Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Formats and the economical collapse - what will survive?

I don't think anyone hasn't noticed we're heading for a bit of a bump in the road of free market capitalism. And, to be frank, it's not a bump, it's more like the bloody Himalayas and no one knows HOW we're going to get over them and WHAT will lay ahead on the other side of them.

For the television format business, of special interest to me, there should be interesting times ahead. On one hand, we have people saying that as viewers can't afford to travel or have expensive hobbies anymore, television offers a lot of bang for the buck and as such will gain from the economical strain. On the other hand, we have people saying that everyone will have to cut back on everything, and that tv channels will not want to go for anything without a proven track record anymore.

C21 Media has a good take on the situation, pointing out - amongst other things - that MIPCOM this year was more about library sales than production or format deals. At the same time many channels are pushing forward expensive drama to 2010, going for cheaper format-style or factual stuff.

Read it, and be prepared. I'll try to, at least :)

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