Eyeing the Best

December 5, 2011 World Screen Featured

 

Terrestrials across Asia are facing stiff competition from the pan-regional behemoths in their quest for the best content on the market.
 
Broadcasters from across Asia will be heading to the Asia TV Forum in Singapore next month to firm up their 2012 schedules. All are faced with the task of finding the best content that will draw viewers—and advertisers—in an increasingly competitive landscape. The terrestrials are up against big pay-TV channels eager to spend their large coffers on getting content first and exclusively. And the major pan-regionals themselves are seeing new competitors and struggling with the complexities of multi-country, multiplatform deals.
 
“No one has cracked this new-media conundrum yet,” says Michael Dick, the head of acquisitions for the Asia Pacific at the pay-TV behemoth FOX International Channels (FIC), who buys for a portfolio that includes Star World, FOX, FX and a bouquet of movie networks. Dick has been heavily involved with multiplatform buys in the past few months ahead of the January 2012 debut of an online video service to accompany the Fox Movies Premium channel. Replacing Star Movies in many markets, Fox Movies Premium will deliver blockbuster feature films as well as awards shows, live events, documentaries and series and mini-series like Neverland and Treasure Island. The content will air on the linear channel and then on the authenticated online service. Dick notes that it was strategically important for FIC to step into the online video player world ahead of its general-entertainment competitors. “If we don’t start attacking this now, we’re going to miss the boat and the windows are going to be gone and people will find this content elsewhere,” he says. “Or the markets will become so fragmented that it’s difficult for anyone to succeed.”
 
PAN-ASIAN FLAVOR
Dick is still doing traditional linear deals at the FIC portfolio of English-language, pan-regional basic-cable networks Star World, FOX and FX. The female-skewing Star World has found a niche with imported reality shows like Shine’s Masterchef and ITV Studios’ Hell’s Kitchen, as well as U.S. dramas such as Desperate Housewives and Castle. More male-skewing drama, like Terra Nova, has been faring well on FOX. FX, meanwhile, “can be the quirky channel,” Dick says, with a lineup that includes Mad Men and 30 Rock. Across the board, the key is launching shows as soon as possible after the original U.S. transmission. “Asian audiences are becoming much more aware of what’s happening globally—they know about the shows, so you can’t delay them 6 months or 9 months as we used to.” Shortening the window between the American and Asian rollouts should also stem piracy, Dick adds.
 
Sony Pictures Television’s networks in Asia are, like FIC, strong supporters of imported drama, comedy and reality for a bouquet that includes AXN, AXN Beyond and SET, among others. Yan-Jong Wong, VP of programming for English content, says the group is “constantly on the lookout for high-quality shows that are on brand with each of our channels.”
 
The flagship AXN offers a broad mix of imported dramas, reality and movies, as well as original series. AXN Beyond draws its slate of “feel-good” shows from the U.S. and U.K., Wong says. “Dramas, comedies, musicals, movies, reality and talk shows on the network are engaging, surprising, and driven by strong emotional connection with viewers.” Skewing female, SET delivers shows on “fashion, lifestyle, design, food, romance and celebrity gossip. Its programming lineup includes fun and engaging drama series, trendy lifestyle reality shows and celebrity-driven programs,” Wong continues.
 
Breakout hit acquisitions recently have included The Voice on AXN, which is on board for a second season of the NBC singing competition; and the TNT original Falling Skies on AXN Beyond.
 
The third major player in the pan-regional English-language entertainment space is Universal Networks International (UNI), whose bouquet includes Universal Channel, Syfy, DIVA Universal, E! and Style. “We are always on the lookout for quality content that fits the DNA of these brands, as our viewers have come to expect that they can tune in and find something that they like at all times,” says David Gunson, the VP of channels for Southeast Asia at UNI, pointing to the services’ “well-defined channel environments.”
 
