CJ E&M Expands Regional Channels Business

BALI: CJ E&M is rebranding its Southeast Asian pay-TV service channel M as tvN this June and is launching a new platform, tvN Movies.

The news was announced by D.J. Lee, president of CJ E&M’s media content business, during his address at APOS in Bali today.

Korea’s leading pay-TV channel, with a lineup of variety shows and drama, tvN marks its tenth anniversary this year. With the rebrand of channel M, tvN is now expanding its footprint across Asia. It will offer up signature content like Friends Over Flowers, Three Meals A Day, Masterchef Korea, and I Can See Your Voice day and date with the Korean telecast. The channel will also offer a drama slot on weekdays and a movie block on weekends in select territories. Its footprint covers ten Asian territories, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Australia, with carriage on 40 platforms, reaching 7.8 million households.

“We are excited to rebrand channel M as tvN to cope with our expansion plan in Southeast Asia. We see many growth opportunities for Korean entertainment businesses in the region,” said Samey Lee, CEO of CJ E&M HK. “We noticed the change of viewers demographics. K-wave has been widely spread from teenagers to other target groups such as university students, young executives and families. A growing demand of diverse K-contents is seen from Southeast Asia, and tvN is providing the answer.”

Expanding its regional portfolio, the Korean media conglomerate is also set to launch tvN Movies, tapping into the appeal of South Korean feature films. In 2015, international box office for Korean titles reached $27.2 billion. The channel is slated to go live in Q4.