American Entertainment Firms Expand Exports into Latin American Markets

September 30, 2011

(ITA) WASHINGTON –Today, Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sánchez signed an Export Trade Certificate of Review for the Latin American Multichannel Advertising Council (LAMAC), which will set the framework for an export joint venture of seven American entertainment firms that will increase exports of multimedia entertainment to Latin America.

“This is an important step toward realizing the tremendous export potential for U.S. producers of Spanish-language content,” said Sánchez. “The President’s NEI goal is to double U.S. exports by the end of 2014. The Central and South America region will be the strongest growth market for entertainment and media—with a compounded annual growth rate in excess of 10 percent through 2015.”

The United States is the world leader in creative content, offering a robust selection of movies, TV shows, and other Spanish and Portuguese-language programming. The companies benefiting from the Export Trade Certificate of Review will capture a large part of the Latin American TV advertising dollar.

“As advertising revenue grows for these LAMAC companies, the opportunity for U.S. filmed content is likely to expand,” Sánchez added. “This will benefit not only the big U.S. studios, but the hundreds of independent film and TV production houses.”

The Certificate will allow LAMAC members to exchange information regarding all aspects of foreign market conditions and viewership, collect and disseminate foreign market research and analysis, and engage in joint promotional activities aimed at developing export markets.

LAMAC members include Discovery Latin America LLC, Fox Latin American Channel Inc., NGC Networks Latin America LLC, Turner Broadcasting System Latin America Inc., A&E Mundo LLC, History Channel Latin America LLC, E! Entertainment Television Latin America Partners.

The Export Trade Certificate of Review program helps U.S. firms improve their export competitiveness by giving them legal preclearance to coordinate with one another as an Export Joint Venture. Export Joint Ventures under the program are typically organized along industry clusters and often involve competing domestic companies. There are currently 70 certificates with approximately 2,500 firms participating in the program. In 2010, exports associated with the Export Trade Certificate of Review totaled an estimated $19.6 billion.

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