Mipcom 2014 highlights

 

MIPCOM in the Fall, MIPTV in the Spring.

 

Remember the days (less than 10 years ago) when the former was all about the cinema and the latter about TV?

 

Now there's a gigantic audiovisual entertainment 'hyper-universe' with a new language: all-screens, content, storytelling, monetizing, crossover, platforms, creatives, buzz...

 

The bigger-than-ever 30th MIPCOM, with more than 13700 delegates, from 112 countries and a record number of content propositions, closed on 16th October.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what created the BUZZ this autumn?

 

The key industry deciders

- very upbeat; people such as:

 

• Viacom VP, Christian Kurz on Millenials: "Our research shows 63% of the 6-34 age group believe TV has never been this good"
   
• Anne Sweeney, top Disney Group Exec, 'the most powerful woman in entertainment': "This year people will watch 4.5 trillion hours of TV, 4.5 billion more than last year!"
   
• Andrew Stalbow, co-founder and CEO of SERIOUSLY, the Santa Monica & Helsinki based games group: "Our session lengths are incredibly high - the average for games shows is 2-3 minutes, we're achieving 12!!"
   
• Ted Sarandos, Content Director, Netflix, a company with star quality this year: "People are watching on-line and time shifting - they get content when they want it." and "We are programming for the world, it's the golden age of storytelling."
   
• James Murdoch, COO of 21st century Fox and younger son of media mogul Rupert , with an intriguing prediction for the most exciting trend for TV in 5 years time: "Oculous Rift virtual reality - towards entertainments that are indistinguishable from reality - it's not sci-fi!". (Oculous Rift: way of looking seamlessly around a virtual world - everything will be real and virtual or vice versa!)

 

 

 

MIPCOM Personality of the Year : Simon Cowell

billed as an Entertainment Creative Icon.
 

For many people worldwide, he and his company, Syco Entertainment, have transformed popular culture  with some of the most successful global music and television franchises, including the two talent show phenomena,' X Factor' and 'Got Talent'. For many others, single-handed,  he has been responsible for the global growth of trash TV.

 

Latest propositions aiming to emulate Cowell's extraordinary success include these two, randomly selected from many...:
 

                - Dating Naked: 2 strangers completely naked meet; if satisfied (!), make a naked date... and as Guardian columnist Stuart Heritage commented "lie to camera about how they were really attracted to their partner’s personality."
 

                - Keep Your Dog Alive: Contestants have a pet dog dying or dead. They take a porcelain dog through several grueling tasks. If it is unbroken at the end of the show, a S.Korean scientist creates a clone of their beloved pet.
 

In the comments section of the Guardian article a Mr Phil Porter commented "If only there was a show showing the audience watching these (and other similar) shows! That would be brilliant!

 

 

 

 

Cowell's stimulating interview with a panel of journalists

touched on more serious topics:

 

 

• Crossover:  Those fascinating young Millennials again; their shifting viewing habits, "watching YouTube videos by the bucket-load, on a range of devices, creating their own stars without the help of TV talent shows. YouTube is their very own TV;" A threat to Syco and all its wannabes?
   
• Commissioning of original TV by Netflix, Amazon, PlayStation...: Distributors becoming producers, menacing yet another upheaval in traditional roles.
   
• Reality TV that is really pre-scripted: 'Junk-reality' for Cowell, with people and situations set up to create drama. No surprise, it's boring and could be self-destructing.
   
• Apps for real-time viewer interaction: Danger of technology overruling content?

 

That's it - very briefly!
 

 

 

A glimpse of what goes on entertainment-business-wise in Cannes twice a year.
Be part of it; the future being reinvented before your very eyes.

 

 

 

Be certain of hearing everything, talking to everybody

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