A Guide To International TV Markets
With the pace of Covid-19 vaccinations accelerating around the world, there’s a good chance that TV industry execs will be able to start attending live events in the second half of 2021. Cannes-based MIPCOM is currently scheduled to take place in early October while tech-oriented event IBC is aiming to make a comeback in December. Of course, things may take a turn for the worse if new Covid variants emerge but, in the spirit of optimism, TellyCast has produced a short guide to the industry’s key international markets and festivals. Be warned that information changes quickly, so before booking your flights make sure you click through to the links provided.
The MIP Family: Organised by Reed Midem, the MIP family of events is built around the twin pillars of MIPTV in April and MIPCOM in October, both of which are held in the Southern France city of Cannes. Global in reach, the two events continue to attract programme buyers, distributors, producers and tech experts from around the world.
The 2021 edition of MIPTV was digital only, but there are high hopes that MIPCOM (October 9-14) will be a physical event, albeit subject to the safety restrictions we are all now familiar with. Of the two, MIPCOM has taken on primary significance as a trading platform, with some buyers and sellers viewing MIP as surplus to requirements. In 2019, pre-pandemic, MIPCOM attracted 13,500 delegates – of which 4,700 were buyers. MIPTV, by contrast, welcomed 9,500 people, including 3,300 buyers.
MIPTV’s primary challenges are a) a growing number of events in the first part of the year and b) a change in buying patterns, mainly as a result of the rise of streamers. Nevertheless, 9.5K is still a strong attendance by industry standards – so it’s a little premature to talk about MIPTV’s demise. Organisers have sought to reinvigorate the event by changing its physical format and placing greater emphasis on production and development. The latter was a key theme during the 2021 digital edition of MIPTV.
While the primary rationale for attending MIPTV and MIPCOM is to buy and sell shows, both events have busy conference programmes. They also act as the focal point for genre-specific sub-events. At MIPTV, delegates can attend MIPDOC and MIPFormats, while at MIPCOM there is the option of signing up for MIP Junior.
Also within the Reed Midem family are regionally-focused events MIP China and Mip Cancun (Mexico). The former is being held as a digital event between June 28-30, while the latter is pencilled as a live event (November 16-19). Also worth noting is that Reed Midem is part of Reed Exhibitions, the company that organises Singapore-based Asia TV Forum & Market. The ATF is scheduled to take place from December 1-3.
Natpe et al: The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) is a 58 year old trade association that was initially launched to support the burgeoning US TV business. The highlight of its year is an annual market & conference, which debuted in 1964 with 71 delegates. The NATPE market’s profile started to change around 25-30 years ago, and now it is one of the international TV distribution industry’s key meeting points. Prior to the pandemic, it was attracting around 5000 execs.
At the start of the millennium, NATPE’s market took place in Las Vegas, but the decision was taken to relocate to Miami in 2011. This has proved to be a shrewd move, allowing NATPE to strengthen its ties with the increasingly influential Latin American TV business. Access to Latin American programme buyers and production partners continues to be a key reason why international execs make the journey.
Natpe’s Miami event typically takes place in January of each year, though this year it was virtual. Echoing the story at MIP/MIPCOM, NATPE offers a conference programme alongside its screening, networking and trading infrastructure.
Not content with being US-only, 2011 saw NATPE acquire Budapest-based DISCOP, which it renamed as Natpe Budapest International. Typically, the event takes place in June and attracts attendees from around 70+ countries. Around 500 buyers come to the market, of which around 70% are from Central & Eastern Europe. This year, because of Covid-19, the physical event has been delayed until August 30. Aside from the Eastern European emphasis, visitors tend to welcome the event’s intimacy.
In terms of further expansion, NATPE is a partner in LA Screenings Independents, an event that runs alongside the US Majors’ LA Screenings event in May. With physical events impossible in 2020, NATPE and its partners created the LA Virtual Screenings. Other online initiatives from NATPE include September’s Streaming Plus.
Genre-specific events: The pioneer of genre-specific events was Sportel, which launched around 30 years ago in Monaco – recognition that the sports rights business operates in a distinctive way from other programming genres. Unable to run in 2020, it is planning to return as a physical event from October 5-7, 2021. Sportel Monaco (focused on sport) attracts around 3000 participants from more than 70 countries. This group hails from sectors including broadcasting, OTT, distribution, sponsorship, rights holders and tech. There is a sister event which takes place in Miami during March.
More significant to the TV mainstream has been the emergence of Brunico’s Kidscreen and Realscreen events, which grew off the back of successful trade publications. Kidscreen Summit, which typically takes place during February, attracts around 2000 delegates from programming, distribution, retail, licensing, marketing and digital. Alongside its conference and networking programme, Kidscreen also runs an awards programme that has come to be a gold standard in children’s TV/digital genre.
Realscreen Summit follows a similar blueprint to Kidscreen and typically takes place in late January/early February. This used to create a clash with NATPE, but in recent years organisers of the events have worked to avoid scheduling conflict. As its name suggests, Realscreen targets factual programming in the broadest sense, from blue-chip natural history to factual entertainment/reality half hours. For the last three years, including the cancelled 2021 event, the venue has been New Orleans – following 20 years in Washington DC. In 2022, the event will move to Austin Texas. In terms of brand extension, the big news was the launch of Realscreen West, a California-based event that attracts around 800 delegates including 200 buyers. Held in June, this year’s Realscreen West is being replaced by the virtual Realscreen Live (June 7-11). Also worth checking out if factual is your area of expertise is the World Congress of Science & Factual Producers, which is due to return in December 2021 (Strasbourg).
