Rewind Networks’ Avi Himatsinghani & Sandie Lee on Pay TV in Asia

The rapid take-up of FAST channels in North America has proven that even though consumers are ditching their pay-TV packages, curated linear destinations delivering compelling lean-back entertainment are very much in-demand. For Avi Himatsinghani and the team at Rewind Networks, in the pay-TV ecosystem in Asia, the demand for well-built channels has shown its resiliency despite the broader shifts in the market. On the heels of the success of HITS and HITS MOVIES, delivering classic library fare, Rewind Networks began rolling out its first-run service, HITS NOW, early last year and has secured carriage in six markets, bringing it to 14 million homes. World Screen catches up with Himatsinghani, founder and CEO, to talk about the overall landscape for the channels today, while Sandie Lee, executive VP, weighs in on her programming approach.

WS: Let’s talk about the flagship HITS channel, your first to launch. It’s already well penetrated. What gains are you seeing there?
HIMATSINGHANI: It’s 11 years in for HITS. We’re in nearly 22 million homes across 11 countries, deeply rooted as a basic-tier channel. Our thinking at the time of the launch versus where we are today has been intact without deviating much. I keep going back to the idea of a playlist, a curated destination of the “best of.” It continues to attract audiences that love great storytelling, whether it’s tapping into nostalgia or just saying, I don’t know what to watch, but this is something I love. That truth remains clear, even in 2024. We have our strip-and-stack strategy, Monday to Friday; the same show at the same time, creating a habit at least for that season. We’ve made small, stunt-style tweaks, like miniseries. But at the core of it, our biggest driver is the fact that this stuff doesn’t work on-demand. It’s not like we are deep-pocketed and outbidding Netflix or Prime Video for content. It’s just that it doesn’t work in that environment. I would say Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Suits are outliers, but broadly, I don’t think the stuff we do works well in an on-demand environment.
LEE: When we started, we put more titles from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and some 2000s. We decided some years ago that we should look at the older classics, like I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched from the ’60s. We also went to the new classics, like Law & Order. We just added CSI, and the first two seasons have proved to be popular. We haven’t given up on the middle eras—things like Quantum Leap—but we decided to broaden on both ends. That has worked well for us. And we delved into miniseries. At first, we were afraid of miniseries; it’s hard to market them. Because of the way I schedule, it’s hard to get people to be interested. It’s four episodes, six episodes, and then it’s gone. The longevity is not there. We decided to do some miniseries because it adds programs of very high production quality into the channel. And very high entertainment value. At the time, those miniseries cost a lot of money. We did North and South, which worked very well for us. People in Taiwan were asking for season two! Our affiliates were asking when we’re bringing it back! We also aired V. For Halloween, we added the It miniseries. We also went a little bit outside of our original proposition with Christmas and Valentine’s Day movies. The softer rom-com shows work well in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. We respond to our audience. Whatever they tell us on Facebook and Instagram, we look at it seriously. Not everybody has a view on new titles, but everyone has a view on old titles. That’s why the channel garners a loyal audience.

