tv asia pacific mipcom 2010

asia pacific MIPCOM &

CASBAAEDITION

Pan-RegionalChannelsFuji’s Hisashi HiedaDiscovery’s Tom KeavenyUniversal Networks’Raymund Mirandawww.tvasia.ws THE MAGAZINE OF ASIA-PACIFIC TELEVISION OCTOBER 2010

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Malaysia’s Astro, one of Asia’s leading pay-TV platforms, iscoming to grips with the country’s changing demographicsand viewing habits. COO Henry Tan notes that “it is notabout a household anymore but about individuals within thehouseholds—the father, mother, son, daughter and grandpar-ents may all have different viewing needs, and preferreddevices to get their content.”Setting technological innovation as a priority, Astro has

rolled out its Astro B.yond service, delivering ten HDchannels and a PVR. It is also boosting its content offer-ings, notably in sports. “Looking ahead to 2011, we are enabling connectivity on

the next generation Astro B.yond box, which will deliverPVR and VOD functionality as well as IP connectivity, alongwith more HD channels. We will leverage our Astro platformto deliver satellite DTH, IPTV, VOD, online, mobile andother advanced services from a single unified infrastructureproviding customers with a new viewing experience onAstro Bplayer online and mobile applications.”

• Astro B.yond

Akademi Fantasia

Astro www.astro.com.my

• The X Factor USA• American Idol• America’s Got Talent• Project Runway• Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals

FremantleMedia Enterprises

Talent competitions lead off FremantleMedia Enterprises’(FME) slate for Asian buyers, headlined by the U.S. versionof the hit format The X Factor. Also available are new seasonsof American Idol and America’s Got Talent. Another well-knownbrand back with a new season is Project Runway, while JamieOliver features in the new series, Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals.“Buyers in Asia are familiar with FME’s longstanding, suc-

cessful franchises on an international scale, and many of ourtitles come to market with huge popularity already estab-lished,” notes Paul Ridley, executive VP for the Asia Pacific.“The showcasing of brand-new content across all genres con-tinues to be important to FME as it offers something morefor buyers, and further builds upon our already trusted port-folio.” Ridley adds, “Our focus is on renewing our dealsaround our bigger brands while successfully launchingnew content to Asia-Pacific broadcasters.”

www.fremantlemedia.com/enterprises

Project Runway

“FME bringssome of thebiggest brandsin the world ofentertainment tothe marketplacein Cannes.”

—Paul Ridley

Ricardo Seguin GuisePublisher

Mansha DaswaniEditor

Kristin BrzoznowskiManaging EditorMatthew Rippetoe

Production and DesignDirector

Simon WeaverOnline DirectorPhyllis Q. BusellArt DirectorKelly Quiroz

Sales and MarketingManager

Erica Antoine-ColeBusiness Affairs Manager

Cesar SueroSales and Marketing

CoordinatorAlyssa Menard

Sales and MarketingAssistant

Ricardo Seguin GuisePresident

Anna CarugatiExecutive VP and

Group Editorial DirectorMansha DaswaniVP of StrategicDevelopment

TV Asia Pacific© 2010 WSN INC.

1123 Broadway, #1207New York, NY 10010

Phone: (212) 924-7620

Fax: (212) 924-6940

Website: www.tvasia.ws

IN THIS ISSUELighting Up the ScreenSpotlighting the Chinesemedia market 14

InterviewsFuji’s Hisashi Hieda 12Discovery’s Tom Keaveny 21Universal Networks’Raymund Miranda 22

“We aim to bring the bestof Malay, Chinese and Indianprogramming to meet the viewing needs of our customers.”

—Henry Tan

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418 World Screen 10/10

For several years now, Singapore’s leading media company,MediaCorp, has been partnering with Japanese pubcasterNHK on The Asian Pitch, an initiative to promote docu-mentary productions from Asia producers. Three titlesproduced from that effort headline MediaCorp’s offer-ings to the international market: Red Box from Taiwan, TheGreat Indian Marriage Bazaar from India and Listen to theMountain Sages from Japan. Sharon Loh, assistant VP ofcontent distribution at MediaCorp, expects strong inter-est in the documentaries. “They are human interest, socialand cultural stories of universal appeal but from an origi-nal Asian perspective. They are both enlightening andentertaining for a wide spectrum of audiences.”Loh is also keen to promote the wide range of other

genres available from MediaCorp, which includeslifestyle properties like Fashion Asia. “We want the buyersto take a harder look at our dramas, sitcoms, varietyshows and other properties,” she says.

• Red Box• The Great Indian Marriage Bazaar• Listen to the Mountain Sages• Fashion Asia

MediaCorpwww.mediacorp.com.sg/contentdistribution

Singapore’s MDA has been heavily investing in thenation’s animation sector, and those efforts have cer-tainly paid off, with local producers becoming frequentgo-to co-production partners for American and Euro-pean companies. A number of animated series will beshowcased at the Singaporean Pavilion this market,where 11 companies will be participating. Among thenew titles is Dream Defenders, Mr. Moon, Rob the Robotand Silly Bitty Bunny.Christopher Chia, CEO of the MDA, says that MIPCOM

is “an important market for our media companies to net-work and forge relationships with international partners,establish new co-production deals, and distribute their con-tent. This is also a good time to identify emerging trendsand exploit new opportunities that could translate intolonger-term advantages for Singapore in expanding ourmarkets for Singapore-made content, aggressively identify-ing projects that span the multiplatform franchise, as wellas capacity building and capability development.”

