BUDAPEST: Executives from ITV Studios, Endemol Shine Group, Armoza Formats, Modern Times Group (MTG) and Global Screen discussed what\u2019s working, and what\u2019s not, in regard to global formats during a session this morning at NATPE Budapest.<\/p>\n
The session began by highlighting the overall health of the format market at present. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing that advertisers are still putting cash into TV as a traditional advertising model\u2014the TV business is healthy,\u201d said Pascal Dalton, regional sales director for formats in CEE at Endemol Shine Group. \u201cWithin the [Central and Eastern European] region as a whole, broadcasters are investing in prime-time weekly entertainment shows. We\u2019re also seeing at the moment that prime-time slots during the week are opening up, which is a new development over the last year or so. It\u2019s a great, exciting time to be involved in this business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dalton noted a trend toward shiny-floor entertainment among CEE buyers and that daily reality is also going strong. \u201cThe nice thing is that some of our clients are experimenting a little bit now,\u201d he added, noting that the format One Born Every Minute<\/em> was commissioned for a first run in the region.<\/p>\n Barbara Vallant, sales and acquisitions manager for formats at Global Screen, said that in Germany science-entertainment shows have been popular. For example, Galileo<\/em>, a daily science-entertainment magazine, has had more than 4,000 episodes on air in the country. \u201cWe also have rogue antique shows that are very popular,\u201d she added. \u201cThey\u2019ve been airing since 1985 on local channels in Germany, and since 2013 ZDF has started airing in their daily slot at 3 p.m. the same kind of show; it\u2019s been doing very well.\u201d Vallant also noted that cooking remains a TV staple in the country, as do game shows and quiz shows.<\/p>\n Amos Neumann, the COO of Armoza Formats, highlighted the \u201crise of scripted.\u201d He explained that scripted formats are seeing a resurgence, \u201cespecially when we\u2019re talking about co-productions and different territories creating things together for the international market.\u201d He also pointed out a trend of \u201cdoing things in a more extreme way…. The audience is tired of the old stuff and are looking for something to wake them up when they watch TV at night.\u201d<\/p>\n Merrily Ross, MTG\u2019s VP of formats and content development, echoed the sentiment about scripted being in demand. She added, \u201cWhat\u2019s working is still the old-school [formats], the old brigade: The X Factor<\/em>, Your Face Sounds Familiar<\/em>. These shows remain strong for us, and there\u2019s nothing coming up biting at them. We\u2019re not getting rid of them because they still get huge ratings.\u201d Ross said that factual and factual entertainment are gaining momentum though for mid-week prime slots.<\/p>\n Mike Beale, the executive VP of global development and formats at ITV Studios, agreed that what has worked in the past is actually still working today. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing more renewals of existing [formats] than we are licensing of new shows. We\u2019re seeing shows that have proven track records, that have been successful in their existing territory or multiple territories because advertisers want stability in a schedule.\u201d He added that a lot of broadcasters are now working to create new local content to put around the big format brands that continue to play well and \u201cuse the tent-poles to support the new ones.\u201d<\/p>\n Beale said that what\u2019s failing in the marketplace is formats that are \u201cpushing the envelope too far and trying to be too extreme.\u201d He said that the formats that are going to be successful in the coming years are ones that may not have \u201csmashed it out of the park on their first try, but have had time to grow in one, two or three territories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe won\u2019t commission anything unless we see a second season in it,\u201d said Ross. She noted that for shows that are too extreme or too out there (pointing in particular to the recent trend of nudity in TV formats) \u201cyou don\u2019t really want them as a broadcaster because it\u2019s a one-hit wonder.\u201d Ross mentioned Married at First Sight <\/em>as a format that MTG took a risk on that paid off. \u201cWe\u2019re going to come back with it [for new seasons]. It\u2019s a risky format, but not totally risky because we can do second seasons of it and it was proven already when we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n Neumann brought up the topic of risk-taking among buyers. \u201cBroadcasters are really not happy with taking risks,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes when you have a good show, maybe even a very good show, but it didn\u2019t [perform] tremendously in its season, they will not continue to second season. They won\u2019t give it a chance because they have so much to prove. The ratings are chasing them and they have to be accountable for that. That\u2019s not a very good sign for this industry. There will never be \u2018the next big thing\u2019 if you won\u2019t do three seasons. If you quit after season one, it won\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n Dalton weighed in on whether broadcasters are too risk-averse or whether they are simply not getting pitched enough good risky ideas. \u201cResponsibility is on both sides of the business, for broadcasters to take risks and for companies like Endemol Shine to make great content.\u201d He admitted that there is an \u201catmosphere of stagnation\u201d at the moment, \u201cbut if you create great content, a broadcaster will take a risk on it. An example of that is social-experiment shows.\u201d He highlighted Hunted<\/em>, which Channel 4 took a risk on in the U.K. and it has since started to travel quite quickly.<\/p>\n Vallant added that in Germany the bigger channels \u201care more risk-averse because there\u2019s more at stake. Smaller channels such as the regional channels are more willing to take chances.\u201d Especially on the scripted side, she noted, new channels want to move forward with local production and take more risks.<\/p>\n In examining what\u2019s ahead for the format market, Beale spoke about the quest for the elusive \u201cnext big thing\u201d that everyone has been chasing. \u201cIt\u2019s cyclical,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look back at the four defining formats that all came out within 18 months of each other\u2014Big Brother<\/em>, Survivor<\/em>, Millionaire<\/em> and Pop Stars<\/em>\u2014they set the trend for the next 20 years. We\u2019re still in that trend of talent shows and big-scale quiz, and survival is being refreshed. Before that, we had lived with 20 or 30 years of great American game shows. We\u2019re now due. It\u2019s a bit like the San Andreas Fault; it\u2019s about to go at any time!\u201d<\/p>\n Beale offered a piece of advice: \u201cDon\u2019t try to create the next big thing; that is a sure way to make a big pudding of a format that just doesn\u2019t work. If you try to make it work everywhere, it\u2019s not going to work anywhere. Make it work in your territory, make it a success, and then <\/em>it will come back for a second or third season and another territory will pick it up. Distributors keep trying to say, \u2018This is the next big thing.\u2019 We\u2019ve got to stop doing that. All we\u2019re doing is muddying the market, and people get frustrated when it clearly isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BUDAPEST: Executives from ITV Studios, Endemol Shine Group, Armoza Formats, Modern Times Group (MTG) and Global Screen discussed what\u2019s working, and what\u2019s not, in regard to global formats during a session this morning at NATPE Budapest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":5019,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[542],"class_list":["post-5018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-natpe-budapest-2016","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n