Rick Medeiros, Acquisitions
SBT Television, Sao Paulo BRAZIL
Responsible for programming acquisitions for Brazil's second largest national network, SBT Television, Rick Medeiros and his boss, network founder and television star Silvio Santos, have been attending NATPE since 1978. Over the past 25 years, in fact, Medeiros claims that, "Aside from one time when Mr. Santos' flight was delayed in Denver due to a snow storm, we've never missed a NATPE market."
" This year, we're looking for a lot of offbeat programming to fill the available slots and complement the existing programs that are working well for the network." SBT Television is a general entertainment channel with a broad programming brief and audience demographic. Dubbing English-language programming they select into Portuguese, Medeiros has secured an output deal with Televisa for its soap operas, favorites of SBT's viewership. SBT also produced a local soap opera based on scripts from Televisa. Three nights a week, the network runs movies from Warner Bros., Paramount, Disney and MGM. Among the acquired series currently airing on SBT, Smallville, Third Watch and Fresh Prince of BelAir are among the top performers.
When asked of his programming objectives for this year's NATPE, Medeiros admits, "We never come with a shopping list or any expectations, but we are one of the few companies that actually closes deals at NATPE. This year, we're looking for a lot of offbeat programming to fill the available slots and complement the existing programs that are working well for the network. Both Mr. Santos and I are pretty open as to what we'll acquire at this year's market."
Medeiros also believes that NATPE represents a lot more than an opportunity to acquire programs, however, stressing that the exchange of ideas and opportunity to sit and talk with people is another strong attraction of the annual NATPE event. "Distributors hate me because I don't book appointments in advance," says Medeiros. "My boss and I like to walk around the exhibition floor, stopping at stands of companies that we didn't even knew existed. If they have something that we like, we'll spend some time there."
Medeiros continues, "Over the past couple of years, with the smaller convention floor, these have been among the better NATPEs for us. The convention floor wasn't as full and the small distributors had time to sit down and talk to people. Then we took a morning off and went to visit the big distributors in the hotel suites. I actually like it when its split up that way."
"My boss and I like to walk around the exhibition floor, stopping at stands of companies that we didn't even knew existed."
Medeiros, 52, started working for SBT when he was 25. An American born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Medeiros' father was transferred to Brazil in 1964. Attending an American high school in Brazil, Medeiros went back to New York's Syracuse University, taking a job with WJZ-TV in Baltimore as a news producer after graduating. Moving up to the ABC network in New York, it was during a vacation in Brazil that Medeiros turned a chance meeting with Mr. Santos into a long-term employment opportunity. A published author, Medeiros also spends his travel time writing novels around the recurring theme of spiritualism and reincarnation. RETURN TO 2004 ARCHIVES
|
|
Exhibitor Information
