Tuesday, October 31, 2006

How to stay a Millionaire

Tom Amlot and Medwyn Jones discuss the recent High Court battle over the licensing of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" in Indonesia. This article was first published in the February 2005 edition of Entertainment Law Review.

Read the full article on Harbottle & Lewis

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

de Mol went shopping


Billionaire Dutch media mogul and Endemol founder John de Mol has increased his stake in listed UK indie RDF Media Group to 19.82%.

via C21media.net


about RDF Media Group plc

Since 1993, RDF has developed, produced and distributed a range of outstanding programming in entertainment, factual entertainment, features and drama. RDF has been one of the UK’s fastest growing companies appearing in The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track top 100 in 2001, 2002, and 2003 and The Sunday Times PricewaterhouseCoopers Profit Track top 100 in 2005. The company was successfully listed at 144p on the London AIM market in May 2005.

Through its group members RDF Television, RDF Rights, RDF USA, IWC Media, Touchpaper Television, Presentable, Radar TV, The Foundation & The Comedy Unit the RDF Group makes television programmes for all the UK terrestrial broadcasters, a number of secondary UK channels as well as several US Network and cable broadcasters. It also sells programmes and formats to broadcasters worldwide and exploits secondary rights such as DVDs and merchandising through RDF Rights. Key shows include: Wife Swap - Channel Four/ ABC (US); Holiday Showdown - ITV1/ ABC (US); Location, Location, Location and Relocation, Relocation – Channel 4; The Basil Brush Show – CBBC; Rock School – Channel 4/VH1 (US); Ian Wright’s Unfit Kids - Channel 4/ABC (US); Ladette to Lady – ITV1; Scrapheap Challenge – Channel Four; A Harlot’s Progress – Channel 4; Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands – Channel Four; Still Game – BBC Two; The Red Arrows – BBC One & The Queen’s Castle – BBC One.

RDF has won numerous awards for its programming including a number of BAFTAs, RTS awards, the Rose d’Or at Montreux and an International Emmy. In 2003, 2004 and 2005 RDF was voted the most respected and admired independent producer by its peers and won Broadcast’s Best Independent Production Company award in 2002, 2004 and 2006. RDF is the only indie to win this award more than once. IWC Media won the award in 2003

RDF Rights is the vehicle through which the group exploits the rights it creates in its programmes. RDF Rights also acts as agent on behalf of over 50 third party independent producers. Since the Communications Act 2003, independent producers in the UK have owned and controlled most of the secondary rights in their programmes made for terrestrial broadcasters.

RDF has offices in London, Glasgow, Bristol, Cardiff, Maidstone, New York and Los Angeles and the group employs about 600 people.

In the year to 31 January 2006, group sales were £59.5m and adjusted pre-tax profits were £5.4m.

Monday, October 23, 2006

U.S. Market imports Fuji Format

The Gurin Company has reached a deal to bring the Japanese game show NEP League, from Fuji Television Network, to the U.S. market.

The series has been winning its prime-time slot every week for more than a year. It pits two teams of five against each other as they battle it out in three unique quiz rounds to find out which team gets to compete in the bonus round for a chance at $10,000.

via Worldscreen.com

The Gurin Company produces reality, game, variety, holiday specials, magazine and documentaries. And is best known for its work on NBC's "Weakest Link," as well as "Miss Universe," "Miss USA," "Miss Teen USA," and GSN's number one original show "Lingo."

"NEP League" is one of Fuji TV's top rated productions. The show combines quiz fun for the entire family with the latest computer graphics technology, to give it a "game show inside a video game feel." "NEP League" pits two teams of five against each other as they battle it out for three rounds of quizzes before one team moves onto the bonus round for a chance at $10,000.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

All3Media takes on Makeover Show




All3Media International has taken on the finished program and format distribution rights to Tearaway Teen To Beauty Queen, a North One production.


Read more on Worldscreen.com

All3Media takes on Makeover Show

All3Media International has taken on the finished program and format distribution rights to Tearaway Teen To Beauty Queen, a North One production.


