Antenna Studios
George Levendis, MD of Antenna Group in Greece, and Caroline Hurmson, senior director of content strategy, acquisition and sales, discuss how the company’s programming is evolving, how streaming and FAST are changing things and the highlights of their Mipcom slate.
How is the content strategy at Antenna Group changing?
Levendis: Like all free-to-air [FTA] channels in the current age, the content strategy is constantly evolving. Ant1 is the first channel in Greece to launch an SVoD platform, Ant1+, and this in itself requires a fresh strategy across all our content, especially fiction and sports, which are the drivers of the SVoD platform. With Ant1 being a leading FTA channel, it has always had a primetime mix of fiction and entertainment, shifting the weight of each genre depending on the audience tastes, the content evolution and trends.
The Greek market is arguably one of the most competitive in Europe, with seven notable channels going head-to-head on a daily basis.
Currently, we are extremely focused on our fiction output across both FTA and SVoD, telling great stories with themes that touch our viewers. This upcoming season we have two very strong and highly anticipated period dramas, The Witch and Soul Daughters. Both are exceptional in all aspects and it is clear that The Witch, coming from the creators of Wild Bees, will once again create a new path for Greek television. It is the biggest drama series ever produced by a Greek network and it is brilliant in both storytelling and quality of production. It is set in the southern Peloponnese in the period right before the Greek revolution and has the ideal mix of relationships, family, conflict and redemption.
Soul Daughters, meanwhile, is a powerful female-led drama based on recent historical events related to a foster system – which was abolished in the early 1970s – where underprivileged or orphan children in villages left their homes to be adopted by families in the major cities. All aspects of production, costume design and storytelling are at a very high level, touching on themes that resonate to this day.
These, along with three other major fiction series, can be viewed across our FTA, SVoD and AVoD strategies, shifting between broadcast, subscription and catch-up. This strategy combines elements of preview via subscription first, while introducing SVoD-only content to our viewers through FTA episodic sneak peeks.
How is the growth of streaming changing the kind of shows being made by Antenna?
Levendis: We are more open to miniseries, anywhere between eight and 15 episodes, mainly in the genres of true crime and comedy as well as documentaries and docurealities across a broad range of topics, such as music and well-being – content that creates a buzz and resonates strongly with a clear audience demo or fan base.
We are looking at shows that touch topics not traditionally embraced by FTA channels, as can be seen from our work on Serres, On All Fours, I Am Jo, Zoe and Disaster Theories. These are projects that deal with modern topics and touch the lives of audiences regardless of their origin. What is integral for us is the story. We firmly believe stories well told can touch audience across borders and the content has the ability to travel like never before.
Our productions are surprising buyers and are far beyond what has been expected in the past from Greek productions in general. The times have changed and Greek productions are getting recognised globally, which helps the whole Greek film and TV industry.
How is the market reacting to your new programming?
Hurmson: Traditionally, Greek series have tended to be long-running dramas; however, we are delivering a far more varied mix, both in episodic numbers and content style. We launched Save Me, a psychological thriller based on the bestselling book by Dimitris Simos, at Mipcom 2022 and the audience was fairly surprised with the topic, style and locations. We did not opt for the typical beautiful Mediterranean island background but instead chose a bleaker Northern Greece region, plus the fact we produced only eight episodes.
Save Me pretty much changed our image in the market as it was new, different, telling the story of a gruesome serial killer and a crime that connects past and present. But also it asks the ever-present questions: how far can you go for revenge and is there redemption? These are all narratives familiar from classic Greek drama, wrapped up in a new, suspenseful thriller.
Since then, we have come a long way with comedy-dramas like Serres, On All Fours, Zoe and I Am Jo. None of these productions are typically Greek. Instead we are looking at topics that travel and are relatable to a far more contemporary audience. The themes are current and unique but not forgetting our Greek heritage of storytelling and famous legends.
The response to our shows, at festivals, markets, events and afterwards, has been incredibly strong and positive. On All Fours was the only non-English-language drama that was showcased at Fresh TV/The Wit at MipTV in April and the audience deeply connected with the relatable narrative and the emotional journey of our heroine. Serres features diversity and inclusivity in a very heart-warming and family friendly way. On All Fours dares to challenge our perception of disability, while Zoe and I Am Jo tell the stories of women on their way to finding and re-inventing themselves. Our stories touch upon everyday topics that everybody can relate to and that’s why our productions are getting attention and praise globally.
How important is it to have female-led drama on the Antenna slate?
Hurmson: There is a big appetite for female drama; that is pretty obvious with society’s shift and focus on female empowerment. Looking at our upcoming productions for 2024/25, we are once again highlighting powerful stories of courage, survival and resilience. We tell stories that are universal and do not look explicitly for female-led drama. We look for stories to be told and that resonate not only with Greeks but also with global audiences.
Our stories are character-driven – female or male – and are uplifting shows that offer viewers an hour of escapism. This is why we chose characters like Zoe, Jo, Odyssea (Serres) and Stella (On All Fours). For us, finding the right talent is very important and we believe that, in an extremely competitive environment, we have achieved this with our originals’ slate and mix of heroines and heroes.
What is your coproduction strategy and what have you coproduced so far?
