CHICAS PRODUCTIONS: TV Market

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It was once so rich that Concorde used to fly from Caracas to Paris. But in the last three years its economy has collapsed. Hunger has gripped the nation for years. Now, it’s killing people and animals that are dying of starvation. The Venezuelan government knows, but won’t admit it!!! Four in five Venezuelans live in poverty. People queue for hours to buy food. Much of the time they go without. People are also dying from a lack of medicines. Inflation is at 82,766% and there are warnings it could exceed one million per cent by the end of this year. Venezuelans are trying to get out. The UN says 2.3 million people have fled the country - 7% of the population.

Showing posts with label TV Market. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Comcast and Twitter create new feature to watch TV...

Comcast Corp. has struck a partnership with Twitter to try to capitalize on the huge volume of social media conversations that occur about TV shows.

Twitter has turned out to be a digital water cooler with thousands of people around the country simultaneously engaging in real-time conversations on Twitter about favorite television shows or sporting events as they unfold.

Media companies, including Comcast, have been scurrying to find ways to channel these conversations that occur on the so-called "second screen" into more viewers for their television programming.

ON LOCATION: Where the cameras roll

The partnership between the two companies, announced Wednesday, will allow Comcast cable Xfinity customers to access NBC TV shows, including "The Voice," "Blacklist," "Chicago Fire," movies and sporting events, including "Sunday Night Football," directly from a Twitter message.

The company has developed a new feature, which it calls "See It," that is designed to funnel its Comcast customers who use Twitter to the show with a click of a button.

"Comcast is taking a leap forward in social TV by enabling Twitter users to more easily find and view the shows they want to watch and discover new shows," Brian Roberts, chief executive of Comcast, said in a prepared statement. "Twitter complements the live viewing experience and is an ideal partner for Comcast and NBCUniversal."

The new feature is expected to roll out in November for shows that run on NBCUniversal networks. The company's wanted to have the new feature running before NBC's broadcast of the Winter Olympics in February.

Here is how it will work: The See It button will enable a menu of options, including allowing viewers to tune into the television live, set their DVR to record the show or queue it up through the Comcast On Demand feature on their set-top box. They will also have the ability to tune in to a show online or on their mobile device.

The Philadelphia-based cable giant said the relationship with Twitter also includes advertising opportunities for its wholly owned media company, NBCUniversal. It plans to embed sponsored video clips into tweets to promote its TV shows.

"Twitter is where television viewers come to talk about what they're watching on TV when they're watching it," Dick Costolo, chief executive of Twitter said. "With See It, they'll be able to tune in directly from a tweet. It's a great example of Comcast's leadership in bringing TV to new platforms."

Thank you Los Angeles Times

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Canadians head to Mipcom

Canadians head to Mipcom
TV mart honors the country's work

By JENNIE PUNTER
TORONTO

The Mipcom TV mart rolls out the red carpet for Canada, the country of honor this year, with focused events and a major talent roster present for Monday's opening night shindig at the Martinez Hotel.

More than 250 Canadian production entities are registered including some 100 first-timers, with the Pavilion hosting 70-plus Canuck companies. Canada had the fifth largest Mipcom contingent in 2011.

"Canada is one of the world's most vibrant centers of multi-platform content production," said Carolle Brabant, executive director of federal promo agency Telefilm Canada on Thursday. "We are the only country that benefits from bilateral co-production agreements with more than 50 countries, an approach whose value we were among the first to recognize."

Canuck fun kicks off Sunday at MipJunior with two showcases of multi-platform youth content and related discussion.

Monday and Tuesday will see the Fresh TV From Canada showcase, featuring three case-study talks on co-producing, a match-making event, a showcase on Canada's prominence in internationally recognized transmedia and keynotes from industry honchos.

Red-carpet thesps include Francois Arnaud of "The Borgias," an Ireland-Hungary-Canada co-production; stars of medical drama "Saving Hope"; stars from soon-to-bow U.K.-Canada co-production "Primeval: New World"; Amber Marshall of CBC's "Heartland" (licensed in 115 countries) and David Sutcliffe and Stefanie von Pfetten of hot procedural property "Cracked," which bows on CBC in January with U.S. rights handled by eOne TV's Carrie Stein.

Thank you Variety

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Cable prices not out of whack, a la carte won't work, analyst says...

If you want to save money, you might be better off getting rid of your dog before you cancel your pay-TV service, a prominent media analyst says.

In a report issued Friday, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Todd Juenger takes a contrarian approach to all the talk about skyrocketing cable bills and the calls to let consumers pick the channels they want instead of having to pay for dozens they never look at.

With regard to cost, Juenger notes that while pay-TV prices are rising faster than inflation, the growth is slower than a lot of other products and services including pet food, public transportation, gas and even coffee.

Currently, the typical cable bill is $72 a month, compared to $55 in 2005. This is just for video services, not broadband or phone or other offerings from pay-TV distributors. That is a compound annual growth rate of about 4.7%. Juenger checked with the American Pet Product Manufacturing Assn., which said in 2005 the average cost of caring for a dog was $131 a month and has grown by 4.8% on a compound annual basis since then.

Juenger isn't really suggesting people should stark kicking their dogs to the curb to save a few bucks. After all, who will we pet while watching "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo"?

But he does note that even that 4.7% compound annual growth rate for pay TV can be challenged. TV viewership, Juenger said, has risen over the past five years, as have the number of channels and (arguably) quality of programming. "The real unit price of pay-TV has been growing even slower than 4.7%," Juenger said.

Despite that, there are still many who want to be able to choose their own channels in the hopes that this would keep prices low. It's a nice idea, but, as Juenger points out, one that wouldn't work. That's because the dozen channels one subscriber might want would not be the same that his neighbor would want. ESPN charges about $5 per-subscriber, per-month to be in every home. If ESPN were suddenly in one-third of those homes, that price would triple in order for ESPN to pay for all the sports it carries.

