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Tag: Mipcom

  • Indias first HD travel channel at MIPCOM 2013

    Indias first HD travel channel at MIPCOM 2013

    Ask any traveller the meaning of a journey and he/she is likely to say it’s something where you never know how far you’ve reached till you go back to where it started.

    Indeed, this is the very core of what they call wanderlust, and who better to know it than travelxp HD, India’s first high definition travel channel.

    Presently, the channel stands strong as a premium lifestyle with 400+ hours of original HD travel content – shot across 35+ countries and growing, expanding at 150 hours each year, and covering all genres of the travel space. Shot in English, with hosts from across the globe, the channel boasts a truly international look and feel. Exactly what draws it to this year’s MIPCOM.

    travelxp now in its third year at MIPCOM, feels that exhibiting in a market like MIPCOM has added to its learning. The channel has not only tapped market demands and understood buyer requisites, but has also understood the latest trends, practices and technology which in turn have laid the guidelines for content that the channel creates in the future.

    Says travelxp HD director Nisha Chothani: “An international platform like MIPCOM is the year’s most anticipated global market for entertainment content across all mediums. Our content finds the perfect fit with the needs of travel content buyers across the globe. It provides us an opportunity to reach out to our buyers, leading to ground-breaking partnerships.”

    MIPCOM provides us an opportunity to reach out to our buyers, leading to ground-breaking partnerships, says Nisha Chothani

    So what’s the channel offering at MIPCOM 2013? It will launch five new shows including Quest, City Breaks, Bliss, Food Highway and World Spas for participants this year.

    Apart from these, travelxp HD will also present shows like XP Guide, Xplore World, Xplore India, Great Indian Hotels, Great World Hotels, Foodicted, Strictly Street, Heritage, Landmark, Best from the Rest, Bada Weekend, Hills and Valleys, and Divine Destination at the content sale market. “With this, we are looking forward to cracking deals and partnerships with our buyers.

     Also, networking with content buyers and aggregators across the globe will be an add-on,” says Chothani.

    And it’s not just travelxp HD, the entire travel industry stands to benefit from MIPCOM. “Travel content caters to a large international audience due to its geographical spread. MIPCOM provides us a platform with immense selling opportunity; it helps us to reach out to around 4,400 buyers from 100 countries across the globe. Travel content demand is growing globally, platforms like MIPCOM help two ends meet, thereby leading to the growth of the genre,” elaborates Chothani.

    Meanwhile, travelxp HD shows will be accessible to viewers on various multi-media platforms from DTH systems to in-flight screens, TV networks to IPTV networks, VOD to AVOD systems and websites to mobiles.

    The channel claims its content finds resonance with travel connoisseurs the world over.

  • Watch out for Hyderabads animation booth at Mipcom

    Watch out for Hyderabads animation booth at Mipcom

    other states may do well to borrow a leaf from the Andhra Pradesh government, which is partly sponsoring the participation of Hyderabad’s animation industry at this year’s Mipcom.

    More specifically, the AP government is funding the stand fees for two Hyderabad-based companies – Green Gold Animation and Discreet Art.

    “The government is partly funding our participation at the event. And this goes up to 50 per cent of the total stand fee. It can go up beyond 50 per cent depending on the response we get,” informs Green Gold Animation vice president -business development Govinda Talluri.

    Creator of the popular animated character, Chhota Bheem, Green Gold Animation, has been participating in Mipcom since 2007. “Though we didn’t go in 2011-2012, this year, since the Andhra Pradesh government decided to support the companies based in Hyderabad for events like Mipcom, we, along with Discreet Arts and 20 (approximately) people from the AVCGI association will represent AP at Mipcom this year,” adds Talluri.

    We will be targeting European and South American countries at Mipcom, says Green Gold Animation vice president -business development Talluri

    AVCGI or Animation, VFX, Comic & Gaming Industry of AP is a recently formed association by the animation industry in Hyderabad with the aim of garnering support from the AP government for its proper functioning.

