10:47 All3Media is doing well with Skins, but our new prime time TV could feature a bunch of Kiwi recyclers. Brilliant.
09:33 Producers get their heads round web TV
Web video services are high profile at this Mip, with both broadcasters and content providers pushing harder than ever to nail down a model that works for consumers and pays for itself.
Adam Khwaja is marketing director of UK production company Alchemy. He has been talking to several online video services about distribution deals and is, he says, keen to get Alchemy's content delivered this way.
The business model for services like Joost is fundamentally different to the way that TV production companies have worked for years. A broadcaster would typically pay anywhere between £30,000 and £1.5m for a show or a series, but web TV platforms usually pay content providers on a revenue-share basis and pay a tiny amount for each viewing. That's a much more risky proposition. So why bother?
"The key thing is that audiences are changing," said Khwaja.
"People are watching less TV whether we like it or not, and as producers and distributors we have to work out how to reach those people. I don't think the market is the same on these new platforms - it's not the same kind of audience that watch TV."
The content producers have to apply the same "commercial logic" to these new platforms as they would when selling to broadcasters, he said. They really need to know how to qualify the value of their product.
"Our business is high quality drama and event television, and I believe that will sell wherever it is distributed - new platform or not."
He said that with the introduction of cable and satellite twenty years ago, producers sold their content too cheaply so that they could distribute their work that way. This time round, producers are far more cautious and don't want to give their content away for less than it is worth.
We can expect an Alchemy deal with a web TV service soon, if the conditions are right. In the mean time, deals are imminent for Alchemy shows The Company and an adaption of War and Peace.
10:47 All3Media
All3Media are pushing a New Zealand show called Wasted which follows normal families (whatever they are) trying to cut down on waste and recycle more. That's very likely to end up on prime time.
All3 is also collaborating on various drama projects with Ecosse including Kitchen, a mini-series with Eddie Izzard that will air on Five and Cape Wrath. The latter is lined up as a major Channel 4 drama this autumn. The show has also been sold to Canal Plus in France.
But the big All3 show is Skins: the impact of the MySpace promotional campaign must have exceeded their wildest expectations: teenagers competing for the messiest house parties nationwide. All very messy. But it's back for a second season, and don't underestimate the part that MySpace played in building that audience. Plus All3 have already sold the show to Canal Plus and Filles TV in France, MTV in Finland and Russia, POP TV in Slovenia and NRK in Norway
