James Ross

World Screen Weekly, January 3, 2008

Regional Director for Asia

Granada International

In an effort to increase its Asia-Pacific sales volume, Granada International last year decided to set up an office in Hong Kong to handle its business in the region. “It’s fairly difficult to develop really deep relationships with broadcasters when you’re based on the other side of the world,” says James Ross, who joined Granada International from Bloomberg Television last June to set up the new Asian operation.

In addition to facilitating relationships with broadcasters, the Hong Kong office also provides a base for Granada to find new ways to expand its Asian business, including acquisitions and co-productions. Ross cites as an example The May Lee Show. Granada has secured the Asian rights to the 13-part talk show, which recently launched on STAR World. “We’re looking for high-quality programming from Asia that is suitable for a global marketplace.”

Ross has a long history of working in Asian television, but his career began in radio at the BBC in the U.K. Trained as an engineer, Ross became a producer and reporter for the national radio channels. Marriage took him to Japan, where he landed a job at Bloomberg Television. “I was the third person that joined Bloomberg for TV and radio in Asia,” he says, “and between the three of us we launched the channel in 1996—it was certainly television on a shoestring.”

Ross’s role was initially on camera, but he eventually moved into the distribution side, working to expand the reach of the financial news network. After ten years of building the Bloomberg brand in Asia, however, Ross decided it was time “to broaden my horizons and work on some different content. It was time for me to have a fresh start and do something else.”

Ross is enjoying the challenge of his new role, particularly given the variety presented by the Granada International catalogue. “Its focus is not just on distributing U.K. programming—there’s also U.S. programming, and we have production centers in Germany and Australia. The idea is to be a distributor of global content.”

With over a decade in Asian broadcasting, Ross has witnessed numerous sea changes, most notably the evolution of multichannel television. And he remains excited about the opportunities ahead. “I’ve had a fantastic time trying to understand a lot of these different cultures and how television works best for them and how we can develop a business in whichever country we’re working in. The opportunities in Asia are still huge, and I feel very lucky to be in the position that I’m in. It’s a great place to live and work, and it’s fun, exciting and dynamic.”

—By Mansha Daswani