Shanghai Tv Confab Begins

The curtain went up Wednesday on one of Asia's biggest gatherings of the international television industry as the eighth biennial Shanghai TV Festival filled the Shanghai Mart with 4,148 participants from throughout the world.

Among the 13 U.S. companies taking part are Warner Bros. International Television, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Turner International Asia Pacific, Walt Disney Television International, CBS Broadcasting International Asia, National Geographic Channel, Discovery Asia and Voice of America Television.

The international TV program market, running through Friday, has attracted 246 companies from 15 countries, far more than the 140 companies at the previous festival.

Begun in 1986, the festival has become increasingly recognized by key industry players as a leading channel for the international exchange of television programs.

Aware of the potential of the Chinese market, Sony Pictures Entertainment embraces the event. William Pfeiffer, executive vp of Sony's Columbia TriStar International Television, cited an MPA survey stating that Sony has more sales in China than any of its U.S. competitors.

Jeffrey Schlesinger, president of Warner Bros. International Television, views the festival as "a good market in the long run, while still a big challenge given China's current limitations on foreign TV programming." Schlesinger noted that "change is evolutionary."

"We cannot expect change overnight as China's (World Trade Organization) entry approaches, but we are happy that China is moving in the right direction," echoed Jinande Chen, general manager of Sony Pictures Entertainment China.

But some believe that a when-in-Rome principle is the best way to develop business, said Nic van Zwanenberg, head of network development Asia at BBC Worldwide Channel, which has received licensing approvals from China. A latecomer compared to U.S. companies, BBC Worldwide Channel has set its sights on widespread access to ordinary Chinese families, which should occur "within 18 months to two years," Zwanenberg said.

Chinese television companies make up a record 62.2% of all exhibitors at this week's festival, "indicating a desire to have more dialogue with the international market," said Chen Xiaomeng, executive vice secretary-general of the festival. Chen said organizers hope to make the Shanghai TV Festival a respected worldwide entity by 2004.

Chen said the major obstacle facing Chinese television shows in the world market is their lack of familiarity with international market rules. Some Western viewers complain that Chinese TV shows are too long, with exaggerated performances and preachy plots.

"China's trump card to play in the global TV market following China's WTO entry will be documentaries, which have more universal themes and can be much more easily accepted," said Liu Xiliang, one of the judges for the Magnolia Awards, an international television program competition that is part of the festival.

Chen pointed out the necessity of tailoring documentaries to market needs so that they can enter the international market as soon as possible.