CBS International Television
Key programs: “The Doctors,” “Welcome to the Captain,” “CSI”
Armando Nunez Jr.
President, CBS International Television
On attending NATPE: Our domestic colleagues decided not to go on the floor at NATPE, I know it was a long and hard process for them, particularly because NATPE has been such a big part of what CBS Distribution has done.
However, our situation is different from the domestic situation. International clients over the years have been strong, and our analysis was that it will continue to be strong, so we made the decision to attend NATPE, although on a smaller basis than before. To us, attendance at the market is part of the yearlong process, as we continue to have new product, and that process continues on through MIP in April. NATPE is one of those train stops along the way.
On the impact of the writers strike: There are obviously a lot of questions and information our clients are looking for because of the strike, including the episode impact, as well as any changes in the development cycle for next season. Depending on where we are with the negotiations, we hope to be able to answer a lot of these questions.
Fortunately, we have a distribution that is not necessarily impacted by writers with shows such as “Oprah,” “Dr. Phil” and now “The Doctors,” which has received a good initial response internationally. Plus there is plenty of other content we can sell.
On demand for U.S. product internationally: The market is still brisk and demand for our content continues to be strong around the world. In fact, our shows are performing quite well, and there is a good amount of U.S. programming in prime time across Europe that is working in the ratings.
NBC Universal International Television Distribution
Key shows: “Lipstick Jungle,” “News,” “Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style,” the Beijing Summer Olympics
Belinda Menendez
President, NBC Universal International Television Distribution
On NATPE: I think it will be business as usual for us. We have a group of clients coming from Latin America as well as key European markets that we’ll be meeting with.
Overall, we will be pitching and selling, depending on where we are in discussions with a customer. We are also very keen to engage with discussions with new-media customers.
On selling news: Strategically, the stars aligned and the news division asked us to work with them in international expansion, which began around the May Screenings. So at NATPE we will be presenting a combination of hard news and docudramas that are produced by Peacock Productions. This is an area that is new for us and we are very excited about it because it’s so compelling—look at the ratings spikes on MSNBC. So far we’ve received great reception to the programming because it’s such a broad genre.
On distributing Bravo programming: We took that on about six to nine months ago and we couldn’t be happier about it. The series continue to give us a nice, broad portfolio, and the addition of Tim Gunn’s show only adds to what we are able to offer our clients.
Sony Pictures Television International
Key series: “Cashmere Mafia,” “Power of 10,” “The Tudors”
Keith LeGoy
Executive VP, distribution, Sony Pictures TV International
On NATPE: I think we’re going to be very busy, because while we have sold the shows, everyone is very keen to understand and peek at the next crop of shows in development, given that the past two years have been so strong.
We will be talking with people about how to take our projects to the next level, how do I make it the big hit? We’ll get into those types of conversations for people, and they are the kind of fulfilling types of conversations to have at NATPE.
On changes in the Latin American market: In that part of the world, it is fascinating to watch simply for all the development taking place in the region. They are still a little behind in adoption of digital, but they are coming on like gangbusters, and some companies like Telefonica are aggressively looking to challenge some of the existing players in the area.
Latin America is showing some amazing stability in those economies, for the first time in a long time. We are seeing some overall great political stability, great currency stability and watching players fulfill their potential growth opportunity.
Now that it’s happening, one of the things we see is outlets open themselves up to a wider range of programming than the traditional telenovelas. We are now looking to co-produce with them in local markets, as well as increase the depth of our relationship with them.
On Sony’s approach with digital carriers: There are a whole load of different players we are looking at—mobile operators, traditional broadcast and cable partners—and this presents a huge range of opportunity for us. We will be deep in conversations with all of them to examine new business models we need to be thinking about and examine the role content plays in the rollout of hardware product.
Warner Bros. International Television
Key product: “Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles,” “TMZ,” “The Bonnie Hunt Show,” “Mrs. America”
Jeffrey Schlesinger
President, Warner Bros. International Television
On returning to the NATPE floor: We have a variety of different things and a lot going on in different countries, whether it’s terrestrial or digital. We’ve already sold most of our slate, although we are trying to determine how many episodes we are going to have due to the strike.
NATPE is still heavily Latin and Canadian. We’re not seeing a lot of major European movers there. But our sales executives will be there and we expect them to be busy.
For us, NATPE isn’t about who is or is not coming—we don’t live or die by these markets.
On Web content: There is a strong initiative internally, with Studio 2.0, to create short-form and original content for the Web. We will be announcing a bunch of things that come out of that that are derivative from our long-form network programming.
On the state of the European market: American shows are working across the European frontier, and we’re seeing better timeslots across the board. It’s a very healthy marketplace right now.