Read more on Worldscreen.com

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Reversioning

What's the heck with the big international format trade? As Jeanne McDowell explains:

"Making it their own, in fact, is the newest trend catching on among U.S. television studios trying to find new ways to push their programming in foreign markets. From local music tie-ins like Larage's to new versions of American hits produced overseas with local casts, studios are thinking globally but acting locally.
Disney announced a deal last week to produce four versions of Desperate Housewives in Latin America. The ladies of Wisteria Lane will be more than dubbed in Spanish. Hoping to replicate the worldwide success of the ABC dramedy the local editions will each have their own casts and cultural flavors in Spanish and Portuguese. "The script of the series perfectly fit the profile of what the Latin American audience looks like," Buena Vista International Television senior vice president Fernando Barbosa said. "It looks similar to telenovelas." Each local Desperate Housewives will follow the format of the U.S. show but be adapted to reflect local culture.

Producing local versions of popular American shows with local casts all over the world, known in the industry as "reversioning", could be a bonanza for studios, which count on sales to international markets to recoup the high cost of producing episodic television at home. In the 1990s Sony Television International pioneered reversioning with local productions of hits such as Married With Children and The Nanny as a way to counter a trend of scheduling U.S. shows in undesirable time slots far away from primetime. Today, Sony is expanding its productions throughout the world in markets as culturally different as Russia and China."

Read more on TIME.com

Monday, October 16, 2006

Zodiak in negotiations



Zodiak Television is currently in closing discussions with FBC Group Limited, the owners of the UK based production company Diverse Production, with regards to an acquisition.

If the parties find themselves in agreement the transaction is scheduled to close in the near future. During the negotiations Zodiak Television will inform of any material changes or updates.

For more information please have a look at Zodiaks website.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

A Million Stars for Celador




Celador International today announces a five-year renewal deal with STAR for the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. The deal incorporates both the format and programme license, and is the longest continuing license that has ever been granted for the globally successful show.

Known as Kaun Banega Crorepati, the show will continue to be hosted by Bollywood megastar, Amitabh Bachchan, and broadcast across India on STAR PLUS in prime time. STAR also has the right to dub the show from the original Hindi into Tamil for its VIJAY Channel.

Celador International Chairman, Paul Smith, concluded the deal with Steve Askew, Chief Operating Officer, STAR Group and Gaurav Gandhi, Vice President – Commercial & Planning, STAR India, at Mipcom in Cannes today. The multi-million dollar contract also incorporates the license for the finished Hindi programmes to be broadcast in a further six territories – Hong Kong, the Middle East, Singapore, Pakistan, the UK, and the USA – on STAR PLUS’ international channels.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was first broadcast in India in 2000 and was a spectacular success, revolutionising primetime TV in India and making STAR PLUS the highest-rated satellite channel in India. When it was relaunched in August 2005 with the prize money doubled to twenty million rupees, STAR PLUS ratings for the slot in which it was broadcast grew by 383% as 16m viewers tuned in to watch the first episode. STAR PLUS dominated the slot, commanding an audience share of almost 60%.

For more information read the press release here, the fact sheet about WWBM? her and the report on C21media here.

Monday, October 09, 2006

34th INTERNATIONAL EMMY® AWARDS NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Cannes/MIPCOM, October 9, 2006: Nominations for the 34th International Emmy® Awards were announced today by The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at a press conference at MIPCOM. There are 36 nominees in 9 categories.

2006 nominations span over nine countries with a record of five nominations for Brazil and Germany. China, France, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom are nominated for the Best Performance by An Actor and Best Performance by An Actress categories. There were three rounds of judging over a period of six months, with participation from over 500 judges in 35 countries.

“We are proud of the diversity and the geographic range of our nominees. They come from nine different countries, with multiple nominees from Asia, Europe and South America.” said Academy President & CEO Bruce Paisner also President of Hearst Entertainment. “Once again the “best” will set a new high standard of excellence for the worldwide television community.”