Discussing recent important purchases, Gunson mentions Merlin, Covert Affairs, The Good Wife, Top Chef and Fairly Legal on DIVA Universal; Flashpoint and Law & Order: Criminal Intent on Universal Channel; Haven, Destination Truth and Sanctuaryon Syfy; and Keeping Up with the Kardashians on Style. “We are investing in must-watch, first-run content on our bouquet of channel brands,” says Gunson on his acquisitions strategy. “For DIVA Universal, this includes highly successful dramas that are current with strong leading ladies. For Universal Channel, our audience continues to love character-driven comedies and dramas as well as crime series. We are expanding our Syfy genre to incorporate ‘live’ web-driven talk shows that are current and up-to-date and are also looking for the latest imagination-driven content as well as original formats. For E!, we continue to acquire the latest reality programming and original formats that are all about entertainment and celebrities. Style has delivered on strong lifestyle and makeover shows to Asia audiences.”
 
LOCAL HEAVYWEIGHTS
The major Asian pan-regionals are posing stiff competition to free-to-air broadcasters in the bid for the first window on imported programming.
 
“Live or near-live content always gives the channel a great buzz,” says Joy Olby-Tan, the VP of acquisitions at MediaCorp’s English-language service Channel 5. “We air The X Factor USA day and date [with the U.S. broadcast]; the World Cup qualifier football matches featuring the Singapore team were also taken live.”
 
Also strong performers for the terrestrial broadcaster, Olby-Tan continues, have been “good ‘ole creature features, alongside series like Primeval and Undercover Boss.”
 
Channel 5 buys more than 2,000 hours every year, Olby-Tan continues, across the entertainment and sports genres.
 
In the Philippines, GMA Network has a similarly broad acquisitions remit, says Roxanne Barcelona, the VP of GMA Worldwide. At the main channel GMA7, “top-rating Korean dramas such as Baker King and Secret Garden still prove to be successful in evening prime time,” Barcelona says. “Other successful acquisitions for this channel include natural-history documentary series such as Life, Planet Earth and Blue Planet, to name only a few, and renewals of long-time running Japanese animation such as Dragon Ball Kai, One Piece and Detective Conan.”
 
At GMA News TV, meanwhile, the acquisitions focus is “timely documentaries on current global issues and events,” Barcelona says, including William & Kate: Inside the Royal Wedding and 9/11: The Day That Changed the World.
 
Overall, GMA spends about $5 million a year on acquired content, a 50-percent reduction on its spend from 2006 to 2008, “when we were still acquiring formats,” Barcelona says.
 
In Indonesia, the ANTV brand is synonymous with sport—particularly soccer—plus game shows and “reality drama,” says Gunawan, program director at the terrestrial station. Top performers from the acquired slate have included the Curious George animated series, Chinese-language feature films and the Ripley’s Believe It or Not series. Gunawan says that he’s looking for more game shows, Asian movies and factual entertainment, and is particularly keen to fill morning and kids’ programming slots, as well as access prime and prime time. He is also looking out for international formats in the game show and reality genres, with a focus on “cooking, dating, talent,” among other areas.
 
IDEAS THAT TRAVEL
Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ Entertainment & Media (E&M), which operates 18 basic cable and satellite channel, has taken its first steps into format acquisition with FremantleMedia’s Got Talent and BBC Worldwide’s Top Gear. “The format market in Korea is gradually growing and these two titles are quite meaningful for CJ E&M to enter the market safely and [plan] our strategy in the format business,” says Seung Ae Sohn, the head of acquisitions at CJ E&M’s broadcasting division. “CJ E&M is interested in all kinds of formats. The key point would be how much we can localize the title appropriately for Korean audience.”
 
The format deals complement the acquisition of more than 800 movie titles and a slew of dramas from the Hollywood studios, Sohn says.
 
Olby-Tan at Channel 5 in Singapore is also open to international format ideas, but notes that the concepts “need to have a strong intrinsic brand value. Because MediaCorp has an active and successful creative arm, it only makes sense that we buy IP and creative expertise that [are a] value-add to what we currently have.”
 
Co-production, meanwhile, is an area that Channel 5 is looking into, Olby-Tan adds. “The genres need to fit into the channel’s mass entertainment positioning, the final broadcast language needs to be in English and of course the business model needs to work for all parties.”
 
