For Deadline April 04, 2011

Kate Bulkley is covering MIPTV at Cannes for Deadline

Speaking at MIPTV in Cannes, FremantleMedia’s CEO Tony Cohen said the company is focusing on its “existing franchises” like X Factor, Idol and Got Talent. He was bullish on the revamped American Idol, predicting that in its 10th season will achieve “even higher ratings than ever.” He also was optimistic about the TV marketplace. “Broadcasters are buying,” Cohen told a breakfast meeting of journalists and executives on the FremantleMedia stand, which has the Mediterranean Sea as a backdrop. “It’s not like in previous years when we are here and people are saying. ‘Oh my God, what’s going to happen?' If you have good shows, they are buying.”

Cohen also said that the micropayment model has started to work, citing the success of social games based on Family Feud and The Price is Right on Facebook. RTL Group-owned FremantleMedia has 30 more games in the development pipeline through its Ludia subsidiary based in Canada, of which eight are social games, including some based on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Press Your Luckand Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? "We have successfully launched branded games and we have begun to answer that elusive question about where is the business model," Cohen said. "It is alive and well and it is based in micropayments.” At MIPTV, FremantleMedia is launching Four Rooms, anAntiques Roadshow-type show set to premiere on Channel 4 in the next month.