Formats Continue to Find Success Across Asia Pacific

PREMIUM: While a number of territories across the Asia Pacific have become adept at creating their own formats, there’s still a healthy appetite in the region for licensing international concepts.

Signs of health abound in the television markets across the Asia Pacific. The region is expected to have 784 million TV households by 2015, with the pay-TV base increasing to more than 400 million subscribers by that time, according to a recent report by Informa. And there have been positive ad forecasts for much of the region, helping to pad the budgets of cash-strapped broadcasters that had been reluctant to invest in international formats.

“The Asian economies are growing rapidly,” says Patrick Schult, the CEO of FremantleMedia Asia. “Advertisers are obviously keen to back any media which reaches out to their consumer, and, thankfully, across Asia, the leading media platform to do this is still television.”
With advertisers spending more and programming budgets improving, Schult has an increased interest in international formats. “The appetite is very healthy and appears to be growing,” he explains. “There is an increasing acceptance that formats have a brand value. In the case of internationally successful brands like Idols or The X Factor, the positive effect of using this brand in a local context radiates quite widely. We expect by the end of this year to have introduced over 40 different localized formats to Asia.”

While FremantleMedia has sold a wide range of formats into the region, it’s the talent-seeking behemoths in its catalogue that have certainly garnered the most attention. Big-name shows like Idols and Got Talent have aired in countries such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore, among others. “We are very excited about the launch of The X Factor in India next year as a local FremantleMedia India production, and there is very high interest in the show from other countries,” continues Schult. “Got Talent will continue to build on the strong start it has experienced this year. In the Philippines, for example, Got Talent ranked as the number one show in its time slot throughout the series. This format is quite a unique property in Asia in that it is patriotic but not in a contrived fashion—the outcome of this format is genuinely uplifting to a whole country.”

Nicola Söderlund, the president of Sparks Network, has also taken note of the appetite for big studio shows. “The channels are mostly asking for big ‘shiny-floor shows’ such as entertainment shows, game shows and talent shows,” he says. “The factual types of shows are still hard to sell here.”

Karoline Spodsberg, the managing director of Banijay International, says that entertainment formats of all kinds seem to be striking a chord with buyers in Asia. She observes, “Over the past few years we’ve witnessed a number of high-profile U.S. or generally Western formats breaking into the Asian market…. It’s clear that there’s an appetite for big format blockbusters.”

Spodsberg notes, however, that the enthusiasm for the shiny-floor entertainment formats in Asia is often tempered by budget concerns. “The networks can sometimes struggle to come up with the funds necessary to produce them, so there is a trend toward advertiser-funded programming,” she points out. “That makes Banijay International’s catalogue particularly interesting for our Asian clients, as many of our formats are perfectly suited to deliver advertiser sponsorship or product placement,” Spodsberg says, pointing to key titles like My Parents Are Gonna Love You and 71 Degrees North, as well as new shows like Operation Neighbourhood.

Avi Armoza, the CEO of Armoza Formats, has a similar sense about the region’s ability to finance its format appetite. “As a region, the enthusiasm about the formats and the potential for them to succeed in a territory can’t always be matched in the financial terms we’re used to dealing with in Europe and North America,” he says. “However, it’s a growing market and the reality of the situation is changing there very quickly. Even if the funds aren’t there now, it’s important to be part of the development and to form solid partnerships in the region, and to grow together.”

Global Agency is one company that has taken advantage of partnership opportunities in the region. The Istanbul-based outfit recently entered into an agreement with India’s Miditech, whereby Miditech has access to Global Agency’s catalogue of entertainment formats in India and Global Agency has exclusive international representation for formats created by Miditech. The company has produced local versions of mega-formats such as Pop Idol, Deal or No Deal, Extreme Makeover and Fame Academy, among many others.