    Apart from Chhota Bheem, which is Green Gold’s biggest property, it will also take other animated characters Mighty Raju and Arjun to Mipcom. “We plan to come up with a theatrical for Mighty Raju by next year and so, will use Mipcom to create a buzz about the movie. Also Arjun, a show that we have created for Disney, will form part of our offering to buyers,” says Talluri.

     
    For all these years, Green Gold catered to Indian and South East Asian markets and recently sold its content to USA and Canada. The major is now aiming at European countries like France, Germany, Spain and South America. “This is not an exhaustive list, we want to reach out to as many markets as possible,” adds Talluri.

    Enthused by the government’s support, Green Gold aims to present its library of 8,500 minutes of original content to a global audience. “Also, with our 174-episode Chhota Bheem being sold to eight countries, we would definitely want to expand our reach and get noticed,” says Talluri.

    With the largest content sale market cum conference just 15 days away, the company is busy scheduling meetings with buyers. “Though a few meetings have already been fixed, we are also pitching in for more buyers,” he says. The company will primarily target television as the preferred platform. “Once we are there, getting to other platforms will not be difficult,” he rounds off.

  • IndiaCast/Viacom18 all set for MIPCOM 2013

    IndiaCast/Viacom18 all set for MIPCOM 2013

    IIf you thought shows such as Comedy Nights with Kapil, Uttaran or even Jhalak Dikhhla Ja have takers only in India, you couldn’t be more wrong. Indeed, there is a huge demand for these programmes even in faraway markets like Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe to name a few.
    Which is exactly what draws aggregators and distributors such as IndiaCast to MIPCOM, the world’s biggest market for content.

    So what does IndiaCast have on offer this year at MIPCOM? “While we already have a strong syndication portfolio with our dramas. movies  and reality shows from Colors, we will also focus on content from our regional channels, news channels as well as the MTV content, “replies IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi, who will represent the company along with four others at MIPCOM.

    More specifically, IndiaCast/Viacom18’s entire catalogue will be on offer. “We have more than 25 channels in our network and so, our booth will feature content from all of these channels. This will include Ballika Vadhu, Uttaran, Madhubala, Jhalak Dikhhla Ja, Bigg Boss, MTV Roadies and also content from ETV and the news channels,” informs Gandhi.

    We will be looking at a strong syndication portfolio in our dramas and reality, we will also focus on content from regional channels, news channels as well as the MTV portfolio says Gaurav Gandhi

    And what is IndiaCast hoping to achieve at MIPCOM? Says Gandhi: “Indian dramas are finally breaking into mainstream in many markets. We hope to find more buyers who are willing to experiment and try Indian dramas for the mainstream local audiences in the respective markets and we want to target buyers who want to remake our shows  (with script and format rights) in their respective countries .  Latin America and Turkey have been the predominant forces in exporting their drama series sales worldwide. There is an opportunity for us to break into that market in a big way. Having already licensed our content to Africa and Europe (to the mainstream market), I am hoping to tap markets like Latin America this year.”

    Gandhi believes that demand for the programming that IndiaCast is hawking will also be strong in areas where Indian and south Asian diaspora are present in large numbers. This apart, there is another chunk of viewers in several countries which enjoy watching Indian programming dubbed and sub-titled in local languages. “Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa are some of these nations,” he says.”We are looking at new distribution outlets and buyers from there for both our channels and programmes at MipCom this year.”

    Citing a couple of examples of how the event is a platform to help export content and reach out to a larger base, Gandhi says: “It was here that we sold the script of our show Uttaran, for a remake in Africa. While normally Indian channels buy formats/ scripts, we were the first ones to have sold the script to an international player. We recently sold the MTV Roadies format internationally. The discussions for this had started in MIPCOM only.”  

    MIPCOM makes it easier for exhibitors to meet people from different markets and sell content. “If it wasn’t for a market like these where would one find buyers from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Tanzania?” he questions.

