Interviews

  April 2009   When Ynon Kreiz took over as chairman and CEO of Endemol last June, he set out a number of goals, including diversifying the company’s program catalogue beyond formats, expanding production operations in more territories around the …

This year, Nickelodeon celebrates its 30th anniversary as a premier destination for children. From delivering fun animation to live-action series for tweens, from specials on important issues in the news to influential  prosocial campaigns, Nickelodeon has made it its mission …

April 2009   With an aggressive acquisitions spree in the last two years, E1 Entertainment has boldly declared itself a major player in the international production-and-distribution market. What started as a home-entertainment distributor in Canada is now a global enterprise …

This week, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific (DNAP) introduced the Investigation Discovery (ID) brand to Asian audiences as a block on the Discovery Channel. The roll out kicked off in Taiwan at the beginning of the  week and extends to the Southeast …

April 2009   During a late-night brainstorming session with his staff, John de Mol came up with the idea for Big Brother. The show, today distributed internationally by Endemol, helped foster the beginning of reality television and became a worldwide …

April 2009 When Herbert Kloiber and his partner, Fritz Buttenstedt, acquired Tele München Grüppe (TMG) in 1977, the company’s main business was the production and distribution of classical music programs—with a strong emphasis on quality. This strategy immediately paid off. …

April 2009 With almost all of its funding derived from a license fee, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK is counting on the support of its audiences as it faces the challenges ahead. For Shigeo Fukuchi, who assumed the post of …

CEO FremantleMedia   Reality television was already established when the American Idol phenomenon hit the scene. It was a transformational show for the FOX network and remains the highest-rated series in the U.S. The Idols format, which originated in the …

President Sparks Network Just last week, Sparks Network welcomed three new members to its fold: Schwartzkopff TV of Germany, Japan’s Collaboration, Inc. and Pelican, a newly created Russian outfit. They join some 20 production companies already affiliated with Sparks, a …

Tween Hit-Maker Dan Schneider A self-professed kid at heart—actually he says he’s always going to be that cutup in class making fun of the teacher—Dan Schneider has the uncanny ability to be able to get into kids’ heads and think, …