DISCOP Preview

Telenovelas are faring well in Central and Eastern Europe, as are a number of other scripted genres, including dramas and event movies.

Any good telenovela has its fair share of ups and downs, high and lows, victories and losses. Such has been the story of the genre in Central and Eastern Europe, from its heady early days, when new channels, eager to build up audiences, turned to the reliability of daily dramas to entice viewers. Then came a glut of product and the rise of local productions as markets, and broadcasters, matured. When the recession hit, meanwhile, buying across the board froze as cash-strapped networks found ways to do more with less. Today, amid a slew of reports that advertising in the region is improving and buyers are cautiously opening their wallets again, all signs point to telenovelas in Central and Eastern Europe having found their comfort zone again.

“The desire [from broadcasters] to air telenovelas is still there,” reports Marcel Vinay, the CEO of Comarex, which distributes TV Azteca’s programming worldwide. “Certain countries, where they had almost completely stopped their telenovelas, are back airing them—we’re really happy about that.”

The signs of the genre’s return to its earlier status in Central and Eastern Europe have also been seen by Claudia Sahab, the director for Europe at Televisa Internacional. “For example, Hungary, which stopped broadcasting telenovelas for a while, came back to us last year. So we are reopening some slots that [broadcasters had stopped using for telenovelas] for some time.”

Indeed, the weakened ad market, which put pressure on local production budgets, has, in some ways, been a benefit to distributors of telenovelas. “The Eastern European markets…were doing much more local production, but because of the cutoff of the budgets, now they’re coming back [to buy novelas],” Sahab says. “We have a very high-quality product and a very secure one. You know that if a telenovela works, you can forget about that slot for a month or so—that’s great for the programming department.”

Nonetheless, Central and Eastern Europe are not out of their troubles yet. Some broadcasters are still relying on inventory or are airing repeats, notes Michelle Wasserman, the head of international distribution, programming, formats and production services at Telefe International. On the bright side, she adds, “the novela is like a way out when you’re limited in your budget.”

“We expect that the representatives who will arrive at DISCOP will be anxious to buy universal products that are cost-effective,” concurs Elena Antonini, the VP of sales at Dori Media Distribution Argentina. The breadth of the company’s catalogue, she says, enables buyers “to fulfill this exact need—meaning, find telenovelas and daily dramas which have the ability to generate high ratings at a relatively low cost.”

Distributors are therefore feeling guardedly upbeat as they head to Budapest this month. And all are stressing their ability to deliver high-quality products that will fill broadcasters’ needs on a budget. “The search for quality has increased,” says Raphael Corrêa Netto, the head of international sales at Globo TV International. “The market is more mature, with less space, allowing only quality products to find a foothold.”

Headlining Globo’s offering is the International Emmy–winning telenovela India: A Love Story, which has already been licensed into 90 territories worldwide, and Seize the Day, which was filmed in Israel and Paris, among other locations.

Historically, Globo’s biggest market in the region has been Romania, but it has been steadily increasing its geographic presence. “This year we’re returning to Russia, the Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia. We also have important deals in Hungary and Poland. The market as a whole is very important for the international distribution of Globo and we’re interested in increasing and improving our current deals.”

Maintaining relationships is a key priority for distributors as they head into the market this year. “We increased our sales in Europe by 25 percent [last year],” says Televisa’s Sahab. “We expect to grow a little more this year, or at least to maintain the number of hours we are distributing in Europe. In each of our traditional markets in Europe we have a volume deal with one of the main broadcasters. And then, as we have so much product, we are able to continue selling to the other broadcasters.”

Telefe’s Wasserman similarly is focused on maintaining her company’s business, and finding opportunities wherever they can be found. Telefe has already had success in CEE with titles like Love’s Guard and Montecristo. On offer at DISCOP will be the teen telenovela The Resistance and the soccer-themed WAGs, Love for the Game. The goal with these shows and others, she says, is “to keep the deals we have, to keep the slots we have conquered—not to let them go to repeats or stock or with our competition.”

Comarex’s Vinay also points to the importance of driving both completed program sales and format sales in Central and Eastern Europe. Reflecting on the changes in the novela market over the last year, Vinay says, “There’s more of a mix between locally produced and foreign-produced telenovelas. Some countries have experimented with local production, other countries that were 100-percent local production are now [buying] completed series. So we’re focused on both, depending on the territory.”

At DISCOP, Comarex’s sales team will be showcasing new titles like Fierce Angel, Torn Apart and the recently announced Nickelodeon Latin America teen series Grachi.

“We are focused on selling both the canned product and the format/script,” states Camila Reyes, sales executive for Eastern Europe at Caracol Television. “Each country is different and each client has their special needs, so we work with the programming team trying to find what works best for them. This is a strategy that has worked for Caracol, Reyes notes, pointing out that the company experienced a considerable increase in its business in the region last year. Telenovelas that the company is showcasing this year include Mariana & Scarlett and The Beautiful Ceci and Mr. Indiscreet.

“Currently our biggest markets are Romania and Bulgaria, and we have identified new opportunities that offer important growth in countries such as Poland, Serbia and Hungary, where the demand of finished product is growing,” Reyes says.

Dori Media Group, too, is keenly pursuing finished and format sales on its portfolio, which at DISCOP includes the romantic comedy Date Blind, the soccer-themed Money Time and the younger-skewing Mia: My Invisible Friend, Champs 12 and Split.

