Tag Archives: coronavirus

Cancelled MIPTV event to bring series showcase to ‘attendees’ with MIPTV Online+

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Events organiser Reed Midem is to launch MIPTV Online+, aimed as a means of pushing on with some of the activities planned for the 2020 edition of MIPTV, as well as satellite meetings MIPDoc and MIPFormats.

All three events were to have taken place between March 28 to April 2 in Cannes but were cancelled on due to the escalation of the coronavirus outbreak in France and the rest of Europe.

The MIPTV ONLINE+ initiative will be available for free to all professionals who had been registered to attend the 2020 editions of MIPTV, MIPDoc and MIPFormats and will make available series that were to be showcased at the MIPTV Drama Buyers Summit on March 29, as well as the MIPDoc screenings library.

Screen International reports that it will also air a handful of MIPTV’s scheduled market intelligence conference sessions, including Fresh TV and the Factual and Kids Content showcases.

“Our clients are unable to come to MIPTV in Cannes, so we are bringing MIPTV to them,” said Reed Midem’s television division deputy director Lucy Smith. “Starting on March 30, delegates from 94 countries will be able to interact with one another online and experience originally scheduled MIP programming from the comfort of their office or home.”

Accessed via the MIPTV website, the platform will be available and updated regularly over the coming months.

Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards 2020 moved to June date

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The Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards 2020 will be moving  from its planned date in April to mid June following the escalating events surrounding the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

The B&LLAs, established to reward excellence across the brand and lifestyle licensing industry, will take place on Thursday, June 18th at its home at the Hilton Park Lane in its traditional lunchtime slot.

Ian Hyder, joint MD of Max Publishing which owns and organises the B&LLAs, commented: “Due to the escalating events, in the UK, Europe and internationally, regarding COVID-19 Coronavirus, our priority is to safeguard our colleagues, friends, staff and supporters, so we have taken the decision to move the B&LLAs 2020 to this new date.

“We would like to thank our amazing sponsors for their full support in this decision and look forward to welcoming everyone to the Hilton Park Lane in June.”

Brand Licensing Europe is once again the headline sponsor of the awards, with trade organisation, Licensing International, also supporting the programme. Finalists across the Property, Product and Retail categories of the B&LLAs 2020 are due to be announced at the end of next week.

A host of major companies and brands have also pledged their support as category sponsors. These include WildBrain CPLG Lifestyle, The Point.1888, MDR Brand Management, CAA-GBG, The Jockey Club, Pringles, Start Licensing, Golden Goose, Discovery Consumer Products, Powerstation Studios, H&A, Beanstalk, Good Housekeeping, TSBA, Brandgenuity Europe and Brand Comply.com.

For general enquiries on the B&LLAs 2020, please contact Ian Hyder or Rob Willis on 020 700 6740. Find out more about the events at the official B&LLAs website at www.brandlicensingawards.com.

Licensing Expo 2020 moved to August amid Coronavirus pandemic

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Licensing Expo, which was originally scheduled to be staged in May 2020, will now be held at Mandalay Bay Convention Center on August 11-13, a move that has been forced owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

This decision was made and detailed at the end of last, as a result of consultation with exhibitors and other stakeholders to determine the best outcome for all. Licensing Expo has stated its belief that this new date ‘is in the best interests of our customers and partners.’

All exhibition bookings and visitor pre-registrations will be transferred automatically to the new dates and there will be further communications to these groups over the coming days and weeks.

Anna Knight, VP Licensing, Informa Markets, said: “We have been closely following developments since COVID–19 began spreading, and we have consistently been mindful of its potential impact on global events like ours.

“With the help, cooperation and partnership we have with MGM Resorts we have obtained favourable dates to reschedule the event and we hope this will serve as an opportunity for the industry to regather in August.

“The Licensing Expo team will be contacting exhibitors and partners to discuss the rescheduled dates, answer any queries, and ensure they can deliver the same event experience as originally planned. However, an event of this scale requires careful planning and organisation, so we collectively ask for understanding in advance for any disruption this change may cause.