The same is true for entertainment channels. Nickelodeon goes for 55 cents per subscriber, but if it were suddenly in far fewer homes, the channel would have to raise its prices or say goodbye to "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Dora the Explorer."

"The fact that the current bundled model is filled with cross-subsidies works both ways for every household," Juenger said. "On one hand they are forced to pay for channels they don't want. On the other hand, other people are helping subsidize channels they do want."

Juenger said he is not unsympathetic to those concerned about the rising cost of pay-TV but does feel that the industry has become an easy target for academics and consumer advocates.

"The proportionality has been overblown, at least to those of us who make a living studying the economics of the industry, because the focus of the discussion has been centered on the rising cost of sports rights and affiliate fees, as opposed to the rising price to consumers of pay TV," he concluded.

Thank you Los Angeles Times

FCC lets program access rules expire...

The Federal Communications Commission has decided not to extend its regulations requiring cable operators that own programming to make that content available to rival pay-TV distributors such as satellite broadcasters.

Known as the program access rules, the regulations were a key part of the 1992 Cable Act and credited with driving the growth of the satellite broadcasting industry. At that time, there was far more vertical integration between cable operators and programmers. Lawmakers were worried that cable operators that owned programming would refuse to sell that content to competitors.

However, now that DirecTV and Dish are viable competitors to cable, and phone companies such as Verizon and AT&T are also going head-to-head against cable providers, the commission decided to let the rules expire.

Also, fewer cable operators own content. Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator does own a lot of cable channels including USA Network and CNBC but it will continue to abide by the program access rules for the next several years as part of the government's approval of its merger with NBCUniversal.

If a non-cable pay-TV distributor believes it is being treated unfairly in trying to buy programming from a cable operator, it can file a complaint with the FCC, which will review it and decide whether any action needs to be taken.

The FCC's decision was not a surprise. The rules were initially meant to last only 10 years but were extended twice. In 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit indicated that the rules had outlived their usefulness.
"We anticipate that cable's dominance in the MVPD [multichannel video program distributor] market will have diminished still more by the time the Commission next reviews the prohibition, and expect that at that time the Commission will weigh heavily Congress's intention that the exclusive contract prohibition will eventually sunset," the court said.

Still, DirecTV, Verizon and smaller cable operators fought to keep the rules intact. Google, which is launching its own programming service in the Midwest, also tried to make the case to the FCC that the rules were still important.

"While we prefer the proven, well-established rule to a case-by-case approach and merger conditions, we are hopeful the FCC is correct in concluding that its new regime will provide adequate safeguards," a DirecTV spokesman said. "If this approach is to be effective, the FCC must be vigilant in its oversight and be ready to act immediately should the cable industry re-engage in anti-competitive conduct."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the agency's decision will allow it to "continue preventing anti-competitive video distribution arrangements through a legally sustainable, expeditious, case-by-case review."

"The exclusivity ban served its purpose, but now the facts justifying its existence have changed in favor of consumers," FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell added. "Accordingly, this creaky relic must be shown the door."

Thank you Los Angeles Times

MIPCOM 2012: Nonfiction American Shows Finalizing Deals Abroad Ahead of Four-Day

Deals include contracts in Asia for "Police Women of Cincinnati & Broward County" and "Animal Hoarding," as well as "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee" in Russia.

Deals for nonfiction series made in America are already heating up on the Cannes Croisette before the four-day Mipcom market actually kicks into official gear Monday morning.

•MIPCOM 2012
Gary Benz's L.A.-based GRB Entertainment has just racked up a number of commitments for several of its current series.

They include a contract with Fox International Channels - Asia for Police Women of Cincinnati & Broward County, which airs Stateside on TLC. With AETN Asia the company closed on Animal Hoarding (Animal Planet in the U.S.) and On the Case (Discovery Investigation).
Puls in Poland picked up Untold Stories of the ER, which airs on Discovery Fit & Health in the U.S., while First HDTV Russia has licensed Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee, which airs on the Food Network.

No financial details of the deals were made available.
"We are delighted with our first round of deals and are looking forward to our busiest Mipcom yet, offering several new programs as well as acquiring titles for our newly launched Uppercut Pictures division," Benz, who is president and CEO, said Sunday.
Also in GRB's catalog of 3,000 hours is Intervention, which nabbed the Emmy for Outstanding Reality Series in 2009.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Opportunities for some at Mipcom

Opportunities for some at Mipcom
Americans take an increasingly global view of TV business
By STEVE CLARKE, ELSA KESLASSY

CANNES - With fragile economies affecting the global TV biz, a posse of North Americans are in Cannes at the Mipcom TV sales market, which bows today, to tap into international opportunities.
Among execs and talent from the U.S. and Canada expected on the Croisette are Harvey Weinstein, Gillian Anderson, Nancy Dubuc and Kevin Spacey. "A lot of heavy hitters will be in town this week," said Reed Midem director of television Laurine Garaude.

"TV types need to collaborate and the international TV business has never been healthier," she added.

This view of the increased importance of TV as a global biz was reinforced by Kevin Spacey, at Mipcom to hype Netflix's 26-part reworking of Brit political thriller "House of Cards."

Spacey, also creative director of Blighty's Old Vic theater, said that 21st century TV is artistically as strong as the feature biz in the 1990s.

"Making 'House of Cards' has been like filming a 13-part movie," said Spacey, who plays Francis Underwood, based on the Francis Urqhart character from the original British show. "House of Cards" is financed by Media Rights Capital, which is also a producer on the skein.

