AXN Beyond Increases Footprint in Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE: SPE Networks—Asia has added Malaysia to the carriage roster for AXN Beyond.

The channel is to launch in Malaysia on August 30, following previous carriage deals in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. AXN Beyond is a spin-off of the general-entertainment channel AXN. It will now be available in HD on the Astro B.yond platform. The channel’s lineup covers mystery and suspense, fantasy and science-fiction, paranormal and supernatural, fashion and design, lifestyle and romance.

Ricky Ow, the senior VP and general manager for SPE Networks—Asia, commented, “AXN has been the leading channel in Malaysia, well-loved and supported by our loyal fans all these years. With AXN Beyond HD, we are once again introducing our flagship style of quality entertainment to Malaysia, where viewers will be able to get top quality, extensive and appealing content.

“With the growing popularity of HD content, Astro has done extremely well with their Astro B.yond platform, having possibly the best take-up rates for its HD channels in Asia. We see a huge potential in this market—that is why we have decided to launch AXN Beyond HD, following the success of AXN HD in Malaysia. We believe that the AXN Beyond programming will appeal to a wide range of demographics, and with it being offered in HD, it will be especially popular with the younger, tech-savvy core audience of 18- to 35-year-olds.”

Henry Tan, the COO of Astro, said, “Astro continues to bring our viewers with the best of international and local content in both standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD). AXN Beyond HD, a new channel joins our HD offering with fresh and adrenaline packed action. Astro B.yond offers unparalleled viewing experience in HD and we believe our Astro B.yond customers will truly enjoy this new channel."