Endemol moving into telenovelas

As part of a push into scripted programming Endemol is moving into telenovela production and distribution. Speaking at the European Media Leaders summit in London, orgaised by TBI publisher Informa Telecoms & Media, Endemol CEO Aat Schouwenaar said: "We are looking at telenovelas. There is big interest in South America and, increasingly, elsewhere."

The Endemol chief revealed to TBIvision that its first telenovela project is being developed by its Argentine subsidiary for local broadcaster Telefe. He said that Endemol will look to capitalise upon the popularity of the genre with international sales of the finished project. Endemol currently derives about 10% of revenues from scripted fare.

The scripted programming push was one part of a seven-point plan that Schouwenaar said is designed to double profits within five years. The other areas were: organic growth in existing markets; the US market; the UK market; digital media; expansion into new territories; merger and acquisitions.

Schouwenaar also detailed John de Mol’s involvement in Endemol now that his investment vehicle Cyrte is a shareholder. "He will provide us with new formats, which are exclusively developed for Endemol. At the same time he has a deal with RTL and timeslots where he can try out new formats. He is not involved [with Endemol] operationally."