During the first day of NATPE Virtual Miami 2021, three executives, each from a leading global television brand, joined in for a series of one-on-one fireside chats where they each share their individual perspective of the changing landscape in 2021. Dan Cohen, President of ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group; Arjan Pomper, Chief Operating Officer, Global Entertainment at ITV Studios; and Michael Bowling; President of Directv Latin America participated in the panel.
First, it was Cohen’s time to share his views. After reflecting on the challenges that Covid-19 presented to the company, he referred to 2021 and indicated that the biggest opportunities he sees revolve around ViacomCBS’ library. “We have thousands of episodes of television and movies. I see huge opportunities working with local clients on that titles,” he said.
“We are open for business. We do license different than we used to, but at the same time we closed over 600 deals in 2020, and most of those were with local clients. Our international business is still growing, and we have new clients coming on board all time,” Cohen added.
Then, it was Arjan Pomper’s turn. The executive, who joined ITV Studios as Chief Operating Officer on July 2020, talked about the evolution of branded content and the different forms of advertising, which, according to him, have changed significantly over time.
Lastly, Michael Bowling, President of Directv Latin America, analyzed the current situation of the Latin American market, assuring that “this is a truly dynamic time for our industry”. Then, he described the group’s efforts to move from being recognized as a satellite provider to a digital entertainment company. Regarding the strategy, Bowling explained: “As we thought about scaling our service and looking at consumer behavior, we now consider ourselves a leader in digital entertainment with our streaming products”.