?We produce locally now, but not to the extent Ancine seems to be expecting,? says Eduardo Mendonça, HBO?s new managing director in Brazil. ?HBO hasn?t decided yet whether to invest in the production of films in Brazil. We?re analyzing the possibility. We want to understand what?s going on, see what the new rules add up to, and work out whether there are advantages in it for us. But local production isn?t a priority at the moment.? These remarks are taken from an interview with Mr Mendonça in the April issue of PAY-TV magazine, out next week. He discusses HBO?s views on the Brazilian market and the prospects for new HBO channels. The programmer is about to review its exclusivity agreement with DirecTV for premium channels. Operators that don?t include the premium channel in their lineups could offer it as a pay-per-view option on weekends, for example, he suggests.
Strategy