"This is only the second time I've ever made a TV series, but being involved with this brings home the opportunities that now exist to create characters and plot lines of genuine complexity and fully imagined that no longer exist in movies.

"David Lean predicted that film would lose out to TV, and that's what has happened."

Referring to Hollywood pics, Spacey's co-star Robin Wright said, "There's a running tide of escapism in films like 'Iron Man' and a vacuous hole that needs filling."

Netflix is one of some 500 digital buyers present from around the globe at Mipcom. A total of 4,400 buyers are expected at the four-day sales market, which wraps Oct. 11.

The mart is preparing for around 12,800 delegates, up 300 from a year ago.

In terms of the number of companies attending Mipcom, the Canadian contingent is the fourth biggest after the U.S., the U.K. and France, Reed Midem said.

The organizers are also expecting heavy foot traffic from the Far East.

The number of companies from China is up 30%, while the Korean contingent is up by 17%, according to Reed Midem. However, there are fewer delegations from Greece, Italy and Spain, all still groaning under the weight of the Eurozone crisis.

One noted no-show is Al Jazeera, the Middle Eastern web.

So what will all these international buyers likely be buying?

High-end period drama featuring high-profile casts and modestly budgeted reality shows are in demand.

"Internationally, historical drama works because of its universality. They're subjects of broad interest that can cross borders and can easily be associated with two or three countries," explained Erik Pack, head of international distribution at Gaumont Intl. Television, the Gallic producer-distrib's U.S. arm. "But in the U.S. on the network level, it's different."

GIT topper Katie O'Connell added, "Showtime used to be the place for historical drama, but 'Homeland' was a game changer: Its success has dictated a different trend."

There's a growing appetite for contemporary edgy drama or genre titles, according to O'Connell, who cited GIT's "Barbarella," "Hannibal" and "Hemlock Grove."

Thank you Variety

8K Ultra High Def TV Format Opens Options for TV Viewing...

With UHDTV standards in place, broadcasters are getting ready to tackle new challenges.

The administrations of the International Telecommunication Union recently agreed on two levels of Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV), making it officially a worldwide standard. This means more consumer options are on the horizon—and a lot more work needs to be done in the broadcast world should it choose to pursue this new TV system.

London 2012: Experimental 8K Television System Set to Debut

NHK Research Arm To Be Honored by Broadcasters
Adoption of a new standard means that UHDTV overcame a key hurdle, yet it's just one step in a lengthy and complex process when it comes to changing a television system—just consider the challenges of the transition from standard definition to HDTV.

STORY: London 2012: Experimental 8K Television System Set to Debut

With the recent decision, technology manufacturers can now "go ahead and make equipment knowing the standards debate is over," said the European Broadcasting Union's technical deputy director David Wood, who chairs the ITU working group that drafted the UHDTV recommendation.

There are two "levels" of UHDTV, and while they are not resolution-specific, you could effectively think of level one as one that supports 4K, the resolution that digital cinema is currently moving towards; and level 2, which effectively supports 8K resolution, or 16 times more picture information than HD.

For level one, some 4K displays from leading set manufacturers have already been unveiled, as well as some 4K production technology including Sony's F65 4K digital cinematography camera.

STORY: 8K Ultra High Def TV Format Developed by Japan's NHK set to be Next Global Standard

The majority of attention on level two is coming from Japanese public broadcaster NHK, which is developing a level two-ready 8K UHDTV system called Super Hi-Vision.

NHK, BBC and Olympic Broadcast Services teamed up for a test and demonstration of Super Hi-Vision during the recent London Olympics. NHK hopes to start test broadcasts of Super Hi-Vision in Japan by 2020.

Broadcasting level one would be easier than level two because the required bit rate is much lower. Wood reported that Korea has plans in place to begin test broadcasts of level one next year. Still, he cautioned that change will not be overnight.

Consumers of course have a growing number of content delivery options, and Wood told The Hollywood Reporter that he views "availability of suitable displays [and] when will they create public demand" as a "critical factor" to when a potential transition might begin to occur.

He also noted that a tough decision would be whether broadcasters would look to start a transition with level one or move immediately to adopt level two. Wood told THR that many broadcasters view the move from HD to 8K as perhaps too great and thinks it is prudent to start with 4K. But NHK, he related, doesn't see an advantage in shifting to 4K and then making a second jump to 8K.

The ramifications of the UHDTV decision will be addressed next month at the IBC (International Broadcasting Convention), Sept. 6-11 in Amsterdam. Also during IBC, NHK's research arm will be presented the IBC's highest recognition, the International Honor for Excellence.

UHDTV will also be discussed in Hollywood during the upcoming Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers annual conference. During the event, slated from October 22-25, NHK researchers are scheduled to present an update on their developing Super Hi-Vision system.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

More info: www.hollywoodreporter.com
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Social Media Research Firm Fizziology Launches in U.K....

The company will provide information on U.K. buzz to entertainment companies and brands.

LONDON - Social media research firm Fizziology has launched a research arm for the U.K. to provide new geographically-focused information on social media buzz to entertainment companies and brands.

The company uses sentiment analysis to track audience opinions on a movie or TV shows based on what people share on Twitter, Facebook and blogs. Based on its work, it also provides box office predictions, advertising analysis, guidance on casting decisions and other things.

While social media trackers typically collect global data, Fizziology uses a three-layer language and geo-location approach to capture only U.K. social media conversations. "Fizziology is able to deliver U.K.-based intelligence to help studios, networks and brands better determine how to craft their marketing strategies for the U.K. without the noise of additional markets," the company said.

It plans to launch similar services in other international markets as well.

"Every market is a little different," explained Ben Carlson, president and co-creator of Fizziology, the need for geographically targeted data. "Different characters and storylines or lines pop in different markets. And some programming only airs in one. This gives us the ability to parse it and provide a much truer look for decision makers who are making or marketing the show."