    And considering there is a sizeable regional population around the world, the aggregator is concentrating on regional content as well. “We have sold Gujarati content to a local channel in the US and also to west African countries this year. So for our regional content, this year, we will focus on building on that and tapping new markets” says Gandhi.

    The frenzied buying and selling of content apart, several affiliate meetings will keep IndiaCast executives busy at MIPCOM. “This is where we will talk about distribution of our channels; like Colors, MTV India, Rishtey which is our second GEC in the UK, ETV,  and News18 among a host of other channels,” informs Gandhi.   

    IndiaCast will concentrate on all platforms like Cable, DTH, IPTV, terrestrial and all forms, both linear and non-linear (VOD, SVOD, NVOD and PPV). “We are amongst the largest suppliers from India to VOD platforms. Our content is on Netflix, Itunes, YouTube etc. We have a lot of meetings lined up for such platforms as well,” he adds.

    It looks likely to be whistlestop and tiring MipCom for Gandhi and his team. And in all likelihood profitable too. 

  • IndiaCast/Viacom18 all set for MIPCOM 2013

    IndiaCast/Viacom18 all set for MIPCOM 2013

    If you thought shows such as Comedy Nights with Kapil, Uttaran or even Jhalak Dikhhla Ja have takers only in India, you couldn’t be more wrong. Indeed, there is a huge demand for these programmes even in faraway markets like Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe to name a few.

     

    Which is exactly what draws aggregators and distributors such as IndiaCast to MIPCOM, the world’s biggest market for content.

     

    So what does IndiaCast have on offer this year at MIPCOM? “While we already have a strong syndication portfolio with our dramas. movies  and reality shows from Colors, we will also focus on content from our regional channels, news channels as well as the MTV content, “replies IndiaCast group COO Gaurav Gandhi, who will represent the company along with four others at MIPCOM.

     

    More specifically, IndiaCast/Viacom18’s entire catalogue will be on offer. “We have more than 25 channels in our network and so, our booth will feature content from all of these channels. This will include Ballika Vadhu, Uttaran, Madhubala, Jhalak Dikhhla Ja, Bigg Boss, MTV Roadies and also content from ETV and the news channels,” informs Gandhi.

     

    And what is IndiaCast hoping to achieve at MIPCOM? Says Gandhi: “Indian dramas are finally breaking into mainstream in many markets. We hope to find more buyers who are willing to experiment and try Indian dramas for the mainstream local audiences in the respective markets and we want to target buyers who want to remake our shows  (with script and format rights) in their respective countries .  Latin America and Turkey have been the predominant forces in exporting their drama series sales worldwide. There is an opportunity for us to break into that market in a big way. Having already licensed our content to Africa and Europe (to the mainstream market), I am hoping to tap markets like Latin America this year.” 

     

    Gandhi believes that demand for the programming that IndiaCast is hawking will also be strong in areas where Indian and south Asian diaspora are present in large numbers. This apart, there is another chunk of viewers in several countries which enjoy watching Indian programming dubbed and sub-titled in local languages. “Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa are some of these nations,” he says.”We are looking at new distribution outlets and buyers from there for both our channels and programmes at MipCom this year.”

     

    Citing a couple of examples of how the event is a platform to help export content and reach out to a larger base, Gandhi says: “It was here that we sold the script of our show Uttaran, for a remake in Africa. While normally Indian channels buy formats/ scripts, we were the first ones to have sold the script to an international player. We recently sold the MTV Roadies format internationally. The discussions for this had started in MIPCOM only.”  

     

    MIPCOM makes it easier for exhibitors to meet people from different markets and sell content. “If it wasn’t for a market like these where would one find buyers from Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Tanzania?” he questions.

     

    And considering there is a sizeable regional population around the world, the aggregator is concentrating on regional content as well. “We have sold Gujarati content to a local channel in the US and also to west African countries this year. So for our regional content, this year, we will focus on building on that and tapping new markets” says Gandhi.