• Dream Defenders• Mr. Moon• Rob the Robot• Silly Bitty Bunny

Media Development Authorityof Singapore

“We want to promoteMediaCorp as a leading producer of awide genre of contentand formats.”

—Sharon Loh

www.smf.sg

Fashion Asia

Silly BittyBunny

“The fact that our Singapore co-productions havebeen successful with international buyers is atestimony to the quality of the animation productswe are producing.”

—Christopher Chia


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The international French-language networkTV5MONDE has greatly expanded its presence inAsia since entering the market in 1996. Three yearsago, when the company opened its Hong Kong office,distribution for TV5MONDE Asia stood at 16 mil-lion homes. Since then, the group has launched a sec-ond feed, TV5MONDE Pacifique. “Today they reacha combined 22 million households in 16 major mar-kets and subscription revenues are up 210 percent,”notes Julien Dutronc, the head of distribution andmarketing in the region.Targeting future growth, Dutronc is eyeing the poten-

tial of mainland China, but regulatory issues remain ahurdle. “The Indian subcontinent also offers a lot ofopportunities, Pakistan in particular. And technologicaladvances will free up broadcast capacity in several mar-kets in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Indonesia andthe Philippines, allowing new and existing platforms togrow, but we’ll have to keep our focus if we want to bea serious contender in the battle for new capacity.”

• TV5MONDE Asia• TV5MONDE Pacifique

TV5MONDE

Food Network Asia, part of the Scripps Networks Interna-tional portfolio, began its expansion earlier this year, in Sin-gapore, and recently rolled out in Taiwan. The channel isbeing programmed with a mix of U.S. productions andlocally acquired and commissioned fare. At launch the chan-nel featured popular U.S. brands like Giada at Home, LukeNguyen’s Vietnam, Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, Spice Goddess andExtreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin.Mary Ellen Iwata, VP of international programming for

Scripps Networks International, will be on the lookout forthird-party content at MIPCOM for broadcast on FoodNetwork Asia, as well as on Food Network U.K. and FoodNetwork EMEA. “Ideally I would love to find shows thatwork across the channels. That said, I’ll be looking for seriesand talent for specific territories as well.” Scripps has alreadycommissioned original short-form series to serve as fillerbetween the long-form programs: Eat Like a Local, Food FunAt 3am, Home Cooking and Street Food Faves.

• Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives• Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam• Spice Goddess• Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin• Giada at Home

Scripps Networks International

“We have found that showssuch as these have univer-sal appeal, plus they are allbeautifully shot in HD sothey look great.”

—Mary Ellen Iwata

“Our brand is now well-establishedamong our core target groups sowe’re looking to capitalize on France’spopularity in Asia to appeal to themasses interested in French culturebut who don’t speak the language.”

—Julien Dutronc

www.foodnetworkasia.com

Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin

Reporters

www.tv5.org

Les Mariées de L’isle Bourbon


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This year’s convention takes place under the banner of“Unlock Your Networks.” Simon Twiston Davies, the CEOof CASBAA, explains, “Unlock your networks refers to yourTV network, your personal networks, even your algorithms.Unlocking is allowing the market and the dynamics of therelationships [in the market] to become transparent.”Free-market dynamics will certainly be among the key

topics discussed during the four-day convention, given thedebate over Singapore’s recent mandate for cross-carriage ofcontent on pay-TV operators StarHub and SingTel.Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) has made

its position clear. The new legislation, MDA says, is necessary ina market where 90 percent of the top 100 pay-TV channels areonly available on one platform. This level of fragmentation,MDA says, means increased costs and inconvenience for con-sumers, who need to either switch platforms or get a secondbox to get the content they want. Platforms, meanwhile, arepaying higher acquisition prices to secure the exclusive rights tocontent and channels, the regulator says.“The cross-carriage measure is an effective way to help

address a uniquely Singapore issue,” Michael Yap, deputy CEOand director of development policy at the MDA, said recently.“It will help content providers gain a wider distribution oftheir content and consumers to enjoy a wider choice of con-tent without the inconveniences of having to switch pay-TVretailers each time exclusive content changes hands.”Trade body CASBAA—speaking on behalf of channel oper-

ators that have been reluctant to speak on the record about theissue—has been vocal in its objections to the new policy.“Prohibitions on exclusivity are an unwarranted intrusion intothe market, which will distort the market and ultimately causebroadcasters to begin to step back from their investments inSingapore,” Twiston Davies says. “If you’re a channel that mayhave been going to invest in a market like Singapore with anew product, like 3D content, for example, [you may decidenot to] because you’ve got no guarantees in terms of revenuesfrom an exclusive contract.”An even bigger cause for concern, Twiston Davies says, is

the issue of “contagion.” He notes, “Singapore has beenseen as a poster child for the industry. Thus, for instance, inVietnam the issue of exclusive contracts has suddenlybecome an issue. Similar questions are being asked inThailand. The implications of the new Singapore regula-tions for the rest of the region could produce a radicalunbalancing of the business model, dramatically changingthe dynamics of our industry.”