The company provided a recent example of a show that ended its season in the U.S., while it was still in full swing in Britain.

"For example, when analyzing conversation around a TV show like The Newsroom, we can determine which social media conversations are taking place amongst the U.S. audience versus those that occurred in the U.K.," said Jen Handley, COO and co-creator of Fizziology. "With the trend towards same-day international release dates for movies and television shows, the ability to know whether a certain conversation trend is coming from the U.K. or another audience becomes even more important."

She said British social media conversations about The Newsroom focused more on the relationships between characters than in the U.S., for example, which TV network marketers could use to tailor their marketing messages.

"In addition to being able to better measure U.K. social media buzz from a data perspective, we are focused on providing understanding and intelligence tailored to the U.K. market," said Carlson. He said the coding of social media conversations is being handled by people in the U.K. who can pick up regional cultural references and analyze phrases that may be lost on U.S. researchers.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

8K Ultra High Def TV Format Developed by Japan's NHK set to be Next Global Stand

Public broadcaster NHK to get international approval after public viewing demonstrations of the new format at London 2012.

TOKYO - Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) or Super Hi-Vision, an 8K system that delivers 16 times the resolution of current HD (high definition) technology, is set to be approved by the International Telecommunication Union as the next generation global television format.

London 2012: Public Broadcaster NHK Leading Olympics Coverage in Japan
NHK Research Arm To Be Honored by Broadcasters
NHK successfully demonstrated Super Hi-Vision in collaboration with the BBC, at public viewings during the 2012 Olympics of selected events in London, Tokyo and Washington D.C.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/london-olympics-2012-tv-355096
Developed by public broadcaster NHK at its award-winning Science & Technical Research Laboratories, along with electronics manufacturers Panasonic and Sharp, test broadcasts are scheduled to begin in Japan by 2020.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nhk-international-broadcasting-convention-award-345050
The new format can deliver images with 33 million pixels through 7,680 horizontal lines and 4,320 vertical lines, refresh rates of 120 frames per second, as well as 22.2 channel multi-dimensional sound.
With 4K televisions hitting the market, and content virtually non-existent, manufacturers will now have to begin aiming at the new 8K format, which is believed to be at the limit of what the human eye can process.
An NHK spokesperson declined to comment on the reports of approval of the new format by the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

More info: www.hollywoodreporter.com
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How Much TV Is Too Much TV?

As the Television Critics Association press tour winds down -- Friday is the last day -- one mostly exciting but partly troublesome theme has been unavoidable.

TCA 2012: Jenji Kohan, Mary-Louise Parker Reflect on Final Season of 'Weeds'
There's a lot of original scripted content looking to get noticed. And the vast volume of it, growing aggressively the past few years, is making it harder for cable channels to stand out and find an audience.

TCA 2012: TV's Winners, Losers and What Was Overheard

Obviously we're in a full-blown 52-week television season with no signs of letup. What that means for viewers is that their options have increased significantly, but so has the sense that they can't keep track of it as it piles up on their DVRs. Never has it been harder for niche cable channels to plant their flag and capture the attention of viewers. And while it might be a great time to be a voracious lover of television, with options galore, for content providers there's a lot of money at stake in this original scripted Renaissance.

On Tuesday, Hulu was at TCA touting its streaming options, which include a new Larry King talk show and the continued importing of British series such as The Thick of It, Rev and Misfits, plus the Israeli series Prisoners of War, which Showtime's Homeland is based on. Hulu also has a travel series called Up to Speed, hosted by Timothy "Speed" Levitch and directed by Richard Linklater.

At the same time Hulu was here, Netflix (which did not present at TCA but likely will soon) was in Las Vegas at the National Association of Broadcasters, touting its original content. The streaming service had Weeds creator Jenji Kohan, who is making Orange Is the New Black, a series about a woman's time in a minimum-security prison; Eli Roth, who is making the murder-mystery series Hemlock Grove with Famke Janssen; and the cast of cult comedy Arrested Development, which will have a high-profile season on Netflix before making its movie. Arrested Development has generated tons of buzz, as has the 2013 premiere of the David Fincher and Kevin Spacey project, House of Cards.

TCA 2012: HBO Execs on Larry David, Aaron Sorkin and the Future of 'Game of Thrones'
Whether any of that works remains to be seen – Lilyhammer, the series Netflix got its feet wet with, is still available on the service, but there's no truly accurate way to tell how it has performed (reviews were mixed). Nevertheless, this next batch is even more content for viewers to choose from, and this time it's a lot more high profile.

On Wednesday, back at TCA, new and returning series were presented by BBC America, including the much-anticipated second season of The Hour, plus a new espionage series called The Spies of Warsaw with David Tennant, based on the books of Alan Furst. But the big push for the channel is Copper, its first original drama, created by Will Rokos, the Oscar-nominated writer of Monster's Ball, who also has written and produced for Southland. The period piece is set in 1864 New York City (Five Points, Fifth Avenue "and the emerging African-American community in northern Manhattan) and centers on post-Civil War cops. It's co-created by Tom Fontana (who will be the showrunner) and executive produced by Barry Levinson.

HBO also presented at TCA on Wednesday, but the major push was the repositioning of Cinemax, which started a year ago with the launch of Strike Back, a series that garnered a surprising amount of critical acclaim and kicks off its second season later this month.

TCA 2012: 'Copper' EPs and Cast Tout BBC America's Big Budget Scripted Original
Kary Antholis, president of programming for Cinemax (and HBO miniseries), said the plan was to "distinguish the Cinemax brand as a premium destination for entertaining, cinematic and compelling original series."

