Content material materials patrons, kings of the game in instantly’s TV market are being rolled out the pink carpet at this week’s fifth London TV Screenings and first MIP London, touted by organizers RX France as an add-on to the indie distributors’ curated viewing showcase inside the U.Okay. capital.
As better than 900 customers of scripted, non-scripted and codecs are taking the Soho venues by storm, 4 heavyweight avid gamers have shared with Choice their purchasing for need guidelines and strategies to woo and entertain viewers amid tense worldwide geopolitics.
Flagging most of the people service views are Eva Kamin, VP acquisitions and co-productions at Germany’s ZDF Studios and Manuel Alduy, France Télévisions’ head of worldwide fiction and cinema. On the enterprise aspect are Spain’s José Antonio Salso, head of acquisitions and worldwide product sales for Atresmedia and Sweden’s Cathrine Wiernik, director of purposes and acquisitions for the Scandi group TV4 Media.
Some fast takeaways:
London Calling Out Loud
No matter being squeezed between Berlin’s Assortment Market and Lille’s Assortment Mania, the curated London TV Screenings showcase is a must-attend for the European customers, “rather more fascinating now that MipTV Cannes is no longer working,” says Salso. Bets are nonetheless out on how the inaugural MIP London will play out.
Crime, Emotions, YA
In a flattened market outlined by Ampere Analysis’s Man Bisson as 75% peak TV, crime, which accounted for 25% of world scripted commissions in 2024, stays the No. 1 various for customers as “it continues to be a key viewers driver,” says ZDF’s Eva Kamin. Totally different favorite program varieties are emotional and interesting human tales, all through scripted and non-scripted, “ideally with properly timed attraction and some info edge,” Wiernick observes. Flagship worldwide assortment with A-list stable are moreover essential for mannequin price and consumption all through linear and streaming. France Télévisions will be looking for the right of the right in European youthful grownup assortment. Inside codecs, Wiernick has an urge for meals for sturdy actuality reveals, key to attracting youthful demographics and English or Nordic variations of the big producers comparable to “The Bachelor” and “Love Island.”
Worldwide Picks Essential in Content material materials Mix
Inside scripted content material materials, acquisitions are an essential part of the TV avid gamers’ programming mix as an affordable complement to native productions. “Worldwide assortment allow us to get further selection in genres and tales, to give attention to youthful audiences and/or reduce our programming costs,” says Alduy who’s wanted to readjust his method as France Télévisions’ complete worth vary was axed by better than $135 million over 2024-25. “We’re further centered on pre-buys and acquisitions inside the short-term to ship time-to-market assortment to our audiences, he says.
Regular Asking Prices
“Closing yr’s prices had been notably extreme in some areas, nonetheless have remained largely regular ensuing from a great present state of affairs,” says Kamin. Wiernick concurs, although she feels it’s “given that pandemic that worth components have come down usually.”
Flexi-Rights Protection
At Göteborg’s newest TV Drama Imaginative and prescient, Morad Koufane, director of worldwide/youthful grownup drama at France Télévisions urged all enterprise avid gamers – producers, commissioners, distributors to comply with their “yoga,” in numerous phrases to be as versatile as attainable in windowing. Proper right here his colleague Alduy says “we’ve flip into further versatile on windowing, licence intervals and exclusivity,” although he insists on “one requirement: free VOD and linear exhibition.”
For all avid gamers, in a content material materials market converging within the course of 1 dominating distribution channel – streaming – securing all digital rights – subsequent to linear rights – is an issue successfully worth combating for on the negotiating tables.
Patrons Full Options:
Eva Kamin-VP acquisitions and co-productions, ZDF Studios.
How obligatory is the London TV Screenings market for you?
The London TV Screenings is a must-attend event that has established itself by means of the years as a helpful early-year various to get a top level view of all the upcoming assortment and to neighborhood with fairly a number of enterprise companions from across the globe.
What kind of content material materials are you looking for?
