A Note from the Editors

Disruption and fragmentation. You can’t seem to have a conversation about trends in the media business right now without hearing those two words. The very definition of what a channel is in this on-demand era has been completely transformed. So how are content providers adapting? That’s the topic we sought to explore in the main feature of our MIPTV 2016 edition.

Our contributing editor, Elizabeth Guider, speaks to a range of analysts and channel operators to come to grips with the international channels business today, exploring the issues at stake for outlets as they look for new ways to serve their viewers—and expand revenues in the process. We also have Q&As with RTL Group’s Anke Schäferkordt and Guillaume de Posch, Fox’s Peter Rice, Lionsgate’s Jon Feltheimer, A+E’s Nancy Dubuc, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Turner’s Gerhard Zeiler, Viacom’s Bob Bakish, Bell Media’s Mary Ann Turcke, NBCUniversal’s Cesar Conde, Discovery’s Rich Ross, Sky’s Gary Davey, Globosat’s Alberto Pecegueiro, STAR India’s Uday Shankar and Maker Studios’s René Rechtman. They all weigh in on how they’re catering to the myriad ways consumers are accessing content today.

The consensus among these executives is that great content will always prevail, regardless of the delivery pipes. And in this edition we got to speak to three actors whose shows demonstrate the diversity and vibrancy of the scripted market today. Our cover interview, Damian Lewis, has found numerous opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic; after his acclaimed turns in Homeland and Wolf Hall, Lewis is now starring in Showtime’s latest hit, Billions. James Spader talks to us about the procedural/serialized behemoth The Blacklist, which has been a hit both in the U.S. and abroad. And we feature Patrick Stewart, who is trying his hand (successfully) at live-action comedy with Starz’s Blunt Talk.

You’ll find a full rundown of what’s in our MIPTV editions below. Follow the links to access our digital editions online, or get the Issuu apps for iOS and Android so you can read them on the mobile device of your choice.

World Screen

• As Seven Network turns 60, we speak with Tim Worner and Angus Ross about how they’ve been catering to Australian audiences with both locally developed and international content.
• Hubert Lacroix discusses the challenges and opportunities for Canadian pubcaster CBC as it marks its 80th birthday.
  
• Anke Schäferkordt and Guillaume de Posch, the co-CEOs of the RTL Group, discuss the success of their family-of-channels strategy and their digital roadmap.
• Lionsgate’s Jon Feltheimer talks about adapting to shifting market dynamics and maintaining the studio’s entrepreneurial spirit.
• Nancy Dubuc, A+E Networks’s president and CEO, talks about the compelling factual series and high-end drama events the company is known for.
• Turner International’s president, Gerhard Zeiler, discusses why he is upbeat about the ongoing health of the channels business.

Read it here.

TV Europe

• Top buyers from across the continent discuss multiplatform rights acquisition and trends in their markets.
• Sky’s Gary Davey talks about original programming investments.

Read it here.

TV Kids

• Leading kids’ channel programmers share their strategies.
• A look at the rising popularity of gender-neutral shows.
• Examining trends in kids’ comedies.
• Super RTL’s Claude Schmit talks about the channel’s programming approach.
• Disney Channels’s Sean Cocchia weighs in on franchises and global content initiatives.
• DHX Media’s Steven DeNure shares how he is connecting the company’s activities across production, distribution, broadcast and licensing. And Billy Macqueen talks about the process of reinventing Teletubbies for a new generation of little ones.
• Lisa Henson offers insight into how The Jim Henson Company is seeking out and developing innovative new shows.

Read it here.

TV Formats

• We look at the booming business in scripted formats.
• Dating and marriage shows are experiencing a resurgence worldwide.
• Kate Phillips talks about the strong performers in the BBC Worldwide formats catalogue.
• Grant Ross weighs in on the benefits of the Banijay Group and Zodiak Media merger and the highlights of their format offering.
• A spotlight on FremantleMedia’s Football Nightmares.

Read it here.

TV Drama

• Producers and distributors are working to fill the gap in the procedurals market.
• There’s a wealth of new book adaptations being produced.
• Masterpiece’s Rebecca Eaton shares what she is looking for to fill the acclaimed strand on PBS.
• Ilene Chaiken, Empire’s showrunner, talks about the series’ breakout success.
• James Purefoy tells us about his role in Hap and Leonard.

Read it here.

TV Real

• Factual-content distributors are on the front lines of the emerging 4K landscape.
• True crime is reinventing itself in a post-Making a Murderer era.
• Morgan Freeman provides an inside look at his National Geographic Channel series The Story of God.
• Rich Ross talks about the strategies he instilled at Discovery Channel that helped reinvigorate its ratings.
• We profile the recipients of the inaugural World Screen Factual Trendsetter Awards: Smithsonian’s David Royle, Discovery’s Nesta Owens, RMC Découverte’s Corentin Glutron and ZDF/ZDF Enterprises’s Kristina Hollstein.

Read it here.

TV AsiaPac

• Amid market disruption and economic concerns, Asia’s leading multichannel brands are charting new success strategies.
• Uday Shankar shares what’s been driving STAR India’s gains.
• Ted Sarandos offers some insight on Netflix’s recent arrival in Asia.
• CJ E&M’s D.J. Lee talks about the surging demand for Korean content, scripted and non-scripted.

Read it here.

TV MEA

• From local dramas to adaptations of foreign formats, original production is booming across the Middle East and Africa.
• Mo Abudu talks about how she built EbonyLife TV into a pan-African channel brand.

Read it here.

TV Latina

• Exploring trends in the Latin American novelas and series market.
• Adrian Santucho on what’s new at FremantleMedia Latin America.
• Angélica Guerra oversees Sony Pictures Television’s diverse production activities across Latin America.
• Ricardo Ehrsam shares his strategies for continuing to expand Televisa’s global format business.

Read it here.

TV Listings

• Program highlights for 125 distributors attending MIPTV.

Read it here.

We have also published new editions of the World Screen Guide and the TV Formats Guide. Plus, we had a March/Pre-MIPTV edition, which featured an in-depth report on drama distribution and financing strategies and interviews with Endemol Shine Group’s Sophie Turner Laing, Lionsgate’s Sandra Stern and all3media international’s Steve Macallister. There’s also a behind-the-scenes look at the new drama Outcast.

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of World Screen at the Palais, or in a number of hotels in Cannes.