chore of formatting storiesfor multiple delivery platforms byautomating the whole thing usingTelestream Flip Factory.In addition to IBC InnovationAward for Content Creation, CNN wasalso highly commended by the judgesfor a project that could not have beenmore different: basketball in high definition3D.With the help of its main technicalpartner Pace HD, the NBA producedits All-Star Saturday night game inFebruary 2007 in 3D HD, relaying itfrom the Thomas & Mack Centreevent dossierArena, Las Vegas, to an invited audienceacross town in the Mandalay BayHotel.The experiment was so successfulthat it was repeated in June with agame from the season's finals betweenthe San Antonio Spurs and theCleveland Cavaliers, and beamed fromTexas to 14,000 fans in the QuickenLoans Arena, Cleveland, watching onfour special screens.This was the first time a live gamein professional sports was shown tothe public in 3D HD, and according toJosh Linkner from the Cleveland PlainDealer it was, "Unbelievable - you feellike you're there. It wasn't television,and it certainly wasn't movie-like. Itreally felt like we were sitting about 20rows up from the corner of the court.People around us were joking aboutasking folks to sit "down in front" whenthe actual arena fans stood up."HDTVFor HDTV production users haveavailable all required equipment, wirelessslow-motion HD cameras included.HDTV distribution via satellite waslaunched in Europe only a couple ofyears ago, which was late when comparedwith other parts of the world,but just in time to utilise the benefits ofthe freshly developed production technology.Each equipment purchase,just like each content production oracquisition should already anticipateHDTV as the eventual replacement forSDTV. Also, broadcasters should alreadyconsider how to broadcast contentcreated or purchased today asHDTV content via IPTV or Mobile TV,even in the countries where currentlyonly analogue SDTV is used. Rapidchanges in, and implementation of,digital, IT, broadband (IPTV) andmobile technology continue to surpriseeven those in the industry.Exactly as in the old saying, things are'going from strength to strength'. Thegreat success of the Internet andmobile telephony in the nineties literallypushes telco operators and InternetService Providers to plunge into a newadventure, this time with television.Today, broadcasters and content creatorshave an historic opportunity tocombine their knowledge and professionalskills, and of course theirarchives, with the emerging multimedia,multi-platform business. }58 DISCOP LINK • #11 • NOVEMBER 07