     

    The frenzied buying and selling of content apart, several affiliate meetings will keep IndiaCast executives busy at MIPCOM. “This is where we will talk about distribution of our channels; like Colors, MTV India, Rishtey which is our second GEC in the UK, ETV,  and News18 among a host of other channels,” informs Gandhi.   

     

    IndiaCast will concentrate on all platforms like Cable, DTH, IPTV, terrestrial and all forms, both linear and non-linear (VOD, SVOD, NVOD and PPV). “We are amongst the largest suppliers from India to VOD platforms. Our content is on Netflix, Itunes, YouTube etc. We have a lot of meetings lined up for such platforms as well,” he adds.

     

    It looks likely to be whistlestop and tiring MipCom for Gandhi and his team. And in all likelihood profitable too. 

  • Reliance Entertainment Digital has its eye on English entertainment content

    Reliance Entertainment Digital has its eye on English entertainment content

    Reliance Entertainment Digital CEO Manish Agarwal is pretty excited about his company’s date with MipCom this year.  Says he:  “We want to understand the market and its offering and how relevant it is for the digital business. We are always in search of some interesting and innovative content.” 

    For Agarwal, who is into content publishing, participation in Mipcom is likely to become an integral part of doing business, though his company is participating in it for the first time.
    “It gives us an opportunity to explore the large variety of content which we need for the various platforms like BigFlix, Zapak etc. We will obviously focus on networking with more content providers and aggregators across the globe,” says he.

     Reliance Entertainment Digital which launched its over the top (OTT) service BigFlix last year is sorted in terms of Indian programming and now wants add on international content in more genres and languages.

     “We want to expand our offerings to the consumer. Participating in Mipcom will help us explore more opportunities,” he says.

    We want to expand our offerings to the consume and participating in Mipcom will help us explore more opportunities believes Manish Agarwal

     Agarwal says that an increasing group of young Indian consumers is gorging on digitised content on hand held devices and on their PCs. “It is essential for Indian service providers to experiment with new type of content across genres and content-types. And it is just not that Indians will consume only trailers or paparazzi content, they will also look at different content and so we want to explore with a variety of content,” he highlights.

     The focus this year at Mipcom he emphasises will be on acquiring entertainment content – especially that which originates from English speaking nations or with English subtitles.
    “This will be entertainment for English speaking audiences, entertainment for masses and for kids. This is the reason we are going not only for Mipcom, but also for Mip Junior,” he informs.

    For those visiting Mipcom to sell gaming content, expect the Reliance Entertainment 

    representative at your stall. “We will also look at gaming content or gaming IPs on which games can be created. So we are aiming at kids entertainment both in gaming and VOD content which caters to everyone or in niche segments in the country,” says he. “In terms of gaming IPs, since we are present across the globe, we will go for any IP which is popular. So we will be hunting for any IP across different markets in order to get a license to create mobile games

     The OTT service which delivers its content online to connected devices – a la NetFlix in the US – is looking at stacking up its video-on-demand (VOD) menu. “This can subsume movies-on-demand, TV-serials-on-demand and animations-on-demand. And for gaming again we are looking at the mobile platforms.”

    And the company is shopping cheque book in hand. So sellers will indeed be kept busy by this emerging digital giant from India.

  • Mipcom/MipTV reach out to Mumbai’s content community

    Mipcom/MipTV reach out to Mumbai’s content community

    MUMBAI: The Mumbai leg of Reed Midem’s Mipcom and MipTV road show went off like a dream with an attendance from about 80 professionals from the world of television and digital content. It was addressed by Reed Midem international business development director Ted Baracos, Asia sales manager Paul Barbaro and Indian representative (and indiantelevision.com founder & CEO) Anil Wanvari.

     

    The theme like the other two venues was “Can Indian content leave its stamp on the world?” But unlike Delhi and Hyderabad, the attendees were primarily professionals from TV and digital content production, broadcast syndication and distribution.

