Event Preview: DISCOP Istanbul

NEW YORK: From March 4 to 6, more than 1,000 delegates are expected to gather for the fourth edition of DISCOP Istanbul.

The attendees will be representing 500-plus new and established, regional and global companies that are driving the content business and digital changes with and across the Middle East, West and Central Asia, the Gulf Region and North Africa.

Having Turkey as its home has served the market well, according to Patrick Jucaud, the general manager of event organizer Basic Lead. “Turkey has become a major regional production center,” he says, pointing to the international success of Turkish dramas and formats. “Today, the Turks are exporting close to $200 million worth of series and formats. This makes them the second largest producer of series in the world, after the United States and before Latin America. They have plans within the next ten years to export $1 billion worth of content.”

DISCOP Istanbul has grown in step with the emergence of the Turkish market, Jucaud points out. “Istanbul is now a center of gravity for this industry. We are indeed blessed with being there at the right time.”

Taking advantage of the strength of the local market, this year the event can already claim that it will have 100 percent of all Turkish buyers in attendance. Jucaud says that this was the result of very thorough research, reaching out to all the regional and local pay-TV broadcasters, OTT operators, VOD services, as well as Turkish Airlines. The airline, he says, spends millions of dollars each year on content, making it a very viable business proposition for those looking to sell programming.

This market will also see a large increase in attendance from the Middle East. This includes, for the first time, all public broadcasters of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. 

“What we’ve witnessed is that ever since we started DISCOP Istanbul, the marketplace—mainly the Middle East and North Africa—has been affected, on the one hand, by tremendous political changes, and on the other hand, by a fast-growing amount of business that’s being done,” says Jucaud. “I spoke to some of our clients, especially those who are doing 80 percent of their business with the Middle East, and they say that business has never been as good as it is now. It is a part of the world that has been growing. What’s interesting is to compare the way this part of the world grows with the way that Africa is growing. Obviously, Africa is a less mature market, but you see the same trends. You see a lot of regional co-production initiatives being made. You see a lot of independent producers coming out of those regions, with format concepts that are being sold internationally. So it’s not just a situation where you have people trying to sell into those regions, but you see talent and creativity coming out of these countries. These are countries that have a certain unique view of television—they mix their cultural background with the influence of Western shows and the end product is very universal.”

The first day of DISCOP Istanbul will be dedicated to drama and format co-productions, looking in particular at partnership opportunities within the Middle East. Day two is dubbed “the digital day,” and will focus on public broadcasters in the digital era, the state of digital in Turkey and Central Asia, multiscreen content and other hot topics. The third day will look at branded entertainment and product placement. Coinciding with the event, the European Product Placement Association (EPPA) will be officially launched during DISCOP Istanbul.

When asked what he would like attendees to take away from their three days at DISCOP Istanbul more than anything, Jucaud answered simply: “Money!”