Event Recap: Top Buyers Discuss Windowing, Output Deals and More

MIPCOM’s Acquisition Superpanel—What Do Buyers Want? session featured an engaging conversation between CTV’s Mike Cosentino, Sky’s Sarah Wright, Channel 5’s Jeff Ford, Televisa’s Carlos Sandoval and World Screen‘s Anna Carugati about programming strategies, memorable negotiations, signature acquisitions, digital media rights, output deals and more.

Canada’s CTV is required to fill 50 percent of its prime-time schedule with local fare; the other half comes from acquisitions, mostly from the U.S. The U.K.’s Channel 5 also buys about half of its grid, said Ford, again largely from the U.S. Televisa’s Sandoval is tasked with overseeing acquisitions at four Mexican channels, all with varying degrees of acquired and locally produced fare. Wright buys for a broad portfolio, including Sky1, Sky Arts, Living, Sky Atlantic and Challenge. "The percentages vary from channel to channel," she said.

Asked by Carugati about their most important purchases, Ford cited CSI. "That particular program at that particular time got us into one-hour drama…and gave us a whole new audience." Cosentino cited two significant acquisitions. The first was in 2000 when CTV bought the unedited rights to HBO’s The Sopranos to run over 14 consecutive nights as counterprogramming to the Sydney Olympics. "We won every single night," he said. The more recent key purchase was The Big Bang Theory strip, "one full year ahead of the world. It just exploded onto the schedule for us."

Televisa’s Sandoval offered a different perspective. "One of the acquisitions that marked me was actually one that I lost. It was 2004 and we were discussing the franchise Ice Age with Fox. [Televisa] had just given me a big budget and I guess I was feeling on top of the world, cocky, and actually we lost it to our competition and they have been very successful the last six years [with it]. I think that taught me a lot in the beginning."

For Wright, the acquisition of Modern Family was a turning point. "Apart from The Simpsons, people really hadn’t been buying that much comedy and not that much had come out from the States that had been very, very good. People weren’t taking the risk. When we saw Modern Family at the Screenings it was really exciting but it was actually quite risky as well because comedy is very subjective. That was the foundation of the comedy strategy for Sky1."

The programmers then talked about what they look for when screening new potential acquisitions. "There are all the natural things: the pedigree, the pacing, does it have an explosive opening," said CTV’s Cosentino. "I also remind myself that I am a viewer…I have to think about whether I would change the channel at this point or would I watch the second episode. Is it advertiser friendly? Are the clients going to want to be in the show?"

Ford concurred that you have to see yourself as a viewer. "The one person you mustn’t view it is as is yourself. What you want is not important. You have to view it as your channel, the brand of the channel, what it stands for, will it fit in with all our shows, where does it play in the schedule, how much money have we got, all those elements we have to think of."

At Televisa, "We make decisions as a team," Sandoval said. "We rarely make decisions on the spot because we need to go back, evaluate it among each other and then make the final decision."

For Wright, a key consideration is that Sky is a subscription service. "I sit down and try to think about what Sky customers really want to see and ultimately what they really want to pay for. It’s about finding things that people feel passionate about."

An ever-more complicated nature of rights acquisition was next on the agenda, with all conversations with distributors now involving catch-up online or mobile rights to shows. "We’re buying off companies who have broadcast [outlets] in the States and they have those rights in the States," Ford said. "When they’re selling to us it’s a slightly different kettle of fish. You have to keep pushing because people want to view when they want to view it on different platforms."

Sky’s Wright added, "It’s definitely more complicated. At Sky we’ve got some great new services—subscription video on demand, and Sky Go—and with that comes a big list of rights that perhaps people didn’t want five years ago. I think the studios do think that this is the future and they are trying to find a way through. I think we can work together."

Carugati then asked the panelist about their most memorable negotiation. Televisa’s Sandoval entertained the room with his story about an acquisition for a Japanese animated series completed at a Japanese restaurant. "My budget [for the year] was done. I said we should close this samurai style. [You have my word] in six months you’ll have the contract and the money. [The distributor said,] we’ll do it if you’ll eat a mouthful of wasabi. I ate it. Drank the sake and tried not to make funny faces. They said, ok, you’re good for it."

Carugati also asked the panelists about the nature and prevalence of output deals with the Hollywood studios today. In the U.K., said Ford, "they are a thing of the past. It’s too much money, too much wastage. You’ve got to buy what you need for the schedule."

Sky recently did an output deal with HBO for content for its new channel Sky Atlantic. "That was for a very specific purpose and a smaller amount of programming," Wright said. "We have a channel to populate and we need a partnership. Other than that, I think Jeff is right. It’s very hard to take so much content."

Televisa is still using output deals, said Sandoval, while Cosentino noted that there "continue to be variants" of the traditional output deal in Canada.

The increasing importance of over-the-top content services like Netflix was also discussed. Both Ford and Cosentino stressed the importance of protecting first-run windows in negotiations with suppliers. "The windowing is very important," added Sandoval.

Also integral to maintaining audiences is the development of strong marketing campaigns to support your acquired shows. Cosentino noted the millions of dollars that went into promoting CTV’s debut of Pan Am, which ended up winning its time slot.

"The acquisition is the beginning of the process," said Ford. "Part of the process is the marketing, promotion, online, in the press, on your own air time, somebody else’s air time, billboards, radio, whatever. Years ago it was about acquired programs filling in the gaps, these days acquired programs don’t fill in the gaps, sometimes it’s the commissioned shows that fill in the gaps. Acquisitions are looked after as much as any commissioned show. They have to be."

The panel wrapped with the presentation to each of the buyers of the inaugural World Screen Content Trendsetter Award in partnership with MIPCOM. "We’re absolutely delighted to be partnering with our friends at World Screen for this award," said Laurine Garaude, Reed MIDEM’s television division director, as she came on stage to present the statues to the buyers with Carugati. "It means a great deal to us because it’s a chance to recognize the contributions, the achievements of people so key to this industry and whose decisions and choices impact the content that millions of people around the world watch."