NEM Dubrovnik finishes today, marking a milestone edition with a growth of more than 30% in attendance compared to the last edition. Without a doubt, the Grand Hotel Dubrovnik is starting to feel small for a market that continues to attract executives who choose this event to explore the TV business in Central and Eastern Europe.

Sanja Božić-Ljubičić, founder of NEM, commented to Prensario that believes this success is due to the carefully curated agenda of events and conferences, as well as the very specific invitations extended to executives focused on the television business in this region: ‘this year we had very important delegates who usually do not attend traditional markets and have trusted NEM to offer their current perspective on the business’.

Yesterday, on the panel "Linear TV Still Matters in CEE," there was a discussion about the shift some companies are experiencing regarding the coexistence of linear TV with other forms of TV. Nicolas Eglau from Moonbug Entertainment noted, ‘We started on YouTube and went back to the world, however, our audience prefers to watch our content on their local streamer or on the linear channel’. Robert Šveb, General Director of HRT, reinforced this by stating, ‘linear is still strong in Croatia and in the rest of Western countries. This gives us the opportunity to create fun programs from time to time’.

The broadcasting of sports also had its moment at NEM this year. Julia Reznik, Deputy Head Sports & Events from SES, discussed the need for broadcasters: ‘broadcasters need transparency, visibility into costs and availability, along with the importance of promoting good practices among content owners, rights holders, and broadcasters on a global scale, all while ensuring sustainable operations’.

In addition, the CEO of Global Agency, Izzet Pinto, featrured an exposition on the importance of marketing investment in the entertainment sector. ‘We thought we should do an extremely detailed presentation on marketing so that people get the story and see that it's like a telenovela rather than a religious one’, explained. ‘This involved a series of strategic marketing efforts designed to capture and hold audience attention’.

During the afternoon, The Walt Disney Company offered a screening to the buyers of the region, showcasing the strength of its brands. As well as Amazon MGM Studios, which also introduced its upcoming programming slate, including titles like Luca Guadagnino's film "The Challengers", the latest production by the award-winning Emerald Fennell, and Zoë Kravitz's directorial debut, all of which are available in CEE.

One of the recurring themes in the hallways and conferences during NEM was how companies are transforming to counteract the impact of the economy, the drop in production, and how some broadcasters are refraining from buying content. Everyone agrees that resilience, diversification of offerings, and strategic alliances are key to remaining relevant.

Vanda Rapti, EVP of Viaplay Select & Content Distribution at Viaplay Group, said: ‘we are forming supportive partnerships with local aggregators and streaming services, adapting to the needs of each market, partnering with various entities like Vodafone in Greece and Telekom in Germany, to combine strengths and support growth in different regions’. On the other hand, Levente Málnay, EVP/MD of AMC Networks International, emphasized the company's commitment to linear television in the region: ‘we strongly believe that in the Central-Eastern European region, linear still works well to the largest satisfaction of consumers. For example, we launched our 36th linear TV channel in Romania as evidence of this commitment’. Also, María Valenzuela, the former executive of Movistar Plus+, commented about alliances and partnerships: ‘the competition among the very different services and the capacity of transmitting what is within the services has been incredibly challenging. That’s why collaboration among streamers or partnerships with telcos could be a solution, as consumers desire a single platform to access various services’.

Alberto Buitron in Dubrovnik, Croatia

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