Event Preview: Asia TV Forum

The theme for this year’s Asia TV Forum (ATF), taking place in Singapore from December 8 to 10, is Above and Beyond. The heading reflects the sentiment that the Asian television market has moved beyond the hype of the last decade and is actually translating into serious business for program sellers. Indeed, with robust advertising revenue projections region wide, sellers are eyeing brisk sales as they head to the market this December.

“The numbers are looking very encouraging,” says Hui Leng Yeow, project director at ATF organizer Reed Exhibitions Singapore on attendance figures. “A lot of international companies are really looking at Asia, so we are [seeing] definitely stronger numbers as compared with last year.”

Another key trend that Yeow has spotted is that there are more Asian exhibitors heading to the market. “ATF used to be more of a market for European and U.S. content companies trying to sell to Asia. I think for the past three years, it has changed. We have strong content from Europe and the U.S., but also strong content from Asia.”

New for this year are contingents from China and Japan, as well as a pavilion from Finland, joining returning delegations from France, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain and Taiwan.

This year’s edition of ATF is its third at the Suntec conference and exhibition center, following the move from the Shangri-La hotels. “When we first launched ATF ten years ago, the market was really small,” Yeow notes. “We wanted to make sure the buyers had enough time to spend with the sellers. So we had the event in Sentosa Island in a hotel format. The market is big enough now to occupy two halls in an exhibition center. And there’s space for expansion. With the growth of the importance of the Asian market, people are seeing more value in advertising, sponsorship, branding—in an exhibition format they can do that. And there’s enough traffic on the floor now.”

ATF will take place alongside the Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention trade and consumer event. “We’re trying to promote the convergence of content,” Yeow notes, adding that she hopes the co-location will result in a bigger presence from licensing and merchandising companies at ATF next year.

Yeow is also hoping to see greater representation this year from companies that perhaps haven’t done much business in Asia in the past. “Some sellers may not have content suited to the region at the moment but they are looking to cultivate relationships in Asia. ATF is a good platform to do that. It is a rising market. Economies are doing well, there are more and more platforms coming up. It would be good for [new companies targeting the region] to come down, talk to Asians and assess the potential of the market.”