week 44 the RTL Group intranet Newsletter 31 October 2007 The freedom to create Interview with the makers of Barátok közt about the amazing success story of their series Spain Antena 3's programmes win Ondas Awards France RTL Radio devotes a day to Burma Germany Machen Sie Schule fundraising campaign continues United Kingdom FremantleMedia acquires rights People Basma Azibi and Anne Ricard, M6 Hartmut Brügner, IP Deutschland week 44 the RTL Group intranet The taste of success Hungary’s first daily drama series, Barátok közt enters its 10th season Hungary - 31 October 2007 Behind the scene of Barátok közt Even after 9 years on RTL Klub, Barátok közt Barátok Közt has topped the ratings in every remains Hungarians' favourite show. To find out target group for many years. But the program- more about the programme's continuing success, me wasn't an instant hit. How did you feel Backstage grabbed the opportunity to talk to the during the period when Barátok Közt's audien- show's producer Tamás Kalamár and head writer ces weren't that large? Greg Stevens. Tamás Kalamár: I was convinced from the outset What's the secret of your success? How do you that we would succeed, but will admit that the ini- get more than 2 million people to sit down in tial ratings were lower than we'd expected. front of their TV screen every evening, waiting I thought Hungarian viewers would show a greater for the familiar theme tune to begin? interest in their first home-grown daily drama series, but it took time for them to get used to the Tamás Kalamár: We produce a quality pro- gramme on a level that meets the needs of both the channel and its audience. We have What's the series about? very good stories with interesting charac- ters that people can relate to. Viewers want Twenty-five years ago, seven children shared the to know what's happening to their favouri- same destiny: orphaned and unloved, they were te characters, so they tune in every day. brought to a cold State-approved school, where This is only possible thanks to a strong they developed a deep, indestructible friendship creative team and its great relations with and hatched future plans together. Since then they the actual production team. Also we enjoy all have built a new life, with its ups and downs, a great freedom to create and trust to and have seen how the world around them has achieve from both our mother company changed. But one thing's for certain: the friendship and our customer, RTL Klub. they built up has remained undiminished. The show's extremely high ratings also saddle you with a very big responsibility. Barátok Közt influences people's views and how they see the world. How do you deal with that? Tamás Kalamár: Our philosophy from the very beginning was not to get involved in politics and not to refer to any news event, because we didn't want to divide our audience. We're here to entertain. Our sto- rylines deal with human emotions, and eve- ryday issues that people come across in their daily lives, such as homosexuality, drugs, birth, death, marriage…you name it. Audience results of the first season of the series 2 week 44 the RTL Group intranet genre. Previously they had mainly watched Latin What other genres would be worth producing in American soaps, and our rhythm was much faster. your view? Our ratings started to rise after three months, and seven months after the show's launch we had rea- I'm sure there are still opportunities for success in ched RTL Klub's average market share. After that, the drama series segment. For example, I think a there was no stopping us. On some days our mar- high-quality police series could be a success in ket share even topped 70 per cent in the 18-49 tar- Hungary. get group, and even after 9 years on air 50 per cent of our target audience chooses to watch Barátok Hungary's a small market. Is it worth experi- közt every weekday, making it the most successful menting with new formats? commercial TV programme in Hungary's history. Tamás Kalamár: Hungary may be a small market, Over the show's 9 years you must have gone but it's still a bit cheaper to produce a show here through a fair amount of material. than in most other European countries. So we should seize the opportunity to experiment with Tamás Kalamár: This week we'll be airing our new formats and technologies, within the limits 2065th episode. Multiply that number by 25 minu- imposed by our costs and talent pool... tes - the length of a daily episode - and you get the equivalent to over 400 feature films! Barátok Közt is celebrating its ninth anniversa- ry this week. How long can it go on? How did RTL Klub's main competitor TV2 react? Tamás Kalamár: It's too early to tell. I'm sure a strong brand like Barátok Közt will remain strong Tamás Kalamár: Over the past 9 years they've even when the market becomes more competitive. made several attempts to outperform us, but failed And as long as we continue turning out a product every time. For a couple of days or weeks they that audiences want to watch, there's no reason achieved a relatively high audience share with why the show shouldn't remain successful, just like Big Brother and Deal or No Deal, but our viewers well-produced soaps have done in both the UK soon came flocking back to us. and America. A few years ago TV2 launched its own daily soap: Jóban Rosszban (For Better or Worse). Tamás Kalamár: I think it's good to have a compe- Producer Tamás Kalamár, a Hungarian titor; it's just a shame it's not us creating our own expat who returned to his homeland competition. Having a rival spurs us on to be even from the United States 10 years ago to Barátok Közt more creative, and beating off the competition produce , the hit show that makes success taste even sweeter. TV2's soap is became Hungary's biggest ever com- in its third year, but we remain comfortably ahead mercial TV success. in the ratings and intend to make sure things stays that way. Barátok Közt isn't the only genre Grundy UFA has introduced to the Hungarian television mar- ket. Tamás Kalamár: We were the first to produce a locally made telenovela in 2003. Szeress Most! (Love Me Now!) was an 88-episode hour-long wee- kly programme that achieved highly respectable ratings. In fact, the scores were so good that RTL Klub has just finished repeating it on a daily basis. And even as a re-run it continued to attract good audiences. Edina Balogh, actress, Kalamár Tamás, Zsóka Fodor, actress, Balázs Bruckmann, actor and Erika Szabó, actress 3 week 44 the RTL Group intranet Creativity and the future Is it any different writing the storyline of a drama series set in Hungary than in another country? Greg Stevens: Not at all. The essential emotional core of any drama is the same the world over. People laugh and cry, fall in love, grieve or cheat on each other. Feelings and human relations are the same no matter where you live. But being an Australian, you must be aware of getting the local flavour right. Greg Stevens Greg Stevens: Of course. When I wake up in the morning and look out my win- dow, I see the River Danube. Not Big Ben or the Eiffel Tower. Life's different here, but we have a very good Hungarian team of story editors, storyliners, script editors and writers who make sure we get both the drama and the flavour right. By introducing a daily drama series to the Hungarian market, you were pio- neers. How did the team acquire the know-how enabling you all to produce the show? Greg Stevens : Grundy and Grundy UFA were a big help right from the start. We Australian born Greg Stevens has headed up the still work closely with FremantleMedia team writing Barátok Közt and Szeress Most! and of course Grundy UFA. But even right from the beginning. after nine years, it's no easy job. From a writing point of view, we work very hard Baratok közt is produced by Magyar Grundy to make sure the show remains fresh. UFA, a FremantleMedia company, based in Every six months, we meet up with our Budapest. London colleagues to discuss future developments. We also attend conferen- ces several times a year where we meet other writers, exchange ideas and see what's happening in television drama worldwide. Behind the scene of Barátok közt 4 week 44 the RTL Group intranet Antena 3's programmes win two Ondas Awards Antena 3's acclaimed fictional series El Internado and Europa FM's Ponte a Prueba have won an Onda for Best Spanish Series and Best Radio Programme at the 54th Ondas Awards. Cast of El Internado Spain - 26 October 2007 The jury awarded the Onda for Best Spanish Series to El Internado “for its high production values and its commitment to exploring new avenues in Spanish fiction”. Although it has only one season under its belt (the second season starts in November), El Internado has not only won over critics and vie- wers, but also taken centre stage as an original series that blends genres in a way never before seen in the Spanish fiction television market.