     

    TV producers were represented by Shyamashish Bhattachharrya, JD Majethia, Sumeet Mittal, Rakesh Paswan, Abhigyan and Mrinal Jha, Sudhir Sharma, Lalit Sharma, Asad Abid, Ram Talkit, Rahul Sarangi and Roopak Saluja. Zee TV, Indiacast, 9XM, Sahara TV, Times Television Network, and Travel XP HD were some of the broadcasters who attended. Independent film producers Imtiaz Barolia and Javed Rahman Khan also attended. Amongst the distributors included Bhupin Chhadva, Yuvamira Dwivedi, Vivek Lath, Ratnakar Kumar, Sanjay Hinduja and Rashmmi Menon.

     

    Rajjat Barjatya, Sandeep Mehra and Ram Seshan made up the digital players. Education companies Educmedia and Laughing Buddha Entertainment Knowledge were in attendance.

     

    Extremely interactive, the two hour seminar had all the constituents expressing their views. Broadcasters expressed that the two markets are a must attend for TV professionals and that the two markets help generate substantial business for content syndication for them. “Indian TV shows command about $350 to $700 per half hour,” said one of the broadcasters. “The sticker price of non-fiction shows is about $1,500 and above,” said another. “Films sell at anywhere from $500 to $15,-20,000 depending on the territory,” said a third.

     

    According to them, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russian, CIS, Mynamar, Poland, middle east and other east European markets are some of the markets which have taken to Indian content well. Most of the attendees expressed that they would like to see an Indian pavilion come up at MipTV and Mipcom, representing the Indian content creation industry, just like 26 other regions from all over the world are doing, Wanvari said he was in conversation with National Film Development Corporation to set up the pavilion once again this year, while the Animation, VFX, Comic & Gaming Industry of Andhra Pradesh was also in the process of doing the same for this year’s Mipcom from 7-10 October.

     

    Film producer Javed Khan expressed that Mipcom is very conducive to doing co-production deals. He is currently executing a coproduction film with support from Turkey. “We nearly closed one co-production contract at Mipcom three to four years ago,” he said.

     

    Creative professional and producer Rahul Sarangi spoke about a non-fiction format developed by him which is going on the floors in four different countries. “Indian broadcasters were not very accommodating of my paper format,” he says. “So I invested about $40,000 and created a nice trailer and one of the overseas format distributors agreed to license it. It will be seen in several countries very soon. Mipcom and MipTV have really helped me realise my ambitions. Now an Indian broadcaster is negotiating to buy the licence for India.”

     

    The entire room gave a rousing ovation to digital producer Rajjat Barjatya who has generated 1.5 billion views for his 45 odd channels on YouTube. “Indian content can travel and is already travelling through my channels,” he said. “The most popular offering is a video Ba Ba Black sheep which has got 76 odd million views,” he said. “And it is being watched by a German mother and her daughter, an English mother and her son.. it has crossed language and cultural boundaries.”

     

    TV producers stated that they were totally hemmed in by the fact that they did not have the rights to the content they produce, but they would nonetheless like to attend to expand their horizons. Baracos said the Indian case was not unique. He gave the example of UK independent producer organisation Pact. “The UK market was quite similar to India’s as is Japan. The producers lobbied with industry and government to get their rights back again,” said Baracos. “They were successful with a caveat: they would share revenues with broadcasters on sales they achieved. Today, the UK Indies pavilion is generating close to 30 million pounds worth of deals annually. Everyone is happy: the broadcasters, and the producers.”

     

    Barbaro highlighted that it is imperative that India builds a brand for itself at international markets. “Korea has done it over years; China is doing it. India needs to do it,” he said. “Today, their content is traveling all over the world. Yes, the government supports their efforts with funds, but the Indian content community needs to awaken the Indian government about the opportunities available and what other governments are doing to help and propagate their culture – and indirectly generate national economic benefits – through markets such as Mipcom and MipTV.”