At the moment though, with the deadline for the imple-mentation of Singapore’s new policy pushed back to early2011 and a fair deal of uncertainty as to how it will all work,channel operators show no signs of retreating from invest-ments in the region. Indeed, as I found speaking with theheads of Asia’s leading pay-TV channel groups, furtherexpansion is very much in the cards.Universal Networks International, for example, is focus-

ing on bringing in top-quality imports for its recentlyrebranded portfolio of networks, as Asia-Pacific managingdirector Raymund Miranda reveals in this issue. And it’s notjust American content that’s on Miranda’s wish list. “We’realways keeping an eye out for possible local acquisitions,”Miranda says.Tom Keaveny, executive VP and managing director for the

Asia Pacific at Discovery Networks International, sees roomfor new brands in the region, on the heels of the import ofTLC. In an interview that appears in this issue, Keavenynotes, “It’s a question of putting the right brands and theright content in play. I’d be very keen on launching networkswhere we think there’s a demand in the market.”And where he does see demand already is in India, where

Discovery has an application pending to launch DiscoveryKids, Discovery Home & Health, Investigation Discovery,the Military Channel and Discovery 3D, adding to its exist-ing six-channel portfolio in the market.Indian expansion remains the story for a slew of compa-

nies. Turner Broadcasting has made its play in the general-entertainment space with Imagine, acquired from NDTV.Scripps Networks International is talking to potential part-ners about a prospective joint venture for lifestyle net-works in India. And AETN International recently inked adeal with Network18 to bring its portfolio of networks tothe country.Indian regulators, meanwhile, are realizing there’s much

to be gained from allowing Western players—and theirinvestments—into the country; this summer, the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced that itwas mulling increasing the cap on foreign investment inDTH, IPTV and cable-distribution platforms to 74 percentfrom the current 49 percent. The size of that potential pie?Research from Media Partners Asia indicates that the num-ber of pay-TV subs in India will rise from 105 million lastyear to 149 million in 2014 and 173 million by 2020. By2012, India will become the world’s largest DTH marketwith 36 million homes.

All the major players catering to Asia’s ever-growing pay-TV base, be they channel oper-

ators or cable, satellite and IPTV platforms, are expected to be in attendance at this year’s

CASBAA Convention in Hong Kong.

The Battle Over Exclusivity

P A N O R A M ABy Mansha Daswani

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It’s no secret that Japan’s economy took a battering duringthe global downturn, with media outlets experiencing heavylosses in ad revenues. For the territory’s leading commercialbroadcaster, Fuji Television, the past year has been challeng-ing but, as chairman and CEO Hisashi Hieda reveals in thisinterview, recovery is well under way. The company hasremained firmly focused on delivering high-quality drama, vari-ety, entertainment, news and more in order to draw viewers andadvertisers. It has also expanded its activities, moving into

movie production, pay TV, mer-chandising and other businesses.Fuji Television is just one partof the sprawling Fuji MediaHoldings, the parent group

that also owns Nippon Broad-casting, as well as production,publishing and music assets,among others. In this exclusiveinterview, Hieda discusses whathas kept Fuji at the head of the

pack and what lies ahead for thegroup, which celebrated its 50th

anniversary last year.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How did Fuji’s ad revenues hold up amidthe downturn? HIEDA: Although the Japanese advertising market contin-ued to decline due to the effect of the worldwide reces-sion, it is now on a recovery path. Last fall, our spot ad salesincreased compared to the previous year. The first quarter wit-nessed sales that exceeded the previous year for the first time inthree years. Our programming is [favored by young people]and women—the main target of our sponsors—helping usmaintain our top position in viewer ratings for six consecutiveyears. Fuji Television’s strength in content production is pro-viding a powerful underpinning for our sales activities.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: You’ve reorganized the company, creat-ing Fuji Media Holdings to serve as the umbrella for all youroperating divisions. Why was this important for the business?HIEDA: Because the media industry is witnessing such majorchanges, we’ve established a holding company structure tobe able to have an overview of each of our companies andconduct a more efficient group management. This enables usto grasp more highly concentrated business conditions andmake [more] speedy business judgments than before. Also, bycentralizing funds that have been scattered throughout thegroup companies, an even more efficient operation of man-agement resources has become possible.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What policies have you put in place toweather Japan’s current financial storm?HIEDA: With the downward trend in ad sales, in order tosecure profit, we try to efficiently operate costs through acomprehensive inspection of program production costs aswell as other areas. At the same time, our policy is to focus ourgoals on strengthening non-advertisement related businessesthat are less subject to the economy.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What efforts have you made to expandyour non-advertising revenues?HIEDA: Making good use of our strong skills in contentproduction, Fuji Television was among the first broadcastersin Japan to take part in non-broadcasting businesses suchas motion-picture production and live events, achieving ahuge success in various genres. Our current focus isexpanding operating revenues in new fields such as mobilephones, the Internet and IPTV. In particular, the on-demand service of Fuji Television programs is witnessing asteady growth in sales, and will soon contribute to ourcompany’s profits.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: Fuji celebrated a milestone 50thanniversary last year. What have been the keys to your suc-cess over the past five decades?HIEDA: Our corporate culture is fresh, bright and flexible.Without fear of failure, Fuji Television has never stopped tak-ing part in the development of software and businesses that laypaths to new eras. I believe that another important key to oursuccess is the fact that we have always made it our policy thathuman resource is the most important asset for our company.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: The Japanese market has become muchmore competitive. How have you been able to retain yourmarket-leading position?

