Canal Brasil embraces change

André Saddy, partner and marketing & projects manager at Canal Brasil, tells Talking Shop about how recent regulatory changes in the country have created a boom in local production.

When new legislation came into force last year spelling out the amount of local channels and programming Brazilian pay-TV platforms must carry, Canal Digital’s subscriber numbers jumped from 3.5 million to 13 million in one month.

The 14 year-old network – a joint venture between Globosat and a group of Brazilian filmmakers – predominantly airs homegrown content but now, with international channels in the territory required to air a minimum of similarly sourced product, competition is heating up.

“It’s a whole new market in Brazil from this legislation on,” says Saddy. “Until three or four years ago Canal Brasil was the only place you could sell Brazilian movies and cable TV except for one blockbuster or another that would interest HBO or Telecine. The competition has got bigger. It’s good for everybody but it’s better for the producers. It’s incredible the number of production companies that are being created.”