Malaysian pay-TV platform Astro has been investing heavily in local programming to drive its subscription base. “Our primary goal is to try and reduce our dependence on international content/formats for the local channels,” says Naresh Ramnath, the VP of content at the Malay customer business segment at Astro. “The content strategy is primarily driven by relevance and focuses on our subscribers’ need for differentiated and unique content.”
 
Ramnath continues, “Academy Fantasia [from Comarex] has been a great acquisition for us. Serasi Bersama, which is based on [2waytraffic’s] Mr. & Mrs. has done very well here.”
 
Ramnath will continue to look out for entertainment concepts that can be adapted to Malaysian tastes, but one of his core focuses now is factual fare. He is also “keen on identifying co-production opportunities especially, in the factual and entertainment genres. For starters, we are looking for co-production partners in the ASEAN region, Middle East and China if a good opportunity arises.”
 
Also in the pay-TV space, AXN has been a pioneer in the rollout of pan-regional format adaptations, notably The Amazing Race and the upcoming Cash Cab. The channel brand is also commissioning adaptations of international formats for individual markets, such as India with Minute to Win It, with season two having premiered in October. A new development for AXN in Asia is signing on as a co-production partner on international projects, with AXN globally on board The Firm.
 
The Entertainment One production, slated to roll out on NBC in the U.S. and Global in Canada, “will be a sophisticated, stylish and edge-of-your-seat drama,” Wong says. Asked about her approach to co-productions, Wong notes, “We are constantly on the lookout for fresh and innovative ideas in production that can excite audiences and advertisers. The challenge is to be able to bring on board advertisers’ brands and products in a big way, without compromising the quality of the production and the entertainment experience for viewers.”
 
SHOPPING LIST
Heading into Asia TV Forum, Wong says, “We are certainly willing to invest in high-quality programs that are on brand with our channels in the market.” Drama series, movies and reality shows for broadcast in prime time are on Wong’s shopping list. “We see Asia Television Forum as an excellent opportunity to meet with some of the independent studios as well as a platform to tie up some of the ongoing acquisition negotiations for the year.”
 
FIC Asia Pacific has output deals for movies and series with Twentieth Century Fox and Disney Media Distribution, but it is still picking up titles from other suppliers. “We are doing more and more deals now as we start to launch local feeds,” Dick says. “We try to find small packages for the local feeds to top them up and make them more locally relevant; movies that we may not have bought because they weren’t going to work pan-regionally but they would work in one or two territories. Fox Movies Premium, being new, we’re constantly buying some of these extra programs. MIPCOM was one of the first times we went hell for leather to find what was out there. We’re following up with that now. For series, we get a lot of content though output deals. That’s a wave that comes and goes and we’re learning now what we’ll have and what we won’t have. A few shows are already [being cancelled, such as] The Playboy Club, so it’s finding shows to fill those slots.”
 
UNI’s Gunson says that he’s looking to fill slots in prime time and on weekends, with a focus on “smart and sassy dramas; fun-filled and glamorous reality series; inspiring makeover and home-improvement programming; and the latest must-watch Syfy shows.” At ATF, meanwhile, Gunson is keen on finding some “quality Asian productions” that will work for the UNI portfolio.
 
Olby-Tan from Channel 5 needs “movies, scripted and non-scripted series, entertainment events” for prime time, but, she notes, “there are also untapped opportunities in non-primetime that we are open to exploring with enterprising parties.”
 
GMA’s Barcelona says she’ll use ATF to follow-up on negotiations begun at MIPCOM. “We may even close some deals” at the Singapore event, Barcelona says. Her needs include animation for GMA7’s daytime schedule and titles for a Korean drama slot that runs from 11 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. There are also weekend prime-time slots for movies and natural history that require a constant supply of content.
 
ANTV’s Gunawan, meanwhile, is keeping his eye on new documentaries, reality, Asian movies and animated series and features, particularly 3D CGI.
 
Clearly, Asian buyers are ready to open up their checkbooks at ATF this year, which will be good news for the contingent of sellers from across the globe who will be descending upon the Sands Convention Center.