Last month, Content Americas successfully concluded its very first TV market in Miami. The event was viewed by many as being the heir apparent to the dearly departed NATPE. After all, Content Americas has all the attributes needed to continue for years to come. But there’s a big problem looming in the distance. Brunico, the Canadian trade publishing company that acquired the NATPE brand after NATPE filed for Chapter 11, hasn’t yet announced how it plans to use the NATPE name to stage its own NATPE Global in 2024.
For now, all that is known is that Brunico will organize NATPE Budapest, which will be held June 26-28, 2023 at the InterContinental Hotel, and that C21, the U.K. trade publishing company that organized Content Americas, will stage its own Content East, set for June 27-29, 2023 at the Kempinski Hotel in Budapest. It remains to be seen if one of these markets will emerge as the clear winner or both will cannibalize each other. Next year, 2024, however, is a completely different and more complex story.
Brunico’s president, Russell Goldstein, was seen roaming around Content Americas meeting with several people. He was reportedly invited by David Jenkinson, C21’s managing director, and VideoAge was one trade that he wanted to meet with. But since that interview didn’t end up happening, and he told us, via e-mail, that “there’s nothing to report at the moment,” we can only speculate as to what his future plans for NATPE are.
Brunico is known for organizing two markets: ReelScreen, which takes place in Austin, Texas in January and focuses on unscripted and non-fiction entertainment; and KidScreen, which highlights children’s content and is held in Miami in February.
Now, if Brunico was to combine these two events with NATPE Global (thereby creating a MIP-TV style market taking place alongside events that could rival MipJunior and MipFormat) in January or early February, Content Americas may have a difficult time surviving in its late January time slot.
However, if Brunico chooses to move this proposed combined market to March (close to April’s MIP-TV), the event won’t affect Content Americas — which focuses on LatAm and is held in January — but will drastically impact MIP-TV.
In effect, whatever Brunico chooses to do in 2024 could determine the fate of two markets: Content Americas and MIP-TV.
But there’s also a third option. If Brunico leaves both ReelScreen and KidScreen as they are, and instead tries to build a new niche for NATPE Global, the new entry wouldn’t create issues for Content Americas or MIP-TV, but it might make for a weaker NATPE Global.
A full report of Content Americas will be featured in the April (MIP-TV) print edition of VideoAge.
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