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Telenovelas...
from Eastern
Europe or Latin America?
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In Russia, Argentinian telenovelas reach
40% of the market whereas Brazilian ones
20% and Venezuelan ones also 20%. The
question is “Why do Mexican telenovelas
only get 10% of the market followed by
Peruvian productions with 7%? To this
TVMAS question answers Joanna Szybist
, responsable for Media Mediametrie-Eurodata
market research, Francia.
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 t
is hard to give just one explanation. One is that
distributors and channel programmers have dealt
with agreements so it is not the audience that
always chooses. This trend is changing now because
the audiences dare the channels to choose good
and successful telenovelas. At a time, the popularity
and success of these products was such that channels
were buying everything to everybody. Another explanation
is that at the negotiating time, prizes are a
key factor but this will not last long. Buyers
are interested in knowing more about these products
and they invest only in good products since telenovelas
occupy great part of programming times. The drop
in the number of telenovelas that are broadcast
in many countries, even though their presence
is still important, is due to an adjustment of
the buyers pressed by audiences that support a
product or not.
Why are not telenovelas produced in Eastern
Europe, Slovenia, Sarajevo, Poland, Russia so
successful as Latin American ones?
Because they are more like Soap Operas and they
started to be produced with the openness of Eastern
European market. They try to make something similar
to Latin American telenovelas since they are good
from the economic point of view. Besides, the
product is marvelous because it provides a fresh
view, stories that people had never seen in this
country. The perfect story of the good and the
bad but with amazing plots that include fiction.
Soap Operas do not work alike because they do
not have a love and fairy tale background as the
Latin ones.
Why has not the French television profited
from this genre?
This is a good but hard question. Channels may
answer that.
Prejudice?
As a French, I would not like to say this about
my fellow-country people. Local production tradition
is something we are proud of and it is strongly
supported by the government and the audience loves
local productions there.
So, it is a remarkable scenery to make a co-production
and offer a good product to this audience, do
you think it can work?
I am sure that if someone shows a good telenovela
in France, it will be a success. Until today,
the French have seen mainly Soap Operas from the
USA like the only way of production from France,
another European country or the USA. The French
can be very sceptical towards the USA, but they
can be much in love with their productions. A
big amount of American products is bought since
it is a safe investment for them.
Are
there any Latin American productions
for France?….
France scarcely invests in telenovelas. There
has not been a “boom” in the audience
when some telenovela was broadcast. The question
is: With target strategies and a more European-like
product, maybe there are some in Brazil or Argentina
catalogues, will this product generate a “boom”
in France?
To break the stereotype in French media is a challenge.
Telenovelas are connected to low-cost productions,
low quality, recorded mainly in studios and not
in sophisticated sets. I do not think they have
followed the genre evolution because telenovelas
have changed their esthetics and production. Topics
also face stereotypes since they are considered
simple stories, naive or silly. It depends on
producers and distributors. They have to convince
them that telenovelas are something more.
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“I
am sure that if someone shows a
good telenovela in France, it will
be a success” Joanna Szybist. |
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Reality
shows and telenovelas
Reality shows have
been popular all over the world. The only difference
is that European countries started to have them
earlier, and the success is already starting in
Latin America. Joanna concludes, “In Russia
the initial enthusiasm in those types of programs
is falling down. What made them extraordinary
was the fact that they were new and audiences
were amazed. Meanwhile, telenovelas are longer-standing
successful products.”
Telenovelas
Ranking
the period: Oct-Nov
2003
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