Shanghai TV Festival Review
The 7th Shanghai TV Festival (STVF) which ended on 13th November was the largest international TV gathering in the history of Chinese TV with over 3,500 delegates officially registered as attending the program exchange market, broadcast and production equipment exhibition, academic seminars and Magnolia Awards.
According to the Organizers, international participation in the STVF was also significantly higher with over 500 foreign participants at the main two market events.
30 of the 83 exhibitors at the broadcast and production equipment exhibition were international companies, with Panasonic, JVC and Sony all taking major stands. Initial estimates reveal that deals worth over US$5 million and RMB 60 million were inked during the three day event.
At the program market, CCTV, BTV, China Star, CTW, Warner Bros., ESPN Star Sports, Buena Vista, MTV, National Geographic, Channel V and European Television Enterprises all took major stands.
Shanghai presented its new unified line-up with a linked stand comprising broadcasters Shanghai TV (STV), Oriental TV (OTV) and Shanghai Cable TV (SCATV) as well as production houses Shanghai Paradise, Shanghai Film & TV Group and the Shanghai RFT Program Center.
The Organizer's initial returns show that over 3,300 letters of intent were signed at the program market, up from 1,500 in 1996. The biggest single Chinese export deal of the market was Warner Bros. proposed purchase of CCTV's "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", a production with an on-location budget of US$30 million.
While the stands were larger in scale and more professional in execution, the total number of exhibitors was down on last year, a result of the absence of many smaller Chinese producers which had turned out in force at last year's Sichuan TV Festival. This reflects the critical position of domestic drama production (see NEWS) and the poor sales opportunities for small local producers with limited catalogues.
Behind the promotional activities such as photocalls for VJ's and costumed antics from CTW and STV's "Sesame Street" creatures, the real business was focused on block buying campaigns by the increasing number of companies which have secured fixed slots on mainland channels.
Despite strong "initial sales agreements" for foreign TV films, dramas and factual documentaries to agents with bartered advertising time, series for broadcast in 1999 are bound to be affected by the sharp downturn in adspend now predicted by most analysts.
For major domestic broadcasters, the STVF provided an opportunity to advance projects for the 50th Anniversay of the People's Republic of China in 1999 and the end of the century a few months later. The celebrations for the 50th anniversary will involve production of major full length productions on every imaginable subject and the STVF plays a central role in bringing together partners across the country and in the exchange of historical footage. In 1999, major TV festivals in China will be held in Beijing in May and Sichuan in October.