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Week ending December 18, 2010

EBU - Tell us what you think: vote for new TV shows - December 17, 2010
from Michelle Roverelli/EBU

TV Lab, the experimental hub for innovative and programme formats created by public broadcaster NPO/Nederland 3 is being expanded by the EBU to EBU Members from all over Europe.

TV Lab presents new television formats in their pilot stage, with TV audience and online viewers voting for their favourite show. The pilot is broadcast and streamed live and then viewers can interact and vote using the internet and social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Bettina Brinkmann, Head of Arts, Entertainment and Fiction at the EBU says “We are excited that viewers will have the chance to vote for their favourite pilot programme using the internet and social media, and to predict future hit programmes. This will not only bring European PSBs closer to their audiences, especially younger audiences, but will also provide the programming that they really want to see.”

Roek Lips , NPO’s Channel Manager and creator of TV Lab in the Netherlands expresses “I hope the future of the Eurovision TV Lab will be all over Europe”. He continues “TV Lab stands for innovation and interaction. From one-way to two-way traffic. TV Lab crosses traditional borders. Now it will also do so literally.”

TV Lab has already experienced two very successful editions in the Netherlands. The EBU Members joining this European experiment will bring in one or two pilots free of rights restrictions to the pool of pilots. Whether it is current events, drama, music or chat: all of these shows are being broadcast on TV for the very first time to see whether the new programmes are a hit or not. The EBU will oversee all contributions and take care of the distribution.

The project aims to create a “Eurovision TV Lab Night” in Europe in September 2011. EBU Members can choose the pilots from other countries and introduce them to their domestic audience. All EBU Members will use the same technology to involve the viewers. Social media tools and applications will measure how the pilots work with the audience.

MDLF - Private investment in press freedom proves a double success - December 15, 2010
from Peter Whitehead/MDLF

Emerging market media fund delivers social and financial returns to impact investors

Press freedom is rightly considered a key element in building a democratic and just society. But at a time when independent media have come under increasing economic pressure in Europe and the U.S., how can civil societies in developing countries afford a free press?

The cause is not lost, as two new studies, "Innovating Development Finance for Independent Media" by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Media Development Loan Fund’s (MDLF) just-released “Media Development Impact Dashboard 2010” show. They report that private investing in key news outlets in transitional countries can be good business and – in a world where more than 80% of people live in countries without a free press – produce high social returns as well.

The SDC report found that the Voncert “responsAbility Media Development”, a structured product which combines a regular bond-like investment with a loan to MDLF, provided a yearly annual return of 2.8% over four years and broke new ground by mobilizing private investment capital for the strengthening of independent media enterprises.

“This structured product enabled MDLF to provide an additional CHF4 million in affordable financing to help independent newspapers, news broadcasters and online news media become financially sustainable,” said Sasa Vucinic, MDLF Managing Director. “It also helped to establish media development –< which underpins all other areas of development by promoting accountability and transparency – at the cutting edge of impact investing.”

“The double success of this impact investing product proves that commercial banks can play an innovative role in development finance whenever they join forces with congenial partners,” said Klaus Tischhauser, CEO of responsAbility Social Investments AG, one of the world's leading asset managers for social investments and co-creator of the Voncert. “Investors can invest in the Voncert with as little as CHF 100.”

Furthermore, the study found that Voncert financing enabled a newspaper in South Africa to continue to “meet the highest standards with its investigations into corruption and its production of probing inquiries” and a broadcaster in Serbia “to continue nurturing a national dialogue on the war, to push forward the process of national reconciliation, and to investigate and expose rampant corruption”.

“We are pleased that this Swiss-listed public-private development partnership has succeeded in mobilizing private investment capital for a development project which strengthens the rule of law, social justice, the division of powers and economic stability,” said Martin Dahinden, Director General of SDC. “Not only does this investment promote good governance, it also supports economic self-reliance, which is another of SDC’s goals.”