“I’d like to thank all of our customers for their patience over the past few weeks as we have navigated these unprecedented circumstances and hope to see as many people as possible in Las Vegas.”

Maura Regan, President, Licensing International, added: “Licensing International fully supports the decision to reschedule Licensing Expo. This new date allows our members and the industry some much needed time to regroup and deal with these challenging circumstances, and above all to protect the health of our community and those around us.”

For further questions, please contact your account manager if you are an exhibitor or sponsor or cs@licensingexpo.com for all other queries.

Egmont sees record revenue of €1.7bn but warns of challenging year ahead amid coronavirus pandemic

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The international media group, Egmont – home of Egmont Publishing and subsidiaries including Norway’s TV 2 and Nordisk Film, has reported a revenue growth of €79 million in its full year 2019 financials, driven by TV, streaming, video gaming, and e-commerce.

The media group hit a revenue record of €1.7bn for the full year, built on its solid foundation of publishing, journalism, and storytelling. Meanwhile the firm is driving increased growth through emerging platforms including video gaming and e-commerce, and marketing services.

Egmont has, however, posted expectations of 2020 to be a ‘challenging year’ due to the Coronavirus pandemic and its crisis across the Nordic countries.

President and CEO, Steffen Kragh stated that looking into 2020 “we are, like the rest of society, very affected by the present COVID-19 crisis and concerned by the well-being of our employees, and that society and we as a company get well through this crisis.”

Three quarters of Egmont’s business is now in film, TV, streaming, computer games, digital media and e-commerce. Increasing the use of technology to optimise the media products and consumer experiences is an important element in the media group’s development.

Egmont’s total business activity, including its share of non-consolidated companies, generated revenue of €2bn.

Egmont Publishing’s magazine titles outperforming the general print market, fuelled by strong growth at the marketing services agencies, numerous bestsellers, and digital growth at Egmont’s book publishers.

At the same time, TV2 Norway increased its stake in TV distributor RiksTV to 50 per cent while its result reflect a strong year with higher viewing shares and marked growth in subscribers to the streaming service TV 2 Sumo. Meanwhile, Nordisk Film saw success with the release of a string of films and video games.

Egmont is a commercial foundation which in 2020 celebrates its centenary. The foundation has a dual purpose: to develop modern media and to support vulnerable children, young people and families. In 2019, Egmont made charitable donations of €13m to vulnerable children and young people in Denmark and Norway and to film talents through the Nordisk Film Foundation. T

he Egmont Report 2019 focused on helping children make a good start at school, and Egmont entered into a new five-year partnership with charity Børns Vilkår during the year to work on school absenteeism. Egmont also supported 12 new projects focusing on dyslexia. Since 1920, Egmont has made total donations of €410m.

Bologna Licensing Trade Fair rescheduled for May as Italy is kept on lockdown after Coronavirus outbreak

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The Bologna Licensing Trade Fair has been rescheduled to later on in the year, owing to the latest European outbreak of the Coronavirus that has seen Italy go into lockdown in the last few days.

Originally scheduled for March 30th to April 1st this year, the Licensing and Book fair have both been rescheduled to take place this May, Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 as the country deals with what has been cited as the largest outbreak within a single European country so far.

Italy confirmed this week that the number of cases of Coronavirus within the country had now risen to 229, with seven deaths now recorded. Eleven towns across Lombardy  -where the outbreak emerged suddenly on Friday last week, and Veneto have been quarantined for at least the next 15 days.

The majority of those that have died from the Coronavirus in Italy have been elderly people who had also been suffering from other health issues. The latest was an 80 year old man in Milan.

Around 50,000 residents in the towns under lockdown have now been told to stay at home and avoid social contact, while schools, shops, and businesses – apart from chemists and some supermarkets – have been closed.

The Bologna Licensing Trade Fair made public its shift in dates via its social media pages and its own website where it will continue to post updates throughout the day.

Global analysts have warned of a major knock on effect on the worldwide economy as production throughout China still remains – at large – on lockdown with many of its factories closed under quarantine. The full-scale of the impact on industries and businesses is yet to be measured.