Page 49 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 2 2011

THE CHANNEL ISSUE 2 2011 | 49
EMERGING MARKETS | THE CHANNEL
fast is that now also the C and D
class are joining as subscribers. I'd
say that two years ago the total
number of subscribers was about
6m, now this figure has almost
doubled. [Editor's note: Classes are
determined by monthly earnings.
At the top, classes A&B make up
15% of the whole population, C
46%, D&E 39%.]
Is the market locked in by Globo?
Oh, absolutely. But they do a terrific
job.
When big news breaks who do
people turn to?
The internet of course. And then to
the 24 hour news stations: Globo
News, Record News and Band
News are all strong stations, they
are really very good.
What about the state broadcasters?
About four years ago the government
created the EBC (Empresa Brasil De
Comunicação) which owns some
public stations, such as TV Brasil in
Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. So
far, EBC has not shown results that
are comparable with PSBs in Europe.
But then in Brazil the tradition is
completely different – TV started
here in 1950 as a private service.
The first public station was set up
18 years later, in 1968, and has since
then always been dependent on
governments and never achieved a
significant share of the audience. I
would say that EBC stands for less
than 1% of the total audience.
What about foreign channels?
When we talk about those 12m
subscribers to pay‑TV in Brazil, that
includes all major international
channels – channels like Discovery,
CNN, Fox, HBO. And some, like
HBO, Fox and Turner, are even
producing content locally, as there
are tax incentives in place.
Is prime time still dominated by
soaps and news?
That is 100% correct. The pattern
that Globo introduced about 20
years ago has not changed and
Record and SBT do the same. A
soap at 7, then another at 8, news at
9, then another soap, then
entertainment. There is a very
strong entertainment grid.
What are the trends re platforms?
The telecoms are establishing a
very strong position in the market,
they are doing very well. Their
partners are foreign investors, so
everybody is here – from Portugal,
Spain, etc. Right now it's a very
interesting period where changes
are happening very fast –
concerning ownership of the
telecoms and regarding legislation.
For many years, the networks
were rightfully against the
possibility of distribution of content
by the telecoms, and it's still an
issue that's being hotly debated. As
an emerging market, Brazil is an
incredibly attractive market. We
have a population of 190m and we
just achieved 60m internet
consumers, and half of those 60m
don't even have very good
connections at the moment.
So you can imagine the pace of
growth to come over the next few
years. Eight years ago, you could
never have imagined that today
everybody in Brazil can be a
consumer of content, either via pay‑
TV, cell phones, the internet, iPads,
whatever.
I definitely think this is the main
reason why Brazil is by far one of
the most attractive markets for new
media, for content distributors on
any platform.
What's happening with HD and 3D?
When digital TV started in Brazil
four years ago we had to choose
whether to use the band for mobile
programming or HD, and of course
the private networks chose HD. So
most of the prime time viewing in
Brazil on the private networks is in
HD, and the production is in HD.
Now we are in the first phase of
production for mobile. 3D never
took off completely, here in Brazil
as everywhere else. I am personally
not sure it ever will. The switchover
to digital will be faster than people
thought – the estimated switchover
was ten years and I think it will be
completed in less than seven years.
How easy is it for a media
organization to operate in Brazil?
Government control is not a
problem here, no, not at all. I would
say bureaucracy, yes, mostly in
terms of independent production.
The government agency for
audiovisual, ANCINE (National
Agency of Cinema), is very
bureaucratic. It is not a very
friendly environment for
independent production, for free to
air TV, as the three most important
players, Globo, Record and SBT,
produce almost 100% of what they
broadcast in‑house.
By contrast, in pay‑TV
independent production is very
strong; the Globosat channels work
a lot with independent producers.
What’s on your wishlist?
If I could wish for anything it
would be that we come to an
understanding that the broadcaster
and the producer are two different
entities. It does not happen yet in
Brazil.
For me personally, as a producer
who produces a lot for pay‑TV and
the cinema, I would like to have
this huge market of open TV more
oriented towards the production of
independent TV.
Nelson Hoineff, thank you.
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w.comalt.com
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w.ietv.org.br
Brazil is
by far one
of themost
attractive
markets
for
content
distribu-
tors on
any
platform
“
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