Pearson TV looks south

Newly merged co. to enter Latin market, produce telenovelas

By ELIZABETH GUIDER, EILEEN TASCA

Fresh from its merger with Euro TV station powerhouse CLT/Ufa, Pearson TV is hatching plans to step up its activities in another part of the world — Latin America.

Using the L.A. Screenings as a backdrop, Pearson execs told Daily Variety on Sunday that the media conglom has specific plans to buy into TV stations south of the border and to boost production efforts there, including plans for a Latino sudser or telenovela.

“Now thanks to the merger with CLT, our commitment to broadcasting will be greater. We’re looking at stations in the region and we’re going into the telenovela business,” said Doug Gluck, regional CEO for Pearson TV Worldwide.

Screenings audience

Gluck was speaking during a luncheon for Latin American buyers who are in town for the annual L.A. Screenings, the first opportunity for foreign TV buyers to see new network series shows for the fall season.

The 10-day Screenings are also an occasion for indie suppliers, who set up shop in the Century Plaza Hotel, to offer buyers other product, from telepics to documentaries.

Some 70 companies, including Hearst, Saban and Carsey-Werner, as well as a sizable contingent of Latino distributors, had their doors open for business at the Century Plaza on Sunday morning.

Latin American buyers are familiar with Pearson through localized versions of gameshows “The Price is Right” and ‘Sale of the Century,” among others. “Baywatch,” a property acquired some years ago when Pearson gobbled up All American TV, also airs extensively on terrestrial stations throughout the region.

Pearson recently restructured its production operations in the region by moving its Latin American headquarters from Chile to Miami.

Gluck said that Pearson was already looking at scripts for telenovelas and that one would likely begin shooting by the end of the year in one of the major territories in Latin America. Cost per episode for a telenovela can be as high as $100,000 and the sudsers usually run well over 100 episodes.

Part of the reason for the stepped up emphasis on Latin America may be the fact that Pearson’s arch-rival, Dutch-based producer Endemol, is completing its own merger, with Spain’s Telefonica. That telco’s feisty media arm Telefonica Media already has its tentacles deep into Latin America.

Merger means more clout

Pearson execs used the luncheon to talk up the merger with CLT/Ufa, putting the emphasis on the increased clout in production and distribution that the alliance will bring.

Tony Cohen, Pearson CEO Worldwide Domestic Production, pointed out that the two partners have been in business together for some time, in the U.K., Germany, Hungary and Australia, in either production or in broadcasting ventures.

CLT/Ufa boasts a half-dozen TV stations across Europe and a dozen radio stations.

Cohen told Daily Variety that Pearson would continue in Europe to produce for a variety of clients not just CLT-owned stations. He added that future Pearson productions would take into consideration not just broadcast platforms but Internet applications as well.