the
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to justify and account for the expenditures on their channels, demonstrating
that all campaigns make a measurable impact. There are few broadcasters
who offer this explicitly and on a continuous basis to clients.
Our editorial team has been successful in developing some unique
programme opportunities which are attractive to sponsors. One of the
highlights this year has been the series
Live Long and Prosper
, a six-
part series of half-hour programmes addressing the issues of an ageing
global population. HBSC came on board with this project, sponsoring
it for broadcast across the CNBC global network on CNBC Europe,
Asia and CNBC World in the USA. This was our first truly global
programme and a production feat in itself with the team on the road
taking in ten countries in just 43 days. Our task was to make a series
about ageing, about how the world’s population is living longer, and
the pressures that will bring for societies and individuals. We travelled
from Okinawa in Japan, which has the oldest population in the world,
to Brazil to the US to Shanghai and back to Europe.
Building the brand
CNBC Europe was established in 1998 and is now synonymous with
business broadcasting in Europe. It has a strong history from its origins
in the USA. It was first launched by NBC in the US in 1989 – NBC
itself has been a pioneer in the television industry for more than 70
years. CNBC quickly led the market in television business news and
broke new ground as the first television company to broadcast directly
from the floor of the NewYork Stock Exchange.
In December 1997, NBC and Dow Jones & Company entered into a
global business television alliance, bringing together the most recognised
business-news brands in the world – the Wall Street Journal, CNBC
and Dow Jones. By teaming up together, NBC and Dow Jones
strengthened their international operations, drawing on Dow Jones’
editorial resources including Dow Jones Newswires, and NBC properties
such as NBC News and MSNBC.
In May 2004 NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE)
completed the creation of NBC Universal, a global media and
entertainment enterprise. CNBC now sits at the heart of this new
company, alongside some of the most recognized brands in the industry
including Telemundo, Sci-Fi Channel, Bravo, Trial and MSNBC.
This unique heritage has helpedCNBCEurope become a recognized brand
in its own right in Europe. Last year
Campaign
magazine in the UK voted
CNBCEurope’s SquawkBox programme themost influential international
TV brand because of the programme’s affinity with CEOs and business
leaders. The programme attracts some of Europe’smost well-knownCEOs
as ‘guest hosts’ including names such as Sir Martin Sorrell, who, together
with Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi, is a regular.
CNBC Europe is now a ‘Business Superbrand’ – such recognition, by
The Brand Council, is crucial to the development of the channel. What
next? We will continue to focus on our signature fast-paced financial
and business coverage, as well as developing more in-depth and
analytical programmes focusing on key sectors which appeal to our
audience. Our approach must be to continually respond to the
marketplace in which we operate, seeking new opportunities to extend
our content and brand on to new platforms.
Who is taking the pulse of the cinema, television and
multimedia industries in Europe?Who reports on the
health of our audiovisual sectors and their legal
framework, or sounds the alarm should one
start flatlining? The answer is the
European
Audiovisual Observatory
in Strasbourg.
Working within the framework of the Council
of Europe, this pan-European organisation can
boast 36 members – 35 European countries
and the European Community. The
Observatory’s
Alison Hindhaugh
explains.
The European Audiovisual Observatory produces in-depth analyses
of the European television, film, video and multimedia industries
in the fields of market information, production and financing and
legal questions. It does so thanks to a unique European network of
over 500 information correspondents providing statistical data and
legal information which is then analysed by the Observatory’s team
and used to produce the various reports and databases made available
to media professionals and institutional decision-makers.
The Observatory makes its information available in the form of print
publications, online publications and services, free databases and
contributes regularly to major international conferences on all manner
of media themes. The regular print publications made available by the
Observatory include: the Yearbook – Film, Television, Video and
Multimedia in Europe and the FOCUS publication on world film market
trends produced for the Cannes Film Market. The Observatory can also
boast extremely successful publications on the legal issues faced by the
audiovisual industries: the IRIS monthly legal newsletter accompanied
by the thematic supplement IRIS plus and the one-off specialised IRIS
special reports produced once or twice yearly. Both the yearbook and
the IRIS newsletter are available in electronic form as online services.
The Observatory website also features three databases freely
accessible to all media professionals wishing to consult them. The
LUMIERE database gives information on admissions for films
released in Europe; KORDA contains extensive information on
public funding for the film and audiovisual sector in Europe; and
the IRIS MERLIN database is a mine of legal information relevant
to the audiovisual sector in Europe. An exhaustive directory of all
television channels in Europe – PERSKY – completes the list.
These databases can be accessed online
-
LUMIERE
Database on admissions for films released in
Europe
-
KORDA
Database on public funding for the film and
audiovisual sector in Europe
/
-
IRIS MERLIN
Database on legal information relevant to the
audiovisual sector in Europe
-
PERSKY
Television channels in Europe
Checking the pulse
of Europe’s media
