Competition heats up German cocktails
MIPCOM: Around 400 delegates attended the biannual German cocktail reception in Cannes last night to toast an “increasingly competitive” local TV market.
The German industry has been a focus of attention for new and original drama from the likes of European satcaster Sky as well as US SVoD services Netflix and Amazon during the past 12 months.
Sky is coproducing €40m (US$44m)-budget drama Babylon Berlin alongside broadcasters ARD Degeto and Das Erste, while Amazon and Netflix have ordered their own German originals, You Are Wanted and Dark respectively.
From left: Christoph Fey of Entertainment Master Class, Fernanda Lange Boettcher of Media ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg, Tim Gerhartz of Audio Network, Helge Jürgens of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Petra Müller of Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, Birgit Reuter of Media/Creative Industries Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft & Technologie, Friedhelm Bixschlag of Bavaria Studios, Thomas Schäffer of Nordmedia – Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen and Till Neumann of Brehm & v Moers
Amazon, which is said to have the edge over Netflix in the German market, also recently took the local premiere rights to Deutschland 86, meaning RTL Television, which commissioned Deutschland 83 in 2014, will air the sequel on German free-to-air television after Amazon.
Kai Pflaume, host of ARD Show Wer weiß denn sowas?, and producer Ute Biernat of UFA Show & Factual
Meanwhile, Netflix this week acquired premiere English-language rights to German drama The Same Sky, which is set during the Cold War and comes from ZDF, UFA Fiction and Beta Film
“Germany’s TV market is one of the largest in the world and the public broadcasting sector is very strong. Meanwhile, Amazon and Netflix have created more competition, which has led to a new dynamic, especially in serialised drama,” said Helge Jürgens, MD of funding body Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg.
Camille Bidermann Roizen of the International Emmys and Petra Müller of Film- und Medienstiftung NRW
The country’s pay TV and paid VoD market grew by more than 10% last year and is expected to increase by double digits again this year, according to Germany’s commercial broadcaster association.
“Pay TV used to have a fairly small market share for a long time, but that seems to be changing because more and more people are willing to pay for quality content,” added Jürgens.
Martin Moszkowicz of Constantin Film, Helge Jürgens of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Jörg Graf of RTL
However, the increased competition and rising cost of drama has priced some out of the market, with French media group Vivendi set to close its struggling German SVoD service Watchever by the end of 2016.
Both Jürgens and Petra Müller, CEO of funding body Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, agreed that Watchever wasn’t able to survive in the German market because it didn’t invest in original content.
Anke Schäferkordt of Mediengruppe RTL and Regina Ziegler of Ziegler Film
“Netflix and Amazon are international market leaders and have carved out a niche with their original programming and huge marketing efforts, which is what you need to build up an audience. Compared to this, Watchever seemed to be a distribution platform,” said Müller.
Müller added that she expects deals like the one agreed between Sky, ARD Degeto and Das Erste for Babylon Berlin to potentially provide “a model for the future as the cost of high-end drama series of international relevance now is too high for just one broadcaster to shoulder.”
Jens-Uwe Bornemann of FreemantleMedia/UFA Digital and Stefan Oelze of SeaPoint
The reception, held for the 12th time, was attended by companies such as Sonar Entertainment, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, ZDF Enterprises and ITV Studios Germany.
It was sponsored by Telekom Deutschland, Audio Network, Bavaria Studios and Brehm & v Moers. C21 was the media partner.
Oliver Berben of Constantin Film Produktion, who presented The Verdict to cocktail guests, with the event’s hosts Helge Jürgens of MBB and Petra Müller of FMS
Joining forces to host the cocktails at Club21 were Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg in partnership with Nordmedia, Entertainment Master Class, ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg, German Films, Film-und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen and Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie.
Other companies attending included Constantin Film, Endemol Shine Group Germany, Disney Channel Germany and Zee Entertainment Enterprises.
Photos: Eric Bonté
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