L.A. Screenings Buyer Feedback: ProSiebenSat.1’s Rüdiger Böss

MUNICH: The overall quality of pilots the Hollywood studios presented this year at the L.A. Screenings was high, although there was no single breakout hit, according to ProSiebenSat.1’s Rüdiger Böss.

As senior VP of group programming acquisitions for the German media giant, Böss buys for a broad range of channels, including the free-TV channels ProSieben, SAT.1, kabel eins and sixx, in addition to pay, VOD and online services. In Los Angeles, he saw a number of shows he thought would work for his audience.

“For the German market I particularly liked Madam Secretary (CBSSI), Stalker (WBITD), The Mysteries of Laura (WBITD), Gotham (WBITD), Secrets and Lies (DMD), How to Get Away with Murder (DMD), and a nice surprise was Jane the Virgin (CBSSI),” notes Böss. “I'm always looking for high-quality, prime-time shows. All of these shows have high production values, perfect writing, good casting, and a great sense of emotion that makes you want to watch the next episode immediately.”

The majority of ProSiebenSat.1’s viewers still turn to linear channels, and for them, self-contained procedural dramas, rather than serialized shows, are easier to watch. “We are very happy that the studios produced more procedurals this year,” Böss says.

As for general trends at this year’s Screenings, Böss noticed that “the ‘event series’ is still big and will satisfy the binge viewers. Also a big trend: superheroes.” However, he added, “there were not very many comedies this year. It seemed like the comedy producers were on vacation.”

Counter to other European general-entertainment channels, where U.S. comedies generally do not perform as well as dramas, ProSieben has had huge success with U.S. sitcoms, including: The Simpsons, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two Broke Girls and The Millers.

In the drama category, NCIS garners amazing ratings on Sunday nights on SAT.1, an evening that Böss points out is extremely competitive. SAT.1 is also the home to The Mentalist, Hawaii Five-0, Criminal Minds and Hannibal. More serialized shows, like Homeland and Sons of Anarchy air after prime time.

The female-skewing channel sixx also offers a number of U.S. shows, among them, Gossip Girls, The Vampire Diaries, The Good Wife and the ever-popular Grey’s Anatomy.

ProSiebenSat.1 has volume deals with a number of Hollywood studios. Because the U.S. program offering has become so vast, Böss, who has several channels to fill with programming, doesn’t want to miss out on any good shows. “In the early years when we were kind of innocent, we slept only with one partner,” quips Böss, “now we are in bed with everyone!”

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