At ZDF Studios, we buy a wide range of content material materials on behalf of ZDF to fulfill the numerous needs of ZDF’s distribution channels. On the fiction aspect, crime dramas proceed to be a key viewers driver for ZDF. For ZDF neo, we’re able to buy utterly completely different genres and codecs that resonate with the ZDF viewers, and naturally we’re all looking for the big worldwide must-see high-end drama. On the factual aspect, we’re notably looking for historic content material materials, one-offs for the first ZDF channel and assortment for the digital channels.
Has your acquisition worth vary been affected simply recently if that’s the case, how has this impacted the sort and amount of content material materials you buy?
We’re for the time being navigating a extremely dangerous market, which presents challenges for every co-productions and acquisitions. Worth pressure has always been a component, however we’re seeing many desirable duties on the market which could be accessible to us.
How do your acquisitions complement the commissions inside your group?
ZDF’s objective is to reinforce their commissioned productions with acquisitions in every factual and fictional genres. This allows the ZDF Studios acquisitions employees to secure all types of purposes for ZDF. Inside the house of fiction, this primarily consists of worldwide duties with varied areas and casts.
What are your priorities when negotiating rights? Do you’re feeling asking prices for assortment have shifted inside the ultimate yr?
Our main goal is to determine a whole rights framework that ensures early availability by way of all ZDF distribution channels whereas sustaining exclusivity. Closing yr’s prices had been notably extreme in some areas, nonetheless have remained largely regular ensuing from a great present state of affairs.
How have you ever ever tailor-made your acquisition method to instantly’s shifting worldwide market?
All of us acknowledge that on-line availability is important to reaching audiences. Accordingly, we prioritize negotiating full rights for these distribution channels and are devoted to not accepting any restrictions on this regard.
Manuel Alduy, head of cinema and worldwide enchancment, France Télévisions
How obligatory is the London TV Screenings market for you and are you embracing the opening of MIP London?
London TV Screenings are an obligatory milestone of the yr, because of France Télévisions prioritizes European assortment acquisitions over US reveals. A month sooner than Assortment Mania, we go to London with good expectations to exchange UK broadcasters’ strategies and uncover new assortment. As far as MIP London is anxious, it’s too rapidly to know and comment.
What kind of content material materials are you looking for?
Our employees will seek for high-end & extreme thought miniseries, a restricted number of returning crime assortment, and some youthful grownup glorious tales. In that particular person self-discipline, we want to select the right of European YA assortment.
Has your acquisition worth vary been affected simply recently, if that’s the case, how has it impacted the sort -and volume-of content material materials you buy?
Our worth vary is further constrained. We lowered the amount of licensed assortment in favour of French assortment re-runs in non-strategic slots.
How do your acquisitions complement the commissions inside your group?
Worldwide assortment allow us to get further selection in genres and tales, objective youthful audiences and/or reduce our programming costs. First, we’re devoted to persevering with our worldwide co-productions because of they provide some “French contact” in areas, stable and/or storylines. Three examples in 2024: we’ve accomplished “Kabul” (2425 Films and Cineteve), “The Kollective” (Submarine) and “Monte Cristo” (Palomar, DEMD) with our European Alliance companions ZDF and RAI.
Nevertheless co-productions have flip into sophisticated to finance. We nonetheless have 15 developments inside the pipeline, so we for the time being are further centered on pre-buys and acquisitions inside the short-term to ship time-to-market assortment to our audiences.
What are your priorities when negotiating rights? Do you’re feeling asking prices for assortment have shifted inside the ultimate yr?
The market is ‘flooded’ with good assortment: unbiased distributors, studios, producers and even streamers are offering acquisition or pre-buy options of good top quality. So we can be very selective and by no means pursue a negotiation when the mix of rights and expenses doesn’t make sense for us.
How have you ever ever tailor-made your acquisition method to instantly’s shifting worldwide market?
