10 Stories You Should Know: 02/02/2023

Here are the stories that should be on your radar

Here are the global TV and streaming stories that should be on your radar for Friday, February 3rd, 2023:

Channel 4: Inside The Doomed Sale Of A Crown Jewel Of British Television (Deadline)
Those close to the doomed sale took us behind the scenes of an unsettling and often fraught period for a company that boasts revenues of £1.2B ($1.5B). The sources explain how the government pursued privatization for both business and ideological reasons, and in doing so, took informal soundings from potential buyers, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. They reveal moments of tension between Channel 4 and ministers, as well as differing opinions about how Channel 4 made its case to remain in public hands.

Audiences rate streamed TV ads higher than on linear (Rapid TV News)
A study from Samsung Ads has revealed that not only are on-demand services increasingly attracting viewers, their monetisation potential is also increasing as ads within FAST/AVOD environments are perceived by audiences as shorter and therefore less disruptive, contributing to their greater likelihood of being watched.

Sámi Films Rising – How The Arctic Indigenous Nation Is Finding Its Voice (Variety)
A slew of Sámi TV and film projects are in the works or due for release in 2023. At the North Pitch session at the Tromsø International Film Festival in northern Norway, the variety and quantity of projects in the pipeline was impressive. From the musical “Árru” to the love story “My Reindeerherder;” from documentaries to “Sámi Wedding – A Countdown to Disaster,” a four-part TV comedy, Sámi culture is attracting investment and distribution. Global players like Netflix are already on board with a feature “Stolen,” directed by Elle Márjá Eira due to start filming in the Spring. 

Israeli Public Broadcaster Closure Postponed “Until Further Notice,” Says Benjamin Netanyahu Government (Deadline)
The closure of Israeli public broadcaster Kan by Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government has been delayed indefinitely, according to a spokesman for the Communications Minister. The Israeli TV community will be breathing a cautious sigh of relief, for now.

Netflix And Israel: Did ‘Farha’ Sabotage A Special Relationship? (Aljazeera)
And yet Netflix’s decision to feature the likes of Farha as well as the 2022 series Mo constitutes a deviation from business as usual at the California-based streaming giant, by offering a glimpse of Palestinian reality and legitimate history that contests the dominant Israeli-fabricated narrative. To be sure, the company’s seemingly special relationship with the state of Israel has often rendered it indistinguishable from a Zionist public relations service.

Hansika Motwani Pre-Sold Her Wedding Video Rights To Hotstar – Should We Judge Her? (Women’s Web India)
Selling the rights to one’s wedding to a streaming platform to create what is bound to be an intrusive invasion of something that should be private – not a very savoury idea. However, if I take my personal judgement out of the equation, my next question would be, why the hell not? After all, haven’t series like Indian Matchmaking done the same thing in a way?

Netflix Teases Nordic Slate & Julie Andem Talks ‘SKAM Austin’ At TV Drama Vision — Göteborg Film Festival (Netflix)
The Göteborg Film Festival's series-focused, industry sidebar TV Drama Vision returned this week with two days of talks and panels centered on series production in Europe and the Nordic region. The program featured over 60 on-stage speakers and was dominated by the presence of Netflix.

MFE Rules Out Merger With ProSiebenSat.1 For Now (Broadband TV News)
Berlusconi’s MFE-MediaForEurope is ruling out a takeover bid as well as a full merger with ProSiebenSat.1 at present, but is confident that closer cooperation is possible.

OneFootball To Offer DAZN Football As PPV Offering In Germany And Austria (Digital TV Europe)
Sports streaming platform DAZN has unveiled a new alliance with football-focused media company OneFootball, which will see DAZN live football matches from elite leagues available as a pay-per-view offering to OneFootball users. The move is DAZN’s latest bid to unlock new routes to market for its premium content.