WS: Where are you on HITS MOVIES?
HIMATSINGHANI: It’s six years old; we launched in October 2018. It was five years after the first launch of HITS. HITS MOVIES has taken off. It’s now in nine territories, 17 million homes. We doubled down on the concept of linear versus on-demand. We’re curating content that you wouldn’t easily find on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max or Apple TV+.  Not because they can’t buy it. It’s because it won’t work there. It’s a super wide spectrum. Who else is focused on the golden era of Hollywood? It runs from the ’60s and ’70s to the early 2000s. Because of the way it’s positioned and its placement as mass basic-tier entertainment, sometimes you do need a newer show to bring in a new audience that will appreciate some of the older stuff.
LEE: We listen to our viewers and our affiliates. They say genre-based thematics are more nebulous and less focused, while star-focused thematics are better. So, this year, we had Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks festivals. In January, we’re having a Tom Clancy stunt. This focuses the audience on things they can expect. That’s the good thing about our channel. We can play around with so many kinds of themes. For Chinese New Year, we have some Chinese movies. We don’t do Chinese movies any time of the year, except for Chinese New Year. We have Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Kung Fu Hustle and others.
HIMATSINGHANI: It’s very difficult to emulate a Spotify-type playlist in a linear broadcast environment. But we are there. The proposition is so crystal clear.
LEE: And our audience lets us know what they want to watch. People love war-themed movies, so if I bring The Bridge on River Kwai back, the ratings will still be good. We’re thinking of creating a Throwback Thursday where we have some black-and-white movies so that when they appear on the channel, it’s not surprising to people. They know that Throwback Thursday is going to have this kind of movie. I’m trying to get things like Judgment at Nuremberg and 12 Angry Men. We can expand on both ends. I don’t have to stick to the 1960s. We can go to the 1950s and I can go later in the 2000s. The purists are looking for certain types of movies on our channel, but some of these blockbusters will bring in an audience.
HIMATSINGHANI: We can double down on what’s doing well and then experiment with requests we’re getting from viewers.

WS: It’s been less than two years since you ventured into first-run programming with HITS NOW. How has the marketplace responded?
HIMATSINGHANI: We launched in February 2023. We’re in 14 million homes across six countries, in less than two years. That took us four or five years for HITS. This was an opportunity waiting to be tapped. It deviated from our previous networks that were curating from deep library, but again, it is a curated, branded destination with a very clear-cut proposition. It is the best of the newest U.S. broadcast TV all in one place, express from the U.S. when it can be. Some is live. The name “HITS” has to be honored. We have Survivor, MasterChef, American Idol, America’s Got Talent, Shark Tank, Hell’s Kitchen and Top Chef, all in one place. In the two-and-a-half decades that I’ve been in pan-Asian TV, I haven’t seen a single pan-regional network carry all of this in one place, even in the good old days of Star World. And then, of course, we’ve doubled down on franchises, procedurals and comedies. We have the Chicago franchise. We’re betting on new shows like Fire Country and Matlock.
LEE: I’m also showing the original Matlock on HITS next year!

WS: What’s the scheduling approach for HITS NOW?
LEE: We are governed by what America does. If America’s Got Talent is on Tuesday, I’ll show it on Wednesday. Every day, I have Entertainment Tonight. I receive it in the daytime, we go through the process of censorship and it goes out at 11 p.m.
HIMATSINGHANI: Imagine how difficult it would be to program the best of FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC and The CW on one channel!
LEE: Certain days, I have two back-to-back express from the U.S. titles, so I’ll have Hell’s Kitchen at 8 p.m. and Survivor at 9 p.m. It’s very tight. We try to do the best we can so people know when the shows are on. I try not to move them. It’s only when there’s a change in the U.S. schedule that we have to make the change over here as well.

WS: Looking ahead, what growth opportunities are you pursuing for the portfolio?
HIMATSINGHANI: Getting our services into more markets and platforms remains a key growth driver. For example, Hong Kong and Thailand reentry strategies are important for us. We are trying to expand our footprint into other markets. We recently got HITS MOVIES into Papua New Guinea. Mongolia is showing interest in a couple of the channels, so we are exploring that. Maybe Kazakhstan and some of the smaller markets like Laos and Cambodia too.

WS: What about other markets outside of Asia where there is still a healthy pay-TV ecosystem?
HIMATSINGHANI: We are exploring that. Sandie and I spent some time in Dubai earlier this year; we’re exploring the Middle East and North Africa. It’s early days, but we think where there’s a pay-TV ecosystem and international Hollywood content carries value, we will explore it. Maybe we’ll need investment or JV partners.

We are also exploring a basic-tier sports network. We don’t do vanity projects. We have conceptualized a basic-tier network idea with a mix of live and archive. It celebrates sports. We will only do this if the affiliates see value in it. We want to super-serve our customers and their customers. We have a very clear strategy, but we need buy-in from our partners.