Still on genre-specific events, the golden age of drama has spawned a number of vehicles dedicated to scripted series from around the world. Top billing goes to Series Mania, which will be held in Lille, France, in late August 2021; and Canneseries, which usually runs during MIPTV, but this year is scheduled to take place during MIPCOM.
Tech-powered events: Amsterdam-based IBC has a diverse convention programme, but is primarily a tech show – introducing software and hardware innovations to delegates. 2020’s exhibition was postponed, but there will be a 2021 edition. The event usually takes place in September, but this year will be held in December. One of IBC’s strengths is the size of its online community, which currently runs to around 250,000. The event has been servicing this audience in recent years with IBC365, a wealth of content that captures the connection between tech, content and business strategy.
IBC’s major rival in the tech space is Las Vegas-based NAB, which usually takes place in April but this year will be making an appearance in October. NAB’s delegate base is much more US-centric than IBC – but it still manages to attract a lot of international traffic. In 2018 and 2019, pre-pandemic, NAB reported over 90,000 visitors and 1600 exhibitors. 24,000 visitors were international - from 160 countries worldwide.
Also worth noting in this category is the Media Production & Technology Show, organised by MBI, the publisher of Broadcast and The Knowledge. Usually held in May, the MPTS covers all aspects of content creation, including pre-production, production, post and distribution. There is an interactive exhibition, which features some of the most innovative companies in the industry, on-hand to provide live product-demos and advice. The 2021 edition of the show was cancelled, meaning the next Show will take place from May 11-12, 2022 – venue Olympia National Hall.
Content London: Publisher C21 Media has been an ever-expanding presence at international programme markets since the 1990s. Spotting a gap in the market, the UK-based firm decided to launch its own event in 2013 – Content London. Originally two days, Content London grew to four days in 2019 and expects to return as a three-day physical event later this year (November 29-December 2). Across the course of its three days, Content London offers an International Drama Summit, a Formats & Factual Forum, and a strand called Kids Content Futures. As part of its activities, Content London hosts a drama awards event and international drama pitch. The contacts that the C21 team have built up over the years through their journalistic work mean that they are able to tap top talent for their conferences. They are also able to use content generated at the event in magazine, video and online news form – thus creating a healthy two-way dialogue between their publications and live events. Worth noting that C21 is also a key partner in the curation of the MIP Formats stream at MIPTV. This includes the organisation of the International Format Awards.
Content owner events: If there’s a problem with international TV events, it’s that you have to share the stage with your rivals; all of the money you spend marketing a new show can be undermined if someone else arrives with a more exciting proposition or something that just catches the zeitgeist of the market at that moment. One solution is to host your own event – which is where the likes of LA Screenings and BBC Showcase come in. The LA Screenings, which take place in May, are an opportunity for US studios to wine and dine buyers and screen their own content exclusively. Around 1000 buyers are reckoned to descend on LA each year in order to see the next big US dramas coming down the pipe. There have been suggestions that the LA Screenings may no longer be as strategic as they once were because of changes in the dynamics of the global TV market, but it’s hard to imagine the US majors turning their back completely on the opportunity to network with their biggest spending clients. If they do, they’ll be moving in the opposite direction to their UK counterparts, which have been leaning more heavily on their own events. The biggest of these events is BBC Showcase, which has been running for more than 40 years (usually in February or March). Currently based in Liverpool (having previously been located in Brighton), Showcase provides the UK pubcaster with a highly-targeted opportunity to present new shows, writers, producers and onscreen talent to key buyers. In a typical year, 700 buyers attend the event (though 2021 was cancelled because of Covid-19).
Other major UK-based content firms (ITV Studios, All3Media International, Fremantle etc) recognised that there was an opportunity to woo the BBC Showcase buyers while they were in the UK – so they began to host their own events in London during the week following on from Showcase. This activity has now taken on a semi-formal status and is referred to as the London Screenings. In effect what this means is that a) the various companies involved can avoid scheduling clashes with each other and b) they can pool their resources in areas like marketing and logistics. The 2021 edition was virtual, but 2022 is expected to be a physical event. Chances are that some of the companies involved will favour the London Screenings over MIPTV – either by not attending the latter or deciding to send a smaller sales and marketing team.
As a footnote to this section, there continues to be a healthy array of upfront events aimed at advertisers. Even YouTube is in on this game with its annual Brandcast.
Best of the rest: There are, of course, dozens more excellent events which address the TV industry from a regional/genre/tech/thought leadership perspective. If none of the above capture your imagination, then maybe check out some of the following. Among the most prestigious events in the calendar are the Edinburgh International TV Festival in August and Banff World Media Festival in June/July. A key event for the animation industry is Cartoon Forum (September) while Amsterdam’s IDFA is a great opportunity to explore international documentary trends. Basic Lead’s Discop Africa is a key opportunity to network and trade in Sub-Saharan Africa. The next edition will be held in Rwanda in December 2021. Slightly tangential to the TV markets are Cannes Lions and the annual round of film festivals, of which Cannes is the most famous. Then again, if you’re happy operating in the digital realm, maybe you’d be better off exploring the capabilities of online trading/screening platforms like allrites or ProgramBuyer.