“The biggest markets in the region in terms of format sales are Russia, Poland, Turkey and Greece,” says Antonini. “However, in terms of opportunities, we foresee some changes within the market generated mainly by the macroeconomic situation. After the crisis, format sales decreased while the finished product sales increased. While the market was reestablishing, format opportunities were back on the table, but this time with new and different negotiation terms that stressed flexibility in many aspects. Our main focus while distributing our titles is understanding the client’s need and trying to find the most suitable title for them.”

Antonini says that, given the still challenging environment in Central and Eastern Europe, being able to deliver a varied catalogue is crucial. From “dramatic, epic, modern-style” telenovelas to series with comedic twists, the titles from Dori Media, Antonini says, also appeal to a range of demographics—kids, teens and adults. “Even though the classic stories are still the most requested titles as finished programs, producers are more open to new [trends] and more unique stories,” she says.

Globo’s Corrêa Netto adds that broadcasters are eager to try shows outside of the cookie-cutter telenovela format. “Romantic stories always stand out, but the market is open to new titles and new stories,” he says. “All the genres have their space, but we realize that the programmers have invested in works with high production values, that can bring value to their programming timetable.”

Another trend perceived by novela distributors is the increasing demand from IPTV platforms. As Melissa Pillow, the director of sales for Europe at Telemundo Internacional, explains, “IPTV rights in addition to free-TV or pay-TV rights are becoming a common request from many broadcasters. VOD is also becoming more and more popular for the retransmission of telenovelas, and we are seeing a clear increase in negotiations for this media.”

While forecasts for the novela market are upbeat, Latin American distributors are not being complacent—instead, they are broadening their portfolios into drama, comedy and unscripted entertainment. Telefe’s DISCOP catalogue includes a smattering of game-show and entertainment formats. “We’ve discovered we can do more than fiction,” Wasserman says, “in a very good way, a cheap way, an easier way.”

Televisa has licensed the talent competition format Dancing for a Dream across Central and Eastern Europe, and driving sales on further entertainment series is a priority for the company, Sahab says. One of its newest variety series is Decades.

Globo will be at DISCOP with drama series like Internal Affairs, unscripted formats such as Profession Reporter, and a slate of documentaries, including Brazilian Beats and GloboDOC. “We’re putting a lot of faith in the documentaries about Brazilian culture and personalities made exclusively for the international market,” Corrêa Netto says. “With these highlights we hope to be able to do good business with programmers of the region.”

Artear, meanwhile, is highlighting the telenovela Gypsy Blood alongside the series Be Kind to Me and More Than Partners, the documentary Patagonia, Flavors from the End of the World and the lifestyle/travel series Boutique Wineries.

Also coming with a diversified slate, which includes finished series and formats, is Banijay International. The offerings span a number of genres, as the company includes Nordisk Film TV World’s activities and distributes all formats and finished programming produced by Banijay Entertainment companies. “We have had limited format-sales success in Central and Eastern Europe in 2009,” says Jan Salling, the head of international sales and business development at Banijay. “However, this has been compensated by an increase in finished program sales to the region.”

Satisfying the apparent appetite for finished product, Banijay is highlighting its programming lineup from Bunim-Murray Productions in the U.S. Salling points to Love Games, Dr. Steve-O, One Ocean View and Styl’d in particular. “Any genre with a glossy, high-quality look—that can be produced for a limited budget—will succeed there right now,” he says. “And if it has some kind of revenue stream built in or if it comes with [the possibility for a sponsor], this will all add to the sales potential.”

SevenOne International is also finding that finished product is in demand across CEE. Axel Böhm, the regional sales director for CEE, Italy and Spain at SevenOne, notes a “huge desire” for catastrophe events in the market. “Hence our highlights Sea of Death, Factor 8 and Blackout will hit a nerve.”

He adds that CEE market buyers are usually also looking for long-running series. “Consequently, we are excited to present our dramedies Danni Lowinski and Floor Faber, and our latest telenovela, One in a Million, following the success of Love Is in the Air, which has aired on Poland’s TVP 1, Bulgaria’s bTV, Latvia’s LNT, Estonia’s Kanal 2, and has also been a smash hit on Italy’s Canale 5.”

For ALL3MEDIA International, “drama is by far the strongest revenue generator for our company in CEE,” says Stephen Driscoll, the VP of international sales. “Midsomer Murders, Wild at Heart and Skins all perform extremely well in this region year on year.”

After signing deals this year with new clients in Russia and Ukraine, Driscoll is optimistic heading into DISCOP. “We are [over] the worst of it and the past three months have been very encouraging,” he says, “with Poland making a particularly strong return.”

Among the large slate of new shows ALL3MEDIA has for the market, Driscoll is particularly keen on showcasing Going Postal, a $10-million fantasy-adventure mini-series based on the novel by Terry Pratchett, and Undercover Boss, which has been a huge hit for CBS in the U.S. Undercover Boss has been notching up strong sales for both the U.K. and U.S. finished versions, but also as a format.

It’s been only a few years since Italy’s Mediaset Distribution launched its format distribution arm, yet the move has proved to be a positive one for making deals in CEE. “The possibility to explore the adaptation of some of our fiction series enabled Mediaset to establish new relationships with its clients in these markets,” says Manuela Caputi, the international sales manager at Mediaset.

Caputi says that action and crime and investigation are the categories most in demand in the region. “There is less space for sentimental drama these days,” she adds.