12 TV ASIA PACIFIC

Staying Ahead

Fuji Media’sHisashi Hieda


By Mansha Daswani

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10/10 World Screen

HIEDA: I think it’s all in our strong content-productionskills. No matter what kind of new media were to emerge, thecontent to be shown on that media will no doubt play a sig-nificant role. That is why I am confident that Fuji Television’sposition as Japan’s most powerful content producer will neverwaver, no matter what kind of media emerges.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: You produce so much content in Japan.How are you monetizing this on a global scale?HIEDA: As a content producer, we are fully aware thatexpanding businesses to overseas markets is not an easy task.Still, in order to expand and increase the entire group’s prof-itability, going global is an extremely crucial theme. That’swhy we intend to continue strengthening our program salesand format sales as well as actively take part in the overseastrials of various new business ventures, not necessarily relatedto content businesses.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How do Fuji and Nippon BroadcastingSystem complement each other?HIEDA: The two companies cooperate with each otherthrough television and radio programs as well as co-fundingand co-hosting events. Currently, Fuji Television and Nip-pon Broadcasting are taking part in a joint venture that willprovide multimedia broadcasting services via the bandwidththat is currently allocated to analogue television.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How is Fuji participating in the transi-tion to digital terrestrial?HIEDA: The switchover to digital broadcasts is Japan’s nationalpolicy. The necessary upgrading of broadcasting facilities andtransmission infrastructures has been completed. We are now atthe stage of making the switch to digital widely known to ourviewers by informing them through television programs and

events. Once the switchover to digital terrestrial broadcasts iscompleted smoothly in July 2011, the image quality and func-tions of televisions will improve. The strength that today’s tele-vision possesses will be passed on, so I have high hopes that itwill evolve into an even more powerful media.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How are your interests in the pay-TVsector performing?HIEDA: Three pay-TV channels have already been launchedin the Fuji Television brand name. They have already estab-lished a strong position and have gained much popularity.Fuji Television is also the leading shareholder of WOWOW,which is a huge success in pay-TV broadcasting via satellite,as well as Nihon Eiga Satellite Broadcasting Corporation,very popular for its movie channels. Fuji Television is also abig shareholder of the satellite platform operator, SKY PerfectJSAT. We have actively developed and expanded businessesand financial resources in the pay-TV sector. We will continuefocusing on pay-TV businesses while carefully evaluatingprofitability and market potential.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your goals for the companyin the next 12 to 18 months?HIEDA: During these past few years of difficult economictimes, we have displayed a significant management policy tostrengthen and toughen up our business quality so that wecan achieve tremendous growth when the economy recovers,as well as to shift our business structure in a way that we areless subject to the fluctuating economy. Therefore, no mat-ter what the situation of the economic environment is, wewill be able to head toward an increase in profit. In addi-tion, if the external economic environment improves, FujiTelevision will be blessed with an even bigger opportunityto increase its profits.

425

Ratings game: Fuji TVhas a slate of

successful varietyshows, among them

Pekepon, which has been on the

air since 2007.

13TV ASIA PACIFIC

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The numbers are staggering—446 million pay-TV homesby 2014, reports Media Partners Asia (MPA) in its latest studyof the Asia-Pacific multichannel business. This is projected torise to 513 million by 2020. Last year alone, the industryadded 26.6 million new subscribers.Digital is the story, with operators finally making the

upgrades needed to expand capacity and offer advanced ser-vices like HD and on demand. “It’s taken a long time—we’vebeen talking digital for ages,” says Simon Twiston Davies, theCEO of the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association ofAsia (CASBAA). “Platforms are now beginning to see thebenefits of digitization.”Indeed, the digital pay-TV market reached critical mass

last year, according to MPA, with the number of digitalpay-TV subscribers rising to 116 million—16 percent oftotal TV homes and 34 percent of total pay-TV homes.Leading the charge are cable players in China and Japan,

India’s numerous DTH operators, satellite services likeAstro in Malaysia and IPTV platforms in markets such asHong Kong and Korea. The new capacity has given rise to a host of new entrants,

while Asia’s big pan-regional players are launching new services,adding new feeds and investing in local programming.Among the biggest operators—and most profitable, accord-

ing to MPA estimates—is News Corporation’s FOX Interna-tional Channels (FIC) Asia division, which has a portfolio of17 channels, including the flagship FOX, National Geo-graphic Channel and STAR World. The business is the resultof last year’s merger between STAR’s pan-regional, English-language channels operation and the FIC/Nat Geo bouquet.(Following the restructure, STAR India and STAR GreaterChina were spun off into separate entities.) “The results speak for themselves,” says Zubin Gandevia, the

COO of FIC Asia, on the benefits of the reorganization. “The

By Mansha Daswani

TV ASIA PACIFIC14

Channel operators heading to CASBAA in Hong Kongare eager to take advantage of the new opportunitiesin the Asian pay-TV landscape.