In addition to the presentation of the International Emmy® Awards for programming, the Academy will present two special awards. The International Emmy® Founders Award will be presented to Steven Spielberg for his long and distinguished career in television. The International Emmy® Directorate Award will be presented to CME and Ronald S. Lauder for pioneering the development of independent television broadcasting in Central and Eastern Europe.

ARTS PROGRAMMING

I Am Dali: Secrets of a Genius

NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)
Japan

John Peel's Record Box

Initial
United Kingdom

Knowledge is the Beginning

A production of EuroArts Music international in co-production with ZDF/ARTE
Germany

Soul Deep: The Story of Black Popular Music

BBC Bristol
United Kingdom

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR

Bernard Farcy

De Gaulle
GMT Productions with the participation of France 2, ARTE France with the support of Région Ile-de-France, with the participation of Centre National de la Cinématographie, INA - Institut National de l'Audiovisuel
France

Bernard Hill

A Very Social Secretary
A Mentorn Production for Channel 4
United Kingdom

Shen Lin

Feng Qi's Confession
Beijing Rosat Film & TV Production Co. Ltd./CTV - China Television Media Ltd.
PR China

Ray Winstone

Vincent
Granada Drama and Comedy
United Kingdom


BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS

Lucy Cohu

The Queen’s Sister

A Touchpaper Production for Channel 4 (UK)

Maryam Hassouni

Offers

VARA Broadcasting Organisation

The Netherlands


Heike Makatsch

Against All Odds (Margarete Steiff)

A co-production of Südwestrundfunk (SWR) /Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF)/Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)/ARTE/RAI Bozen/Film-Line Productions/Epo-Film Production/Mediafonds 2 GmbH & Co.KG/World Sales Beta Film GmbH (Germany)

Imelda Staunton

My Family and Other Animals

BBC Drama & WGBH (UK)


CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE

Boys Will Be Boys
Monster Film for NRK (Norway)

Elias - The Little Rescue Boat
Filmkameratene AS (Norway)

Johnny and the Bomb
Childsplay Television (UK)

Sugar Rush
A Shine Production for Channel 4 (UK)


COMEDY

Little Britain
BBC Comedy (UK)

Paare
Sony Pictures Film und Fernseh Produktions GmbH (Germany)

The Amateurs
Globo TV (Brazil)

The I.T. Crowd
A Talkback Thames Production for Channel 4 (UK)

DOCUMENTARY

9/11 The Falling Man
A Darlow Smithson Production (UK)

Hiroshima
A BBC/TFI/ZDF/Discovery Channel co-production in association with the Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. with thanks to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (UK)

How Putin Came To Power
Wilton Films/Quark Productions/ARTE France (France)

The Search for Happiness
Filmquadrat GmbH/ Westdeutscher Rundfunk (Germany)


DRAMA SERIES

Life on Mars
Kudos Film & TV Ltd. (UK)

Little Missy
Globo TV (Brazil)

Mandrake
Conspiração Filmes Entretenimento/HBO Ole Originals (Brazil)

Vincent
Granada Drama and Comedy (UK)


NON-SCRIPTED ENTERTAINMENT


Big Brother Brazil 6

TV Globo/Endemol (Brazil)

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares
An Optomen Television Production for Channel 4 (UK)

Supernanny
Ricochet (UK)

The Strict School of the Fifties
ZDF German Television (Germany)

TV MOVIE/MINI-SERIES


Filhos do Carnaval

HBO Ole Originals/O2 Filmes (Brazil)

Nuit Noire, October 17, 1961
Cipango (France)


The Crown Princess
Produced by AB Svensk Filmindustri in co-production with Sveriges Television – SVT Fiktion for SVT, in co-operation with YLE, TV2 AS and DR-TV, with support by Nordisk Film & TV Fond and the Media Plus Programme of the European Community (Sweden)

The Virgin Queen
A BBC/Power Co-Production (UK)

Sunday, October 08, 2006

History of TV programme trade

If you're interested in the history of TV programme trade and in the early beginnings of formatting TV programs, I would like to draw your attention on the following reports:

1) Television traffic: a one-way street? A survey and analysis of the international flow of television programme material
from Varis and Nordenstreng (1975), UNESCO, which you can find here

and the sequel:
2) International flow of television programmes from Varis (1985), UNESCO, which you can find here.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

The Pitcher

Just a few words from Alan Smith about "the ten worst things to say in a pitch meeting".

