DISCOP Istanbul Off to Early Success

LOS ANGELES/PARIS: The inaugural edition of DISCOP Istanbul has already confirmed 160 companies that have signed up for the event, which takes place March 14 to 16, 2011.

The market will focus on the broader Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. With five months still to go before the event, the lineup of sellers already includes Al Jazeera, Alfred Haber, ATV, Banijay, Bavaria Media Television, Calinos, Caracol, Deutsche Welle, Discovery Networks, Global Agency, FremantleMedia, Kanal D, ITV Studios Global Entertainment, Mediaset, MGM, Mondo TV, ORF, Telemundo, Turkish Radio and Television, Televisa and Venevision, alongside a contingent of Russian, French, Spanish and Italian companies which will be grouped under national umbrellas.

The three-day event will kick off with an opening cocktail party that will be hosted in honor of Iraq’s TV market. “Television has become essential to reaching Iraqi audiences,” said Patrick Jucaud, the general manager of Basic Lead, organizer of DISCOP Istanbul. “More than half the Iraqi population, nearly 16 million viewers, turn to TV for information, more than any other medium, including newspapers, radio or the Internet.”