Latin America

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A detailed guide to which genres, programmes, formats and content types are in vogue in Latin America.

Latin America has never been at the front of most foreign media investors’ minds – despite being home to 100 million TV households and generating U$18bn (£9bn) a year in advertising and subscription revenue.

The main reasons for this have been a highly protectionist regulatory environment and the volatility of the region’s big economies (Brazil, Argentina and Mexico).

But the past two years have seen an astonishing turnaround. On the one hand, LatAm tele-novelas have gone from being viewed as a regional oddity to a worldwide hit formula with RCN’s Betty La Fea – Ugly Betty – the best example. On the other, an economic recovery has made LatAm an attractive prospect (with the exception of Venezuela).

This sea change was evident last year when US giants such as Disney and Sony Pictures started remaking US shows for the local market. Now it is the turn of the Europeans, who are setting up offices following their own breakthrough franchises.

In January, for example, BBC Worldwide announced it was setting up shop in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Under Jose Sanchez, VP, Latin America, the goal is to link up with local companies to produce LatAm versions of its shows and to create formats which can be rolled out into the international market. Endemol, Granada and C4I also have designs on the continent.  recovery has made LatAm an attractive prospect (with the exception of Venezuela).


Brazil

Brazil’s economy has improved dramatically – with ad revenue now at around U$4bn (£2bn) a year. The free-to-air players do not buy much beyond Hollywood movies, inter­national sports rights and a few high-profile formats, preferring home-grown telenovelas, gameshows and talkshows. However, pay-TV deregulation will create more competition. Telefónica has been given approval to acquire cable operator TVA and may emerge as a rival to free-to-air and pay-TV market leader Globo. In addition, President Luis da Silva is encouraging investment in IPTV and DTT – greenlighting a programme that will offer U$480m in credit for companies seeking to develop their infrastructure. All of this might stimulate demand for UK shows.

GLOBO
Entertainment network TV Globo takes around 60% audience share, while Globo also dominates pay-TV through stakes in cable operator Net Brasil and DTH satellite operator Sky Brasil. TV Globo produces many shows, especially telenovelas. Aside from dominating international sports rights and Hollywood movie output, Globo airs series like Lost, Prison Break and 24. It also has a deal with Endemol to produce local versions of Big Brother and Fama (Operacion Triunfo). Sister company Globosat is a good outlet for British-based distributors. ID Distribution recently won the sale of Ultra HD’s Style Me with Rachel Hunter while Electric Sky sold MAPTV’s Who Killed Diana? Fremantle also secured a deal for Jamie’s Great Italian Escape.

SBT
Entertainment channel SBT (Sistema Brasileiro de Televisâo) is the number two network – though TV Record claims to have closed the gap. It has exclusive rights to Televisa’s telenovelas and buys a number of US films, drama and sitcoms (Alias, ER, Friends). It doesn’t buy many shows from outside the Americas but increasingly relies on local versions of shows such as BBC Worldwide’s Dancing with the Stars, C4’s Supernanny and Fremantle’s Idol.

TV RECORD
A mainstream channel, TV Record is owned by a fundamentalist Protestant church. It is financially robust and claims to have caught up with SBT by placing greater emphasis on locally produced telenovelas. It has made a local version of The Apprentice and acquired kids format VeggieTales from Classic Media, which rates well. Among bigger deals was Fremantle’s factual series Prehistoric Park.

OTHER NETWORKS
TV Bandeirantes (TVB) takes around 5% share and focuses on news, sport and light entertainment. Rede TV, with around 4% share, skews towards women. It recently joined forces with BVITV to make a local version of Desperate Housewives (which it also acquired as a completed series). Public networks TVC Cultura and TV Educativa attract small audiences and are not active buyers.


Argentina

Argentina is a popular base for foreign producers. Local companies such as POL-KA and Telefe have been joined by Endemol, Disney and MTV. As with Brazil and Mexico, players here see themselves as exporters of content – with market-leading broadcaster Telefe an international force in telenovela/entertainment production. Argentina is 60% cabled (4 to 5 million homes) but has low DTH penetration and chronic piracy. This and a weak currency, means Argentina is not so good for distributors.

TELEFE
Telefe, the number one network, is very active making local versions of global shows for its own network. It began in 2004 with US sitcom The Nanny and has since aired Married with Children, Who’s the Boss, Bewitched and Charlie’s Angels. In the entertainment field, it did well with a local version of Endemol’s Last Passenger and the smash hit Operacion Triunfo. Completed show buys include ER and The OC. Telefe is owned by Spain’s Telefonica – which is driving into Brazil as a platform operator. Possibly this will consolidate Telefe’s position as a broker of ideas across the region – thus making it a useful partner for North America or Europe.

