The 2024 edition of SERIES MANIA FORUM has come to an end with a very positive result, according to its director Francesco Capurro, who spoke with PRENSARIO to give his assessment of the event. 'It was the biggest SERIES MANIA FORUM so far, with more than 4300 visitors, 18 delegations from different countries, 50 pitches and more conferences and keynotes from industry leaders, a much better distribution plan… all made a very fluid show’.

The morning of the last day started with three keynotes from the “Lille Dialogues” all-day sessions at the Grand Theater dedicated to the main 3 French free-to-air channels, TF1, M6 Group and France Televisions. The executives spoke of their new streaming platforms, the strategies in streaming, digital services and the impact of AI within the free TV.

Rodolph Belmer, CEO of TF1: ‘We don’t see digital streaming platforms 'as competition'. Our strategy is to reach the main digital francophone audiences outside France, with TF1+, based on advertising. The service delivers premium content for free and the most popular use of the platform is “catch-up”, having more than 27 million French users watching an average of 2 hours a week of TV a week on French TV'.

Nicolas de Tavernost, President and CEO of M6 group, which is about to leave the company after almost 40 years, highlighted: ‘Even though the income that comes from traditional linear platforms accounts for about the 80% against streaming services, it is the right moment to take advantage of the two publics that these services provide’. About the French laws that have prevented its merger with TF1, he said: ‘They didn’t allow the national industry to grow and compete against international players'.

Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO of France Télévisions, made focus on the role of public France Television: ‘We are in the market to build a better world for everybody. More pragmatically, we want to be here for all our viewers every day so that all members of our French society feel represented in our content. 50% of the French population every day and eight out of 10 French people every week watch us’.

In another panel, Cathy Payne, CEO of Banijay Rights took the stage to talk about the enormous catalog that the company has recently developed: '25% of the Banijay catalog is scripted TV'. She discussed the market slowdown of the commissioning, making the production of content go for fewer risk strategies. ‘I feel optimistic because, in my long experience, as soon as the market stabilizes, the funding will be back’. She also bets on the impact of the use of AI in the content production.

J B Perrete, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO of Global Streaming and Games, closed the forum sessions in a packed auditorium, announcing the launch of MAX in Europe next May 21st. 'WBD's strategy is to get into the streaming business to stay confident that their strong and large catalogue, with their ability to produce high-quality content, expands production capacity in local markets, and to be a Top 3 service measured by subscribers scale, viewership share and profitability’.

To close the event, we asked participants how this 2024 SERIES MANIA FORUM had performed for them, and most of them were happy with the sessions, the facilities, pitches and accessibility; the Italian delegation, in their first year, were very pleased with this event generating new leads and interesting meetings; the Taiwan delegation, in their third year in a row, had the biggest presence ever, bringing more producers and making co-productions deals grow. For the Turkish distributor Inter Medya, this was its second year and compared to last year, there was more interest in Turkish content. All in all, attendees agree about the growth and success of SERIES MANIA FORUM 2024.

Mariano Gutiérrez Alarcon, Alberto Buitrón

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