CIMG Steps Up Local Productions in Asia

HONG KONG: E! Entertainment Television in the Asia Pacific is slated to launch E! News Asia in the second quarter of 2010 as part of Comcast International Media Group’s (CIMG) strategy to expand its local production output in the region.

At the CASBAA Convention in Hong Kong, Christine Fellowes, the managing director for the Asia Pacific at CIMG, announced plans for increased investment in localized entertainment, specials and interstitials. The effort kicks off with E! News Asia, a weekly, half-hour show featuring local Asian hosts, recapping the latest celebrity news from Hollywood and Asia and offering up relevant stories from key Asian entertainment hubs. CIMG will also increase subtitling for E! Entertainment programming in such key markets as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The move aims to open up new sponsorship, product integration and customized content opportunities for advertisers, with CIMG recently tapping SPE Networks—Asia (SPENA) as the regional advertising sales representative for E! Entertainment Television in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.

“The Asia-Pacific region is one of the global media industry’s most exciting areas of growth,” said Fellowes. “The expansion of our activities to include local production is the next stage of our business’ evolution as viewership reaches critical mass and advertisers seek to interact more closely with the brand. E! News is one our network’s most highly rated and long-running productions, covering the latest celebrity and entertainment stories. Successful localized versions have already launched in Italy, France, Germany, Poland and Latin America. We believe we’ll see similar success in Asia.”