Chief content officer outlines preferred models and the ‘increasingly attractive’ appeal of co-productions
As buyers prepare to head to NEM Dubrovnik next month, Broadcast International explores the content requirements for local and regional companies.
Here, Igor Draguzet, chief content Officer at regional giant CME, details his wishlist and reflects on shows that have performed.
What types of shows are you looking for at NEM Dubrovnik?
My colleagues and I attend NEM Dubrovnik to find exceptional content that complements our successful local productions. We are particularly focused on compelling premium scripted dramas, strong factual entertainment, and character-driven unscripted formats.
Additionally, we seek unexpected and captivating stories that resonate deeply with our audiences across CME’s diverse markets. These genres have consistently proven successful in engaging our viewers, reflecting their personal experiences, and sparking their imagination. At NEM, we are also keen to explore new format ideas, innovative storytelling techniques, and potential adaptations of internationally successful formats that can thrive across our platforms.
What are your key rights requirements?
Securing comprehensive rights that align with changing audience consumption habits is essential. We focus on acquiring multiplatform rights, linear and digital, as viewers increasingly prefer to consume content flexibly across various platforms. Typically, we aim for rights windows of around three to five years to maximise content visibility and audience engagement.
Our deals must reflect technological advancements, ensuring content accessibility and seamless user experience. While we prefer securing rights for exclusive local exploitation, we remain adaptable and open to negotiations, always striving for arrangements that are mutually beneficial and strategically effective for both CME and our content partners.
Tell us about a few recently acquired shows that performed for you and why?
Premium scripted dramas have consistently delivered strong ratings and subscriber growth on our digital platforms. Additionally, formats like Survivor, Love Island, and Dragons’ Den continue to perform exceptionally well across our markets.
Their success is largely due to their universal themes, engaging storylines, and strong emotional resonance with local viewers. These successes underline the importance of aligning global appeal with strong local relevance to effectively captivate our diverse audiences.
Are you interested in co-productions and, if so, on what types of shows?
Absolutely. Co-productions are increasingly attractive for CME as a way for us to scale our content offering efficiently, particularly within the scripted drama, true-event, or period stories genres. Given our established regional expertise and market reach, we’re particularly interested in co-productions that have strong regional appeal or international crossover potential.
Projects based on true stories, procedural dramas, adaptations of successful literary properties, and innovative unscripted formats hold particular interest. We see co-productions as valuable partnerships that not only share financial and creative risks but also enhance the overall quality and marketability of our programming slate.
Draguzet is attending NEM Dubrovnik, which runs 9-12 June, and will appear on the How Inflation Affects Already Expensive Content panel.
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