{"id":14939,"date":"2025-06-26T00:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T00:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/14939\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T00:58:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T00:58:09","slug":"tv-audiences-engagement-monetization-ai-in-natpe-budapest-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/14939\/","title":{"rendered":"TV Audiences, Engagement, Monetization, AI in NATPE Budapest Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFollow the money and follow the audience and its needs in the streaming age. That was one point that television industry leaders agreed on in Central and Eastern Europe at this week\u2019s NATPE Budapest<\/a>, even if their specific strategies may differ.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are following people wherever they watch \u2014 whether it\u2019s linear, paid streaming or free streaming,\u201d Levente M\u00e1lnay, the Hungary-based managing director and executive vp, AMC Networks International<\/a>, Central and Northern Europe, shared during a panel discussion with top industry players entitled \u201cView from the top: Where do we go from here?\u201d \u201cAnd we follow the money, because it\u2019s key to identifying the proper revenue model.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMonetization, though, has been one key challenge, he highlighted. \u201cThe output of this industry has never been this good and this rich. So if we just look at the amount of fiction programming, I don\u2019t know about you guys, but even if I\u2019m up until 4 a.m., I still cannot watch everything I really would like to watch,\u201d he shared. \u201cBut the problem is: we all have challenges of monetization, so the audience is somehow not yet paying for all of it. So I guess our primary challenge is to figure out how to satisfy, at the same time, our great audience and also our shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tM\u00e1lnay believes that content is still king. \u201cThe key is our fantastic content. Eventually, good content makes its way to viewers \u2014 wherever they are,\u201d he told The Hollywood Reporter. \u201cAnd we do produce a lot: amazing fiction by our parent company in the U.S. I am incredibly proud of simulcasting such popular original productions as The Walking Dead: Dead City<\/a> season two in most Central and Eastern European countries. And locally we have top sports, documentaries and cooking [shows] produced or commissioned by AMC in multiple languages with talent from all over the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStella Litou, CEO of the Central European Media Enterprises<\/a> (CME)-owned RTL Croatia and Pro Plus Slovenia, on the same panel emphasized that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to attract audiences. Lauding the launch of the Voyo streaming service in Croatia in August 2023, she said: \u201cWhat\u2019s important at the end of the day is to be able to keep our viewer in front of the big screen for as long as possible, whether we do this on the linear channel with our news and our live content and our events, or whether we do it by catch-up on previews \u2026 or via originals.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Netflix is a competitor for many, producer Magdalena Szwedkowicz, whose MAG Entertainment has quickly developed a reputation for its high-quality productions, such as the Netflix hit film Forgotten Love (Znachor), lauded the company and its peers. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful for streamers in this world, because if I were waiting for broadcasters to make decisions\u2026 well, it seems they make slower decisions than streamers,\u201d she said during the panel. Those \u201cvery much need to address and target the local audience, because they are global,\u201d she explained. \u201cThey have enough global content. So they need to reach local audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHow does she look to reach audiences? \u201cNever, ever underestimate the audience,\u201d she said. \u201cAudiences today are so sharp and intelligent. They know when you\u2019re trying to be cheap, when you\u2019re trying to be hollow. And they will stop watching. But they follow an emotional, deeply grounded story, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to deliver. \u2026 It\u2019s about the connection with the audience. That\u2019s what\u2019s most important.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the biggest challenges for the industry and producers like her is balancing quality with sustainability.\u00a0\u201cAudiences expect high production value, and we\u2019re committed to delivering that,\u201d Szwedkowicz also told THR. \u201cBut the cost of producing quality content keeps rising, while networks and platforms are under increasing pressure to monetize. This makes it harder for them to invest in exclusive content on their own. At the same time, this challenge creates an opportunity.\u00a0It pushes the industry toward more strategic partnerships \u2014 between producers, platforms and even across borders. Co-productions, flexible rights models and shared risk are becoming essential. For our company, that means being agile, building trust-based relationships and staying focused on stories that travel and resonate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, George Levendis, managing director, ANT1 TV, Mak TV and Antenna Studios, shared insight into the TV and streaming market in Greece during the panel discussion. \u201cThe free-to-air market in Greece tends to be reasonably stronger than other markets because it\u2019s highly competitive, with five to eight channels,\u201d he explained. \u201cAnd as a result, the transition to other platforms has been slightly slower, or certainly, free-to-air has a base that is still reasonably strong, and that\u2019s mostly due to the very strong content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe expressed confidence in Antenna\u2019s strategy even though global streamers, particularly Netflix, made inroads, helped by the COVID pandemic. \u201cThe market is changing. It\u2019s changing quickly,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to adapt to it, but we are the leader in terms of that SVOD strategy.\u201d Indeed, Levendis highlighted, \u201cwe seem to be the only channel at the moment to have an SVOD play [with ANT1+]. Most of the channels still tend to be running either advertising [streaming] or simply catch-up [services].\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDaniel Grunt, CEO of CME\u2019s Nova Group in Czechia, told THR that the battle for viewers\u2019 time and engagement is a core element of today\u2019s industry \u2014 and that AI could have a significant impact on the bottom line. \u201cAudiences today face an overwhelming amount of content but limited time and attention. That\u2019s the biggest challenge,\u201d he argued. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a challenge that\u2019s only going to grow with the rise of generative AI. We\u2019re entering a new phase where higher-than-average quality video\u00a0content generated by AI tools\u00a0can be produced faster, cheaper and in much larger volumes. Barriers to entry are dropping dramatically, and AI agents will likely take over roles traditionally held by content curators and distributors, including aggregators and even TV operators.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSzwedkowicz also mentioned AI in receiving one of the inaugural NATPE Honors Europe<\/a>: \u201cToday, as AI begins reshaping so many aspects of our industry, it\u2019s easy to get distracted,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I think we all love that at the heart of it, this business is all about people. It\u2019s about creativity, it\u2019s about storytelling, it\u2019s about empathy. And as a result, the challenge and opportunity for us is to nurture the [technological] innovation and try to stay grounded in the business reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLevendis also highlighted AI as a key theme. \u201cAI is everywhere in our industry conversations right now, and for good reason,\u201d he told THR. \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing practical applications in how we develop content, understand our audiences, and run our business more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHow is Antenna looking to use the emerging technology? \u201cWe\u2019re taking a measured approach, using AI where it actually solves real problems our teams face. It\u2019s helping us spot audience trends we might have missed, making our content easier to find across different platforms, and giving us better insights into what viewers want,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe key is making our people more effective at what they already do well, not trying to automate creative decisions. At ANT1 TV, we\u2019ve started using AI for things like improving our international content localization and making our marketing more targeted. We\u2019re also testing whether it can provide useful feedback during script development, not to make creative choices, but to give our development teams additional data points when they\u2019re evaluating projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLevendis summed up Antenna\u2019s use cases for AI this way: \u201cWhat we\u2019re learning is that AI is very good at processing large amounts of information quickly, but it can\u2019t replace the creative instincts that drive good storytelling. It works best when it handles the analytical work so our creative people can focus on the parts of their jobs that actually require human judgment. Its value depends entirely on how thoughtfully you use it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow the money and follow the audience and its needs in the streaming age. That was one point…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[691,738,1801,15241,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-14939","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-international","11":"tag-natpe-budapest","12":"tag-technology","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114746956343263015","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}