New Monte-Carlo fest defining global trends. (TV Festivals).

The 42nd annual Monte-Carlo Television Festival, a three-day cycle of conferences inside a six-day TV festival celebrating the creative arts, took place in Monaco from July 1 to 6 and tried to live up to its hype as a star-studded, international and exclusive event with 800 attendees representing 20 countries. Eight conferences, featuring 38 speakers in total, mostly from the U.S., including two keynote speakers, took the place of the old TV market in February associated with the festival, and kept the same formula.

The conference tackled the themes of "creation" and the different stages of television production: writing, direction, distribution and advertising. Following is a summary of some panels.

At "Entertainment News Around the World," Linda Bell Blue, executive producer of Entertainment Tonight, Entertainment Tonight Weekend and Hot Ticket (U.S.), asked speakers about the differences in reporting style in the U.K. and the U.S. Kevin MacLellan, senior vice president of E! Networks (U.S.), said "it is more competitive and very commercial in the U.S., whereas international reporting is more serious (like BBC title reporting), or intelligent, or incredibly selective."

Bob Goen, anchor of Entertainment Tonight, is convinced that news stories are getting too personal. Nonetheless, panelists felt that entertainment news coverage has toned down since Princess Diana's death and 9/11.

Tony Cohen, CEO of FremantleMedia (U.K.), part of the RTL Group and one of the major worldwide production and distribution companies, was the keynote speaker at the "Sudden and Spectacular Death on Air: Where Does Reality TV Go From Here?" conference. He analyzed the glory days, the keys to success, and the future of reality TV.

Cohen noted that the secrets of reality TV's success are hiding in three dimensions: format, event reaction and audience. The audience is the key element, and reality TV's profile is young, consisting primarily of the "reality generation." For 81 percent of parents, the reality genre is over the top and really annoys them. Cohen considered three possible futures for reality TV: decline and fall, pushing the envelope, or children's reality. A decline means falling ratings -- a result of overexposure to the genre and difficulty finding "real people." So far, however, "pushing the envelope" or "extreme" reality is not working. Examples of such programming that was canceled or never aired include I Want Your Baby, a concept based around sperm donors; 100 Hours, a program about sleep deprivation; and a show covering serial killers.

According to Michel Rodrigue, CEO of Canada's Distraction Formats, different countries buying formats use the same scenario and mostly the same text, only translated. Comedy formats have had particularly great success. But any format has to consider and reflect a country's culture. Reality shows can be damaging in certain places, and the insult-ridden The Weakest Link, for example, elicited horrible reactions from the Prime Minister in Thailand. Rodrigue therefore pushed for a more voyeuristic approach to reality shows.

Dick Wolf, chairman of Wolf Films, discussed the anatomy of one of the world's most successful television brands with authors and producers from his three top-rated Law & Order-branded series. How has its popularity become a phenomenon in the U.S. and abroad? Wolf emphasized that writing is the key to drama and the secret of his three-show success.

The question "Where do we go from here?" was explored at the "World of International Television Distribution" conference moderated by Fred Cohen, president of the International Council of NATAS. Gary Marenzi, president of Paramount International Television, remarked that, when considering the changes that have taken place over the last five years, global production in major territories has really developed. Moreover, local programs have taken all primetime slots. There is also more production for cable. According to Greg Phillips, president of Fireworks International (U.K.), dramas, hospital shows and comedies travel well internationally. Pedro Font, president and CEO of Global Media Distribution (U.S.), contended that there is nowhere in the world where telenovelas are not selling. He claimed that telenovelas faced just two distribution difficulties: England (no dubbing) and Muslim countries.