Lighting Up the

Screen

Hong Kong

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business units are all doing financially better on an individualand collective basis than they were before. Each unit has madetheir products far more relevant to their market.”Over the last year, the division has focused on the expan-

sion of the entertainment brand FOX, which, with a maleskew, complements the increasingly female-friendly STARWorld, and the continued rollout of Nat Geo Wild. Next up,Gandevia says, will be exploring the movie space, followingthe success of the pan-regional STAR Movies service. Thisinitiative kicked off with the launch of Fox Family Moviesin Singapore last month on StarHub.“Asia is growing and growing,” Gandevia says. “We are

lucky in that we were in early and we have great brands. In thelong term, even though there may be a lot of clutter, platformsand customers will increasingly differentiate between must-have brands, tent-pole brands, and the also-haves. We want tobe in the former. There are four or five of our channels whichare already in that category. I want to make these channelseven more indispensable than they already are to platforms.”The need to have a clear proposition that stands out for

platforms and advertisers, is also expressed by RaymundMiranda, the managing director for Asia at Universal Net-works International (UNI), which has been operating in Asiasince 2008 and recently underwent a rebrand. “UniversalChannel is now in 13 countries, we have one country with13th Street Universal, Syfy Universal is in ten countries,excluding our joint venture in Australia, and DIVA Univer-sal is in 21 countries,” Miranda says. “I think this is one ofthe fastest rollouts [of a portfolio] across multiple countries.”

MAKING AN IMPACTThe key, he says, is having “clutter cutters” that make plat-forms, advertisers and viewers pay attention. “I see viewersbeing more discriminating when it comes to their expecta-tions of the channels,” Miranda says. “And that makes itimportant to have strong channel brand propositions.”For Mark Whitehead, the senior VP and general manager of

BBC Worldwide Channels Asia, the recognition of the BBCbrand was crucial to the rollout of the pubcaster’s interna-tional networks—a portfolio that includes BBC Entertain-ment, BBC Lifestyle, BBC Knowledge and CBeebies. “When

we first launched our channels three years ago, it wasundoubtedly the BBC brand that helped us stand out fromother channels in the market,” he notes. “In that short time,our business has grown considerably.” Whitehead adds, “Lastyear, we launched 13 thematic channels across South Korea,Singapore and Hong Kong and our channels are now in over10 million homes in Asia.”A strong international brand name can certainly lend a

hand to a company’s Asian aspirations, concurs Greg Moyer,the president of Scripps Networks International, one ofthe region’s newest players. In the last few months, thecompany has announced two carriage deals for Food Net-work—StarHub in Singapore and DishHD in Taiwan. “We feel there’s a fair amount of momentum in the market

right now and it’s a good time to be entering the Asian market-place,” Moyer says. “I have been taken aback at how muchrespect there already is for Scripps’s U.S. success. I was afraid thatthe fact we had only been doing program syndication for allthese years, we’d have a lot of education to do to get people tounderstand that we operate very successful channels in the U.S.Our success thankfully has spread quickly and people in theindustry know the power of Scripps’ lifestyle brands even thoughthey don’t get to consume them themselves on a daily basis.”Similarly, at Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific (DNAP), the

buzz generated by TLC’s hit shows in the U.S. has translatedinto a positive response from local operators for the lifestylechannel, which made its debut in place of Discovery Travel &Living in September. Tom Keaveny, executive VP and manag-ing director of DNAP—which operates seven channels acrossAsia Pacific—sees potential to bring in other U.S. Discoverybrands, “where we think there’s demand in the market.”


Over the hump: Local content like Zhang Ziyi Travel Series hasbeen integral to Nat Geo’s growth in Asia.

Put a sock in it: CBeebies has begun developing content in theregion, rolling out the Australian production Penelope K, by the way.

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Whether it’s a new brand or a familiar one, “It starts withclear positioning,” notes Todd Miller, executive VP of inter-national networks for the Asia Pacific at Sony Pictures Tele-vision (SPT). “We build our channels as ‘destinations’ forviewers with specific preferences. This is part of our brand-building exercise—laying the foundation for viewer loyalty isvery important, and we spend a lot of effort on strong exe-cution to fulfill the brand promise.”It’s a strategy that has worked for SPT—its AXN channel,

which was an early entrant in Asia, is the leading pan-regionalEnglish-language entertainment network. With AXN firmlyentrenched across Asia, SPT has expanded its portfolio withthe additions of AXN Beyond and the female-targeted SETAsia. “Last year, we closed 29 new carriage deals for AXNBeyond and SET Asia, and expanded these services into 11new markets,” Miller says.Another company that is building out its portfolio is Turner

Broadcasting Systems Asia Pacific, which for years has domi-nated the kids’ space with Cartoon Network. Last year, thecompany announced plans to bring the U.S. brand truTV tothe region. “A year on and truTV is carving out a niche inentertainment programming in Singapore, the Philippines,Vietnam and Indonesia,” says Sunny Saha, senior VP and gen-eral manager at Turner Entertainment Networks Asia. “Webelieve that truTV’s unique programming cuts through theclutter as there is nothing like it in the region. Given its nichepositioning, it fills the gap for audiences who we identified

as ‘real engagers’—those who love programming withreal people, real-life situations and true stories.”

A young channel in Asia, truTV is currentlybeing programmed entirely from the libraryof its U.S. counterpart. “We’re concentratingon establishing truTV’s profile with the verybest of our existing series,” Saha says.“Inthe long term, we’d like to explore poten-tial content synergies between truTVand Turner’s other entertainment chan-nels, such as QTV (Korea), Mondo TV( Japan), Imagine TV (India) and Infinito(Latin America),” he adds.

