'We All Have Challenges of Monetization': Engagement, Money and the Impact of AI Take Center Stage at NATPE Budapest

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Follow 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's NATPE Budapest, even if their specific strategies may differ.
'We are following people wherever they watch — whether it's linear, paid streaming or free streaming,' Levente Málnay, the Hungary-based managing director and executive vp, AMC Networks International, Central and Northern Europe, shared during a panel discussion with top industry players entitled 'View from the top: Where do we go from here?' 'And we follow the money, because it's key to identifying the proper revenue model.'
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Monetization, though, has been one key challenge, he highlighted. 'The 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't know about you guys, but even if I'm up until 4 a.m., I still cannot watch everything I really would like to watch,' he shared. 'But 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.'
Málnay believes that content is still king. 'The key is our fantastic content. Eventually, good content makes its way to viewers — wherever they are,' he told The Hollywood Reporter. 'And 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 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.'
Stella Litou, CEO of the Central European Media Enterprises (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: 'What's 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 … or via originals.'While Netflix & Co. are competitors 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) and SkyShowtime series Sleboda (Deadly Ties), lauded the company and its peers. 'I'm so grateful for streamers in this world, because if I were waiting for broadcasters to make decisions… well, it seems they make slower decisions than streamers,' she said during the panel. Those 'very much need to address and target the local audience, because they are global,' she explained. 'They have enough global content. So they need to reach local audiences.'
How does she look to reach audiences? 'Never, ever underestimate the audience,' she said. 'Audiences today are so sharp and intelligent. They know when you're trying to be cheap, when you're trying to be hollow. And they will stop watching. But they follow an emotional, deeply grounded story, and that's what I'm trying to deliver. … It's about the connection with the audience. That's what's most important.'
One of the biggest challenges for the industry and producers like her is balancing quality with sustainability. 'Audiences expect high production value, and we're committed to delivering that,' Szwedkowicz also told THR. 'But 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. It pushes the industry toward more strategic partnerships — 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.'
Meanwhile, 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. 'The free-to-air market in Greece tends to be reasonably stronger than other markets because it's highly competitive, with five to eight channels,' he explained. 'And 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's mostly due to the very strong content.'
He expressed confidence in Antenna's strategy even though global streamers, particularly Netflix, made inroads, helped by the COVID pandemic. 'The market is changing. It's changing quickly,' he said. 'We're trying to adapt to it, but we are the leader in terms of that SVOD strategy.' Indeed, Levendis highlighted, 'we 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].'
Daniel Grunt, CEO of CME's Nova Group in Czechia, told THR that the battle for viewers' time and engagement is a core element of today's industry — and that AI could have a significant impact on the bottom line. 'Audiences today face an overwhelming amount of content but limited time and attention. That's the biggest challenge,' he argued. 'And it's a challenge that's only going to grow with the rise of generative AI. We're entering a new phase where higher-than-average quality video content generated by AI tools can 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.'
Szwedkowicz also mentioned AI in receiving one of the inaugural NATPE Honors Europe: 'Today, as AI begins reshaping so many aspects of our industry, it's easy to get distracted,' she said. 'But I think we all love that at the heart of it, this business is all about people. It's about creativity, it's about storytelling, it's 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.'
Levendis also highlighted AI as a key theme. 'AI is everywhere in our industry conversations right now, and for good reason,' he told THR. 'We're already seeing practical applications in how we develop content, understand our audiences, and run our business more efficiently.'
How is Antenna looking to use the emerging technology? 'We're taking a measured approach, using AI where it actually solves real problems our teams face. It's 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,' he explained. 'The key is making our people more effective at what they already do well, not trying to automate creative decisions. At ANT1 TV, we've started using AI for things like improving our international content localization and making our marketing more targeted. We're 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're evaluating projects.'
Levendis summed up Antenna's use cases for AI this way: 'What we're learning is that AI is very good at processing large amounts of information quickly, but it can't 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.'Best of The Hollywood Reporter
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