“We’re Back” Say The TV People

Michael Hedges April 8, 2011 Follow on Twitter

Television people are masters of creativity. New shows spring up like mushrooms after a rain. But is the show the thing or is it new media distribution? It’s enough to rain on your parade.

The 48th annual MIPTV TV production expo and market closed (April 7) under the usual Cannes sun. The stars came out. And so did the salespeople. It seems like there were, unusually, almost as many salespeople as program buyers.

Long-term program planning by broadcasters hasn’t necessarily disappeared but more than a few producers reading the tight-budget tealeaves appealed to instant gratification. UK producers looked to cash in on the Royal Wedding coming up April 29th. BBC Worldwide is offering “William and Kate: A Royal Engagement”, two-parter documentary “Britain’s Royal Weddings” and “Inside The Royal Wedding”. ITV has a one-hour wrap-up – in HD, of course – of the big day. And the Food Channel UK pitched “Secrets Of The Royal Kitchen”.

Then, being in Cannes, the Grand Hotel hosted (April 5) a special presentation from France chef. TV pitching a 12 episode cooking competition series featuring, in rotation, six French and six American chefs. Two were on hand, one being Grand Hotel chef Sebastian Broda. They fixed appetizers.

Blockbuster telefilms and miniseries keep attracting attention. “This is a trend that is growing and people are really trying to create global stories that work everywhere in the world,” said MIPTV organized Reed Midem TV director Laurine Garaude to AFP (April 5).

Several studios pitched historical dramas. ITV Studios has a “Titanic” remake looking to the 100th anniversary next year of the famous icy sinking. FreemantleMedia pitched another boat sinking miniseries “The Sinking of the Laconia”. Deeper into mythical history is the Irish miniseries “Camelot”.

Canal+ and EOS Entertainment offered the historical miniseries “The Borgias”, promising drama and costumes from the Italian Renaissance, “sex and swordplay,” said Hollywood Reporter. The Irish/Canadian production was shot in Hungary and stars Jeremy Irons.  

BBC Worldwide Channels picked up Twenty Twenty/Shed Media’s “Garrow’s Law” for BBC Entertainment distribution in Africa and Scandinavia. The eight-part series is a crime drama set in 18th century London based on actual Old Bailey cases. It’s now in season two on UK BBC One.

Of course, reality TV endures unabated. The hot rumor ahead of MIPTV, from an Italian point of view, had “X-Factor” moving from public broadcaster RAI to Sky Italia. For the UK market, ITV Studios will be co-producing with “X-Factor” host Simon Cowell’s production company Syco and new game show, name suspected to be “Red Or Black”. “X-Factor” in the UK is co-produced by Syco and Talkback Thames, part of FreemantleMedia, part of RTL Group, part of Bertelsmann. Celebrity judges for the various “X-Factor” iterations are, through consenting tabloids, the serious marketing factor.

MIPTV isn’t all selling, stars and more selling. Conference sessions are organized for the edification of television executives. The Connected Creativity Forum, with the attached party sponsored by Vivendi, drew a crowd with technology and entertainment experts waxing ethereal about “the social experience for TV.”

“The role of the audience is no longer passive,” said YouTube’s Patrick Walker. “They play a meaningful role, and we must all adapt. We’re moving into a world where content must compete with all other content across all channels.” YouTube announced it was getting into content production.

The channel absorbing many speakers is the mobile phone. Author, speaker and “3G strategy consultant” Tomi Ahonen spoke caution to the television people. “If you develop an iPhone app and you are a media brand, you are deliberately ignoring 98% of your available audience. That’s a pretty rotten strategy in my mind.” He likes more basic mobile action like MMS and SMS.

“We must learn from the music industry,” said Vivendi Mobile Entertainment CEO Cèdric Ponsot. “If you indulge fear, you’ll miss the market. In 12 months Google, Facebook and Groupon changed the digital world, so never take longer than three months to negotiate a contract.”

“Cannibalizing yourself may save your life,” he added. “When you’re in a fast-paced industry, it’s better to be attacked by yourself than an outside company.”

Thankfully, MIPTV kicked off with an appearance of action-hero film star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was pitching an animated series “The Governator”. It was picked up by Austrian public broadcaster ORF and RTL2 for Germany.

Attendance this year was about the same as last, said MIPTV organizer Reed Midem, which noted an increase in buyers and sellers from China, Brazil and Turkey. MIPCOM this October will have a special focus on Russia.

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