SMG Offers Up Doc, Variety, Lifestyle Fare

SINGAPORE, November 29:
The distribution division of China’s second-largest media company, the Shanghai
Media Group (SMG), is at the Asia TV Forum this week showcasing a range of
documentary, reality, lifestyle and entertainment fare.

The SMG catalogue is
culled from the company’s substantial production operation, which feeds its 14
channels in China. According to Sylvia Qin Ying, SMG’s distribution manager,
the company’s annual production output exceeds 20,000 hours.

Ying is targeting buyers
from Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Brunei, among other
markets, with lifestyle properties like Getaway, which “travels to scenic places in China,” she
says, and City Beat, a
magazine-style show. Also on the slate are six new documentaries produced out
of its annual documentary filmmakers’ competition, now in its second year. “SMG
gave financial support to the winners,” Ying says. All cover topics related to
contemporary China.

Other lead titles for SMG
at the market in Singapore include the reality show The Crossroad and the cooking series Yummy! Yummy!

SMG was among the first
companies to commit to attending Reed MIDEM’s Amazia conference next November.
According to Ying, the company also plans to take part in the Asia TV Forum
again next year, noting that she finds it to be a “very effective” market.

—By Mansha Daswani