It won't be easy to get out of HBO's shadow or shake off the old "Skinemax" moniker, but Strike Back was a successful start and the channel will follow in October with Hunted, "a conspiracy action thriller set in the world of corporate espionage," starring Melissa George (In Treatment) and created by The X-Files alum Frank Spotnitz (who also helped on the first season of Strike Back). Then, in early 2013, the channel will premiere the new series Banshee from creator Alan Ball.

Perhaps to drive home how hard it is to stand out in a crowded field, the pay cable channels Encore and Starz came to press tour Thursday, with the spotlight firmly on Boss, the Kelsey Grammer series starting its second season Aug. 17. Although many critics found Boss to be compelling if uneven, the performance of Grammer was brilliant from start to finish, but he was snubbed for an Emmy (something he noted at TCA).

Starz also made inroads with the Sopranos-meets-Mad Men style of Magic City, a series that really found itself near the end of its recently completed first season. Both Boss and Magic City built on the profile the channel created with Spartacus (it has other offerings in 2013, including Da Vinci's Demons from creator David S. Goyer).

TCA 2012: Larry King On His New Hulu Show and CNN's Ratings Woes

The question is, how do these series stand out in a crowded field? How do they reach a viewing audience seemingly overwhelmed with options? There's obviously a lot of money at stake. BBC America needs to come off as more than just a retransmission service for its Brit parent. Starz has to up its game to compete with HBO and Showtime. And Cinemax has to get more series on its bench to be taken seriously as a separate, worthwhile entity from HBO.

The plus side to all of this is that there's an incredible amount of quality in the marketplace. More scripted series means more people employed, just as it means a higher profile upon success for each entity producing the shows. But none of this is going to be easy. These channels are going to have to steal audience from more established outlets, which puts pressure on channels such as Showtime, HBO, AMC and FX to keep product in the pipeline or risk losing traction – and relevance – with the viewing audience.

It almost makes you think it would be crazy to get into the scripted game. And it just might be, since sustaining this amount of content will rely on generous advertising budgets, creatively effective promotion and serious online and social media components.

We're about to find out what the threshold is for how many series dedicated viewers can keep up with. Godspeed, everybody.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

The country's three main Dutch-language networks have begun testing the catch-up portal called Rumble.

The country's three main Dutch-language networks have begun testing the catch-up portal called Rumble.

COLOGNE, Germany - The three largest Dutch-language networks in Belgium: VRT, VMMa and SBS Belgium, have joined forces to launch a local catch-up TV portal similar to Hulu.

Netflix Touts 1 Million Subscriber Milestone in U.K., Ireland
Called Rumble, the service would make the networks' programs available online and to tablets and smartphones for up to three days after their initial television broadcast. According to an article in Belgium's De Standard newspaper, the three channels are currently testing the service. VRT is a public broadcaster while VMMa and SBS are both commercial channels.
A similar attempt to launch a Hulu-style platform in Germany, Europe's largest television market, failed when the courts rejected plans by leading commercial broadcast groups RTL and ProSiebenSat.1. The regulatory watchdogs argued the service would extend the two companies' near-duopoly in the German TV ad market. Germany's public broadcasters have proposed their own independent catch-up service, called Gold.
The market in online TV services is heating up in Europe. Netflix this week announced that its new service in the U.K. and Ireland crossed the 1 million subscriber milestone within seven months of launch, the fastest growth for Netflix in any territory it operates in. Netflix also recently announced plans to launch its service across Scandinavia.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

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3Ality Digital to Show New Tech at NAB That Will Make 3D Productions More Cost-E

CEO Steve Schklair also is testing its use for network series.

LAS VEGAS -- 3Ality Digital-whose 3D production technology is currently being used on The Hobbit and The Amazing Spider-man -- is demonstrating new, automated technologies designed to make 3D production work more cost effective at the NAB Show currently taking place in Las Vegas.
OUR EDITOR RECOMMENDS

James Cameron, Vince Pace to Reveal New Business Model for 3D Broadcasting
While it is aiming to create a new business model, 3Ality also revealed that while the industry has been heavily focused on sports coverage in the area of TV production, it also completed a test for a 3D network series.

3Ality CEO Steve Schklair believes the 2D and 3D broadcast infrastructure needs to be combined, suggesting that a 15-20% premium over 2D seems to be a premium that could support a business model for live 3D events coverage.

"Now it is 120% because you have a separate crew," he said. "It has to be a combined broadcast."
He suggested that a 10-20% premium over 2D for episodic series seems to a sweet spot.
"We are having episodic discussions," Schklair told The Hollywood Reporter, emphasizing that it is essential to meet not just the budget, but the 2D schedule. "We just completed a test for a major network episodic show."
"They did the test as a hard-core budget test," said 3Ality's Lucas Wilson. "They are getting into the budgeting process."
The new 3Ality products that will be displayed at NAB include IntelleCal, designed to automatically align two cameras on a stereo rig, without the intervention of a technician; and IntelleCam, designed to automatically control the convergence and the interaxial spacing of the cameras, without the need for a separate convergence puller at each rig.
"Typically there is one convergence operator per camera. If there are 12 cameras, that's 12 people," Schklair said. "If you eliminate these roles (including hotel, airfare, etc.), maybe you are cutting $80,000-100,000 (on a live production). That is a big number toward making a business case that works."

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

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CBS: Viewers' Age and Sex Shouldn't Matter to Marketers

Network Proposes New Model for TV Planning and Buying Based on Viewer Behavior and Attitudes

By: Jack Neff

Age and sex don't matter when it comes to TV ad effectiveness, said CBS Corp. Chief Research Officer David Poltrack, who has teamed with Nielsen to create what he called a historic move to replace demographics with a new model for TV planning and buying, based on viewer behavior and attitudes.

