Viewpoints: acquisitions strategies

Tom Zappala
Senior Vice President, Program Acquisitions and Scheduling
ABC Family
United States

What are your acquisition strategies?   

We look for smart, unique programming that targets the "Millennial" audience: young adults, ages 14 to 28.  

The Incredibles (DISNEY/PIXAR)

What products are you looking for?

We consider all genres, scripted and reality, comedy and drama.  We look at formats, and have also acquired completed reality programs, such as "Brat Camp" from Channel 4 in the UK. We've also acquired programs within the past year from France ("Santapprentice") and Canada ("Sophie") and are looking at several others.

What were your key acquisition deals in 2007?  

So far, we've acquired some key theatrical features ("Enchanted", "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Pirates of the Caribbean", "Hairspray", "Batman Begins", "Superman Returns"), scripted series ("8 Simple Rules") and reality ("Nanny: 911" and "America's Funniest Home Videos").

What are your plans for MIPTV?    

As always, we are on the lookout for new, fresh, interesting programs.