Formats in the USA

David Lyle, COO and General Manager of FOX Reality Channel, on www.frapa.org about format creators, format devisors and about the value of format proposals:

The format business is very healthy in the U.S. television business. From Network hits such as American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser, Deal or No Deal, Hell’s Kitchen, Wife Swap, Apprentice, etc., to cable fare like Real World. The next few months will see the launch of traditional formats in game shows and non-traditional formats (for the U.S.) of telenovelas. The on-air presence and ratings success of formats is encouraging for their owners - - many from outside the U.S.A. However, the U.S. business practices surrounding formats is less rosy. U.S. buyers (for the most part, broadcaster and cable channels) recognize formats as existing, in a business sense, only in previously produced programs. The concept of a paper format is not recognized by the buyers’ business affairs departments.

A detailed written description of a show, its production peculiarities and rules, etc. is simply a pitch document for a U.S. broadcaster. Furthermore, they claim the format is not “created” until they produce the show. The logic of this, from their point of view, is since their money turns the abstract concept or pitch document into a show and a format, they believe they should own the majority of the format. The creator should be a minority shareholder in any future format exploitation which will, most likely, be controlled by a distribution company, vertically integrated and owned by the buyers’ parent company.

In some respects, it is better for a paper format to become a tape format in Estonia, Portugal, or New Zealand before it is launched in the U.S. The troubles with the U.S. business affairs departments do not stop there. It is rare, though not unknown, for a U.S. buyer to recognize a line item in the budget called “format fee”, say 4%. The fee for any underlying rights holders is expected to come out of some overhead line. To some extent, this goes to the heart of the problem that U.S. broadcasters and their business affairs departments have with the idea of formats. They recognize some of the practical format attributes that are acknowledged the world over, yet they are suspicious of the more abstract intellectual property issues.

In formats, broadcasters see that shows which have already been made somewhere else (and have been a success) are to some extent “debugged”. As well, formats previously made have proven appeal for certain demographics. The proven nature of imported formats also provides one of their greatest appeals for the buyer: validation of the buyer’s choice. This can be useful up the executive chain should a format fail to rate in the U.S.

On the more intellectual property side of the format, since broadcasters have all the money and all the power, it is difficult for them (and especially their business affaires departments) to sympathize with the concept of a creator devising an original format to which the creator maintains the ownership control.

U.S. Summer Season’s Latest

So far, the Summer season of formats has opened strongly on U.S. Network TV, with So You Think You Can Dance (Season 2), and Hell’s Kitchen (Season 2), strong on Fox. Treasure Hunt is doing OK on NBC, and ABC soon to unveil its’ version of the Japanese format Master of Champions. More sub-Idol talent shows are coming with NBC’s America’s Got Talent, and Rock Star, and Endemol’s America’s Fame Academy on ABC. The battle of the game show formats (Set For Life, 1 vs 100) will not take place until Fall or mid-season…so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

What elements does a reality show need in order to be successful?

"You have to make a lot of noise in reality. It helps to have a very interesting set of concepts to begin with. Whereas for a sitcom or a drama sometimes you can grow the audience over the course of a few episodes, in reality TV it works better if you have a provocativ or talked-about concept before you even get the show on the air. After that, it's important that the show does the same as a scripted show - entertain and pull emotions out of you. It has to make you feel sad, happy, excited or terrified, the same way that comedies and dramas work to pull those emotions out. I've always thought that reality shows have to do the same thing."

said Mike Darnell (executive VP at FOX Broadcasting Company) in World Screen 10/06 p 352