Weekly: Six takeaways from London TV Screenings & Mip London

From M&A chatter and YouTube potential to format developments and windowing, talk at the numerous events in London this week was varied and broad.

Most distributors Broadcast International spoke to expressed satisfaction at the week’s proceedings, with many reporting that buyer sentiment seemed to be improving as parties on all sides play by a new set of cost-efficient rules.

Others pointed out that growth is coming from a low base in many cases and there were several stories doing the rounds of distributors facing considerable misses on sales targets in 2024.

Yet with more than a thousand acquisition execs and commissioners scurrying around the UK capital - we’ll get firmer numbers from London TV Screenings organisers shortly - there is evident demand for shows, and a straw poll of acquisition execs suggested most had enjoyed – or perhaps endured – another intense but productive week. Check out the key takeaways below.

Clamour for consolidation and M&A

Who knows whether this time next year we will see a joint ITV Studios and All3Media International event for London TV Screenings, but at the numerous drinks events through the week, the implications of the much-mooted merger were discussed and dissected. With ongoing pressures on budgets – in the UK but also across Europe and North America – showing little sign of abating, it is those who have adjusted to the new reality that are set to survive, if not thrive. Yet scale and reducing back office costs are increasingly important and that opens up the likelihood of some serious consolidation over the next 12 months, with some sizeable opportunities in the offing – ranging from the UK’s See Saw Films to France’s Federation Studios, which are already exploring their options.

European producers in particular look to be of interest to regional supergroups but also US-based private equity-backed firms, while BBC Studios chief Tom Fussell admitted to Broadcast International that “inorganic” deals outside of the UK are being explored. Countries of interest were not divulged, but producers in Spain and France both look likely to offer access to (relatively) buoyant domestic markets on the commissioning front, and resultant shows could dovetail nicely with a strategy to broaden distribution slates.

Purchasing pragmatism

Amazon’s Prime Video is not alone in its ever-increasing pragmatic approach to commissioning and rights, but it is perhaps the most noticeable. The streamer’s head of UK licensing, Hannah Blyth, took to the Mip London stage to confirm that she is open to co-exclusive deals that could see shows sharing their premiere dates with other domestic channels (and, presumably, their associated streamers).

Worth noting this has happened elsewhere before – Prime Video in Spain shared Scar (Cicatriz) and Perverso with RTVE, as well as Silent Cargo (Operación Marea Negra) with various regional broadcasters – but similar moves in the UK would provide another indication of just how far pragmatism has come.

“We’ve seen the model work in European territories [where they’re] growing an audience for a show, rather than dividing it in half, which was the fear,” she said. “You need joint marketing, especially if viewers are seeing the same release date with different services, so you have to think it through. We would be very open to it in the UK, although it is not something we have done much of yet.”

Windows provide chinks of light

Producers of all genres have experienced pressures over recent years but nowhere has the squeeze been felt more than on documentaries. Yet workarounds are emerging: take Kaizen for example, the documentary feature about French YouTube star Inoxtag climbing Mount Everest.

Produced by mk2, the doc first landed last year in domestic cinemas, selling almost 400,000 tickets in 24 hours. It then aired on France’s TF1, has become available on YouTube for free (it has just the 42 million views to date) and is now also being chased down by an unnamed streamer for global distribution. This is according to producer Julien Allard and head of non-scripted Anha Benessalah at Webedia, who were speaking to Omdia’s Maria Rua Aguete at Mip London about the potential of windowing innovation.

The doc’s unconventional release has caused heated debates about its impact on France’s much cherished – and protected – cinema industry, but a streamer’s apparent interest in a doc that has already been in so many windows – and snagged more than 40 million views on YouTube – proves that seemingly insurmountable obstacles can be overcome.

Format creators go direct

One of the more intriguing developments in the format landscape that Broadcast International observed is the shift around sales. IP owners are increasingly selling their eye-catching titles directly to broadcasters, rather than seeing labels optioning the rights to remake in their territories. With ITV’s splashy acquisition of Norwegian breakout The Box, the broadcaster is taking the show out to tender with UK labels vying for the right to produce. Broadcast International understands Fox will look to sell its new adventure survival competition Extracted – which was getting serious interest from buyers and producers during London TV Screenings – directly to a broadcaster, too. This has happened before of course but the trend is increasing. It seems that in these uncertain times, all parties are scrutinising every stage of a project to mitigate risk. Will format producers be the ones to miss out here?

Library rocks

Distributors have set up more than 40 separate events across the past week in London, all with the same goal: to entice buyers and engage them with their wares. It reflects the growing importance of London TV Screenings – although questions on timing remain, more on that below – as well as the value and appeal of cost-efficient library content to both buyers and sellers.

We also saw that the distribution play is evolving fast, with scale never more important – ITV Studios revealed it would be adding more than 2,000 hours of Vice Media shows to its slate, with series such as Dark Side of The Ring – while Blue Ant Studios is now the home of Red Bull Studios shows such as The Real Mo Farah. Add that onto recent developments such as Fox Entertainment doubling down on its own distribution play by hiring Prentiss Fraser and it’s clear that the battle for distribution supremacy is hotting up. Chat around London this week that several M&A deals for smaller sales players are in the works is, then, not surprising.

What to make of Mip London?

David Beckham and Netflix content chief Bela Bajaria might have made snappy headlines for their Mip London chat, but for those interested in doing hard business, the event’s broader success or failure is harder to sum up. Location-wise, the event cannot claim to be in the heart of the action but, as BossaNova chief Paul Heaney pointed out, for those with some Soho savvy it is not a long walk if you get to know the area. At times the venue – spread across The Savoy and the IET – was busy, with panels generally being well attended, but at others there was plenty of space on the higher floors especially.

Some distributors reported back that they were happy with booth locations and attendance, others queried where buyers were. Either way, organisers RX France tooted their horn with numbers that showed more than 2,800 delegates from over 80 countries, including at least 1,000 buyers, had registered – no word on how many actually attended. Europe and North America were best represented, but companies from Asia, LatAm, MENA and Turkey were all well repped.

Perhaps most pertinently though, London TV Screenings distributors we spoke to said Mip London had very little impact on buyer attendance at their own events. Lucy Smith, director of Mip London and Mipcom, said she would listen “intently” to feedback, adding: “This is year one of a long-term commitment and we will be back in London next year.”