We’ve flip into further versatile on windowing, license intervals, and exclusivity. In a nutshell, we try and be pragmatic and alter persistently to an ever-changing market. Nevertheless we insist on one requirement: free VOD and linear exhibitions. That’s what our viewers needs. The shift to non-linear is so blatant and huge: more and more extra prime-time assortment now seize extreme volumes of non-linear viewership. We don’t license any assortment when preview, replay and AVOD rights often are usually not very important.
Cathrine Wiernik, director of purposes and acquisitions, TV4 Media
How obligatory is the London TV Screenings for you and are you embracing the widening of the market to MIP London?
London TV Screenings are essential to us. Currently, it’s a number of the treasured events apart from Mipcom in Cannes and L.A. Screenings. It not solely gives us the possibility to fulfill with everyone however moreover gives us a fantastic overview of all of the model new reveals for the yr. It’s good to get the time to show content material materials and by no means solely rush from meeting to meeting. We’ve signed up for MIP London and are excited to attend and to see how that pans out. It stays to be seen what impression it may possibly have as a result of it might be tough to coexist with an already very established and jam-packed week of screenings.
What kind of content material materials are you looking for?
We’re as always looking for reveals (every codecs and acquisitions) must-see prime cupboards titles, which have the potential to remain out and herald an enormous broad viewers.
Near acquisitions we seek for English-speaking suspense drama/crime, a serious part of our content material materials mix which moreover drives plenty of consumption in our service TV4 Play. We seek for every serialized reveals and procedurals and keep a further eye out for shorter runs/event assortment. US procedurals are trending in the interim and although we’re keen to go looking out the next giant procedural hit (with returning potential) it’s a big harmful dedication as we’re successfully acutely aware of how tough it’s to launch a brand-new title. It requires plenty of work and promotional train and even then, it gained’t end up delivering the viewers.
Our urge for meals for non-English content material materials will be rising. We simply recently launched our second Turkish cleansing cleaning soap “Daydreamer” after an infinite success with “Golden Boy”. Soaps are a fantastic occasion of extreme amount, bingeable content material materials that drives consumption and retains the viewers coming once more daily. One different important half -and a aggressive edge – of our acquisition mix is Nordic drama, significantly Danish crime, nonetheless we’re moreover seeing more and more extra thrilling titles coming out from Norway. We for the time being try forward to launching new seasons of “Nora Sand” (a stand-out hit for us ultimate yr), “White Sand,” “Sommerdahl Murders” and “Oxen”.
We’re moreover always looking for sturdy human-interest tales, documentaries with the potential to remain out and seize the attention of a broad viewers. Ideally with properly timed attraction and some info edge. Worthwhile examples being “My Partner the Abuser” from ITV and “Untold: Contained within the Shein Machine”. Documentaries are moreover a great way for us to usher within the youthful demos and help developing that very treasured attain.
Has your acquisition worth vary been affected simply recently, if that’s the case, how is that this impacting the sort -and volume-of content material materials you buy?
No not simply recently.We’re nonetheless always centered on being cost-effective and guaranteeing we protect a healthful sustainable steadiness with regards to our investments. We’ll in truth go the extra mile for that must-have title nonetheless usually, we just isn’t going to overpay or get into giant bidding wars which might be prone to escalate worth components previous trigger.
How do your acquisitions complement the commissions inside your group?
As we’re an enormous nationwide broadcaster, serving all of Sweden, it is vitally essential current a broad content material materials palette, one factor for everyone. As far as complementing our native commissions/codecs we improve the universe by shopping for the worldwide variations -mostly English-speaking and Nordic variations – of our giant producers comparable to “The Bachelor,” “Love Island,” “Survivor,” “The Farm” and so forth, to have the ability to keep followers staying inside the service after the native mannequin includes an end. An effective way to boost consumption all yr spherical.
We’re moreover always looking for further sturdy actuality reveals as that’s part of the DNA of TV4 Play and key to attracting youthful demographics.
