K7 Media Managing Director Keri Lewis Brown about TV formats’ market trends

 

How popular is media consulting in UK? What type of consultancy is in demand for British media managers? Who are your clients?

It remains a fairly specialized area.  We have clients all over the world including CBS Television in the USA and Foxtel in Australia.  They want to know what TV shows are in development around the world and what trends we can see.  

 

What do you mean by the global content and the global programming?

A ‘global’ show is one which transcends cultural barriers and appeals to diverse audiences regardless of where they live such as Big Brother, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and Breaking Bad.

  

What countries nowadays produce the most creative ideas in content? Who makes trends in Europe and in the world now? 

It used to be the case that the most interesting ideas came from the UK, USA, Netherlands and Scandinavia, but that is not so much the case any more.  Great ideas can come from anywhere and buyers are more open to look at concepts from new places.

  

You regularly make the selection of the most interesting TV-formats. Please, tell us about some recent projects that impressed the international market (scripted and non-scripted formats). 

Superkids is a new children's talent show from Talpa which performed well and can be expected to travel.  Reality-wise we are still seeing a lot of authentic survival shows and the leader in this field is still The Island from the Endemol Shine Group.  Alone, from A&E takes this trend a stage further and sees survivalists fend for themselves in the wilderness. In scripted, viewers have enjoyed family drama The Legacy from Denmark and Versailles from Zodiak Rights is highly anticipated. 

  

How do you search for the best formats? What are the selection criteria for a product to get into your shortlists and reviews?

We don’t just look at ratings as these only tell part of the story. We like to include shows that feel a bit different and get people talking. Our stringers around the world keep us informed about what shows are making an impact in their country.

  

What formats are the most expensive and desirable on the European market now? And what genres are fading? 

There is still a big market for talent shows, especially children’s talent.  We are also seeing an increase in formats celebrating athletic achievement such as Eternal Glory. Nowadays, these formats have to have a sense of scale to stand out. Studio game shows are fine for daytime, but it is harder to make them work in primetime.

  

How do the digital revolution and multimedia platforms influence the development of content?

It is much slower than people expected. The digital revolution is taking place on the VOD platforms rather than the actual content. If you look at TV content now, compared to five years ago, it actually hasn’t changed that much whereas the way in which people are watching has.

  

During the last years original local ideas become more popular. In your opinion, can the formats, for example from Ukraine, compete with Endemol, BBC Worldwide, eOne, Armoza Formats products? And what is necessary for being competitive? 

Without question, original ideas from Ukraine can compete internationally. If you look at the companies you have mentioned, you will see that they have a strong international presence which has taken some time to achieve.

  

What can you advise for bringing content sales to the international level?

It requires a lot of marketing and relationship-building to become established. You have to have partnerships with like-minded people.

  

Last year some Ukrainian projects were mentioned in K7 Media’s TV-formats reviews. What Ukrainian production features did you notice? Are our products different from European ones?  Do you find them trendy? 

We find that Ukrainian TV programmes are produced to a very high standard and have great potential to be well received around the world. Perhaps there is more emphasis in Ukraine on entertainment formats rather than factual?

  

You are FRAPA board member. How serious is the problem of intellectual property protection on European markets? How does FRAPA resolve such disputes? 

It can be very serious, particularly for the smaller producers. We advise our members to abide by our Code of Conduct which you can see here. We prefer our members to resolve disputes through mediation rather than through the courts.

  

K7 Media researches the market one step forward. What challenges awaiting for international media market next five years?

Audiences are fragmenting so I don’t think we will see one big dominating format as we have done in the past. Buyers need to come to terms with this.

  

Could you please unveil some details about your presentation that will take place in Kyiv at Format Show? What are your business incentives and expectations from the upcoming KYIV MEDIA WEEK? 

I will be talking about the challenges of buying and selling scripted formats and I am greatly looking forward to coming back to Kyiv for the second time.

Interview for http://www.telekritika.ua/