Shanghai TV Festival Review
SHANGHAI --- Concluding with the gala ceremony for the Magnolia Awards on 29th October (see related article), the 2000 Shanghai TV Festival (STVF) lived up to its billing as the first major trade show of the new millennium, writes a CMM-I Special Correspondent.
Despite logistical glitches and a lack of investment in delegate information services, the STVF is well ahead of the game in China when it comes to providing a professional forum and a platform for official inter-action between international and Chinese TV industries.
According to statistics released by the Organising Committee, over 4,100 visitors attended the 8th STVF, up from 3,500 in 1998. In an indication of growing international interest, foreign visitors from over 40 countries accounted for 25% of the total. However, much of the increase was caused by the increased size of delegations from major players.
Prominent among the nearly 1,500 organizations, units and companies involved in the event were over 20 foreign equipment companies and nearly 100 foreign program exhibitors including Warners, CNN / Cartoon Network, Columbia-Tristar, Disney, Encore, ESPN, Discovery and National Geographic.
Among its raft of promotional activities and sponsorships, Warner Bros even managed to cause a stir with a ceremony to mark its annual donation to caring for a panda cub in Sichuan. EM.TV, meanwhile, was busy securing broadcasters for its proposed programming block (see related article) from a large stand hidden from much of the market.
The European grouping ETVE was also present with its combined stand, the BBC proving the largest single exhibitor and co-sponsor of afternoon jazz at the market (with CMM-I). Newcomers included Channel 4 International, Hit! Entertainment and RTL, while regular supporters Deutschewelle, RTVE, Carlton and Granada all maintained their presence.
In a sign of growing European unity, France and Italy mounted their own sales efforts.
Although MTV downgraded its market spend, the general level of participation among the companies with a declared interest in the China market was higher than previous fairs. The level of import business registered at the STVF is, however, another matter.
According to statistics, 15,900 episodes presented by 246 TV stations and production companies from 25 countries, including movies, TV dramas, documentaries, cartoons, magazines and variety shows were available to China for the first time at the program market. 146 domestic TV organizations with import credentials came to see them.
Despite the advantages of submitting titles for censorship following agreement at the STVF, of 9,328 episodes for which preliminary agreements were signed at the market, only 193 episodes (3%) were foreign in origin.
Calculated against official trade statistics, the total contracted value of international purchases by the Chinese TV industry at the largest fair was under US$1.5 million. This contrasts with over US$47 million in domestic transactions completed in the same time frame.
Although the majority of domestic program exchange agreements involve Chinese programming, a significant proportion of the above total is being generated by regional deals for international programs already licensed to Chinese or foreign intermediary parties.
Among the domestic companies approaching the STVF with vigour were CCTV Program Agency, Beijing TV and Shanghai's combined TV industry. However, perhaps the most notable difference at this year's event was the emergence of bold new independent production and distribution companies, many financed by Internet money.
It is no surprise that local interests will gain the most from the internal changes now afoot in the media industry, but interesting to see how long the artificial divisions between "foreign" and "domestic" can remain in place as it becomes increasingly clear that there is no difference between the two anymore, except for political expediency.