U.s. Midseason In Season For Mip-tv Buyers

MIP-TV 2000 will get a much-needed boost with the international sales debut of at least 15 new midseason primetime U.S. network series, three times as many as last year.

The increase may represent a total turnaround for the global TV market that just two years ago seemed doomed.

"If the trend toward more and more midseason shows debuting on the networks continues, international program buyers can look forward to a much wider selection of new primetime shows than MIP-TV ever could offer in the past," said Richard Sattler, CEO of RSP International, which represents TV buyers worldwide.

The big problem with MIP from the Hollywood studios' perspective has been that it falls too close to the network pickup season for the fall that is beginning now.

Traditionally, the L.A. Screenings in late May and early June have been the principal market for primetime network series selling to the world market.

"But MIP is getting a second life as more and more network shows come off the schedule and are replaced in January or February," NBC Enterprises vp international sales and new business development Sergio Getzel said.

"The cycles have changed, and it's no longer just about the programs that debut in the fall. Now there are many more programs coming in midseason," Getzel said. "MIP allows us to introduce fresh product at a time when there is less competition, and it also allows us to present on-air performance history for a show."

Marion Edwards, 20th Century Fox International executive vp international television, added: "There is more new product going to MIP. It's a tribute to how hard it is to get shows established these days and a tribute to how many shows are replaced this year. There is a lot of new product for midseason."

Although few if any U.S. network shows get primetime outings on international broadcasters these days, there is still a very viable market for quality U.S. programming, Edwards pointed out. "The Simpsons" is a major international hit for her company. "Friends" is one of the top-rated programs in the United Kingdom.

So, while the increase in network programs going to MIP may not be as beneficial to the studios as it may have been five years ago, before international TV audiences began to demand local product, it still represents an opportunity for more sales. It certainly adds a new relevancy to MIP, industry executives unanimously agree.

Among the programs making their international sales launches at MIP will be Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Titus," both of which are being sold by Edwards. She is also selling the new ABC sitcom "Then Came You" from Twentieth Television.

Also being shopped at MIP will be new ABC drama "Wonderland" and sitcom "Talk to Me," both of which are being sold by Buena Vista Television International.

Other midseason network shows being shopped at MIP include CBS' new medical drama "City of Angels" and the CBS sitcom "Grapevine," both being sold by CBS Broadcast International.

Columbia TriStar International Television will be talking about its CBS drama "Falcone" and the highly anticipated "Young Americans," which is set to debut on the WB Network in the summer. CTIT is also launching UPN's "Secret Agent Man" at MIP.

"We are going to this market viewing it as an opportunity to properly showcase our really strong midseason shows. There is a new and growing belief for us that this is a market at which we can give (midseason) programming the emphasis they deserve," CTIT senior vp sales strategy and planning Peter Iacona said.

Other new network shows heading to Cannes will be DreamWorks' "The Others," an NBC sci-fi drama, new NBC sitcom "Battery Park," Paramount's "Higher Ground," which bows on FX cable, and "The Beat" on UPN.

"We are seeing a blurring of the traditional seasons," Universal International Television executive vp and co-head Peter Hughes said. Hughes and his team will be opening talks on the Dick Wolf series "D.C."

"Some people will think that it's too much to say that MIP is getting a new breath of life, but we are looking forward to going to MIP this year because its a great opportunity for us to advertise our portfolio. ... We also have some of our shows launching on cable, such as 'Cover Me' on USA," Hughes added.

Despite the fact that some of the American series getting a look at MIP might soon be canceled, buyers are generally upbeat about getting such an early look at potentially popular U.S. product.

"It's the first time in my memory that the American studios have shopped so many midseason shows so quickly to Europe. Some of these have only been on the air a few weeks, and it shows a real eagerness on the part of the studios to strike while the iron is hot," said RSP's Sattler, who represents such buyers as Sweden's TV4, Norway's TV2, Poland's Wizja-TV and the BBC/Flextech joint-venture cable channels in the United Kingdom.

"Usually the studios would wait until the L.A. screenings and show us the midseason shows along with the new product picked up for fall," Sattler said. "If this trend continues, and it looks like it will, it will certainly bring a new emphasis to MIP as a market," he added.

Just two years ago, several leading studios threatened to abandon the market, and Reed Midem executives worked furiously to make it more attractive for them by encouraging a bigger new-media presence at the market, among other things.

The French Riviera TV confab opens Monday.