Commenting on the demands of broadcasters in the region, Global Agency’s CEO, Izzet Pinto, says, “Reality shows, quiz shows and talent formats are very popular right now.” He adds, “Wedding and dating formats have recently entered the market and are really beginning to take hold.”

Pinto explains, “These shows become like unscripted teleno­velas. Viewers get really hooked on them and broadcasters prefer a daily production.”

Global Agency’s wedding format Perfect Bride has done particularly well in Asia. The format originated in Turkey and went on to be produced in India, Korea, Lebanon and Italy. “It did exceptionally well in India and Korea,” says Pinto, “with an actual wedding taking place in India. This wedding made history, as it was the first live wedding on Indian television.”

Perfect Bride has now been optioned in China, and Pinto is hopeful the company will score a full pickup on the title. “It would be an amazing format for China. Twelve young women who want to marry are introduced to six young men, except the men bring their mothers along with them! If the son is an only child, his mother will be especially involved in his choice of life partner and there will be wonderful drama between the generations.”

Armoza Formats has also found success with shows that deal with family issues and that involve the whole family, with titles such as Upgrade and Overdraft Family. “Our game-show formats are receiving a lot of attention in Asia, where in-studio, prime-time shows seem to be the number one request,” Armoza points out. “The Bubble is being seriously looked at in multiple territories, as is our new lucky-numbers game show 7-Question Millionaire.”

Another strong selling point for the Armoza catalogue is its use of digital extensions surrounding shows, in line with its new slate of multiplatform “Armoza 3.0” formats. “Asia is often on the cutting-edge as far as technology, smartphone usage and Internet access [go],” Armoza points out, “and formats that are cross-platform appeal to broadcasters’ agendas of expanding online presence and branding, and even feed into existing content partnerships with telcos.”

“Mobile is huge in the region,” agrees Banijay’s Spodsberg, “so anything that includes viewer participation and voting is attractive. Banijay International’s cross-media reality hit Dilemma is a perfect format for the Asian market in these terms, as it really harnesses mobile and Internet opportunities.”

“The new-media extensions for formats provide a deeper level of engagement for viewers and are always compelling to clients, as they represent additional revenue sources,” adds FremantleMedia’s Schult. “FremantleMedia is continually innovating in this area, using digital and new-media platforms and technologies to extend our brands into the digital arena.”

Sparks also sees great potential in multiplatform productions. “Channels are asking for online and mobile extensions,” remarks Söderlund. “They obviously want to capitalize on the relationship with their audience and communicate beyond the TV show. Korea is very advanced in this respect.”

Söderlund points to China as another market where online is a particularly strong platform. “It’s much easier [in China] to launch a show on the web than trying to get through the heavily regulated Chinese TV market,” he notes.

Many consider China to be one of the toughest markets to crack, yet also one of the most promising in an already enticing region. Söderlund says, “In Sparks we have meetings between the members and there is a growing sense that there are tremendous business opportunities waiting out there. And it’s really exciting. The Chinese market is very difficult but the numbers are just amazing.”

“Much of the opportunity at the moment seems to be in China,” echoes Banijay’s Spodsberg. “But for us a big question is: exactly how are we going to go about tapping the Asian market? We are currently exploring licensing deals with established distributors on the ground, which can take our IP and market it successfully in multiple countries across Asia, leveraging their local expertise.”

Armoza Formats is currently exploring opportunities to partner in Japan that look very promising for 2011. Armoza observes that formats are “a growing trend in Asia. Leading the way, of course, is India, but the past year has seen quite a boom in China, too.”
The company has sold formats into India and China and is currently working on finalizing a licensing deal in Vietnam, its first in Southeast Asia.

“Southeast Asia is coming alive, and Japan is slowing looking to acquisitions, although their mega-development departments make it counter-productive and economically inefficient,” he says. “It’s such a unique and insular market that adapting existing formats doesn’t make that much sense right now.”

