New York – World Screen is teaming with Reed MIDEM to present the first-ever Format Trendsetter Awards at MIPCOM, honouring executives for bold, innovative programming choices in format-based content.

The honourees for 2014 are Phil King, the president of CTV, sports and entertainment programming (Canada); Merrily Ross, the VP of formats at Viasat Broadcasting (Pan-Europe); Anette Romer, the head of acquisitions and formats at TV2 (Denmark); and Ran Tellem, the VP of programming at Keshet Broadcasting (Israel).

These executives will each receive a Format Trendsetter Award at the end of the Formats Superpanel — What Do Buyers Want? session at MIPCOM. Taking place at the Grand Auditorium in the Palais on Wednesday, October 15, at 3.30pm, this must-attend panel will see the honourees discussing their format acquisition strategies in conversation with Anna Carugati, World Screen’s group editorial director.

The new awards build on the successful World Screen Content Trendsetter Awards, which since 2011 have honoured leading programming, acquisition and scheduling executives, in association with Reed MIDEM. The 2014 Content Trendsetters are ITV’s Sasha Breslau, Nine Network’s Les Sampson, Globo’s Paulo Mendes and SundanceTV’s Christian Vesper.

“We’ve been thrilled with our partnership with Reed MIDEM over the last four years to honour programming wizards who are tasked with building compelling schedules for audiences,” said Ricardo Guise, president and publisher of World Screen. “Given the ever-increasing importance of formats for programmers across the globe, we felt it was time to create the Format Trendsetter Awards. These executives have the difficult task of spotting innovative ideas amid the sea of formats available on the market. We look forward to celebrating their discerning tastes with this award.”