Cecile Frot-Coutaz Talks Digital Opportunities, Challenges at MIPCOM

CANNES: In her first MIPCOM as CEO of FremantleMedia, Cecile Frot-Coutaz pointed to the challenges and opportunities presented by digital media, and highlighted the company’s capabilities in "building brands that cut through" in an increasingly fragmented market.

"It’s a good time to be in this business," she said in her opening remarks at FremantleMedia’s press breakfast in Cannes this morning, "especially if you’re a global player. The truth is there’s more content demand than ever. We’ve all talked over the last 12 years about the multichannel world and online distribution. It’s fair to say that for the first time some of these things are really starting to come through."

Digital platforms like Netflix and Hulu have opened up new opportunities for the company, Frot-Coutaz said. "The flip side of that is fragmentation." Big broadcasters, she said, are having a much harder time launching new shows in the current landscape. "It’s almost as if the business is becoming quite polarized now, where you’re either going to have the big blockbuster event or a big talent show or big piece of drama, or at the other end of the spectrum you have very niche shows that target a very specific audience and are very successful for that market." As a result, the TV business is beginning to resemble the film business. "You’ve got your big blockbusters," which are expensive to produce and require significant marketing spend, "and you’ve got the indie stuff. The middle ground is going away."

FremantleMedia, Frot-Coutaz continued, is "really well positioned, probably better positioned than anybody else" in this new landscape. "This is a world where you need to be able to build brands. It’s not just about TV shows anymore. It’s about building brands that cut through. In this kind of world, people don’t watch channel brands, they watch show brands. You have to have different capabilities to build show brands. You need capital, you need a global network and you need brand-management skills. As a company we have all of those things."

She continued: "Our job over the next five years is to create and build new brands. That’s our future. That’s about backing people with a creative vision" both internally and via external partnerships. Frot-Coutaz also cited the importance of diversification, highlighting FremantleMedia Enterprises’ success in developing a children’s programming business and boosting its lifestyle slate.