Hurmson: Our strategy is simple: to work with the best producers and best talent and to look at recognisable IP that works both locally, on our Greek SVoD and FTA audience, and globally. We want to make sure we add value to every project we undertake and enhance the fact that Greece is a country for coproduction. In the past few years, there has been a dramatic increase in international films and series being produced in Thessaloniki, Athens and even the Greek islands from producers in the US, UK and across Europe.
We now have an attractive production subsidy/cash rebate, making the country a competitive production hub. There is a lot more opportunity for growth in Greece, whether factual or scripted, gap-financing or coproducing. We are open for ideas and stories, as long they can connect to our Greek audience first and foremost.
In terms of investment, we aim at prime partnerships and given Antenna Group’s portfolio of global media assets across multiple platforms we can offer partners a broad market, maximum exposure and a huge opportunity.
What shows do you have in the pipeline for 2023/24?
Hurmson: Our most notable upcoming project is The Witch, one of the biggest drama series ever to be produced by a Greek network. It is also Antenna’s biggest investment to date, as mentioned earlier. It is very special. We are very excited to launch it at Mipcom. It will premiere in Greece at the end of September and will also be travelling to our AXN channels in Central and Eastern Europe [CEE]. The Witch will introduce an international audience to a part of Greece’s unknown adventurous history but also to the country’s breath-taking beauty.
We have just launched Soul Daughters on Ant1+, a female-led drama about four sisters in the 1950s who are forced to become ‘soul daughters’ – a foster system for orphans and underprivileged kids – which, strangely, was still legal into the early 1970s. These four young women are misled at a very difficult time and agree to work for families in the cities in the hope of being educated and to better their lives. But as in every good drama, life does not play out as it was planned and they have to endure loss, tragedy, abuse and must overcome incredible challenges to simply survive and be reunited. Soul Daughters is in the tradition of classic Greek dramas like Brousko, Karma and our international hit Wild Bees. The quality and storytelling are exceptional.
The above series are between 60 and 70 episodes and add diversity to the miniseries discussed earlier. Historically, we have sold our longer running drama series in selected regions, but the aim is to introduce Greek drama to new markets around the world. Our focus is to be more global and universal in our productions.
What are the opportunities for Greek content on the international market?
Hurmson: The past few years have shown a tremendous shift in buyers being more open to diverse content from all around the world, whether it’s Nordic noir, Korean or Turkish drama, Israeli thrillers or Spanish and German series – so why not also find a niche for Greek drama? Whereas Greece has traditionally not been known as a supplier of content, the recent success of dramas from our own slate and others, indicates an openness by international audiences. It no longer needs to be English-language first. Audiences are willing and open; we need to deliver the content.
With that in mind, we’re focusing on expanding our fiction and factual offering over the next few years and target markets where we have not been present yet. We are keen to let our drama travel to the Asia-Pacific territories, US and Latin America – either as a finished tape sale or format opportunity – plus countries that have a huge Greek diaspora that loves to watch Greek drama. These are markets we consider low hanging fruit but have proved to be challenging.
International partnerships and global awareness of Greek content have also evolved, stories with authentic voices are achieving a broader reach internationally, stories that make you forget the world for a while, and we try to cater for this demand with our productions.
Looking as a buyer for different, new and diverse content is key and this becomes even more relevant in economically challenging times. In addition, the current actors and writers’ strike in the US and the EU quota regulations for European buyers and international streamers for new programming – all these factors will increase the demand for content from different sources, and eventually benefit the rise of Greek content internationally.
How is the growth of FAST changing your distribution strategy?
Hurmson: The increasing number of AVoD platforms and FAST channels offer additional ways for the distribution of our content. FAST channels have a high demand for special-interest content as well as our library content, classics and old favourites. FAST is interesting because it does not follow the standard rules of broadcasting, it’s the rebel of all outlets. FAST enables us to not only sell our newest titles and highlights, but also to distribute our vast back catalogue of long-running drama series that might not find a slot in a standard schedule.
But this additional distribution outlet requires an even more refined content strategy in order to not interfere with the other TV or VoD sales activities. Like every seller we need to match the puzzle pieces to monetise our content in the best possible way and we embrace more business opportunities as well as the potential of reaching more viewers, on various channels worldwide.
What are some recent international programme sales that your company has made?
Hurmson: Our drama series are obviously our strongest asset, perfectly complementing our new and high-quality factual line-up like Disaster Theories. We licensed titles including Save Me, Wild Bees, Brousko and Serres to several partners around the world, such as TVP in Poland, the AXN channels in CEE, Amediateka in CIS, EER in Estonia and Imagine in Israel. These sales are proof of the value and quality of Antenna original productions. Our team is looking forward to representing a fresh line-up including exciting news around our offering at Mipcom 2023.
It’s been a fortunate and successful couple of years for our scripted development and content creative teams, to get these projects off the ground. This year alone there are more than five new shows launched. We have received a great deal of attention for our more international and diversified catalogue over the past few months. We are confident in continuing our approach of early participation in exciting and promising, national and international, projects with a great deal of professionalism, reliability and focusing on our strengths – telling interesting stories from Greece to new audiences. After all, there is nothing like Greek drama.