The proposed model is a better predictor of what people buy and what makes them buy than demographics ever were, Mr. Poltrack said in a speech to the Advertising Research Foundation's Re:Think 2011 conference Tuesday in New York.

A growing amount of data that matches audience measurement with purchase information shows that using demographics to target commercials is "essentially invalid," he said, "resulting in a misallocation of television advertising investments."

Although CBS paid for the extensive research and analysis used to create the new model, the data and analytics surrounding it will be available to all Nielsen clients, including CBS rivals, Mr. Poltrack said, "in the spirit of open source."

Various parts of Nielsen pitched in, including recently acquired consulting firm Cambridge Group and Nielsen Catalina Solutions, a joint venture that combines data from Nielsen's TV, set-top box, consumer and online panels with Catalina Marketing's shopper loyalty-card purchase data. CBS is also running a series of experiments with advertisers to fine-tune the system, Mr. Poltrack said.

CBS purchased Nielsen Catalina data for 20 categories in health and beauty, household, pet and food products and has studied 15 of them in depth so far. The data confirmed what other smaller studies have shown in the past, according to Mr. Poltrack: "There is no link, none, between the age of the specified demographic delivery of the campaign and the sales generated by that campaign."

Looking at snack foods, only three among the dozens of TV shows most watched by "heavy snacking households" also appear on the list of top shows among viewers aged 18-49, Mr. Poltrack said during his talk, "yet many of the advertisers in this category buy based on age demographics."

So where does the data show a link? "Delivery of heavy users of the product category does have a significant correlation with post-exposure purchase behavior," he said.

In a separate presentation Monday, executives of Nielsen Catalina said ratings demographics by age and sex had a relatively low 0.12 correlation with actual sales produced by exposure to TV ads, where 1.0 is complete correlation and 0 signals no relationship whatsoever. The presence of heavy category users in a TV show's audience, on the other hand, had a much higher 0.69 correlation with sales lift among those exposed to ads on the show.

Mr. Poltrack acknowledged that age in particular hasn't been favorable for CBS. Indeed, in the week ended March 13, for example, CBS nearly matched Fox for overall average viewership in prime-time, trailing by only 10,000 people at 7.97 to 7.96 million, according to Nielsen data reported by TVBytheNumbers.com. But Fox blew past CBS in ratings among viewers aged 18 to 49, with an average 3.4 rating to CBS' 2.1.

Mr. Poltrack added that reliance on the 18 to 49 demographic is hazardous to all media and marketers, partly because it doesn't strongly correlate with purchases and partly because it's declining fast. That group's share of U.S. population declined from 62% to 57% between 2002 and last year, he said, and will drop another two points to 55% by 2016.

Nielsen Catalina can produce TV ratings for heavy detergent users, Tide enthusiasts or brand switchers as an alternative, but its executives acknowledged it wouldn't necessarily be easy to create programming around that. And then there's the complexity of potential TV deals built around thousands of potential category and consumer-behavior segments.

To simplify things, CBS turned to Cambridge Group to create a six-part segmentation model that uses behavior, motivation, programming preferences and psychographics. Kevin Bowen, principal at Cambridge, said this segmentation model could improve delivery of gross ratings points of heavy category users or other target audiences by 20% or more, compared with going after age-sex demographics with similar ad spending. Better matching ads to consumer interests, he said, also led to substantial improvements in ad, brand and message recall as well as ad likability.

The six segments in the new CBS-Nielsen order are:

TV companions: For this group, TV is almost always on and is like a member of the family.

Media trendsetters: Early adopters of technology and new content, and also 39% multicultural.

Sports enthusiasts: Made up mostly of men, but most guys aren't classified here. This group also likes action-adventure programming.

Program passionates: Highly involved with favorite shows, and the biggest DVR time-shifters.

Surfers and streamers: Most open to watching alternative content on TV and most often using laptops or tablets to multitask while watching TV. They skew young, but include a large component of 50-plus people.

TV moderators: Those who enjoy being experts and leading others' choices.

Mr. Poltrack said the new segmentation model and research culminates work he's been involved with since 1992, and added that CBS is working to apply it to digital, radio, print, out-of-home and local markets as well.

The growing use of single-source data like that from Nielsen Catalina and TRA Global, which combines set-top box and shopper-card data, has started to have an impact even before this, Mr. Poltrack said. That data led marketers to restore advertising budget dollars -- to TV in particular -- faster in the recent recession than in prior ones, he said.

"Marketers quickly reversed course and increased their advertising investment even before the recovery was really under way," he said.

Thanks Adage!

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Industry News: U.S. Cable Networks 2010 Scorecard: Who’s Hot? Who’s Not!

U.S. Cable Networks 2010 Scorecard: Who’s Hot? Who’s Not!
FEBRUARY 9, 2011
by Peter Hamilton

How are they doing?

John Morse, president of the research firm Byron Media continues his quarterly snapshot of how the top U.S. factual channels gain or lose prime time viewers year-to-year.

Click here to see John’s 3Q’10 report.

