TBI Weekly: How a month of markets reflects serious concerns

Conecta Fiction in Toledo

Conecta Fiction in Spain wrapped up a frenetic month of travel in June for TBI but while each event offered its own regional trends, there was one single overriding topic of discussion, writes Richard Middleton.

If you work in the European or North American content business, chances are you’ve been on the road this month.

From NEM Dubrovnik in Croatia and the Banff World Media Festival in Canada, to France’s Annecy Animation Festival, Sunny Side of the Doc in La Rochelle and the Monte Carlo TV Festival, with some Sheffield DocFest, two Budapest-based events and Germany’s Seriencamp thrown in for good measure, every genre was covered.

Yet while most markets were busy (people are still revelling in face-to-face time, it seems), the chatter often turned to the people who weren’t there.

Some were missing buyers, who stayed at home after finding their travel budgets squeezed, while for others it was more serious: job cuts, both actual and imminent, were the talk of the multiple towns we’ve visited over the past month.

Rewinding & reeling back

It has been a frantic six weeks for restructuring and while ‘streamlining’ workforces had already established itself as one of the key trends in 2023, a fair bit of the action has happened over the past month or so.

Yellowstone

It has also increasingly become a worldwide phenomonen that has affected broadcasters in Australia and Europe, as much as global streamers based out of LA. When America catches a cold and all that.

In many ways, with the US studios shifting strategies most dramatically over the past 12 months, the ongoing Stateside cuts have become less headline-worthy.

News in mid-May that Paramount Global would be cutting around 25% of its US-based team across Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, for example, was another blow for those invested in programming but perhaps not a great surprise.

Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, said the roles would be removed “through the elimination of some units and by streamlining others”, while departees included MTV talent exec Jessica Zalkind and Todd Radnitz, who oversaw unscripted for Paramount+.

The exits were followed by shows being pulled from the streamer and originals being cancelled, as Paramount looks to narrow its scripted focus on franchises and replicate the Yellowstone universe, while unscripted was also hit with Smithsonian Channel roles affected.

Over at Disney, which has already made three swathes of cuts, CEO Bob Iger was illustrating how a new leaner production operation is being implemented to better navigate the new world order where profits come before subscribers.

Channel fatigue

But the past month has underlined in bold felt tip pen that it’s definitely not just the US studios feeling the pinch: mid-May also brought news that the ABC in Oz, for one, was overhauling its content division, following recent confirmation of a new five-year funding agreement with the government that will see A$1.1bn allocated annually.

ABC MD David Anderson added that the changes would enable the broadcaster to adapt to increasing digital consumption and “respond to significantly rising costs of running the organisation which are generating ongoing budgetary pressures,” something his colleaguea around the world would likely empathise with.

The Masked Singer (Germany)

Inflation is pushing programming costs ever higher, but publically funded broadcasters are finding little increase in their budgets. For advertising-supported operators, the pinch is arguably even greater.

Among those affected is Masked Singer broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 in Germany, which is preparing to cut up to a third of its staff, as revealed by TBI. The group has been buffeted by advertising headwinds and reported a 7% decline in annual revenue in May, with around 30% of posts likely to be disbanded in the coming months.

It is believed programming and production departments across the entertainment division will be deeply affected, as the broadcaster attempts to reduce a headcount that stands at around 7,300 – meaning almost 2,200 staff could be affected.

The German giant said the changes were needed to “transform” the group, pointing to the shift to streaming, “the severely weakened market environment”.

Over in Canada, the story was the same. Bell Media staff were bracing themselves for job cuts after its telco parent becomes the latest to slash jobs, with 1,300 roles set to be disbanded.

While only a 3% cut across the organisation, the finger of blame was at least partly directed towards its news division, which is losing $40m in annual operating losses, a figure Bell’s president, Mirko Bibic, said is increasing.

Wade Oosterman, Bell Media’s president, also highlighted the troubles caused by “the ongoing migration of advertising revenue to foreign digital platforms”. Around 30% of positions being cut are vacancies that will not be filled, according to local reports, but management roles are also being trimmed by 6%.

And so the news continued. Warner Bros. Discovery continues to slim down its workforce despite almost a year of cuts already, with Amy Introcaso-Davis among departees as the company trims its cable division under Kathleen Finch, while Yellowjackets outfit Entertainment One (eOne) is also facing staff cuts of around 20%, with the Hasbro-owned company seeking to pare down ahead of its potential sale.

Silver linings

The effects of this activity played out for real at the numerous events in June, as the industry recoiled from headline after headline, with WhatsApp chats buzzing seemingly hourly with the latest updates.

LR: Anke Stoll, Christian Gockel, Noel Hedges

Yet it is not all doom and gloom. With budgets tightening and buyers looking for value for money above all, the role of the distributor has probably never been greater – a boon for All3Media as its owners explore a potential sale.

At Conecta Fiction in Toledo, Keshet International’s Anke Stoll, Entertainment One’s Noel Hedges and Beta Film’s Christian Gockel also talked up the spending contraction as a potential opportunity to get more involved with programming that might otherwise have found global deals.

It is, however, a rare chink of light in a world where producers across scripted and unscripted are finding dwindling pots of cash to fight for. At the forefront of everyone’s minds is how the industry will look once the “transformational changes” and the “need to rightsize” companies have taken effect. As well as, of course, your own role in this developing landscape.