LOCAL STORIESFor channels that have beenaround in Asia for some time,local programming hasbecome a must-have,especially in the docu-mentary space.“When you talkabout the DNA,the fabric ofwhat we do,

our genres, biography and history, are so personal and localand demand so much local relevance by their very nature,”explains Sean Cohan, the senior VP at AETN International,which has secured carriage for the HISTORY, Bio andCrime & Investigation brands across Asia. “Our viewersdemand that of us, our platforms demand that of us. Fromearly in the game we made a meaningful effort across South-east Asia—a significant piece of each of the channels is locallyproduced and acquired.”Discovery, similarly, is producing and acquiring content across

Asia, and has a number of initiatives in place to develop localdocumentary talent. Its competitor National Geographic is beingequally aggressive in the local production space. “We will make40 to 50 hours in Asia alone next year,” says FIC’s Gandevia. For the big pan-regional entertainment brands, however,

local programming has been more of a challenge, primarilybecause they’ve built their businesses on offering the best ofAmerican or British content. Nonetheless, it’s an area that isbeing eyed by a number of channel operators. UNI, forexample, is currently on its second season of a regional ver-sion of The Biggest Loser on Diva Universal. “We’re lookingat another possible format, because those seem to work verywell for the regional feeds,” Miranda explains. “We’re alwayskeeping an eye out for possible local acquisitions. That’s alsobecoming pretty expensive, because everyone is looking atlocal acquisitions now. I think we’ll get to a point where thelocal content costs even more than Western content—thatwould not be far-fetched.”At SPT, meanwhile, AXN is now on the fourth season of

The Amazing Race Asia, based on the CBS reality series dis-tributed by Disney Media Distribution. “It differentiates AXNand offers a programming lineup that is unique, while creat-ing opportunities for advertisers to be integrated seamlessly andbe more relevant to our audiences,” says Miller on the impor-tance of local content. Having a hook for advertisers was also a key part of Com-

cast International Media Group’s (CIMG) decision to intro-duce local productions on E! Entertainment Television.CIMG recently tapped Sony Pictures Entertainment Net-works Asia to handle E!’s pan-regional ad sales. With thatbusiness starting to gain traction and the channel well pene-trated across Asia, the timing was right to invest in originalproduction, says Christine Fellowes, CIMG’s managing direc-tor in the region. The result is E! News Asia, which features

TV ASIA PACIFIC18

Standing tall: Diva Universal recently

premiered a second season of the original

production The Biggest Loser Asia.

Refreshing break: Invite Mr. Wright is one of the regionalcommissions airing on TLC, Discovery’s newest brand in Asia.



MARCDORSEL_WS_1010_Layout 1 9/16/10 2:31 PM Page 1

local entertainment news, and covers Hollywood from anAsian perspective, Fellowes notes.“We see this as an opportunity for people to buy into our

environment,” she continues. “We can offer on-the-ground[events] and some tie-ins.”Finding ways to appeal to advertisers is at the top of all

channel operators’ to-do lists—total pay-TV advertising rev-enues in Asia are expected to reach $11 billion by 2014 and$15 billion by 2015, according to MPA research. The questionis how this pie is being carved up. Indeed, many operatorspoint to a softness in pan-regional ad-buys at the moment.Where channels are seeing the most gains is in advertisingon localized feeds tailored to a single market.CIMG’s Fellowes, for example, points to the performance

of E!’s Australian ad business. “We have this amazing brandedpresence that is kicking it out of the park in terms of ad sales.We’ve had really significant year-on-year growth.”Launching additional local feeds is a key part of DNAP’s strat-

egy for boosting its already strong ad-sales business. “So far thisyear, our ad-sales growth in the first half is 40 percent.”

DNAP’s strength, Keaveny notes, is its ability to offer adpartners a local spot, a pan-regional one and even a globalone. “We’re a triple threat,” he quips. “As we’re seeing the

upsurge in marketing activity, we’re ableto take account of it in three ways.We’re optimistic and we’re seeing thatoptimism turn into cash.” At FIC, Gandevia notes that it’s

the documentary channels—notably Discovery and NatGeo—and the internationalnews networks that appear tobe taking the lion’s share of anestimated $200 million pan-regional ad pie. “Something thathas not been explored in thismarket is the opportunity to cre-ate an entertainment destinationfor pan-regional advertisers,” hesays. And that is exactly what he islooking to do with the FOX brand.

HIGH ON HDAnother area of growth identifiedby several channel operators isHD. Adoption of high-definitionpay-TV is forecast to reach 37million homes by 2014, rising to75 million in 2020, MPA

reports. This is up from just 7 mil-lion in 2009.Early movers Nat Geo and Dis-covery have secured carriage inevery market in the region that hasa platform capable of deliveringHD services. And other channelsacross a variety of genres are anx-ious to reach the same penetrationlevels. AETN has fared well with itsHISTORY HD channel, available inJapan and Korea, among other mar-

kets. BBC Worldwide Channels is eyeing opportunities for BBCHD in Asia, and AXN has landed slots for its HD feed in Korea,Singapore and Malaysia. Scripps’s Moyer has found that offering Food Network Asia

in both HD and SD is proving to be crucial to the channel’sregional aspirations. “I think if you come with a beautifully builtchannel that’s there in high definition, you may have an oppor-tunity that somebody who just brings an SD product doesn’thave. That’s been a clarifying issue for a couple of distributors.”UNI is also making forays into HD, with one channel

already available in Japan. But, Miranda notes, “the jury isstill out as to what the possible economic model is—someplatforms are happy to pay extra, some aren’t.”There’s also the issue of the wildly disparate HD penetra-

tion levels in Asia. Citing Nielsen data, Discovery’s Keavenynotes, “The [markets with the] highest index of HD owner-ship [worldwide] are Australia and Hong Kong. But AsiaPacific only indexes at 90. There are significant markets likeIndonesia, Pakistan, Thailand, that aren’t at the same level. ButIndonesia and Thailand are massive countries—that meansthere’s massive potential going forward.”