The Voncert “responsAbility Media Development”, which was created and listed on the Zurich Stock Exchange in 2006, was the result of a public-private development partnership between MDLF, responsAbility Social Investments AG, Bank Vontobel and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The Impact Dashboard 2010, which analyzes the impact of MDLF investments on the sustainability of news businesses, found that:
· After 5 years with MDLF, clients on average increase their sales by 294%.
· Every $10,000 invested in MDLF provides independent news and information to 8,651 people.
· In 2009, more than 35 million people in developing democracies got their news from 36 MDLF clients.

Through affordable capital and business advice and assistance, the New York City-based MDLF helps journalists build sustainable businesses around quality journalism.

From 1996 to 20 November 2010, MDLF has provided more than $104 million in< affordable financing, including:
· $91.1 million in loans and equity investments;
· $13.3 million in technical assistance and other grants.

In the process, MDLF has collected over $35 million in interest, dividends and capital gains.

It has financed 227 projects for 75 independent media companies in 25 countries and written off less than 2% of the total loaned and invested. On 20 November 2010, MDLF’s portfolio stood at more than $41.5 million in outstanding loans and investments.

WAN-IFRA Launches Social Investment in Media Initiative - December 14, 2010
from Larry Kilman/WAN-IFRA

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has called for socially conscious investors to join its efforts to increase social investment in newspapers in developing markets and contribute to the economic viability and independence of free media around the world.

Lack of investment is one of the major problems newspapers face in developing markets. Expanding operations, developing new products, and investing in new staff and printing facilities are the areas where capital is needed the most.

WAN-IFRA, in partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF), has launched the Social Investment in Media Initiative to promote innovative investing mechanisms in media in developing countries and emerging markets.

“Local commercial banks usually provide very expensive, short-term debt financing, while private equity investment is often connected with powerful political elites and restricts editorial independence of media in fragile democracies and emerging markets," said Mirjana Milosevic, the WAN-IFRA Programme Director who coordinates the project.

"So growing media companies in early-stage capital markets often are faced with a 'capitalization gap'," she said. "We are working to address this gap and help the growth of financially healthy media outlets as one of the key conditions for the existence of a free press“.

The goal of social investment is to maintain healthy financial structures while protecting the social value of media firms as democratic institutions. The Media Development Loan Fund has a unique track record in creating investment products in independent media that provide both financial and social returns for investors, including listing the Voncert investment product on the Zurich Stock Exchange.

“Media development funders are becoming increasingly aware that capital in the form of a formal investment – affordable loan or guarantee -- can be catalytic and valuable for many media organizations in the developing world, particularly if matched with technical assistance grants," said Pia Hallonsten, Senior Policy Specialist at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

"Public-private development partnerships can generate significant added value to development projects. Sida has recognized this and is striving to strengthen the role of development partnerships with private sector”, she said.

Investors interested in the Social Investment in Media Initiative can get more information by contacting Ms. Milosevic at mmilosevic@wan.asso.fr

The Social Investment in Media Initiative also includes regular expert meetings and briefings that bring media together with investors, donors and development organisations to improve collaboration in media development financing and investment.

The first meeting, held in Stockholm in May this year, brought together 31 organisations including donors, publishers, media support organisations, non-governmental organisations and loan funds to discuss "Investing in Media: Strategies for Sustainable Media Development”. More on the meeting can be found at http://www.wan-press.org/pfreedom/articles.php?id=6351

One of the conclusions from the meeting was that socially conscious investment was a necessary element in emerging markets to nurture high-impact social businesses.

“Impact investments in independent media provide an opportunity to invest in a sector – a free press – that underpins all other areas of development,” said Sasa Vucinic, Managing Director of MDLF. “The Social Investment in Media Initiative will provide investors with practical ways of combining high social returns with competitive financial returns.”

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and WAN-IFRA conduct an ambitious strategic partnership to advance media development and press freedom worldwide. The partnership allows WAN-IFRA to broaden and develop its press freedom and media development activities to support free and financially sustainable media worldwide. A series of pilot projects to test new methods and approaches in strengthening media in emerging markets was launched this year.