Video Age International articles from October 2007

Video Age International archives from October 2007

Full orders in order at fall mart. High hopes for series.
October 1, 2007... This year's fall season series have come out of the studio lot gates with many expectations. After a summer of sluggish U.S. TV network ratings, an overabundance of copycat game shows and numerous reality flops, the U.S. nets have been given...

Private equity: a tale of money, madness, mayhem.
October 1, 2007... With half a trillion dollars in capital, private equity firms continue along their path to buy the world (the top 20 firms control companies with more than four million employees), despite increasing concerns in the money markets. VideoAge took...

Champagne, caviar for rich East Europe markets.
October 1, 2007... When analyzing the Eastern European TV industry, it's difficult to uncover hard data. The industry is expanding, but information is not keeping up. Although transparency has not yet reached those shores, VideoAge was able to assemble an...

TV biz frenzy hits Latin countries.
October 1, 2007... In a few months since VideoAge last scrutinized the Latin territory during its major TV trade show--the L.A. Screenings--the area seems to have embarked on a whirlwind of television business activities, with Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela at...

Carlo Sartori: RAI's new tsar.(World)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... It is officially known as the "RAI Worldwide Project," but the awkward title is a temporary one, created by officials at Rome-based RAI, Italy's state broadcast organization. According to RAI's Carlo Sartori, the "project" serves to better...

DR's headquarters spell trouble.(World)
October 1, 2007... Amidst an increase in foreign investments in the Danish media and the upcoming digitalization of airwaves, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (known as DR) could be facing a crisis. But the source of the company's financial woes is neither...

Promax Clinton-ized.(World)(speech by Bill Clinton at PROMAX and BDA convention)
October 1, 2007... Some 3,500 marketing, promotions and design executives crowded the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan to hear a keynote speech delivered by former president Bill Clinton. It was the highlight of the whole 52nd annual...

Marenzi to peddle backdoor pilots.(World)
October 1, 2007... Gary Marenzi brought luck to venerable Hollywood studio MGM. It's for this reason that the studio's new owners--a group of private investors and Sony Pictures--called him in to head its international division. Actually, they called him back,...

Ninemuse's PBS TV debut.(World)(Public Broadcasting Service's contract with Chantal Chamandy)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... When Montreal, Quebec-based singer-songwriter Chantal Chamandy took the stage at the foot of the Sphinx in Cairo on September 7, she became one of only a handful of artists who have been granted permission by the Egyptian government to use the...

Turkey Film Fest goes Eurasian.(World)
October 1, 2007... A who's who of the globe's most promising film talent will be on hand to celebrate the silver screen at the 44th annual Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, which will take place October 19-28, 2007. The event, jointly organized by the...

Redstone's own drama.(World)
October 1, 2007... Sumner Redstone's family dramas could easily inspire one of his company's films. After a much-publicized feud with son Brent Redstone, the 84-year-old Viacom chief is exiling his daughter, Shari, whom many expected to take over the reins after...

Regarding Ralph Baruch's book ...(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2007... In my opinion, your comments regarding the book were totally within your purview as publisher of VideoAge. You witnessed firsthand many of the events that Ralph wrote about and therefore have the right to comment on Ralph's perspective and how...

Walt Disney comes alive in a new book. But is he animated?
October 1, 2007... Despite the dozen or so books written about him there have always been a lot of questions surrounding the personage of Walt Disney. Was he a misunderstood artist, a visionary entrepreneur, or both? Was he a fatherly figurehead to his Disney...

Fall TV market offers biz, show, power and trends.(MIPCOM Report)
October 1, 2007... At this MIPCOM, celebrity executives are taking the spotlight away from behind-the-scenes bigwigs. Some of the most internationally famous TV and film business personalities are making a cameo on the Croissette. This year's market, which takes...

X-treme sports give Monaco market punch.(Sportel)
October 1, 2007... The success of the 18th annual SPORTELMonaco--the international sports convention for television and new media executives, to be held in the principality of Monte Carlo, October 15-18--was officially declared in late August, two months prior to...

Place-shifting adds to TV networks' woes.(IPTV Evolution)
October 1, 2007... Time-shifting technology has taken the TV world by storm and IPTV has taken TV networks by surprise. Now, by marrying those two technologies some entrepreneurs are introducing a third element into the already problematic TV broadcasting...

A diary-tic taste of the Food Network.(TV Dinners)
October 1, 2007... Ever wonder what it would be like to be seated among a shocked crowd at one of the Food Network's cooking shows when one of its superchefs flamboyantly pours zabaglione on a pot au feu? Well, VideoAge embarked on that quest. The good news: the...

German TV biz sees days of the locusts.(Territory)(Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. acquired ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG)(acquisition of SBS Broadcasting S.A.)
October 1, 2007... German vice chancellor Franz Muntefering, a Social Democrat, recently labeled large investment companies "locusts," and since then, the moniker has stuck. The nickname stems from the fact that locusts descend upon a territory and leave...

Peace arch remains free of Canadian consolidation.(Company Profile)
October 1, 2007... To an outsider, it would appear as though the Great White North's entertainment industry is controlled by just a handful of large players. Canada's CanWest Global (with Goldman Sachs) has acquired Alliance Atlantis's operations, Bell Globemedia...

