For this week’s edition of Water Cooler, VideoAge would like to stray from our usual style and instead use this space to alert you to the extra-special MIPCOM ‘09 issue we have in the works. From suggestions for U.S. broadcasters in light of the recent move from analog to digital, to biting commentary on what U.S. Studios call “Ultimates” (a way for them to predict with a fair amount of accuracy how much money a program will make overall), the October edition of the magazine is densely packed with information and makes for essential market reading.
Our front cover features two impressive interviews. The first is with Pier Silvio Berlusconi, vice-chairman of Mediaset and son of Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio (the founder of Mediaset). It’s been said that Pier Silvio receives close to 5,000 interview requests per year and only grants access to a select few.
We at VideoAge feel privileged to be one of those few, and used the opportunity to cover a vast array of topics. From Mediaset’s acquisition of Endemol to the company’s relationship with Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia, Berlusconi offers a bevy of insight.
The second features Disney’s Ben Pyne in his first full-fledged interview since taking over Disney’s Global Distribution, Disney Media Networks, in 2007.
In addition to these chats, our MIPCOM issue spans the globe with coverage of the international landscape. From a salute to the 30th anniversary of WIN, Australia’s largest terrestrial TV network, to a report on the cable TV situation in mainland China, few territories remain unexplored.
If the above isn’t enough to whet MIPCOM attendees’ appetites, we also report on the growing popularity of food-related programming in America. This seems to be a hot topic these days, with the New York Times Magazine devoting its cover to it a few weeks back. We review a related book, as well as discuss the recent Julia Child-centric film, Julie and Julia and the latest additions to cooking network lineups.
And, for the new media aficionado (you know you are one, you’re reading this online aren’t you?) – we analyze the differences between terrestrial television and the World Wide Web, and what recent moves to digital, etc. mean for the futures of both.
These are just a few of the highlights of the 40+ stories we have in the works for the MIPCOM 2009 edition of VideoAge, which will hit stands on September 31st.
