Todd Miller

December 2007

With its parent company based in Japan, Sony Pictures Entertainment was an early mover in Asia, launching the Hindi-language SET brand in India and rolling out the AXN action-adventure channel, among other networks, in addition to selling its content to broadcasters across the region and setting up a significant local-production operation. As executive VP and managing director for Asia at Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI), Todd Miller is leading the studio’s licensing, channel rollout and production efforts across the region. Positioning SPTI as “the Asian Hollywood Studio,” Miller has broadened the business by offering the best of both worlds: high-quality network and cable content from the U.S., a host of original and format-based local programming, and third-party fare from broadcasters across Asia.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: Coming off of AXN Asia’s tenth anniversary, how are you looking to further build the brand?

MILLER: What we’ve been able to do in the past ten years is create a service that is winning on so many levels across Asia; in terms of distribution, in terms of ratings, in terms of growth. We’re able to invest in original content, we’re able to offer some of the biggest TV franchises first and exclusively and we’ve become, in ten years, an iconic channel. We want to keep doing what we’re doing. The formula works; it’s one that resonates well across Asia. We want to continue to be the destination for exciting entertainment. That’s really what AXN is all about. Beyond continuing the great programming and good marketing and [reaching] more homes, screens and eyeballs, we are looking to expand the brand further. We’re going to do a channel called AXN Beyond early next year. We’ll launch in the Philippines and then over time we’ll be able to roll that out across the region. It’s a very, very fun channel, with supernatural, sci-fi, paranormal and thriller genres that work exceedingly well across Asia. We very much want AXN Beyond to be a mass-distributed, mass-watched channel, like AXN. So we’ll continue to invest in original first-run content and just do more, bigger, faster. If we can do all that, we’ll be pretty happy!

TV ASIA PACIFIC: And you’ve launched another English-language entertainment channel, SET.

MILLER: We launched SET in July on SingTel’s mioTV platform [in Singapore]. We have the SET channel in various incarnations across the world. In India it’s a very successful [Hindi-language] channel. The SET channel in Singapore is English-language, Western programs. We have a mix of first-run and lifestyle content. Cashmere Mafia is one of our brand-new prime-time shows. That’ll make its Asian debut on SET. The Sony name carries a certain gravitas in Asia, so that helps. SET [in English is] a complementary channel [to AXN]. We want to appeal to both genders, but it will skew more towards female viewers. We are going to be rolling out SET throughout the region. First and foremost, we want to solidify the channel in Singapore, where it’s a new channel on a new platform, so that requires a little bit of patience and at the same time it requires us to fine-tune the marketing, fine-tune the programming. Once we’ve done that we’ll certainly look to expand in the more robust markets of Southeast Asia. We don’t see SET as being a niche service. We may take our time in some markets to wait for the right distribution opportunities where we can appeal to a broader audience. One of the reasons we’re starting AXN Beyond in January in the Philippines is that we had an opportunity to secure an analog cable slot. Those are pretty rare! When you have an opportunity to secure such great distribution, you grab it. For both of those channels we’re taking a slightly longer-term view, maybe two to three years.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How important is it to have the backing of a major media company, and a library, as you roll out these new services?

MILLER: The business is more difficult, not less, so to have the backing of a company that has global reach, content depth, marketing expertise around the world and brand names gives one a tremendous advantage. Do you have to have all that? No. But having all that helps. And particularly having the backing of a major U.S. studio. What’s interesting about the Sony approach, and this is somewhat different from other studio-backed channels, is, we can acquire the best content from around the world and we are not dependent on [our library]. It’s great to be able to tap into Sony, but the channels have multiple sources of content. Years ago, when we were creating the channels, Michael Grindon [SPTI’s president], said that we want our channels to be winning channels, and not just depositories for the library. When you make that competitive decision, that creates new opportunities.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: On the program-sales front, you recently closed your first day-and-date deal in Korea.

MILLER: Our first in Korea, our second in Asia. Back in July, when SingTel launched their IPTV platform, we announced several layers of cooperation with them. First was the SET channel, second was an SVOD movies channel, SET PIX, and third was day-and-date VOD. We’ve followed that deal with a day-and-date deal with hanaTV in Korea. We’re thrilled to be in business with hanaTV. In a little over a year they have created one of the most successful IPTV platforms. Certainly these are industry breakthrough deals, [which] give us a chance, at the studio level, to begin to understand and to assess how consumers respond to the opportunity for day and date.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: With so many people downloading TV shows from unofficial sources on the Internet, do you think day-and-date deals contribute to alleviating the piracy problem in the region?

MILLER: I really do. Part of our decision-making process is that we, as content providers, have to enable consumers to access our content in legitimate ways. In markets like Korea and Singapore, that are very heavy on broadband, to not offer our content [on a digital platform] is denying consumers a great opportunity. One of the lessons from the music industry is that you’ve got to satisfy the way consumers want to buy content. Day and date is partly an answer to the piracy problem that exists around the world, especially in Asia.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What role does Asian content play in the SPTI library?

MILLER: We positioned Sony Pictures in Asia as an Asian Hollywood studio. In Asia, the undeniable trend is toward local content, and while there’s always a great role for Hollywood, there’s also an important role for Asian content, and we want to serve both. We want to be a one-stop supplier for our clients. Just taking feature films, for example, we are able to talk to our clients about Spider-Man 3, about the next Stephen Chow film, CJ7, and about a potentially huge Indian film, Saawariya. For one supplier to have Indian, Chinese and Hollywood movies, all potential blockbusters, just puts us in a different league. We continue to rely on our own resources to create that Asian content, but also we’re helping our clients make money by distributing their content. We have a distribution deal with CJ Entertainment in Korea, where we’re distributing some of their movies and series. In the past we’ve distributed very high-profile productions from CCTV. We do a lot of Japanese content, anime, Indian content, Vietnamese content and others. What makes for very interesting discussions is when the clients come up and say, we want to buy Spider-Man and we want to buy Power of 10, and by the way, can you help us make some money by selling our content elsewhere? We are, in that sense, full service. Being able to selectively distribute this range of Asian content really is the biggest differentiator for Sony as a studio.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What kind of content are you making available on mobile?

MILLER: We’re big believers in the mobile experience, especially in Asia. We now have a whole dedicated team, based in Hong Kong, that is working across all of our businesses to integrate mobile aspects. That’s the key point for us. Mobile isn’t so much a stand-alone business as it is integrated into everything we do. So when we talk about formats, there’s an interactive component. When we talk about the Asian Hollywood studio and the big-budget feature films that we’re distributing, we have games and [additional content] that ties into the feature film. We distribute video content on mobile. Across every line of business and every aspect of our group, there’s a mobile component. Right now there’s probably more talk about mobile than there is reality, but we’re doing some really, really cool things. We’re creating content in Asia, we’re repurposing content, we’re working with our channels on mobile content. We’re using mobile as a promotional platform. And as with on demand, it’s as much a learning experience for us, understanding how consumers behave, as it is [a source of revenue].