Q: In the past year, how have scripted formats, for instance telenovelas, done in the Asian markets?
A: Scripted formats are definitely a trend in the Asian markets. Now more than ever we see an evident interest from local production companies in creating products from the “Golden Book”, which are telenovela scripts with proven worldwide success.

At the moment, Telemundo Internacional is present in the Philippines with the format Where is Elisa?, achieving amazing results in the 21:55 time slot. We are also working with important clients from India, Vietnam and China to keep growing our presence in the market, which at the moment is prominent with our formats as well as the can (already-produced telenovelas).

It must be noted that despite the growth in the interest of producing locally from formats, the can products will continue to have an important positioning within the market.

Q: Which territories in particular have seen strong growth or done well?
A: Currently, the most significant growth for our business has been in Indonesia (Dori Media Vision 2 Pay TV), where we have Doña Bárbara and Behind Closed Doors; Malaysia, where we have Beautiful but Unlucky; and Vietnam, in which we have Gavilanes (currently) on-air and future plans of airing other titles from our catalogue.

Q: Buyers are increasingly looking at content with cross-platform potential. How high does such content rank on Telemundo’s catalogue at MIPCOM?
A: This type of content is very important for our company. Telemundo Internacional is a forerunner in this matter and we have a consolidated approach for all our clients’ interests in doing this category of crossplatform strategy. Our contracts include digital rights so our clients can receive the material they want fully adaptable to digital media.

Q: What key challenges do you face in adapting your formats for Asian buyers?
A: The biggest challenge, in general, is the way the Asian market moves and reacts. Most of our formats are perfectly written scripts with characters, scenery and descriptions that work perfectly well to tell the story. Since the Asian TV industry moves at such a fast pace, sometimes production companies are forced to edit these scripts with the challenge of not leaving out any essential elements of the story. Having said that, we make sure to maintain a great relationship with our clients to avoid obstacles. We work with them hand in hand all the way until the last episode airs.

Q: How do you differentiate your formats over others’?
A: We believe that a bright idea or concept along with a good script can be adapted in every market. Telemundo has placed itself as one of the top leaders in the industry because of the high value of its productions and also because of the great results we have achieved with the formats we represent.

Each year, our catalogue gets stronger with products that satisfy our clients’ needs. Proof of that is the most recent addition to our catalogue, Reset TV. In MIPCOM, we will be presenting 14 different formats from this company that is coming back with the best in game and variety shows. With this new catalogue, we guarantee our clients the access to some of the most successful and recognised formats in the history of this genre, for example Operación Triunfo.

Q: What key titles are you pushing at MIPCOM this year?
A: We will be offering several new titles along with other successful ones from our catalogue, such as The Queen of the South and Maid in Manhattan. Among the new titles, we have Precious Rose (Rosa Diamante), produced by Argos for Telemundo; Facing Destiny (El Rostro de la Venganza), an original story of Telemundo Studios; Bittersweet (Dulce Amargo), a Televen and Cadena Tres co-production; and The Switch (Pobre Rico), the latest from Televisión Nacional de Chile.