Our list is not apples-to-apples:

It includes channels that are dedicated to Docs and Unscripted, for example Nat Geo and Discovery
And others that schedule a mix of Docs and Reality with Scripted (e.g., A&E and MTV)
Many channels that schedule Factual are unrated, or were not rated in ‘09
Quantity Not Quality

Most ad-supported channels sell media based on their target demos
However the quarterly ‘average prime time’ is a very useful measure of scale and performance
Average Quarterly Primetime Viewing / 4Q’10 versus 4Q’09

4Q ’10 4Q ’09 Change %
ID: INVEST. DISCOVERY 358 198 160 81%
HISTORY 1,246 920 326 35%
MTV 782 585 197 34%
MILITARY 122 99 23 23%
DISC SCIENCE 183 151 32 21%
HISTORY INTL 154 131 23 18%
BRAVO 750 662 88 13%
TLC 910 872 38 4%
BET 586 562 24 4%
OXYGEN 348 341 7 2%
TRAVEL 370 366 4 1%
E! 539 536 3 1%
BIO 140 140 0 0%
NAT GEO CH 350 353 (3) -1%
WETV 230 235 (5) -2%
HGTV 931 973 (42) -4%
ANIMAL PLANET 407 429 (22) -5%
DISCOVERY 815 860 (45) -5%
FOOD 819 866 (47) -5%
TRU TV 749 814 (65) -8%
SPIKE 756 826 (70) -8%
SYFY 907 1,012 (105) -10%
STYLE 135 155 (20) -13%
A&E 986 1,238 (252) -20%
VH1 348 506 (158) -31%
Factual Networks 13,921 13,830 91 1%
Nielsen Media Research, 4Q 2009 / 2010

Highlights

Largest audience (‘000)
History (1,246), A&E (986), HGTV (931), TLC (910) and SyFy (907)
Discovery (815) and MTV (782) were in the Top 5 in 3Q’10 and dropped out in 4Q
Growth (%)
ID: Investigation Discovery (81%), History (35%), MTV (34%), Discovery Military (23%) and Discovery Science (21%)
The success of ID and Discovery’s digi-nets is due to smart programming leveraged by an expanding distribution universe
VH1 is in the basement (-31%). But remember: the VH1 team developed 2010′s top Reality hit Jersey Shore, which airs on sister channel MTV
A&E’s steep drop is due mainly to the eroding audience for its drama, Criminal Minds. A&E is recovering in 1Q’11
History’s audience grew by 326,000 viewers; that’s massive for a fully-distributed channel
The Factual Bucket: 13.9 million and Growing!

DocumentaryTelevision.com’s bucket of 25 Basic channels attracted on average 13.9 million viewers in prime time in 4Q’10
That’s a year-to-year increase of 1% for the Factual genre
The 3Q year-to-year increase was 7%

Thanks Peter Hamilton
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A.
www.chicas-productions.com

Industry News: 8 Ways to Create an Unscripted Cable Hit: Lessons from 2010

8 Ways to Create an Unscripted Cable Hit: Lessons from 2010

FEBRUARY 12, 2011
by Peter Hamilton
For our Real Screen 2011 panel, we gave AETN’s Don Robert 5 minutes to nail the question of the day: What are the common elements that go into making an unscripted cable hit?

by Don Robert
Senior Vice President of Research, AETN

We looked at some of the top unscripted series on cable in 2010 and came up with 8 key observations:

It is still important to BE FIRST with an idea. Deadliest Catch, Pawn Stars, Intervention, Project Runway — they all looked and felt different and unique when they first hit the tube. If you’re first with a great concept and execute it well, you can have a hit for years as these shows have demonstrated.
If you can’t be first, then be BEST — which usually means you need to find the best characters. Billy wasn’t TV’s first exterminator, but his larger-than-life personality made him #1 in the category. Kat von D wasn’t the first tattoo artist and Teresa wasn’t the first housewife, but they are both break-out characters that have lifted their respective shows to big successes.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. A concept that is easy to understand and that resonates with viewers, such as the transformative process of losing weight in Heavy, the universal theme of man vs. nature in River Monsters.
Many of today’s top hits were a result of picking LOW-HANGING FRUIT — meaning, they were just expanding on an idea that already had success. Before Snooki, there was the episode titled “I’m a Jersey Shore Girl” on MTV’s True Life. Dog the Bounty Hunter was first profiled on the A&E anthology series Take This Job. But be careful with your picks: For example, Jeff Dunham had multiple hit specials for Comedy Central, but his show failed as a weekly series.
Before you cancel a successful show that has fallen into decline, ask if there is a way to RE-INVENT or re-energize it. In 2010, the long-running but fading American Chopper came back with a vengeance when the father vs. son theme took on a more intense level. But you also need to know when to fold. Without Billy Mays, Pitchmen lost their strongest character and the show fell apart.
The vast majority of today’s top hits feature REAL PEOPLE, who may be larger-than-life but who are in many ways relatable to the average viewer. The Situation, Alaskan crab fisherman Sig Hansen, and pickers Mike and Frank. The only celebrities who tend to make it are ones like Gene Simmons, stars with loyal fan bases and who aren’t afraid to reveal candid and fascinating aspects of their lives.
SEIZE THE DAY … Friday and Saturday, that is. Viewing levels may be a little more than 10% lower than the other five nights of the week, but when you factor out the Big 4 broadcast network audience, the number of viewers available to cable is roughly the same on Friday and Saturday as it is on the other five nights. But you have to give them a reason to watch! Some networks are discovering the value of launching hit shows on these less competitive nights, including Travel Channel and their top show Ghost Adventures, which airs on Fridays, and E!, with one of their biggest shows, The Soup.
And finally, a key observation is that many of today’s top shows on all of U.S. cable are UNSCRIPTED. Look at 2010′s Top 10 networks among Adults 18-54, which encompasses both A18-49 and A25-54 demos. There were actually 11 networks in the top 10 due to a tie at #10.
TOP 10 NETWORKS
ADULTS 18-54
STABLE OR UP DECLINING
#2 ESPN #1 USA (-11%)
#5 HISTORY #3 TNT (-6%)
#6 A&E #4 TBS (-4%)
#8 DISCOVERY #7 FX (-11%)
#9 ABC FAMILY #10 SYFY (-11%)
#10 FOOD
Six networks were stable or up vs. 2009
Meanwhile, five networks were down
Interestingly, four of the five “down” networks do not have a single unscripted series in primetime
However, 4 of the 6 networks that are stable or up are loaded with unscripted programs
In 2010, if you look at cable’s top 25 original prime series (scripted or unscripted), you’ll find that 16 are unscripted shows–about two-thirds of the top hits among both the A18-49 and A25-54 demos.

