Dealmakers


STEPHEN DRISCOLL Senior vice-president, sales, All3Media International


CAREER


2004-2011 SVP, international sales with responsibility for sales to Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Italy and Canada, All3Media International 1999-2004 Senior sales executive for Asia, Carlton International 1997-1999 Programme distribution, Minotaur International


with the company since 2004, arriving from Carlton International to work with managing director Louise Peder- sen, another ex-Carlton exec. During that time, he’s played his part in growing the company to annual reve- nues of £39m, and he is part of the team that has come top of the Broad- cast Distributors Survey peer poll two years in a row. At Carlton, Driscoll managed Asia.


A


He still reps the region, but has added Canada, Central & Eastern Europe and Italy. For him, the big story in the past year or two has been the phenom- enal success of Undercover Boss. “We now have 31 US episodes, with 13 more coming next year, 20 UK epi- sodes and 16 Australian. Having that range is great because the different versions appeal to different custom- ers. In Japan, for example, the public broadcaster NHK was more inclined to take the British version, while com- mercial broadcaster Wowow picked up the US episodes instead.”


Big successes


Within his own territories, the ones he picks out as big successes are the sale to MBC Korea – “it’s really rare for a British distributor to make a deal with one of Korea’s big three broadcasters” – and CTV Canada. “It’s an interesting challenge for us because the show is simul- cast with the US,” he says. “That means staying across CBS’ US launch plans as


closely as possible.” Driscoll doesn’t


sell the format. “We work with mirror teams, so that my sales activities are paralleled by those of the format team. In the case of


Undercover Boss, for example, I handle


sales in my territories but Stephanie Hartog, executive vice-presi- dent, formats, handles the format side.”


Driscoll has also


had success in China, selling both the original New Zealand series of its environmental show


30 | Broadcast | 30 September 2011


ll3Media International senior vice-president of sales Stephen Driscoll has been


Undercover Boss


Wasted! (pictured, below) and the US version, made by All3Media subsidi- ary Lion Television USA. This deal – the company’s fi rst with CCTV2 – was brokered by Driscoll and Henry Lau of Henry Advertising and Marketing. China is a market keen on green issues and the economic savings they can represent, Driscoll says. “After a recent trip, the level of inter- est we found was such that we are now exploring the possibility of producing a local version.” Again, this is where Driscoll hands over to


Hartog, who sees a lot of potential for Wasted! as a format. “Audi- ences through- out the world are becoming


increasingly


switched on to the need to live an environmen- tally sustainable life- style and conserve our planet for


future generations,” she says. “Wasted! is an opportunity for people to learn how to do this in an entertaining and fun way.”


‘It’s rare for a British distributor to make a deal with one of Korea’s


big three broadcasters’ Stephen Driscoll


The sales pattern will help establish


whether that is true. Driscoll says there have been deals with La Presse Tele and Canal V in French-speaking Canada, and Tha Inc for English- speaking Canada, Outright Distribu- tion for Portugal and Italy, ABC Australia, Odysee and Ushuaia for French-speaking Europe and Africa, The Home Channel for English speak- ing Africa, DBS in Israel, MTV3 in Finland, POP TV Slovenia, Sky Italy, True Vision Thailand, Turner for Latin America, Proxima in Bulgaria, and Spafax for in-fl ight. Driscoll cites good marketing as


something that buyers often pick out. As for trends affecting his job, he says: “The rise of on-demand is a clear one. The last time I went to China, there were four or fi ve new VoD players I hadn’t met before. For dis- tributors, the challenge is knowing which ones to work with. Will they go out of business in a year or will they turn into important partners? You can’t hesitate too long to fi nd the answer because you risk missing out on long-term business.”


www.broadcastnow.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36