Scalamandre showcases Globo's Int'l Division.

VideoAge was recently invited to visit the new Sao Paulo, Brazil offices of Rede Globo, the largest TV network in Brazil and Latin America, and the fourth largest in the world.

This visit overlapped with VideoAge's participation at the Forum Brasil TV conference (see related story on page 52) and coincided with the PR push to promote Globo's restructured (and relocated from Rio) international TV department, as well as the company's striking new building, erected next to the networks news studio and inaugurated in May 2007 (dedicated to the media group's late founding father, Roberto Marinho).

At the Sao Paulo studios, Rede Globo produces two of its four national newscasts (Jornal Hoje and Jornal de Globo); all of its weather reports; its local news (three daily editions, including Antena Paulista); its magazine shows and documentaries; popular early-morning farmers' news, Globo Rural; and special events' coverage, such as Carnival, or Papal visits.

In the larger Rio de Janeiro studios--named Projac and located in Jacarepagua, a community outside Rio--Globo produces its popular telenovelas and two national news programs: morning show Born Dia Brasil and primetime newscast Jornal Nacional. There are 6,000 employees at this particular studio.

Globo takes new pride in its international department, which has been revitalized and expanded under the leadership of Ricardo Scalamandre, who had all 30 of his staff members transferred from their smaller Rio offices in the Jardim Botanico area to the larger quarters on the seventh floor of the new Sao Paulo building.

The Brazil-born Scalamandre (who also has Italian origins), was re-hired at Globo in 1985--while traveling in Italy--by Globo's current boss, Roberto Irineu Marinho, then a vice president in charge of Italian TV network TeleMontecarlo (now, under new owners, dubbed La7), which was owned at the time by Rede Globo.

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It is interesting to note that the international division of Rede Globo started in Rome, Italy in the early '80s under the guidance of another Paulista of Italian origins, Roberto Filippelli.

Scalamandre began his career at TV Globo in 1971. In 1983 he moved to competing television network SBT as an account executive for spot sales in his native Sao Paulo and, in 1985, he went back to TV Globo. In 1991 he left once again for an executive position at advertising agency BBD&O. He only remained there for a year before starting his own company, called Multmedia Planning. In 1998 Scalamandre returned to Globo with the task of executing the first phase of restructuring its international operations.

Scalamandre explained that the move to Sao Paulo represented the second phase of a restructuring, and is consistent with the international department's mandate of becoming a major revenue producer since, until he took it over in 1999, the division "was not viewed as a profit center" internally.

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Additionally, to the benefit of his division, Sao Paulo is the headquarters of all of Rede Globo's advertising sales, including spot sales for TV Globo Internactional, the TV channel directed at Brazil's expatriates, which also falls under Scalamandre's responsibility.

It was pointed out that 30 percent of TV Globo Internacional's TV revenues come from advertising; the rest comes from subscriptions (440,000 worldwide, including 6,000 in Europe and 32,000 in Japan).

Within Scalamandre's division, Marcelo Spinola heads Globo's international TV channel, while content sales for Globo TV International are handled by Raphael Correa (including formats, such as the popular It's Your Call, now airing in the U.K., Spain and China). International co-productions are handled by Flavio Rocha (who is currently commuting between the Rio and Sao Paulo offices).

It was also explained that Globo's co-production deals are strictly international, whereas only selected presales can air in the domestic market. For instance, in 2002, Italy's Mediaset pre-acquired telenovela Terra Esperanza with the understanding that Globo would produce at least 20 episodes in Italy. Recent co-productions include Vale Todo with Telemundo in the U.S. and Os Maias with Portugal's SIC--both of these shows are available exclusively for the foreign market.

According to Scalamandre, co-productions that could be used for the domestic market are what he called "miniseries" (up to 30 episodes) and "microseries" (up to five episodes), whereas telenovelas consist of 180 episodes that are subsequently reduced to 150 for international sales. For export, each episode must be 45-minutes long, but the length of episodes aired in Brazil varies according to the lead-in and follow-up programming, which, especially if they concern football (soccer), could potentially cut the telenovela down to 30 minutes.

As to new concepts and stories that can be developed into future series, Scalamandre said: "The range is wide. In the last five years, for example, 4,000 Brazilian soccer players have been hired by teams all around the world, offering new sources of programming opportunities."

But today, Globo's major challenge is to counteract the loss of value in its TV commercials by including product placement in telenovelas. In this regard, Scalamandre predicted that the positive effects of this development will extend to traditional advertising for exported programs as well: "It wouldn't be smart for a company--such as an international bank, for instance--not to take advantage of a traditional commercial spot in a program that features a scene which takes place in a branch, to explain all of its services," he said.