  • MipCom, MipTV workshop planned for Hyderabad this evening

    MipCom, MipTV workshop planned for Hyderabad this evening

    MUMBAI: In the words of many a TV sales and acquisition executive. Paris-based Reed Midem’s MipTV, MipCom, Mip Junior, MipFormats, MipCube are absolutely unmissable (if a word like that can be created specially for this purpose).

     

    Close to 12,000 executives from more than 100 countries, 4000 buyers, 2000 plus exhibitors, hundreds of conferences and keynote speeches and interviews featuring industry global TV broadcast, production, creative, distribution, regulatory leaders are what make all of these a must-attend for the TV ecosystem for decades. A delegation of close to 120 TV professionals from India have been attending each of these markets for the past five-six years.

     

    An estimate is that close to three billion euros in transactions emanate from these markets annually as executives buy and sell animation shows, drama series, films, documentaries, non-fiction formats, digital content, explore emerging formats such as ultra HD (these days), paper formats, do co-production deals, and so on.

     

    And to propagate this message further and to connect with India’s vibrant content creation industry, indiantelevision.com CEO and MipTV, MipCom and Midem representative Anil Wanvari has been going on a whistle stop tour covering three of the major broadcast and content ecosystem cities of Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, along with Reed Midem director marketing development Ted Baracos and Asia sales manager Paul Barbaro.

     

    The Delhi-leg of the road show culminated on 22 July and was extremely well attended by a clutch of animation entrepreneurs, documentary producers, broadcasters, digital content creators, distributors, film producers.

     

    Says long time Mipmarkets attendee TigerBells Animation founder Vivek Kalyan: “It was fabulous to have an interaction with Ted, Paul, and Anil and learn how we as content creators can further our prospects globally.”

     

    Adds independent documentary producer Pankaj Saxena: “It’s great that we had such a stimulating workshop. We are looking forward to such future interactions so we can create the right strategy to allow our content to leave a stamp on the world.”

     

    An interaction with close to 100 content creators and distributors is planned for Hyderabad later this evening. And another one for Saturday 27 July at 7 p.m. in Mumbai.

  • “Indian TV programmes have widespread reach and appeal”: Zee TV’s global head syndication Sunita Uchil

    “Indian TV programmes have widespread reach and appeal”: Zee TV’s global head syndication Sunita Uchil

    For the worldwide television industry, Paris-based Reed Midem‘s MipCom and MipTV are akin to what the Festival de Cannes is for global cinema. Both MipTV and Mipcom attract more than 11,000 participants. Each sees the coming together of the world‘s brightest television, animation, format, and audiovisual content creators, buyers and sellers. An estimated one billion euro in transactions – in terms of sales and acquisition of TV shows, formats, feature film and documentary – is estimated to emanate from MipTV which is held in April and MipCom (held in October every year).

    While China, south Korea, Russia and Latin America have been growing by leaps and bounds in terms of programme syndication worldwide and their presence in Cannes‘ Palais des Festivals, India has been moving at a steady pace. At this year‘s MipTV close to 100 participants from India made their presence felt. Some exhibited, some came as buyers to pick up shows and formats, some did co-production deals and some came as sellers to hawk their TV shows and feature films. Viacom18, DQ Entertainment, Shemaroo, Eros, Verria, Maximus Multimedia, were among the big-name players who exhibited. But there were scores of others who came in as participants and bought and sold TV programmes, formats, films, and documentaries.

    The most prominent of the Indian exhibitors has been Zee TV. With an impressive location and display, the company has been a regular exhibitor at Mipcom and MipTV for the most part of this decade; and has been reaping the fruits of its continued participation in terms of growing syndication sales and building its brand globally.

    Indiantelevision.com spoke to Zee TV‘s global head syndication Sunita Uchil to know more about Indian programme syndication worldwide, India‘s presence at Mip, and the benefits that accrue to her company courtesy its Mip outings.

    Excerpts:

    Has demand for Indian content picked up? And what kind of content is attracting maximum attention?