PASSAGE TO INDIAIn expanding Discovery’s business, Keaveny also sees potentialfor boosting the company’s presence in certain key territories—notably India. Discovery has applied to launch new networks ina country that appears to be on everyone’s priority list these days.“The absolute focus will need to be India,” says Alan

Hodges, managing director for the Asia Pacific at AETN Inter-national, on priorities for the next year. The company recentlyset up a joint venture with Network18 to launch HISTORY,Bio and other AETN channel brands in India. Scripps is currently seeking out a new partner in India after

calling off its joint-venture partnership with NDTV earlierthis year. “We continue to remain extremely interested inbeing in business in India and are fairly confident that we’llfind a way to enter and do it with a partner that helps usincrease the odds of success,” says Moyer.India is also a key focus for CIMG’s Fellowes, who notes

that the territory’s huge domestic entertainment scene wouldrequire some kind of local partnership for E!The dynamic South Asian market is also home to numer-

ous pay-TV platforms. “Oftentimes people equate growth inthe business with new launches into new countries,” UNI’sMiranda explains. “But there is a lot more to do. Asia is anoverbuilt business, so in a market with 800 or 1,000 opera-tors, there’s still a long ways to go.”While the growth prospects are tremendous, Miranda notes

that new entrants should be realistic about their Asian rolloutplans. “There are more U.S. or European studios that are lookingat Asia as the real opportunity for growth, and they’re correct forlooking at it that way because Asia is still so under-penetrated. Itreally is about tempering those expectations and making sure thatyou’re prepared for getting into the market and giving it your all.”For those that do, the rewards look promising. “The market

is healthy,” notes CASBAA’s Twiston Davies. “We’re still seeingsub numbers going up. Advertising revenues in some mar-kets have gone up almost 50 percent since last year. Recov-ery is in full swing—[there are] new channels, investments inHD, investments that are coming for 3D. Broadcasters are verybullish about the future.”


TV ASIA PACIFIC20

Reporting live...: E!’s first foray into regional programming is E! News Asia.


World Screen

21TV ASIA PACIFIC

With the rollout of TLC in Asia last month in place of Discovery Travel & Living, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific (DNAP) bolsteredits lifestyle portfolio in the region and set up what executive VP andmanaging director Tom Keaveny sees as a strong second flagshipbrand. With its portfolio of seven networks—and slew of localfeeds—DNAP is driving ad-revenue and audience gains, while takingthe lead in high-definition production and in 3D.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: Discovery Networks International’s presi-dent and CEO, Mark Hollinger, has said that a goal for the busi-ness is moving from a 70:30 affiliate revenue to ad revenue split to50:50. How are you looking to increase your ad-sales business? KEAVENY: We’re launching more feeds into different markets.So far this year, our ad sales growth in the first half is 40 percent.We’ve seen significant growth, and that’s being led by India, Aus-tralia—everywhere is doing well. We’re a triple threat—we cantake local advertising sales, we can take pan-regional and we cantake global. As we’re seeing the upsurge in marketing activity,we’re able to take account of it in three ways. Plus, we’re able todo more national feeds as well. We’re optimistic and we’re seeingthat optimism turn into cash. A lot of that is a function of mar-ket growth. We’ve got great sales teams. And it’s also a functionof audience growth. Our audiences have grown 21 percent thisQ2 2010 versus Q2 2009. So ad sales are growing, audiences aregrowing, and penetration is increasing, plus you’ve got the localad-sales feeds.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: Following the rollout of TLC, are thereother U.S. Discovery channels that you’d like to bring to Asia?KEAVENY: We’ve got this enormous collection of brands, butit’s a question of putting the right brands and the right contentin play. So, yes, going forward, I’d be very keen on launching net-works where we think there’s a demand.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your plans for expanding yourbusiness in India?KEAVENY: India is an incredibly dynamic and competitivemarketplace. We already successfully operate six channelsthere—Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, DiscoveryTurbo, Discovery Science and Discovery HD World. DiscoveryNetworks Asia-Pacific has applied for licenses to operate fivemore channels in the country: Discovery Kids, DiscoveryHome & Health, Investigation Discovery, the Military Channeland Discovery 3D, which puts us in the position to launch newbrands in the marketplace when opportunities arise.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What is the strategy for 3D?KEAVENY:Our 3D joint venture with Sony and IMAX willlaunch in the U.S. next year. I was in Japan recently and wewere showing it to some clients up there and our 3D tapeis spectacular. It suits our content more than any othergenre. We’re having lots of conversations with affiliates andproduction companies. We’re going to be doing a lot of 3D

production going forward. I’m enthused about it. In the shortterm, we’ll be supplying content to cable and satellite opera-tors who will be in a position to offer a 3D service. Overtime, we’ll launch our own channels when there is sufficientcontent to support it. I think 3D has a very real future, withthe right content, done in the right way. But there is a massivelearning curve, because where you film and how you film in3D is very different than HD and SD.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: And the HD rollout is progressing well? KEAVENY: We’re seeing continued take-up of HD. It’s beenin the region for five years. We’ve got a big library of HD.The majority of our productions in Asia are being filmed inHD. We’re pleased more channels are joining in the HD envi-ronment, because you can’t just rely on one or two channels todo the heavy lifting, you need an array of channels. The otherimportant thing is, we do take HD seriously—we don’t up-convert, we film in pure 1080p. A lot of people up-convert. The [markets with the] highest index of HD ownership

