The recent news that Sony Pictures Television is shutting down its Formats Acquisition Division is not something that people from the industry should just swipe off as just another “breaking news” in their mailbox.

What Sony have told us with this move is actually that the format acquisition business no longer makes sense to them – one of the biggest production and distribution powerhouses in the world. The message is clear: “Don’t Buy. Develop.”

And it does make sense when you consider the current state of affairs on the international TV scene. We can count about a dozen of major markets and less than a dozen of global production and distribution “mastodons” who are present in all of them. Basically, in any market that Sony is present in, their competitors also have their production company; and the IP that they create is monetized “internally” by their local representatives around the world.

On the other hand, each year the independent companies who are not part of the “mastodons” and are also capable of making potential international hit formats become less and less, as the “mastodons” have the habit of taking over smaller businesses just to satisfy their insatiable hunger for new, original IP. Thus, the market of “independent formats” is constantly getting smaller and smaller with fewer sellers and a bunch of global brands. Even worse, a “mastodon” can never buy something from another “mastodon”.

Thus, all that is left is the magical “Don’t Buy. Develop.” Because this is the only way to remain competitive and survive in this Dog Eat Dog or in this case “Mastodon Eat Mastodon” game which has given us new “breeds” like Endemol Shine Group, Warner-Eyeworks, ITV-Talpa, Zodiak-Banijay, etc. Slowly but surely the TV business becomes a closed circle within one entity – from production to broadcasting to distribution; with the “mastodons” taking full control of the market and leaving very small chances to independent players who are also left with less potential buyers.

In such circumstances format distribution and acquisitions will gradually become obsolete and content sales/exchange will be only a matter of M&A or JVs.


Georgi R. Chakarov
Editor-in-Chief, TVBIZZ Magazine