    There definitely is an increasing demand for Indian ‘entertainment‘ content, especially genres such as family dramas, romance and non-fiction. Our syndication strategy (under the Zee Bollyworld umbrella) for the new show launches (Badalte Rishton Ki Dastaan, India‘s Best Dramebaaz, and now more recently DID Supermoms), has been developed keeping in mind the rapidly evolving industry where viewers can access content directly.

    How large is the Indian TV programme and film syndication market internationally? Can you give an estimate on its size? Is this growing and in which markets?

    I cannot comment on the film bit as of now, but Indian TV programs have a widespread reach and appeal. Currently it could be anywhere between US$25-$30mn. Yes, this figure is growing continuously. The recognition that Indian content receives at international markets such as MipTV and MipCom only shows that the demand is increasing globally. Content aggregators and distributors (Americas, Europe) have realised that their audiences are excited to understand more about Indian culture, cuisines, lifestyles etc; and will turn to other platforms like PPV, VOD to access this; with a shift from traditional viewing.

    Can Indian and international co-productions work? Which area – TV, cinema or animation?

    Definitely and in all three forms, Indian technology and skill are on a par with the western markets. We have seen the successful collaborations in the past few years. Growing trends like social media are bringing the world closer. Consumers are getting influenced and watching whatever their friends are watching rather than what the broadcasting networks are promoting.

    Zee Bollyworld itself is offering better customised services like dubbing and subtitling in foreign languages (in order to deliver a superior product) that truly makes it a one-stop shop for Indian entertainment the world over.

    MipTV & Mipcom India rep & indiantelevision.com‘s CEO Anil Wanvari alongside Zee TV‘s global syndication head Sunita Uchil

    How large was your delegation to MipTV this year? 

    We had representation from Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East region this year. Our teams are located in all these regions as well as in the USA now. Our strategy for gaining market intelligence has considerably improved. This has benefited in having a direct resource in the market with better client interaction taking place.

    ‘We are noticing a shift from consumption patterns- from traditional, DTH platforms to VOD, PPV mediums. The increasing importance of social media in influencing consumer tastes and the exposure of international lifestyles is creating a shift towards foreign content with the idea being to ‘try out new things’

    What was your objective from MipTV this year? How did you position yourself differently? Did you introduce any new products or offerings? How was the receptivity to it?

    Zee is the first to create a separate brand umbrella for trading and syndication. In 2012, we had mandated Mumbai based creative agency Young which had created the distinct Zee Bollyworld identity and this concept was well received within trade circles and has been a discernible differentiator for Zee at international content markets. At MipTV 2013, our objective was to leverage and build on this differentiator and to reinforce our positioning – ‘one stop shop for Indian entertainment content‘. We showcased our most successful properties and highlighted our dubbed content to clients.

    Any new ideas of trends you picked up this year from MipTV?

    We are noticing a shift from consumption patterns- from traditional, DTH platforms to VOD, PPV mediums. The increasing importance of social media in influencing consumer tastes and the exposure of international lifestyles is creating a shift towards foreign content with the idea being to ‘try out new things.’

  • Endemol signs format deals in Holland ahead of Mipcom

    MUMBAI: Television format creator and dsitributor Endemol, has announced new deals and successful launches in the Netherlands for international formats to be showcased at next weeks’ television trade event Mipcom 2012 in Cannes, France.

    A local version of reality show ‘Love in the Wild’, originally created and produced by Endemol USA for NBC, has been commissioned by RTL 5. The eight episode new series, produced by Endemol Netherlands, is due to launch on 22 October and will be the first non-US production of the format. The show, which challenges single men and women looking for love to take on adrenaline-fuelled quests together in a tropical paradise, completed its second hit season on NBC this summer and the US version has so far been distributed to 90 countries internationally.

