New Jobs @ The JobSpace C NTENTASIA See page 7

www.contentasia.tv l https://www.facebook.com/contentasia?fref=ts facebook.com/contentasia l @contentasia l www.contentasiasummit.com

iflix launches in Thailand SVOD platform goes live with US$2.78 offer

Southeast Asian streaming platform, iflix, launches in Thailand on Wednesday, 9 September, offering unlimited SVOD ac- cess for THB100/US$2.78 a month. The announcement was made at the opening of Media Partners Asia’s (MPA) TV & Video Industry Forum in . iflix celebrated the launch with exclu- sive rights to award-winning mini series Fargo, and said it had secured first-run/ day-and-date rights to the second instal- ment, which premieres in the U.S. on 12 October.

Disney launches Star Wars channel in Malaysia Dedicated pop-up service for Malaysia’s

Asia’s first dedicated Star Wars channel has rolled out in Malaysia. The channel, Star Wars HD, was created by Disney for Malaysian platform Astro, and will run for two months until 3 November. Star Wars HD airs 27 hours of program- ming, including five Star Wars features – The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The channel will also carry Star Wars documentaries; Lego Star Wars features (The Padawan Menace, The Empire Strikes Out), the Lego Series (The Yoda Chronicles and The New Yoda Chroni- cles), and Star Wars Rebels season one. The channel is available for RM19.90/ US$4.58 for a two-week subscription through Astro Best or Astro-on-the-go. 7-20 september 2015 page 1. c ntentasia 7-20 September 2015 Page 2.

Netflix heads to Korea in 2016 Local players scramble to plug the SVOD gap

Netflix is widely expected to launch in fied source. ing to Media Partners Asia (MPA). Advertis- Korea in early 2016. If it does launch in Korea, Netflix will be ing supported video on demand (AVOD) An announcement is expected within up against powerful and well-established has also taken hold. the week, Korean daily The Korea Times Korean streaming/OTT platforms with MPA executive director, Vivek Couto, says. strong local content pipelines, robust TV says the arrival of SVOD players like Netflix Netflix’s arrival in Korea has been ru- everywhere infrastructure, and a clear may force incumbents into new alliances moured since job ads started appearing interest in keeping outsiders from gaining to head off the threat. in 2014 for local hires. a foothold in this highly wired market. “The cable groups and telcos are realis- The U.S. streaming platform, which But there are gaps in Korea’s on-de- ing that they could come under attack,” launched in Japan at the beginning of mand strengths, which Netflix is clearly Couto says. September, is apparently looking for strate- hoping to exploit. At the same time, he adds, “Netflix has gic content partnerships with Korean mo- While Korea has a thriving transactional a chance of success although there are bile carriers and terrestrial broadcasters. video on-demand market (TVOD), the many challenges”. “For Netflix, the main issue is how to cut country hasn’t made much headway in Netflix’s has been vocal about its expan- costs in content delivery and lower its subscription video on demand (SVOD). sion plans across Asia, including China, spending for network usage,” The Korea At its peak, TVOD made up about 25% where critics give it a slim chance of Times article said, quoting an unidenti- of cable/IPTV revenue in Korea, accord- success.

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Rewind opens sixth major market in Asia Thai carriage deal for Hits closes regional distribution gap

Avi Himatsinghani’s indie channel op- online on hitstv.com. erator, Rewind Networks, opens its sixth The Thailand launch schedule includes major Asian market on 1 October with the the premiere of Airwolf, starring Jan- launch of the Hits channel on Thai cable Michael Vincent and Ernest Borgnine. platform CTH. Also in October, Hits premieres new The carriage deal was announced at seasons of flagship shows, Golden Girls, the ContentAsia Summit in Singapore last Seinfeld, Taxi and Cheers. New title Home week, and continues to confirm CTH’s re- Improvement follows in November. emergence as a significant subscription Rewind Networks’ chief executive Hi- television player in Thailand. matsinghani says Thailand is a “growth The Hits deal comes a little more than a opportunity in the long term”. month after CTH became the first platform “We are committed to strengthening in the world to launch DreamWorks Ani- the basic tier offering for consumers,” he mation’s new kids/family entertainment adds. channel. Hits premiered on StarHub in Singapore CTH is the 20-month-old Hits channel’s in December 2013, and now has carriage seventh carriage agreement in the region on Singtel TV (Singapore), SkyCable (Phil- and raises distribution to just above eight ippines), Indovision (Indonesia), Now TV million homes. (Hong Kong) and Astro (Malaysia). Hits will be available on CTH as a 24/7 Hits’ rights cover 13 markets. Once linear channel and via live simulcast Vietnam and Taiwan launch, major mar- streaming on on-the-go platform CTH ket boxes will be ticked. The remaining Everywhere. The channel will also be five markets are Myanmar, , Brunei, accessible through the Hits TV app and Macau and Cambodia. Jan-Michael Vincent, Airwolf

FIC confirms FremantleMedia for Asia’s Next Top Model 4 Fourth production house on board for new season of CBS contest