ARTEAR
Grupo Clarin’s Artear (Canal 13) is Telefe’s closest rival – relying heavily on POL-KA for its entertainment line-up. It has been a heavy user of formats recently – with local versions of Desperate Housewives and Dancing with the Stars. It is also building its own format bank – creating shows such as Diet Club and Lonely Hearts Club in partnership with Endemol.The network is not a big buyer of completed shows – but has picked up Fremantle’s CGI Prehistoric Park. It takes around 25% of the audience.

AZUL
Azul, aka Canal 9, is Argentina’s third network – taking around 18% to 20% share. A commercial channel, it airs mainly entertainment, comedy, sport and news but is not a big buyer. America 2 (10% share) doesn’t acquire much either but has had recent success with Endemol-produced shows such as Doble Vida and gameshow format Go! The other key channel is Canal 7, which is viewed by many as a government mouthpiece, it takes a 3% audience share.

Mexico

There are 20 million TV households in Mexico and a population of 103 million. TV takes 60% to 70% of total ad spend (ZenithOptimedia) – $2.5bn. Televisa is the market leader – taking 40% to 50% of the free-to-air audience with main rival TV Azteca on 20%. Mexico is one of Latin America’s biggest multichannel economies with 25% penetration. The leading DTH player, with 1.2 million subscribers, is Sky Mexico, which is backed by Televisa and News Corp. The cable industry is to invest U$300m in triple play services while telco Telmex is to launch into the cable and IPTV market. This could open up opportunities for Brit distributors. BBC Worldwide has signed a home entertainment distribution deal with leading DVD distributor En Pantalla, which allows En Pantalla to release a minimum of three BBC factual titles per month. It has also acquired the rights to distribute children’s and drama titles such as The Secret Show and Robin Hood.

TELEVISA
Grupo Televisa is the largest media company in Mexico and, possibly, in the entire Spanish-speaking world. It is also the world’s biggest producer of telenovelas so it comes to MIP as much to sell as to buy. Its main networks are Canal 2 and Canal 5 – but it also attracts audiences through two regional networks and a portfolio of thematic channels. It also has stakes in cable system Cablevision and digital DTH platform Sky Mexico. Canal 5 is home for international content – acquiring mainly US children’s, drama and films.

TV AZTECA
TV Azteca is more of a seller than buyer. Its biggest recent hit was La Academia (a non-affiliated take on Endemol’s Star Academy). Azteca takes 20% audience share across free-to-air channels Canal 7 and Canal 13. Canal 7 is the nearest competitor to Televisa’s Canal 5 but goes after a younger audience. Canal 13 takes on Canal 2 with family entertainment. When it buys internationally, Azteca usually goes for US hits such as Desperate Housewives or telenovelas, but it has picked up the Jamie Oliver series Oliver’s Twist for Canal 7.

Best of the Rest

TVN CHILE
State broadcaster TVN (Channel 7) has a 23% share and is best known for locally produced soaps but also acquires internationally including BBC Worldwide’s Dancing with the Stars and C4I documentary series Animals in the Womb.

CARACOL AND RCN COLOMBIA
Colombia provides modest opportunities for distributors. The leading commercial networks are RCN and Caracol – which take 73% audience share between them. Both offer a general entertainment line-up acquiring US series such as The Simpsons and The OC and airing a local version of Married With Children. Caracol has a stake in a Miami TV station and sells telenovelas. RCN aired a local version of Desperate Housewives and acquired US series Lost.

SONY ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION LATAM
Sony is a major player in the pay-TV sector via its 24-hour network SET Latin America. Historically reliant on US exports, it broke ground by producing a pan-regional version of Fremantle’s Idol format and has now acquired another 100 hours of Fremantle content including Talkback Thames’ sitcom The IT Crowd and the gameshow Distraction. It airs subtitled shows such as Will and Grace, American Idol and Desperate Housewives.

DISCOVERY NETWORKS LATIN AMERICA
Discovery Channel, Discovery Kids, Animal Planet, Discovery Health, Discovery Travel & Adventure and People+Arts, are important clients for distributors outside the Americas. People+Arts, a Discovery joint-venture with BBC Worldwide, is a showcase for BBC product including Doctor Who, Hustle and Murder in Mind.