"G" content, co-viewing make TV comeback.(Programming)
October 1, 2007... There's a new buzzword in U.S. TV programming schedules: families. In sharp contrast to the rapid evolution occurring with digital distribution platforms, children's programmers are taking a page from an earlier era of television and...

All aboard for Cruise line entertainment: below-deck entertainment is not what it used to be.(See Videos At Sea)
October 1, 2007... Cruise lines often brag about (no pun intended) blowing the competition out of the water with the best live shows, best destinations, and even best food (when it doesn't cause gastroenteritis)... but best in-room entertainment? Strange as it...

New U.S. TV season announced with a big bang at L.A. screenings.
October 1, 2007... Studio executives never tire of asking some of the (increasing number) of international buyers why they fly all the way to Los Angeles to disparage the new U.S.TV season's slate--ITV's Jay Kandola for one reported that, "The 2006 L.A....

MSOs storm in with day-and-date demands.(Cable vs. Cinema)
October 1, 2007... At an industry conference last spring, Stephen Burke, president of mega cable multiple systems operator (MSO) Comcast Corp., told an audience that a number of studios were "very interested" in the idea of allowing cable providers to charge...

Cable's Jornadas mix biz & tech growth.(Latin America Focus: Argentina Report)
October 1, 2007... This year's Jornadas de Cable had two novelties: a change of date and location. Due to Argentina's October presidential elections, the cable and satellite organizing associations--Camara Argentina de Distribuidores de Senales Satelitales...

The new Claxson, post-surgery.(Latin America Focus: Argentina Report)
October 1, 2007... Buenos Aires-based multimedia provider Claxson has had a very hectic year since deciding to sell seven of its 12 channels--Fashion TV, HTV, Infinito, I.Sat, MuchMusic, Retro and Space--to Time Warner's Turner Broadcasting System last December....

Scalamandre showcases Globo's Int'l Division.(Latin America Focus: Brazil Report)
October 1, 2007... VideoAge was recently invited to visit the new Sao Paulo, Brazil offices of Rede Globo, the largest TV network in Brazil and Latin America, and the fourth largest in the world. This visit overlapped with VideoAge's participation at the...

Trade show success reflects mart potential.(Latin America Focus: Brazil Report)
October 1, 2007... Brazil is a difficult territory to penetrate; yet it is a vast market with opportunities for international producers and distributors. It requires personal attention, a large investment and a constant presence. Regardless, it's a risk worth...

Pay-TV trade show establishes triple-play.(Latin America Focus: Brazil Report)(Conference news)
October 1, 2007... Brazil is well prepared to handle new technologies and prove to the world that it can face convergence with confidence. At least that was the idea conveyed at ABTA 2007, the 15th annual conference and exhibition dedicated to the Latin American...

Chavez's pet station, a ratings failure.(Latin America Focus: Venezuela Report)
October 1, 2007... In late May, Venezuela's private television station Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) was replaced by state-funded Televisora Venezolana Social, or TVes (see VideoAge's May 2007 issue for more details). The name is pronounced "te ves," which...

Trade show success mirrors market's growth.(DISCOP Dispatch)
October 1, 2007... It only took 15 years, but DISCOP organizers finally managed to persuade their host hotel to open up the emergency stairs to alleviate the crowded elevators and improve traffic flow. At DISCOP 2007, held as usual at the Sofitel Hotel in...

The Three Musketeers of Russkoe Televidenie.(Eastern Europe Focus: Russia Report)
October 1, 2007... In Russia, local production continues to account for 90 percent of primetime television. However, the opportunities for producers and distributors are still vast. The largest local players are AMEDIA, Central Partnership and Star Media,...

Champagne and caviar for nouveau riche market.(Eastern Europe Focus: Russia Report)(Interview)
October 1, 2007... Leonard Yanovsky first became involved with the Russian TV industry in 1992, after recognizing the opportunities opening up in his home country. Yanovsky was familiar with the TV business, having already started his own U.S.-based cable TV...

TV must grow to become viable.(Eastern Europe Focus: Serbia Report)
October 1, 2007... Serbia has been making slow progress in the E.U. statehood process, and this slowness is mirrored in the television industry, particularly with regard to broadcasting law. The Serbian Broadcasting Act was adopted in 2002, but full...

Pioneering format trend bodes well.(Eastern Europe Focus: Poland Report)
October 1, 2007... Poland and Russia continue to be dynamic production environments. There are similarities between the two markets and some of the same formats have succeeded in both countries. But one of the major differences is that vertical programming is a...

TV Puls gets new license.(Eastern Europe Focus: Poland Report)(Telewizja Polska)(Polish National Broadcasting Council)
October 1, 2007... In January 2007, the Polish National Broadcasting Council, the country's TV regulatory agency, approved Telewizja Puls' application to trade in its specialty niche-programming license (for religious and family programming) for a universal...

Let's do lunch.(Brief article)(Calendar)
October 1, 2007... MIPCOM JUNIOR OCTOBER 6-7 Cannes, France TEL: (212) 370-7470 FAX: (212) 370-7471 www.mipcomjunior.com MIPCOM OCTOBER 8-12 Cannes, France TEL: (212) 370-7470 FAX: (212) 370-7471 www.mipcom.com...

My two cents.(television industry to support environmentally friendly programming)
October 1, 2007... Just as late U.S. president Richard Nixon used to preface his introductions, I too want to "make it perfectly clear" that television is not a tool for altruistic purposes. Television follows the money--it always has--and therefore it will...