Panel: In the Public Interest

The second day of the TV Kids Festival kicked off with Mediawan Kids & Family’s Julien Borde, The Jim Henson Company’s Halle Stanford and Dandelooo’s Emmanuèle Pétry-Sirvin discussing the keys to landing commissions with public broadcasters.

The session, moderated by TV Kids’ Kristin Brzoznowski, featured Borde, president of Mediawan Kids & Family; Stanford, president of television at The Jim Henson Company; and Pétry-Sirvin, producer and head of international at Dandelooo. You can watch it here.

“I have a very strong belief in the role and the value of public broadcasting systems because their goal is not to make money or to make a profit; their goal is to service and give food for thought for children to grow up, to understand things, to understand themselves, to understand their emotions,” Pétry-Sirvin said. With intense competition, “now they have to reinvent themselves. But their role is huge.”

Stanford agreed on the value of the “service” that pubcasters provide. “For children whose families can’t afford Disney+, Netflix, you name it, they can always rely on the public broadcasters to enrich and educate their children. Times have changed, but their intention hasn’t. I think it’s their superpower.”

Borde himself is a veteran of public broadcasting, having spent a decade at France Télévisions. “In Europe, we are lucky to have very strong public-service channels and groups. They are really critical for us to manage to produce quality premium content. More and more, they are into their own mission of educating and entertaining. I’m a big believer then that in the future, they will continue to care about children, and that in a more and more commercial environment, they will be asked by local governments to do more.”

The emergence of the streamers, while giving pubcasters a wealth of competitors, has been beneficial, Borde added. “I think the rise of streaming has been very positive in terms of opening public services up to different kinds of storytelling. They have had to reinvent themselves already. They’re looking for more diverse content.”

They also have to appeal to broad demos, from preschools to tweens, Borde added.

Henson has produced a wealth of content for PBS in the U.S., an outlet that Stanford says does not shy away from big orders as it looks to build franchises. “All the public broadcasters are trying to deliver premium production at a level that’s extraordinary. And they continue to do that.”

Models are changing as pubcasters look more to co-pros and acquisitions to contend with budget shortfalls. When selling to pubcasters globally, Stanford noted, “When I hear public broadcasters say, We’re looking for big IP, I just hope it also aligns with what children need in the future. I think if you can service both, that’s great. Otherwise, I feel like they’ll lose their way.”

Brzoznowski asked the panelists about the brand values that must be kept top of mind when working on a show for a public broadcaster. “PBS is always forward-thinking,” Stanford said. “They’re always anticipating the future and the needs of children and families. We can’t be chasing a curriculum that’s already working. We have to think about what is needed. You have to demonstrate a need in the future and an exciting opportunity. Bring out your crystal ball. Think about the toolbox that parents need and where the future is headed.”

Beyond traditional educational values, social-emotional learning is becoming more important for European pubcasters, Pétry-Sirvin added.

“They’re very sensitive to the mental health of children,” Stanford said. “They’re looking at what kids need. So yes, that educational shift can change, and it should.”

Given the amount of time kids are spending in the relative unsafety of social and gaming platforms, “public services are aware of that and can have an impact on the way children are raised and educated,” Borde said. “I’m very, very positive about what public service can bring to the table in terms of creativity and impacting the daily lives of kids.”

Stanford has witnessed a “global call for anti-hate education. There’s also a global call for climate help and critical thinking skills when it comes to climate. A lot of the broadcasters are starting to get really aligned in their mission, which is great for us as producers so that it doesn’t become so niche and we can find opportunity and financing in other territories.”

Indeed, collaboration among pubcasters is crucial, Borde said. Within Europe, “they are looking for projects to do together. It’s not always an easy path, of course, to manage to combine the expectations, but you can feel now, with the most important public-service broadcasters in Europe, that they are really looking to find projects to do together.”

“Co-production can also mean sharing windows, bringing more partners on a project from day one,” Borde noted. “It’s been stuck for years between pay TV and free to air, and we have had many difficult conversations in the past on the sharing of IPs between those partners. But now, as we are in the middle of a crisis and you have less money available in the market, they are [more open] to sharing than in the past, especially if you split the different models. Free on one side and pay on the other. Still, you will have difficult conversations, but I think it’s getting better.”

In terms of supplementary materials in addition to a TV show, Pétry-Sirvin highlighted the growing demand for audio experiences.

Stanford added, “It is such a big process to get a show to the final stages. You are developing everything, from the typical development materials we all do, from bible, script, putting a budget together, to putting together a marketing plan, a digital plan, a podcast plan, demonstrating how it’s going to fit within the PBS educational system, and you’re raising financing. You’re basically showing them that the minute they say yes, you can turn the key and go and put it out there in the world.”

On what pubcasters are looking for, Pétry-Sirvin noted, “Public broadcasters now are more and more interested in having a vision from an artist, from a creator. I feel like they are listening more to those people.”

Borde added: “Public broadcasters are open to newcomers. My advice is [to do] your homework. Prepare your pitch, know your content, but also know the ones of your competitors, know the things that they have just acquired to have a good sense of where they are editorially. And come with something that comes from nowhere. Yes, they’re sometimes very clear on what they are looking for, but when you are a broadcaster, you like the surprise. You like the things that you’re not expecting. And many times, success comes from something you are not expecting.”

On the road ahead, Pétry-Sirvin highlighted the audience erosion at the pubcasters. “How long will they sustain keeping traditional, linear TV?”

“It’s declining on linear, but all of them are making very good decisions in terms of building ecosystems, including linear and nonlinear,” Borde said. “Parents and children are looking for curated content. At some point, you need a place where you know content has been curated for kids for a specific age group, and you need to find a label under which you find premium content. I think in the long run, this is where public service will really win. They can finance, they can collaborate with other partners.”

Stanford is equally optimistic about PBS in the U.S. “I hope that in the future, we start to see more programming for older children on PBS. It’s very competitive in that space. Kids at that age do love what they love, and they love to learn what they are excited about. We see that on YouTube, and I feel like PBS could really deliver that. But I’m optimistic for PBS in the future. They have an incredible new team, and hopefully, fingers crossed, with the election year, it will go well for all of us, and they’ll continue to thrive and grow.”