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Week ending October 6, 2007

NOTA - INTERNATIONAL TV TRENDS – October 2, 2007
from Laure Osmanian Molinero/Médiamétrie

SEASON 2007/2008 NEW TV FORMATSENTERTAINMENT: THE GOLD MEDALLIST

Amandine CASSI, NOTA Product Manager at Médiamétrie, and, Consultant in

IMCA (International Media Consultant) presented today the latest “NOTA Season

2007/2008 International TV trends” report results, produced from the continuous tracking and monitoring service of new TV programs worldwide.

The analysis of the new programs launched in the 9 countries covered by the NOTA report reveals the importance of leisure and entertainment. This general trend also confirms that the borders between genres do not longer exist.

Between April 1st and September 2nd 2007, 944 new shows have been launched in the major TV markets studied by NOTA. As usual, factual programs – mainly documentaries and magazines – represent the highest volume of new programs launched with not less than 410 news shows.

This is equivalent to last year results. Those figures notably rely on the fact that factual programs cover numerous short series.

On the contrary, Fiction and Entertainment recorded a drop of new titles with respectively -15% and -23% compared to last year. Indeed, most of them are launched in September.

“MONEY, MONEY, MONEY MUST BE FUNNY”

This season is marked by a profusion of game shows worldwide with programs offering quick and easy means to make big money, following the example of the format Power of Ten(The

USA – CBS). And to grasp the jackpot, no particular skill is required but intuition. Indeed, with a spectacular amount of $10 million, Power of Tenonly consists in guessing the results of intriguing poll questions about politics, pop music and others.

With a program such as Set for Life(The USA – ABC), luck and intuition are still at the center of the game. The aim is to test one’s limit in gambling and to know when to leave. And for that, a contestant can earn a wage for the rest of one’s life.

Some game shows use famous old songs: for instance The Singing Bee(The USA – NBC) and Don’t Forget the Lyrics(The USA – FOX). These two formats are based on karaoke rules and imply general knowledge of music rather than real talent as a singer.

TO BE HIGH … ON SEX

Love and sex remain issues mainly exploited on TV screens. Indeed, good example are the series Californication(The USA – Showtime) and Skins(The UK – Channel 4 and previously on E4). Californicationcenters on novelist Hank Moody, who takes the plunge into sex in order to find his inspiration back.

As for Skins, this series exposes teen preoccupations such as relationships with parents, drugs but also sex.

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL EXPERIMENTS

With viewers having some free time to spare, they can, among others, take advantage of this period of the year to revisit history and culture in a contemporary way with the docu soap Das

Steinzeit Experimentin which life with no technical comfort as our five thousands years ago ancestors can be experimented.

Adapting to a different culture can also be challenging, following the example of the reality soap

Lost in Tokyo(Netherlands – RTL5), in which contestants have to survive in the foreign environment of Tokyo.

MY TV IS GREEN

Thanks to the growing awareness of global warming, programs about the environment have been more numerous since April. Most programs do so in an entertainment fashion, showing what can be done.

Indeed, in The UK, Channel 4 just launched a new reality soap, which proves how useful it is to sort out wastes. In Dumped(adaptation of the Scandinavian format Paradise Lost), eleven unsuspecting volunteers are left marooned on one of Britain's biggest landfill sites for several weeks.

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST TWO SEMI-FINALS IN 2008 - October 1, 2007
from Patricia Goldschmid/Eurovision

The next Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Belgrade in 2008, will be organised with two Semi-Finals. The proposal was presented by the ESC Reference Group and accepted by European Broadcasting Union Television Committee at their 50th annual meeting in Verona last week. All countries will be grouped into two Semi-Finals, with the exception of France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Serbia, who will automatically qualify for the Final.

"We are convinced that the introduction of a second Semi-Final contributes to a more stable future for the Eurovision Song Contest," said Svante Stockselius, Executive Supervisor of the ESC. "We carefully listened to the suggestions of Members and fans and we took notice of the critical remarks in the press. After evaluating several scenarios, we decided to introduce a second Semi-Final already in 2008. This increases the fairness of the competition, opens doors to a more interesting Final and production-wise, it is the most flexible solution," added Mr. Stockselius.