After a first day with a great flow of meetings, conferences with top industry executives, showcases and more, the 2024 edition of NEM Dubrovnik was officially inaugurated, from the Dubrovnik Palace Hotel, in Croatia. Yesterday's central topics were technology, and how public channels in CEE seek to maintain their relevance.

The day began as it could not have been otherwise, with valuable insights from Maria Rua Aguete from Omdia and Jonathan Broughton from PlumResearch, regarding artificial intelligence and its interference in TV and content. 'This year has been one of acceptance by the industry, which indicates a significant shift in the creative segment's attitude towards AI, that provided there is transparency and acknowledgment of its role in these creations', said Rua Aguete.

The public television stations in CEE had a stage yesterday afternoon, where in a conference they revealed the strategies for global successes of local content. Hanka Kastelicová, VP of Documentaries at HBO Europe said: 'We are focused on putting our region on the international stage, and we believe this is achieved through co-productions'. While Dániel Richárd Kovács, Director in Chief at RTL Hungary, also referred to co-productions: 'we are strengthening our OTT RTL+ through productions with regional partners, such as "The King" with WBD’.

Yesterday's central content showcase was presented by Kevin Soares, EVP of International Formats at IDTV, the renowned Dutch production company part of the All3Media group, who also presents strategies encompass developing original IP and leveraging the extensive company catalog, like its recent success, including the globally acclaimed show "The Traitors", the long-running format "Lingo", and their latest innovation, "The Unknown".

And ending the day, the founder of NEM, Sanja Božić-Ljubičić, moderated a Q&A with Nataša Rapaić, who will assume the role of CEO of Croatian Telecom on July 1, 2024. 'I am becoming the first woman to lead the company , and I'll continue the success of Croatian Telecom until now, like the importance of the commercial side and projects they launched, like IPTV. Croatian Telecom was the third telecom company to launch IPTV, and that was a significant achievement’.

Some buyers expressed the current insights about the business in the region, including Igor Draguzet, CCO at CME (Czech Republic): ‘we are experiencing an interesting moment of transformation of the TV segment in our region, as it is taking on its own identity and becoming more globally relevant’. Zane Valeniece, Head of Acquisitions at Latvian TV: 'the last 18 months have marked a significant shift in the industry, particularly with the pullback of streamers from content production, signaling the end of the Peak TV era. For public broadcasters, the acquisition process has become increasingly complex’. Katarina Pavlovic, Program Director of PRVA TV (Serbia): 'The benefit of what is happening, the abundance of content, and maybe looking at the CEE region for original ideas or something different to bring to the table, I think production companies and content creators are going to have the most benefit from cooperations'.

Alberto Buitron in Dubrovnik, Croatia

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