Top Buyers Talk Trends, Rights Negotiation

Mediaset’s Zelda Stewart, Stan’s Mike Sneesby, UKTV’s Alexandra Finlay and Bonnier Broadcasting’s Cathrine Wiernik weighed in on acquisition trends in a MIPCOM session moderated by Anna Carugati before each receiving a World Screen Content Trendsetter Award.

The Acquisition Superpanel: Global Strategies session was held in the Grand Auditorium at MIPCOM today. It featured programmers who operate in four highly competitive markets: Sweden, Australia, the U.K. and Italy.

Stewart, the head of acquisitions at Mediaset, talked about taking all rights to content, given the Italian company’s presence in the free, pay and SVOD spaces. That allows the company to be strategic about its windowing options. SVOD revenues don’t yet justify the additional costs of taking all rights, “but it’s a luxury we’ve afforded ourselves.”

About 25 percent of the acquisitions budget is used on ad-hoc acquisitions at Mediaset, which has output deals with Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal. Across Europe, Stewart sees generalist free-TV channels shifting more to local fare. Free secondary channels are going to be more niche and programmed with acquisitions, she said. Pay TV is almost entirely acquired content.

Finlay, the head of acquisitions and co-productions at UKTV, buys across several outlets as well, including Alibi and Drama, which are entirely programmed with acquired titles. The entertainment channels like W and Dave are more mixed with acquisitions and originals.

Sneesby is the CEO of Australia’s Stan, an SVOD service. Stan focused initially on Hollywood content—including an output deal with Showtime—and moved quickly into originals, Sneesby said. Jumping into that space early shows how important local originals are in Australia. “They’ve been phenomenal for our brand,” he said. Six new shows are in development. “That positioning, of being the biggest in network and studio content, complemented by originals, is a great one for us.”

Wiernik, the director of programs at Sweden’s Bonnier Broadcasting, is also buying for free and pay assets. Increasingly some shows are working better in pay than free, and vice versa. C More is delivering sports, movies and, increasingly, local drama, as well as acquisitions. Local is also crucial for TV4 in prime time. “Our schedule last fall was, for the first time ever, composed of 100 percent local production. That was revolutionary.”

Stewart buys about 1,000 new hours a year just for Mediaset free TV. “I’d like to buy even more!” she said.

“We’ve gone away from bulk managing big deals,” Wiernik said. “We’re very much cherry picking. It’s about tailoring the best content for each platform and channel.”

Wiernik gave an example of her approach when discussing the rollout of The Night Manager. There was a short window on C More. On TV4 the first four episodes were stripped on the back of Idols from Monday to Thursday. “None of the windows put the next window down. On the contrary.”

Finlay discussed how certain shows could cement a channel’s brand. She referenced the role played by Suits on Dave.

Sneesby addressed the importance of exclusivity. Stan has been rolling out new first-run shows every 30 days. “Having exclusivity is critical,” he said. He noted that the free subscription for 30 days trial offer has a 75 percent conversion rate. “That’s driven by exclusive, broad first-run television shows. Every time we launch a show it drives a [subscriber] acquisition spike and a conversion spike. That tempo—free trial because I wanted to watch Wolf Creek, I kept watching because I wanted to watch The Girlfriend Experience—is key to the whole model.”

C More has not been as successful with its free trials, Wiernik said, noting the significant piracy and competition in her market. “Piracy has been a bigger competitor to us than Netflix or anything else. We changed the free month to a preview for the first episode, and we’re testing to see if that will convert easier.”

Sneesby mentioned the importance of subscriber analytics for SVOD services. “We have an enormous amount of data. We can see what clearly drives [subscriber] acquisitions.”

Carugati, the group editorial director of World Screen, asked about measurement systems. “Free TV is over-measured if you like,” Stewart said. “Some of the shows audiences love are not the shows that necessarily [media buyers] are interested in. Some of our biggest shows in terms of viewership are actually harder to sell. That’s where niche channels come in, where you’re able to deliver the slice they want.”

Finlay spoke about UKTV’s ratings gains, which she attributed to the company’s increased investments in content. “Last year we invested around £148 million in programming, which was a 20-percent increase on the previous year.”

Finlay also noted that some shows perform better in an on-demand environment than on linear, such as the older series The Bill on UKTV Play.

Smart approaches to windowing, scheduling and packaging are essential, Wiernik said. “Competition is so fierce right now. There’s more smartness than ever put into a success these days.”

Big brands on free TV lift the schedule, Wiernik said, and generally do well on the AVOD platform. “It’s so important to keep revitalizing your big brands.”

“And make sure they fit with the channel identity,” Stewart added. “You need to go down into the nitty-gritty and see who you really want to go after, what that means to advertisers, how many viewers you’re looking at and then find a program to fit.”

Addressing the issue of all-rights acquisitions, Stewart said, “Sometimes studio expectations are higher than the actual comeback, so that’s a problem. And is it sustainable? If you’re a global or multi-territory operator, then economies of scale mean it makes sense. But when you’re operating in just one market, you have to be very careful how you spend your money.”

Wiernik noted that the all-rights argument has changed. “That’s an expensive strategy. It’s very much about understanding the function of each right you require and what’s worth what. What mission does this right have? We’re backing up a little bit now, saying, ‘We don’t need all rights for everything.’ ”

Nonlinear rights are incredibly competitive in the U.K. now, Finlay said. She also mentioned technological factors like side-loading that have a commercial value to viewers and the studios. “How do you find that middle ground between getting everything you need and overextending yourself?”