India, and President, the Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific
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C NTENT 7-20 January 2019 www.contentasia.tv l www.contentasiasummit.com Top of Mind in 2019 iflix premieres 1st original doc What’s at the top of “The truth more remarkable than fiction,” Francis says ContentAsia’s news & analysis agenda.. It’s our first e-newsletter for 2019 and what would we be if we didn’t tell you what we’re thinking. So here goes... Top of mind: Disney-Fox. Giant. Impact. It’s not even paper-plane, much less rocket-science. The full story is on page 4 Korea’s Sky Castle rocks ratings JTBC’s new Fri/Sat drama soars to 16% iflix original documentary special, Bangkit: 11 Days That Changed a Nation JTBC’s Fri/Sat night drama, Sky Castle, is Southeast Asia streaming platform iflix without asking “whose side are you on” or attracting crazy-good ratings in Korea in premieres its first original documentary “what do you think of their policies”. a performance some say will top Goblin. tomorrow (9 January), expanding an Most importantly in deciding style and The show, produced by HB Entertain- originals strategy that ordinarily prioritises approach, Bangkit “has to stand its own ment and JTBC’s Dramahouse, went drama and entertainment. against popular mass entertainment from a 1.727% nationwide rating for the The 51-minute film,Bangkit: 11 Days That drama,” Francis says. premiere on 23 Nov 2018 to 15.78% for Changed a Nation, tracks the 11 days The special was commissioned from Ma- the most recent episode 14 on Saturday, leading up to last year’s momentous gen- laysian production house Dosfellas, with 5 Jan (source: AGB Nielsen). eral election in Malaysia from the ground director/co-producer Justin Ong. About up through the eyes of ordinary and not- 40% of the film is made up of amateur The full story is on page 2 so-ordinary Malaysians who were there. video sourced through social media. More than 12 million Malaysians voted The addition of documentary is oppor- in the election – the biggest turnout in tunistic rather than a shift in iflix’s original 7 Feb premier for the nation’s history – that resulted in Ma- production strategy, and for now there Asia’s Got Talent 3 laysia’s first-ever change in government. are no plans for additional factual com- iflix’s global director of original program- missions. New season kicks off ming, Mark Francis, took a political thriller/ Francis says that from a commissioning Sony’s Year of the Pig entertainment approach to Bangkit, perspective he has always been “acutely although the show is careful to take no aware” of the amount of factual pro- Sony Pictures Television Network’s Asia’s political positions. gramming already in the market. Got Talent (AGT) returns for a third season Eyewitnesses were asked what hap- The May election, Francis says, “was on Thursday, 7 February, in a post-Chinese pened, then what happened next, and a rare instance of the truth being more New Year prime time slot on flagship then what did you do, resulting in blow- remarkable than fiction”. channel AXN. The 10-episode AGT 3, with by-blow accounts that build suspense. “I don’t really want to do anything that contestants from 17 countries, kicks off the “We didn’t want to do a didactic film or doesn’t differentiate in an impactful and Year of the Pig on a welcome high note to try to deconstruct [events]. For better or meaningful way,” he adds. after last year’s restructure. worse the results of were the results. What Bangkit is for me is a look at democracy An extended version of this article is The full story is on page 3 in action told by people who were there available at www.contentasia.tv C NTENTASIA 7-20 January 2019 “FUN, DARING AND SCANDALOUS”Page 2. DEN OF GEEK Sky Castle rocks Fri/Sat JTBC breaks 2017 ratings record Sky Castle Korean drama, Sky Castle, is rocking ratings, going from a 1.727% nationwide rating for the premiere on 23 Nov 2018 to 15.78% for the most recent episode 14 on Saturday, 5 Jan (source: AGB Nielsen). Produced by Bomi Moon’s HB Entertainment and Joonsuh Park of JTBC’s Dramahouse, the surprise hit makes Sky Castle the most successful drama in seven-year-old domestic cable/pay broad- caster JTBC’s history. Ratings are even higher in Seoul. The 5 Jan episode hit 17.254%. The 20-episode satire tracks the materialistic desires of upper- class parents in Korea, and their relentless ambitions for their children in Korea’s competitive education system. The 70-min- ute episodes are set in a luxurious residential development called Sky Castle, populated by doctors and law professors. Sky Castle tops a meteoric rise for JTBC against free-TV be- hemoths KBC, MBC and SBS, although 2018 dramas did not match the performance of 2017’s. 2017 drama The Lady in Dignity, which has been sold to Chi- na as a scripted format, peaked at just above 12.692% (Seoul), LOUDER. PROUDER. DEADLIER. and was JTBC’s top drama until Sky Castle. In third spot on the WELCOME TO THE BOYS’ CLUB all time nationwide ratings charts is Strong Girl Bong-soon, also from 2017, with a peak rating of 10.261% (Seoul). 