Ricardo Scalamandré

June 2008

The leading Brazilian broadcaster, TV Globo, keeps building on its success, not only in its domestic market but also internationally, through its content-distribution arm and a channel seen in five continents. Ricardo Scalamandré, the general director of Globo TV International, oversees the company’s international business. He talks exclusively to World Screen about exploiting the company’s diverse portfolio, which includes telenovelas, documentaries, dramas, kids’ programs and comedies, and about his plans for expansion in Europe and Asia.

WS: What are the prime markets for Globo TV International?

SCALAMANDRÉ: Each market is complex and varied, and is developing at different rates. That is why we don’t have only one business model, but rather we adapt our model to meet the needs and characteristics of each broadcaster. However, in general, Globo TV International has a very strong presence in Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, where the high quality of our telenovelas is already well known. Our presence in the U.S. Hispanic market is also a very solid one. We currently have 12 telenovelas on the air in that country. 2007 was marked by our strong entrance in the Asian region with strategic partners in markets such as China, India and Macao.

WS: How is your business in Asia and Western Europe?

SCALAMANDRÉ: Over the last year, we’ve made important deals in Asia, where China, Macao and India have once again opened up to Globo TV International productions. In March, Tianjin TV station in China premiered the telenovela Shades of Sin. In India, we have closed a deal with the communications group Sahara One and it will air more than 1,000 hours of drama productions from TV Globo. We have also closed a five-year deal with TDM Group in Macao to broadcast telenovelas and mini-series, and we have sold the kids’ program Pirlimpimpim to WPP, in Vietnam.

In Western Europe, I’d like to mention our presence in Portugal, where we have inked a long-term agreement with SIC. At present, four of our telenovelas are being aired in that country and are among the broadcaster’s most popular programs. In fact, Forbidden Desire is among the ten most popular shows airing in Portugal. The telenovela, which is about a forbidden love affair set in the 1930s, is broadcast in prime time and has maintained more than a 26-percent average audience share. Another production that is being broadcast in prime time is Two Faces, which is TV Globo’s first HD telenovela, and averages a 31-percent share. The telenovela Seven Sins is being broadcast in access prime time, and the rerun of the big international hit Terra nostra has been leading the 2 p.m. slot with a 28-percent share. Pure Beauty, which premiered on SIC in May, has reached an average audience share of 32 percent. During the last MIPTV market we presented to buyers the telenovelas Seven Sins, Tropical Paradise and Two Faces, together with documentaries, dramas and comedies, and they were widely accepted. We also closed a deal to distribute the 2008 season of Brazilian football over the Internet and mobile channels in Europe through Globo TV Sports, and the 82 football matches of the Brazilian Magic Football package will be broadcast in English in the 51 countries that signed the deal.

WS: What new growth opportunities have you found for your programs?

SCALAMANDRÉ: This year we have diversified the range of our product to match the worldwide tendency to open new distribution windows. Along with telenovelas, we are offering documentaries, dramas, comedies, special programs and mini-series. We have identified a lot of opportunities for high-quality complementary programming for our clients and we hope to conquer new markets and make new partnerships. The most important thing is to have a varied portfolio, with different options regarding stories and genres, so as to satisfy the most diverse tastes of the audience. The U.S. Hispanic market, China, Japan, India and Western Europe are some of the priority territories for us, where we are positive that the new categories of products will be opening many doors.

WS: In your experience, how have Brazilian viewers’ tastes changed? Are telenovelas still the most popular genre for Globo?

SCALAMANDRÉ: One of the distinguishing features of the Brazilian audience is its taste for high-quality productions. We have a very diverse audience, comprised of people of all ages and from all social classes. TV Globo’s mission is to understand the viewers’ needs, by always being the best television option for the Brazilian family. This is what guarantees the historical audience leadership that TV Globo has maintained in every time slot on Brazilian television. The 30 most popular programs are broadcast by TV Globo. TV Globo’s telenovelas have been an absolute success for more than 40 years now and are ratings leaders in their slots. Other programs, such as reality shows, newscasts, dramas and comedies, are also among the channel’s most popular shows. For instance, the comedy Big Family—which we launched at MIPTV—has always been among the ten most popular shows in Brazil.

WS: Considering that your telenovelas are created for the Brazilian audience first, how is it that they are so successful and widely accepted around the world?

SCALAMANDRÉ: They travel so well because they deal with universal subjects and feelings common to all viewers, such as love and family conflicts. They tackle current social issues that are relevant to the audience. Besides, these telenovelas are produced with state-of-the-art technology and they are of the highest quality. With increasingly sophisticated production techniques, our telenovelas have feature-film quality, special effects, sets created specifically for each story, and many of them include scenes shot on location and even in other countries.

WS: How has the market responded to your mini-series, comedies and documentaries?

SCALAMANDRÉ: Our strategy to diversify our portfolio, which started this year at NATPE, has been welcomed by the international market. Our clients are already asking for our comedies and drama series. We are also negotiating with several documentary channels in the U.S. In April, we were present at MIPDOC with Globo DOC and two other documentaries that were nominated for an International Emmy in 2007: All My Life, as best arts documentary; and Hotline: The Massacre of the Cathedral for current affairs, a docudrama that had an impact around the world, about the brutal murder of eight children. The only survivor lives in Switzerland under a special protection program.

WS: You’ve begun producing in high definition. How is the demand for this in Brazil?

SCALAMANDRÉ:  We don’t think the demand for HD content is significant yet, but we are producing telenovelas in HD. Digital TV started in Brazil in December of last year and it has opened up a new world for Brazilian TV because of the number of challenges and opportunities it offers: audio and video quality; mobility and portability, which will make easier the access on mobiles and public transportation, for instance; and interactivity, which will allow people to participate in surveys, access information about programs and purchase goods and services electronically. Undoubtedly, it will generate the convergence of television, the Internet and the telephone system.

Anything that takes us closer to the viewers, wherever they are and at any time they want, leads to guaranteed success. Our experience in this area has yielded good results and we think that with digital TV we will be able to build on that success even more. Along with telenovelas, TV Globo will show films in HD, football matches and special events such as the Carnival. We are planning to gradually expand our HD production to other programs in our slate, and together with digitization, we will also expand the presence of our content on other platforms, such as our pay-TV channels through Globosat and on the Internet with Globo.com.

WS: What are you doing to expand the TV Globo Internacional channel?

SCALAMANDRÉ: TV Globo Internacional was launched in 1999 and we have passed the 500,000-subscriber mark in a total of more than 110 countries on five continents. Last October we launched TV Globo Portugal, a local version of the international channel especially targeted to Portuguese tastes, with a mix of programs from Globo and some of the best programs from Globosat channels. This channel shows several programs from Futura, an educational channel from the Roberto Marinho Foundation, which is committed to high-quality productions that promote education and culture. TV Globo Portugal is already a success; six months after its launch, Portugal is one of the five most important countries for our international channel. We have also developed a similar project in Japan, where we adapted the programming to the time slots and viewing habits of the audience who live in that country.