Major British broadcasters are no longer best known for their natural histories and regional soaps, but are starting to make an international impact on the drama market. Magz Osborne talks to two of them
1 December 2009
Talking to Television Asia Plus at MIPCOM 2009, BBC Worldwide’s managing director of global TV sales Steve Macallister described the market as having a very good vibe, with plenty of people coming to Cannes with an interest in doing business - compared to the air of accountability at MIPTV in April.
He outlined the three main emphases for the Asia Pacific region, starting with the increase of BBCW’s format licensing and format production business in the region.
“In Dancing with the Stars we now have the most-watched reality show in the world (according to TBI). Apart from Dancing with the Stars, which has been produced for both China and India, we also produced Baby Borrowers for India, as well as Top Gear for Australia.” Asked about how much lucrative it is to produce a format rather than simply licence it, Macallister said the benefits are two-fold, “With more involvement we have more protection of the property; we also become another part of the value chain.”
Macallister signals co-production as another growth area for the company, pointing to successful co-productions in Asia such as Wild China, with CTV, and Planet Earth with NHK. Thirdly, digital media continues to flourish for BBCW in the Asia Pacific, with a raft of VoD deals and similar signed in the region.
Latest news includes over 480 hours of BBC Worldwide programming licensed to a number of Asian broadcasters from Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Cakrawala in Indonesia licensed documentaries such as Supervolcano and Warriors; Vietnam’s McCartney (broadcast on Ho Chi Minh City Cable TV) took a package deal including Sense & Sensibility and Sarah Jane Adventures while VTV licensed factual titles. MediaCorp’s Okto Channel bought a range of titles such as Superswarms and Hairy Bikers Ride Again. KBS Korea bought a mixed package of drama and documentaries such as Feasts and South Pacific while Korea’s Elle TV licensed a mixture of drama and lifestyle titles such as Mistresses and Being Erica. And Japanese broadcasters have been buying up both drama and factual titles from BBCW. Japan’s Animal Planet, BS Asahi, AXN Mystery Channel, WOWOW and LaLa TV have acquired a range of content from factual titles (Secret Life of Elephants, Oceans) to drama series such as Mistresses and Jonathan Creek.
And drama is an area in which Macallister would like to see continued growth of sales for BBCW.
“As the biggest-selling single genre (for all producers to all broadcasters) there is definitely room for growth in BBCW’s drama sales. We’ve got loads of returning drama series such as Spooks and Wallender, and we’ve had plenty of sales success with Primeval, Robin Hood and Dr Who, so we’re trying to take a bigger share of the drama market,” - adding that the Drama Co-production event at Showcase in February 2009 was “standing room only.”
Illustrating the appeal of BBCW drama in Asia, the Seoul International Drama Awards 2009 honoured Doctor Who as The Most Popular Foreign Drama of the Year.
Phil Collinson, producer of Doctor Who Series 1-4, attended the awards ceremony which took place at the Olympic Hall in Seoul. “It was a fantastic event attended by talent from all over the world as well the cream of South Korea’s acting world. How great it was to find all of these fans on the other side of the world who love Doctor Who as much as British audiences.”
Doctor Who has been shown across four channels in South Korea: KBS, Fox Channel, SK Broadband and BBC Entertainment. The series first broadcast on KBS in June 2005 and rapidly grew in popularity to become one of the top three rated UK programmes telecast in the country (July 2008 to June 2009). BBCW has sold Doctor Who to over 55 broadcasters around the world.
With sights similarly set on the lucrative drama market is fellow British broadcaster ITV, where Global Content is headed up by former Fox Broadcasting vice president Lee Bartlett.
Asked how ITV’s domestic operations have impacted its international activities, Bartlett said that ITV has taken time to iron out its organisation by region - which caused internal competition and in some instances conflict.
“It’s difficult to use the UK network to grow the international business, and there has been too much focus on the ad-supported domestic business,” said Bartlett. “But the market is too small and the ad revenues are finite.” Describing the capping of advertising rates as illogical, he said, “It’s difficult to attain the scale to make an international business work.”
Hence a lot of ITV Studios content, drama especially, is now being produced with an international market in mind. “We’re trying to retain what’s great about British drama, such as the acting and the dialogue, while making it more attractive visually, more fast-paced,” Bartlett explains.
He cites new ITV Studios drama The Prisoner, starring James Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen as an example, with that co-production having already sparked a bidding war in Asia. Of six-part drama Identity, starring Gary Oldman, Bartlett says, “It’s fast-paced, it looks good, but the dialogue is at the heart of the story.”
“We’re using US programming to lead the sales of other shows, for example (scripted format) Prime Suspect, produced by NBC Studios. NBC have the domestic rights, while ITV retain the international rights. The UK business is not big enough the support the international business, we have to find international revenues to support it,” Bartlett concludes.
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