Globo TV Maintains Strong Presence Across Europe

July 6, 2012 World Screen Top Stories

NEW YORK: Globo TV International was in Budapest last week meeting with existing and new potential clients about its novela catalogue, which has already sold widely across the region, sales executive Gabriel Rohonyi tells World Screen.

 

“It’s fair to say that we’ve had a strong presence in the region for many years,” says Rohonyi. “We currently have programs on air in places as diverse as Armenia, Poland and Albania. We’ve been all over the region. Even with all the current changes—[the increases in] local production and series coming from other places—we still have a lot of importance in the region. We still have slots which are guaranteed to be Globo slots. We have a strong presence in the region; we are always keen on maintaining this position.”
 
Rohonyi says that attending NATPE Budapest is good opportunity for Globo to talk with the major players in the region as well as clients who don’t necessarily go to the other content markets throughout the year.
 
Globo had five telenovelas in particular to push for the region. This includes Destiny River, which was nominated for an International Emmy Award. Irrational Heart, which Rohonyi calls a “super-production,” aired in a 9 p.m. slot in Brazil to much success. “That has been getting great results in Latin America,” Rohonyi says. “We know that in Uruguay it’s the absolutely leader in the 9 p.m. slot on Teledoce, with a 30 percent share. In Brazil the results were great as well.”
 
Globo was also chatting up buyers about The Enchanted Tale, “which is one of our most exciting titles for this year,” explains Rohonyi. “It’s a costume telenovela; a huge production, 24 frames per second, cinema quality. I think it’s going to be one of the greatest hits for Globo this year.”
 
Additionally, Globo has offered the market a shorter telenovela, with just 40 episodes: The Illusionist. “It’s a new concept,” says Rohonyi. “We started off with The Illusionist in Brazil for a later slot. It was so successful that we’re continuing with this slot. We just started a new one called Gabriela, which will be in our catalogue next year. We have plans for yet another one. The Illusionist itself is a fantastic story, remade from a classic 1978 telenovela. I think it will be a major international hit; we have some sales in the Americas and also in Europe for it.”
 
Looks and Essence also topped the list. “It was a major hit in Brazil,” says Rohonyi, “one of the best ratings in the last 5 or 7 years. It was a huge success, so much so that we are about to do a co-production with Telemundo of this title.”
 
Globo also has a new co-production on air in Portugal, Dancing Days. “It’s been obtaining fantastic results in Portugal, 14.8 rating and 29.9 percent share, which is really quite incredible,” says Rohonyi.
 
While novelas are still “very, very important” in terms of Globo’s European sales, the company has made inroads in the region with other genres as well. Rohonyi points to a handful of series that were licensed to Poland last year, and documentaries that have traveled to Hungary and Poland. “We have documentaries and series in the Balkans region as well this year. Whilst novelas are what we’re known for—and we’re recognized as one of the best in the world—I think the other genres are also gaining quite a lot of importance lately.”