    Social Media dating format ‘Coming Soon: Love‘ has been sold to Net 5 in a deal that will see Endemol Netherlands produce 10 episodes launching on 18 October. The format sees a web based community of celebrity women embarking on a journey to find love; sharing intimate secrets about their dates and love lives 24/7 via webcams in their homes. Endemol acquired worldwide rights to ‘Coming Soon: Love‘ last year from Keshet Broadcasting and Ephrati Productions in Israel.

    Also among Endemol‘s Mipcom highlights this year are new formats from Endemol Netherlands, ‘Hit on a Trip‘ and ‘Love is in the Air‘, both of which recently launched to become overnight hits on Ned 3 and RTL 4 respectively.

    ‘Hit on a Trip‘ sees famous musicians travel to different countries in a bid to adapt their biggest hits to the local sound and musical tastes, working with local artists to replicate their song‘s success in another culture. The show launched on public broadcaster Ned 3 this month.

    ‘Love is in the Air‘ is a reality series that reunites loved ones who have lost contact by living in far apart countries. The series made a strong debut this autumn and has continued to grow its audience on commercial channel RTL 4.

    Endemol MD of creative operations Iris Boelhouwer said, “This is a promising mix of international formats being picked up for peak time slots in the Netherlands and locally created shows making a strong debut in their home market. It‘s great news as we prepare to showcase these formats at MIPCOM 2012.”

  • Electric Sky to bring factual content to Mipcom

    MUMBAI: UK distributor Electric Sky returns to next month‘s television trade event Mipcom in Cannes, France with new factual titles.

    ‘Turtle Boy‘ by Sundog Pictures for Channel 4 and National Geographic traces the story of Didier, a six year old boy from Columbia with a rare condition – a huge 11-pound mole which covered his back. Resembling the shell of a turtle the mole was taking up 40 per cent of his body and its regular maintenance prevented him from going to school. This is a story of cutting-edge medicine, a mother‘s love, and a brave six-year-old‘s fight to be released from his burden.

    From Australian prodco Unboxed Media, Electric Sky has acquired ‘Tipping Points‘, an international coproduction exploring the tipping points of changing climate. The series will follow pre-eminent scientists as they go off the grid to explore the dangerous new tipping points making our weather systems more extreme and unpredictable and how these changes impact weather systems around the world. Networks on board include US network The Weather Channel, NHK in Japan, the ARD Group in Germany, Canvas in Belgium, VPRO in Holland and The Australia Network.

    Electric Sky has acquired ‘Hilary Lister – A Race Against Time‘ by Peter Williams Television Productions, which follows the remarkable journey of a record-breaking sailor with a difference. Despite suffering from a progressive condition which means she is paralyzed from the neck down, Hilary Lister embarks on an ambitious journey to sail around Britain. Relying on her own gumption and determination it‘s a story of courageous seamanship, a struggle for independence and purpose, and an astonishing achievement against all odds.

    From Irish production company, Rival Media, Electric Sky has taken on ‘Big Wave Bootcamp‘, which takes 8 surf-mad teens and unleashes them on the world‘s most extreme surf school in Hawaii. In ‘Mission Beach USA‘ a Rival Media Production for RTE eight teens tackle sun, sea and survival in Florida. In at the deep end, on the toughest lifeguard course in the world, our teens live, sleep, eat, breathe, relax and take all that the beach and their lifeguard instructors can throw at them. Will our eight hopefuls make it, or sink without a trace?

    Trouble in Paradise by 9 Films Production for Channel 9 Australia is a series that tells the stories of travellers and holidaymakers who have been subjected to terrifying experiences while on holidays in different parts of the world before escaping with their lives. These are ordinary people, simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and what makes this series so enthralling is that their nightmares could happen to anyone.

    Finally, Electric Sky has picked up cooking series ‘Cookucina‘by Stephen Phelps Productions. Presented by two vivacious 40-something (and a bit!) women, Cookucina is a simple bi-lingual celebration of regional Italian food and the all-natural ingredients grown in the lush countryside in the foothills of the Sibillini Mountains.