As far as native shows-formats goes, we’re always on the hunt for the next giant stand-out hit that brings one factor new and up to date to the desk. We want to uncover one factor that stands proud, and that isn’t but another deal with already current codecs. It requires a full bundle with a particular universe, on prime of a latest premise and a clever sport motor. Just like “Traitors” (an infinite success for us) provided a model new thrilling world and a latest method sport play, we’ve now extreme hopes for our launch of “The Fortune Resort” this fall.
What are your priorities when negotiating rights? Do you’re feeling asking prices for assortment have shifted inside the ultimate yr?
There hasn’t been an enormous shift inside the ultimate yr, nonetheless given that pandemic, worth components have come down usually as a result of the output is larger and there could also be further content material materials obtainable. Rights are in truth essential, and right now we require the entire set of rights for all our titles (AVOD/SVOD/HVOD) as content material materials parity between the tiers inside the service is important.
How have you ever ever tailor-made your acquisition method to instantly’s shifting worldwide market?
Exclusivity shouldn’t be as important anymore (counting on the title) nonetheless pretty discovering creative choices on the easiest way to window reveals. We’re open to all fashions and have had good success with second residence home windows with reveals comparable to “Yellowstone”. The price of the window is in truth outlined by what platform the content material materials has been on first. One different good occasion of instantly’s full new type of [windowing] dynamic is the gathering “From”that benefits from earlier seasons being offered on completely different platforms as a result of it should improve attain and consumption for the model new season printed on TV4 Play.
We’re moreover for the time being in discussions spherical potential partnerships and co-production options with our rivals, which could have been inconceivable only some years prior to now. This reveals how quickly the market is evolving, and the best way important it’s to be agile and get onboard. We’ve moreover seen an enormous upswing in consumption of sturdy library titles and have had good success with every “The Fjällbacka Murders” and “Worlds Apart,” a TV4 cleansing cleaning soap which has delivered implausible numbers, even in youthful demos. That’s in truth one factor we’re keen to find further.
José Antonio Salso, head of acquisitions and product sales Atresmedia, Spain
How obligatory is the London TV Screenings for you and are you embracing the widening of the market to Mip London?
London TV Screenings have flip right into a key market inside the worldwide audiovisual panorama providing worldwide customers with a chance to take a deep view into the model new upcoming titles inside the UK and previous. This yr is rather more fascinating as MIPTV Cannes is no longer working.
What kind of content material materials will you be looking for at London TV Screenings?
In Atresmedia TV we’re always looking for frequent tales for a broad viewers nonetheless with the ability to embrace with our native viewers. We’re notably keen about dramas that evoke sturdy emotions, that features all the compelling elements that captivate viewers—romance, betrayal, friendship and love.
Has your acquisition worth vary been affected simply recently if that’s the case, how is that this impacting the sort -and volume-of content material materials you buy?
N/R
How do your acquisitions complement the commissions inside your group?
Commissions in Atresmedia are key for our administration in free TV in Spain with daily assortment comparable to “Needs of Freedom,” being primarily essentially the most watched drama assortment in Spain Monday to Friday and prime time assortment comparable to “Eva & Nicole” or “What are you prepared for?” which have been prime assortment in Atresplayer for the earlier months. Together with such astonishing native assortment lineup, acquisitions are a fantastic complement for our viewers delivering top of the range worldwide prime content material materials.
What are your priorities when negotiating rights? Do you’re feeling asking prices for assortment have shifted inside the ultimate yr?
Our priorities in our acquisition method is to amass a mixture of digital rights for Atresplayer together with lineal rights for our channels, which isn’t a easy exercise ensuing from worldwide and native rivals.
How have you ever ever tailor-made your acquisition method to instantly’s shifting worldwide market?
We always adapt every our acquisition and product sales strategies to fulfill market requires and align with the evolving worldwide market. Due to this, Atresmedia has flip into the primary media group in Spain for the third consecutive yr, and we’re very optimistic regarding the future.
Furthermore, the urge for meals for Spanish content material materials, significantly from Atresmedia, stays extreme, and worldwide audiences proceed to embrace our productions.
Elsa Keslassy contributed to this report.