Sparks’s Söderlund has also taken note of the Asia Pacific’s power to generate its own formats. “Until recently…the rights holders have been more interested in selling formats to the West, rather than acquiring formats,” he says. “But lately there is a clear shift towards licensing formats and I’m sure that this trend will grow stronger in the coming years.”

For Sparks, having member companies on the ground in Asia—including Lemon Productions of Indonesia, Collaboration in Japan, Idea Asia Media of China and Korea’s Every­show—has given it a competitive edge. “Through our members we get a very strong connection to the local market,” Söderlund explains. “Our members know what, when and to whom they will pitch the formats. In this way, we get a perfect knowledge of the markets where we are active.”

He adds, “For the scouting of IP, their local market presence is also invaluable. They know which interesting formats are accessible.”
Endemol recently set up a joint venture in Malaysia with Astro Entertainment, aimed at the creation and development of new programming for the local market. The JV has access to Endemol’s global portfolio, to bring projects to local broadcasters, but it will also develop Malaysian content for the global market.

FremantleMedia, too, has made use of its local connections to strengthen business in the region. “One of the key strengths of our company is our global network of offices right across Asia and around the world, whether they be tasked with licensing formats or producing them,” says Schult. “Part of our business comes from having established collaborative partnerships and these partners see great value in our reach across Asia. We understand audiences in Indonesia, where we have over 200 staff making a variety of shows, as well as we do in India or the Philippines. Our business is expanding across Asia and its growth will hopefully also result in formats being originated in Asia for international exploitation.”

A recent alliance between FremantleMedia and Fuji Television of Japan, which sees creative talent across both companies meeting to develop content, has already resulted in the creation of a new format, Total Blackout, which has sold into a number of Scandinavian markets and recently aired in Japan.

Also from Fuji, Love Bus is a reality series that Sparks is relaunching at the Asia TV Forum (ATF). Söderlund says the Asia-originated concept has a “make-the-world-a-better-place aspect that is so attractive to the young viewers.” Sparks further highlights Just Married from MBC in Korea as a format with much promise. “It’s basically a gossip magazine on TV and celebrity gossip is such a universal theme that works in all territories.”

Söderlund points out that the broad range of networks in the region, and their radically different target audiences, is giving further strength to the growing format business. “Big terrestrial channels are interested in bigger ‘channel-defining’ formats and the younger-skewed cable channels want more funky formats for their target audience. But the pan-regional channels are the best buyers of format, since the budgets are the highest.”

At Global Agency, Pinto says, “It is mostly free-TV channels that are acquiring foreign formats, but in established territories, such as Japan and Korea, even cable-TV channels are licensing.”

Pinto points to the talent-competition Who’s Got 10 Talents? and the adventure series The Big Challenge as formats that are well-suited for Asian treatments. “Who’s Got 10 Talents? has particular appeal to the Asian market because of the strong tradition of using professional performers to entertain the public,” says Pinto. “[The Big Challenge] is a great format for the Asian market because there are so many young, resourceful and entrepreneurial people who would like to prove themselves in tough circumstances. The audience can really imagine themselves in the shoes of any of these contestants. Many have family living around the world and can easily understand how tough it is to communicate in a different culture and language.”

Pinto, like many others in the format business, is generally upbeat about the prospects for boosting his company’s activities in the region. “Overall, Asia is a booming continent for formats,” he says, “but not in every market.”

While Sparks’s Söderlund shares much of Pinto’s optimism, he is also quick to point out that there are some obstacles in the Asian markets, in particular with the issue of copyright protection. “The respect for IP is not yet developed,” he says. “In some markets the channels press down the format fee by saying that if the licensor would not accept a low fee then they would copy it. But I think that the problem will solve itself as channels and production companies will start to sell their own IP. It’s difficult to be a credible seller if you at the same time have a reputation [for] copying.”

As for further regional trends, Söderlund says, “I believe that we will see more international formats from the region. Japan has already paved the way and we have successfully sold Korean formats in Europe.”