Water Cooler

An estimated 1,300 delegates will be gathering in the Pest part of Budapest June 23-25 for the 18th edition of DISCOP East. With the TV business in Eastern Europe showing signs of recovery after a difficult 2009, the market promises to be full of returning attendees and new faces alike. VideoAge caught up with a handful of market newbies and seasoned veterans to find out what to expect out of this year’s event, and whether the telenovela still reigns supreme in Central and Eastern Europe. For more complete DISCOP coverage, please see VideoAge’s June/July Issue, which will receive bonus distribution at the Budapest’s event.
           Guillermo Isturiz of Miami, Florida-based Latin Media will be at DISCOP for the first time, along with another first-timer, British format and light entertainment specialist, Hat Trick International, who will be attending with a viewing box. Director of Sales Sarah Tong explained: “Central and Eastern Europe is becoming more important to Hat Trick International as our programming has been selling very well in the region lately, and we also discussed the importance of DISCOP with other distributors, and the success they have historically had here, which is why we decided to come this year."
           Much the same reasoning has attracted China’s Fantawild Animation to DISCOP East for the very first time. “In the past,” explained Sales director Daisy Shang, “Our programming has sold mostly in Asia and the Middle East, but recently we have started to have success in the C.I.S. (the Commonwealth of Independent States, formerly the Soviet Union) and so we have decided to attend DISCOP East. It enjoys great popularity amongst the Eastern European content industry, and so it seemed to us to be the best place to develop long-term relationships in the region.”
           The appearance of new companies at a market is always a positive sign, and there are other indications that things might be looking up. 
           Axel Bohm, Regional Sales Director and International Fiction Acquisitions for Germany’s SevenOne accepted that the recession has had a big impact over the past 24 months, but insisted, “there are signs of improvement, several channels in Central and Eastern Europe are performing more strongly than last year, and the Russian ad market is definitely picking up again.” And while he is also adamant that, “There is definitely a demand for fresh ideas and high quality,” he went on to caution that, “Buyers, however, are quite risk-adverse in their choices, preferring to rely on shows with proven international track records. And they also want cost effective shows with reduced budgets, which is one reason why so many regional broadcasters are currently so keen on stripped shows.”
            Of course, telenovelas have been popular in the Central and Eastern Europe region for some time, reflecting the regional importance of the female audience. Bohm noted that, “The rollout of digital channels in countries such as The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Russia, has led to the launch of an increasing number of themed channels focusing on clear demographics, which, quite often is the female demographic.”
           This is a trend also noted by Joss Duffield, Program Sales Executive EMEA, at AETN, who notes “with the proliferation of new digital channels there is an increasing demand for female skewing programming, a demand which is very well met by the addition of the Lifetime programming to our catalogue.” And she also insisted that this process means, “We no longer regard Central and Eastern Europe as an emerging market.”