Buyer profile: Dermot Horan, director of broadcast and acquisitions, RTE (Ireland)

What are you looking for at the LA Screenings?

I’m losing Desperate Housewives this year. That’s been our top acquisition since 2004; it’s done the business so I need to find a replacement for that.

Also, with the cancellation of CSI: Miami, I probably need a crime procedural.

What did you pick up last year?
We picked up Homeland from Fox and it did very well. We were very pleased with the level of audience that it received.

The other shows that we bought were comedy; we got New Girl (from Fox), 2 Broke Girls (from Warner Bros) and Suburgatory (from Disney).

We also picked up Revenge from Disney but we haven’t aired that yet.

Do you think 2012 will be a good year?
Last year wasn’t a vintage year but there were a few good shows to come out of it. I’m hoping this year will be good.

There’s a bunch of interesting shows from medical dramas, soapy series and high concept shows.

Revolution from JJ Abrams could be interesting. Alcatraz didn’t do the business; he’s had success on the films, but JJ Abrams hasn’t had a television hit in a while.

I’ve also heard a lot about Elementary; we’ve had a lot of success with the BBC series Sherlock so I don’t know if we will go there.

NBC has picked up a number of series early including Save Me and The New Normal. All of these shows are single-camera shows and you have to watch them because they’re riskier.