[worldwide] are Australia and Hong Kong. But Asia Pacificonly indexes at 90. There are significant markets like Indone-sia, Pakistan, Thailand, that aren’t at the same level. ButIndonesia, Pakistan and Thailand are massive countries—thatmeans there’s massive potential going forward.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What areyour overall goals for the Asianbusiness in the short term?KEAVENY: From a business per-spective, our goals remain thesame: to drive revenue, increaseprofitability, grow audience, andcontinue to identify new growthopportunities for our company. Inorder to do this, we focus on ourstrengths—delivering fantasticvalue for our advertisers and affil-iates by providing the highestquality nonfiction content andcontinuing to build deeper rela-tionships with our viewers. Weare having a very successful year.We are already number one (ourflagship network is the numberone international channel in Asia-Pacific, reaching more than 129million viewers every month,according to Peoplemeter; we’rethe number one in PAX; we werenamed Cable & Satellite Net-work of the Year at the Asian TVAwards) but we are looking atstrengthening our position. Wehave just launched TLC in themarket on September 1 and arelooking to it becoming our sec-ond flagship channel here, andalways exploring different avenuesto showcase our content, whetherit is online, by working with part-ners like Baidu, or 3D.

By Mansha Daswani

Channeling Growth

Discovery’s Tom Keaveny

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Late last year, Universal Networks International (UNI) unveileda rebranding of its global channels portfolio, following a multi-million-dollar investment in repositioning the services for world-wide audiences. That process has now been completed across theAsia Pacific under the leadership of Raymund Miranda, theregional managing director at UNI. Miranda views the refo-cused brands—Universal Channel, Syfy Universal, Diva Univer-sal and 13th Street Universal—as “clutter-cutters” in what is anincreasingly over-populated multichannel landscape in Asia.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How has the response been from oper-ators to the refreshed brands?MIRANDA: All of the tracking that we’re seeing is showingthat the rebrand has successfully defined the channels evenfurther, which is very important, particularly because it is get-ting to be a more crowded market. To give you an example,Sci Fi in Japan became Universal Channel and its ratings grewby 180 percent. And that 180-percent growth has stayed con-sistent months after launch. 13th Street Universal in Australiahas consistently remained one of the top six, top eight chan-nels since launch among all subscription TV channels. We’revery pleased with the results.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How much do you localize the services?MIRANDA: There are distinct feeds for Japan and Australia—each of those is extremely local. The pan-regional feed, wefind a way to make it work across most of the markets. Andwe have a separate feed for the Philippines, which seems to bestandard for most of the channels because of the potentialfor local ad sales. Part of the announcement Roma [Khanna, president of

UNI and Digital Initiatives] made last year also had to dowith global productions and investments by Universal Net-works International. Those are on the channels and we’re verypleased with them: Rookie Blue, Haven, Shattered. There are alot of local acquisitions, particularly in Japan and Australia. Forthe regional feeds, we’re doing these toe dips into shows likeThe Biggest Loser Asia [airing on Diva Universal], and we’relooking at another possible format, because those seem towork very well for the regional feeds. We’re always keeping aneye out for possible local acquisitions.

TV ASIA PACIFIC:What are the greatest challenges you facein launching new brands today, and in what ways is it easier?MIRANDA: There has been a proliferation of channels, bothWestern and local. Back in the day, you still had a whole bunchof platforms that were just starting [and in need of content].[There was the] ability to drive people to your platform throughthese channels [that had] content that was hard to match. Plat-forms recognized that and responded to it accordingly. You didnot have the sort of speeds that are available on broadband con-nections right now, which allow people to download stuff or[use their] Slingbox or buy shows from iTunes. There are more U.S. or European studios that are looking

at Asia as the real opportunity for growth. And they’re correctfor looking at it that way because Asia is still so under-penetrated. It really is about tempering those expectationsand making sure that you’re prepared for getting into themarket and giving it your all. I see viewers being more discriminating when it comes to

their expectations of the channels. And that’s also somethingthat makes it important to have strong channel brand propo-sitions and at the crux of all of that is access to strong content.That’s been my focus over the past 8 to 12 months now.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are the goals for the portfolio inthe next year?MIRANDA: Lock in the content proposition. I still want tobring that home. The second point is to refine and tweakthe brands and the channel propositions in order to cutthrough potentially even more clutter over the next 12 to18 months. Investing in marketing and research and under-standing the consumer end of the platforms and the adver-tisers even more. The third point is really looking at gettingdeeper into the markets. Oftentimes people equate growthin the business with new launches into new countries, butthere is a lot more to do. Asia is a much overbuilt business,so in a market with 800 or 1,000 operators, there’s still a longways to go. And then HD is something I’m looking at. Wealready launched our HD channel in Japan. The jury is stillout as to what the possible economic model is—some plat-forms are happy to pay extra, some aren’t. We’ll see how thatgoes. And there are still a lot of markets that we’re reallylooking at: South Korea, New Zealand, South Asia.

By Mansha Daswani

22 TV ASIA PACIFIC

Cutting Through the Clutter

Universal Networks’Raymund Miranda


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