And compared to three years ago, there are measurably more unscripted series among the top.

UNSCRIPTED
% TOP 25 SHOWS
A18-49 Shows % Top 25
2007 12 48%
2010 16 64%

A25-54 Shows % Top 25
2007 10 40%
2010 16 64%

The Big Takeaway
Not only is unscripted programming here to stay, IT IS HOTTER THAN EVER!!

About Don Robert
Don is Senior Vice President of Research at AETN. He and his team are responsible for all audience and consumer insights supporting the programming and marketing teams, including the scheduling and PR departments, for A&E, Lifetime, History, Bio, Lifetime Movie Network and History International. Click here for Don’s bio.

The Real Screen Panel: Is 2 the New 5?
Designed to demystify the numbers game for producers and programming execs, this session will take a look at various metrics designed to measure programming success. How do network grades stack up against traditional ratings? What are broadcasters really looking for in a program when rating it? When is a program that doesn’t measure up in traditional ratings pass muster with a broadcaster.

As well as Don Robert, the expert and entertaining panelists were:

David Poltrack, Chief Research Officer, CBS Corporation
Gary Auerbach, Founder, Go Go Luckey Entertainment
Jo Holz, SVP Client Research Initiatives, The Nielsen Company
Deborah Adler Myers, EVP & General Manager, Science Channel
Peter Hamilton, DocumentaryTelevision.com, Moderator

--------------------------------
A.
www.chicas-productions.com

Industry News: Reconfigured NATPE Ends on Upbeat Note Despite Elevator 'Hiccup'...

January 27, 2011

Even with hourlong waits to get to meetings in hotel suites, many attendees were satisfied with the annual TV convention's new Miami home.

Page 1 MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- The energy was up, the schmoozingnonstop, and there were even some program deals closed at this newly configured, transitional NATPE, the first in Miami in a decade.

Admittedly, there were the inevitable glitches -- most notably the elevators to sales suites in the Tresor tower. Waits of up to an hour meant meetings missed and clients irritated. Sellers scrambled to accommodate or work out of cabanas poolside (a big thumbs-up despite the wind) or in the Fontainebleau Hotel proper.

A few also griped about there being too few restaurants on hand and a deafening noise level in the central watering hole in the hotel lobby.

"The hotel reminded me of Mr. Peabody's way-back machine in Rocky & Bullwinkle," said one seasoned attendee, who noted that the Fontainebleau was more conducive to tourists in 1955 than to conventioneers today. "But we managed to do business anyway."

Even more emphatic was Nu Image CEO Danny Dimbort. "I would not come next year to this hotel. You pay so much money; you cannot get a glass of wine at the bar at 7 o'clock because there are too many people in the lobby. And if people have to come back from the top floor to go down, it can take 40 minutes. People are very upset."

NATPE organizers have 30 days to sort out the problems with the hotel, or the nonprofit organization could shift the trade show to another venue, presumably still in Miami Beach.

Still, after four years of ever-dwindling attendance in Las Vegas and an increasingly recession-wearied tone, this three-day confab may have helped the business turn the corner.

"The general buzz of people doing business throughout the resort -- from the lobby to the suites to the cabanas overlooking the ocean -- has been very gratifying," NATPE president-CEO Rick Feldman said Wednesday.
A variety of attendees also felt mostly satisfied with the move away from Sin City.

Said Katz programming rep and longtime NATPE-goer Bill Carroll: "I believe for most everyone the convention was a success. After all, some business was done. There was a lot of networking and good meetings. The elevators to the sales suites were a hiccup, but just that."

Similarly, indie program distributor Jon Helmrich said: "Americans in TV now have a gathering place that combines producers, distributors and international-channel players in an attractive setting ... and it's fun. I think NATPE in Miami has come very close to that."

The convention floor itself was downsized but inviting and relaxed, a welcome change from the cavernous emptiness that characterized the Vegas exhibition space.

Said Paul Bales of Burbank-based indie distrib Asylum, which had a stand on the floor: "One of the things we found was even though you don't write as much business as some of the other markets we attend, we find that we get to see people. You get a chance to talk and fill them in on what is going on. Plus, we've never been to Miami for business. It's a great town."

Panels during the convention were reduced in number and length, both changes going over well. Attendance was spotty except for the highlights -- a session with outgoing NBC Universal topper Jeff Zucker and back-to-back Q&As with Univision and Telemundo chieftains Cesar Conde and Don Browne, respectively.

Latins in fact enjoyed an impressive coming-out party at NATPE, showcasing a number of upcoming telenovelas and announcing a raft of programming deals -- with one another, with Europeans and with Hollywood suppliers.

This year's Legacy Awards in honor of Brandon Tartikoff was an SRO affair, with witty and touching comments from honorees Regis Philbin, Mary Hart, Dick Ebersol and RTL's Gerhard Zeiler.

Thank you Hollywod Reporter
A.
www.chicas-productions.com

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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Friday, October 12, 2012

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Wednesday, August 22, 2012

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Thursday, April 14, 2011

3Ality Digital to Show New Tech at NAB That Will Make 3D Productions More Cost-E

Monday, March 28, 2011

CBS: Viewers' Age and Sex Shouldn't Matter to Marketers

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Industry News: U.S. Cable Networks 2010 Scorecard: Who’s Hot? Who’s Not!

Industry News: 8 Ways to Create an Unscripted Cable Hit: Lessons from 2010

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Industry News: Reconfigured NATPE Ends on Upbeat Note Despite Elevator 'Hiccup'...