2018 Friday/Saturday dramas were Misty (peak 8.938%, We have moved! Our new Natpe location is: Seoul), starring Kim Nam-joo as the high-profile news anchor Sorrento Tower, Floor 12, Suite 3-1209 who becomes the prime suspect in a murder inquiry. Some- thing in the Rain (8.313% Seoul) and youth drama Gangnam @all3media_int Beauty (6.186%, Seoul) also lit up Fri/Sat nights for JTBC. In comparison, KBS’s 2017 Confession Couple (aka Go Back all3mediainternational.com Couple), based on a Naver webtoon, peaked at 7.6% (Seoul) on KBS’s Friday/Saturday schedules. KBS’ Strongest Delivery Man (August/Sept 2017), peaked at 8% (Seoul), while Hit the Top (June/July 2017) peaked at 6% in (Seoul). Sky Castle, directed by Jo Hyun-tak, airs Fridays and Satur- days at 11pm, and is available on Netflix with English subtitles. The finale is on 26 January. 7-20 January 2019 page 2. C NTENTASIA 7-20 January 2019 Page 3. Malaysian station axes two 7 Feb premier for Asia’s Got Talent 3 staffers after sexual New season kicks off Sony’s Year of the Pig harassment investigation Malaysian business radio station, BFM 89.9, has fired two staffers for sexual miscon- duct following an inquiry into accusations that surfaced towards the end of last year. The allegations include a rape in 2017. The names of the staffers have not been confirmed. No police report has been made so far, and the female accuser – a former radio station employee – remains unidentified. The anonymous email detailing rape and sexual harassment accused BFM management of covering up her com- plaint “to protect their name and the people influential in the station”, and said the station’s “predatory culture” was widespread. The accuser also said management had done nothing to protect the 2017 rape victim “and simply fired the man”. Asia’s Got Talent season three judges David Foster, Anggun, Jay Park BFM 89.9 founder Malek Ali said in a statement circulated this week that the in- Sony Pictures Television Network’s Asia’s turbulent 2017, during which the regional dependent investigating committee had Got Talent (AGT) returns for a third season business was restructured under Ken Lo as delivered its report to a panel of current on Thursday, 7 February, in a post-Chinese Sony Pictures Television’s executive vice and former non-exec independent direc- New Year prime time slot on flagship president, distribution and networks for tors a few days after new year. channel AXN. Asia Pacific and Virginia Lim as senior vice Ali admitted that BFM management The 10-episode AGT 3 will air at 8.30pm president and general manager of Sony could have done more to deal with the (7.30pm JKT/BKK), kicking off with talent Pictures Television Networks, Asia. matter sooner and pledged to improve from 17 countries ranging in age from six Lim, a strong supporter of original pro- systems that would allow complaints to be to 69 years old. duction, has not yet disclosed her originals reported. He said the new structure would Judges are the same as season two plans for this year, but is said to have two be in place in February this year and that – David Foster, Anggun and Jay Park. series under discussion. training and awareness programmes Season two hosts, Alan Wong and Jus- Social media activity this year involves would be rolled out for all employees. tin Bratton, are also back. The prize is behind-the-scenes snippets and digital “These will clearly lay out the peram- US$100,000. exclusives, including “new season resolu- eters of acceptable and unacceptable New this year is a tie-up with Google to tions” from David Foster (“I can’t make conduct in the workplace and the conse- add a Google Assistant Action, enabling up my mind whether I want to be nicer or quences for transgressions,” he said. fans to interact with the show in a new meaner... I’m going to be meaner”), Jay Meanwhile, local politician Ramkarpal way. The voice-operated activity only Park (“To give better advice, to be more Singh has urged the station to lodge a needs users to say “Talk to Asia’s Got Tal- helpful”) and Anggun (“someone needs police report and to turn over its findings.