Viewpoints: sales strategies

Jens Richter
Managing Director
SevenOne International 
Germany

Can you tell us about your sales strategies in Europe?

Traditional key territories like France, Italy and Spain are obviously important, but over the past few years, we have been increasing sales to Central- and Eastern Europe. Each country has its own specific demand, which we can fulfill with our widespread portfolio of fiction, magazines, documentaries, animation and entertainment formats. We are on air from Spain to Norway and from the UK to Russia: in almost every Western, Central and Eastern European country, our programs can be watched.

Treasure Island

Can you name the titles that performed well on European TV Channels in 2007?

Sure. Our catastrophe miniseries "Tornado", which is sold into over 100 countries, had fantastic prime time ratings in Italy on Rai Uno. The Telenovelas "That' s Life" scores as "Le destin de Lisa" in France on TF1 market shares of up to 55,8% within the commercial demographic group. "Cuori tra le nuvole", the Italian dubbed version of our Telenovelas "Love is in the Air", doubled its market share within the commercial demographic group on Canale 5 after it was moved from 4 pm to 5 pm. In Latvia, "Love is in the Air" just recently started on LNT. And, with the help of the hilarious comedy duo Ale & Franz, "Buona la prima", the local adaptation of the improv comedy "Schiller Street", gained cult status already after one season in Italy on Italia Uno. The local adaptations of our sciencetainment magazine "Galileo" are also very successful with a daily time slot in Russia on CTC and weekly in Poland on TV 4.

What are your new highlights for MIPCOM 2007?

Again, SevenOne International proves to be a reliable distributor of big budget events: This time we present "Comet Impact", a truly outstanding movie from DarlowSmithson for Channel 5. In this catastrophic scenario, a comet hits the sea off the west coast of Ireland, causing a devastating tsunami and leaving hundreds of thousands dead, injured and homeless. However, there' s worse to come: an even more destructive comet will hit the Northeast of America. The screenplay is by Edward Canfor-Dumas, the author of "Supervolcano". Epic adventures are also very sought after internationally - for instance, both "The Airlift" and "The Hunt for Troy" are sold all over Western and Eastern Europe, to Asia and Latin America. Now we bring the adventure miniseries "Treasure Island" to Cannes: the TV adaptation of Robert L. Stevenson' s famous novel. Shot in the breath-taking scenery of Cornwall and Thailand, the classic adventure story gets a new modern look and feel. Even before the miniseries was finished it was sold to roughly 30 countries including key territories like Spain and Japan. In the thrilling miniseries "12 Signs", a serial killer murders according to star signs and turns the world of a rich banker dynasty upside down. Alexandra Neldel, the German superstar from "That' s Life", is starring in the miniseres. Also very creepy is "Deadly Harvest", a gripping movie about the struggle of a wife to save her husband' s life from the organ harvesting mafia, which was shot in South Africa. All of our Events in the family entertainment category have outstanding live action with a strong animation component. Events like "Ghost of Canterville", "Charlie II" and "Manatu" are sold to key territories like France, Italy, Spain, and Japan. Now, we present "The Secret of Loch Ness" where a little boy and an animated little character named OKI Ness have to face many adventures in a magical world. We also present a strong line-up of TV movies, hour series like "Deadline", funny animated shorts and even a Hungarian Soap.

..any new magazines or entertainment formats?

Yes. In the magazine section, we extended the successful Galileo brand with "Galileo CO 2 ntra". "Galileo CO 2 ntra" that demonstrates what we can do in our everyday lives to help save energy and in effect reduce CO 2 worldwide. We also offer documentaries such as "Seven Deadly Sins" : Here, profilers discover that many murders are based actually upon one of the seven deadly sins, which were already defined centuries ago. On the formats front, we keep on bringing the stars to Cannes. Katarina Witt, the most successful female figure skater of all times, says now goodbye to her fans and former rivals on an international tour "Katarina Witt: The Farewell Tour", where she is looking back to the most memorable and emotional moments of her legendary career. We also present the cult show from Norway, "Santas in the Barn", the new family game show "Family Showdown" and the two Dutch formats "Workplace Makeover" and "Moving In".

Which European countries are you targeting in 2008?

All of them, and of course, we are not going to forget the Asian, Pacific and American countries. We have a strong fictional line-up with Events like "Treasure Island" or "Comet Impact", which have huge sales potential. Our entertainment formats are also performing strong. "Clever! - The Quiz Show that makes Science Fun" proves to be the choice of the market leaders as it' s been launched for instance on Rai Uno in Italy, on Nova TV in the Czech Republic, on CCTV in China and NineNetwork in Australia. Combining science, family entertainment and a game show elements, "Clever!" offers a very interesting mix for buyers worldwide and recently Spain' s Telecinco and Poland bought the show. "Beat your Host!" the mega game show, is sold into 13 countries, including the US, UK, Sweden and Finland. With market shares of over 30% within the commercial demographic group, "Beat your Host!" is the most successful launch of a TV show in Germany in the past 4 years. The talent show "The Successor" will premier this October on NBC USA: In "Phenomenon", Uri Geller and Criss Angel are looking for the next great mentalist in the US and will judge the mind-blowing performances. We are co-producing "Phenomenon" with Granada America and we also distribute the US ready-made. And next spring, ProSieben will launch the German adaptation of "The Successor", so we' re very excited.