Fox International Channels (FIC) has con- said during the ContentAsia Summit in “There’s a lot more drama, fiction, firmed FremantleMedia as the produc- Singapore. scripted that can be created in our re- tion house for the fourth season of Asia’s Asia’s Next Top Model is the first major gion, not only in local languages but also Next Top Model (ContentAsia, 25 August regional production under newly ap- in English, or even formats that emanate 2015). The show will air in 2016. pointed executive vice president and from Asia to the rest of the world,” he The Singapore-based FremantleMedia head of content and communications, said. is the fourth production house to have Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, Keertan He also said rights in the OTT space taken on the CBS Studios format for FIC’s Adyanthaya. were misunderstood by both buyers and female-focused StarWorld channel. Adyanthaya said during the Conten- sellers in Asia and other regions. “People Production houses were asked to pitch tAsia Summit that 2016 would be “very seem to have different ideas of what OTT for season four. FremantleMedia won challenging” against a backdrop of major means to them and their customer. That the pitch. industry change. “We will have to really needs to evolve much more quickly... If FIC has played musical chairs with stretch our wits to get through,” he said. there’s a hunger for the fast buck in the production houses on the show, spon- Adyanthaya is pointing FIC’s creative way rights are being bought and sold sors have been more stable. Subaru teams in the drama/scripted direction in ad- and not on the long term impact of how and Zalora are back for season four, FIC dition to game show/competition formats. this will carry forward”. THE RESULTS

YOUARE WERE SURVEYED. YOUIN ANSWERED.! WERE YOU NORMAL? This summer all3media international launched a mission to find out what is normal behaviour among ContentAsia Summit attendees. Here are the results...

Have you ever Have you ever talked Have you ever lusted Have you slept in your office on the phone while on after a 100-inch TV ever visited a overnight? 0% the toilet? screen? cat café? of attendees have been 74% fined for 72% 55% 80% say it’s dropping say it’s say it’s say it’s Not Normal litter… Normal Not Normal Not Normal well done!

Have you ever Have you Have you ever Have you ever re-gifted a ever owned a lost your luggage creatively groomed corporate present? VPN? at an airport? Tut tut, your pet? 78% 61% 55% 57% of attendees 93% say it’s say it’s say it’s have told a lie say it’s Normal Not Normal Normal to get out of a Not Normal meeting!

Have you ever Have you ever been Have you ever binge Have you ever left fallen asleep tempted to watch watched TV for more home without your A tech-savvy during a session at pirate content? than eight hours? phone? 33% ContentAsia Summit? of attendees change their 87% 83% 69% 81% phone more say it’s say it’s say it’s say it’s than once Not Normal Normal Normal Normal a year.

All sales by all3mediainternational t: +44 (0)20 7845 4350 f: +44 (0)20 7845 4399 e: [email protected] www.all3mediainternational.com

7-20 september 2015 page 4. c ntentasia 7-20 September 2015 Page 5.

Who was at... This year’s Asia Media Woman of the Year dinner @ the ContentAsia Summit

Standing from left: Michelle Landy, FremantleMedia Asia; Ofanny Choi, Celestial Tiger Entertainment; Adam Williams, MC; Grace Chen, Charis Entertainment; Pinky David, 21st Century Fox; Michele Schofield, A+E Networks Asia. Seated from left: Wendy Hogan, mig.me; Nicole Sinclair, CBS Studios International; Jennifer Batty, RTL CBS Entertainment Networks; Paula Mason, BDA; Indra Suharjono, Next Media Anima- tion Taiwan; Airin Zainul, Media Prima Malaysia

Asia Media Woman of the Year, Loke Kheng Tham (right); Janine Stein, ContentAsia

xxxx caption xxxx

Trang Le, Vietnam Lei Li, Deutsche Multimedia JSC Welle

Standing from left: Masnaida Samsudin, Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios; Omar Gepiga, RTL CBS Entertainment Networks; Sandie Lee, Rewind Networks; Virginia Lim, Sony Pictures Television Networks; Marianne Lee, Turner Broadcasting. Seated from left: Emma Vaughn, NBCUniversal; Nic van Zwanenberg, ITV Studios; Rachel Simon, ABS-CBN Philippines

Asia Media Woman of the Year hosted by

c ntentasia

Joon Lee, Fox International Channels; Ricky Ow, Turner Broadcasting; Avi Himatsinghani, Rewind Networks/Hits women c ntentasia 7-20 September 2015 Page 6.

Who was at... Viacom’s photo booth @ the ContentAsia Summit

Trang Le, Vietnam Multimedia JSC Art Kaneearch, Thailand

Mee Fung Lee, Lei Li, Deutsche Welle Michele Schofield, A+E Networks Asia; Adam Williams

Tony Chow, Marriott International Jennifer Batty, Omar Gepiga, RTL CBS Entertain- Janine Stein, ContentAsia ment Networks

Adeline Ong, Viacom; Indra Suharjono, Next Joy Olby Tan, ; Kathryn Lim, HBO Asia CJ Yong, Masliana Masron, ContentAsia; Yen Nee Media Animation; Airin Zainul, Media Prima Neo, Scripps Networks Interactive

Sophia Yeun, Natasha Storer, Nic van Zwanen- Masnaida Samsudin, Pinewood Iskandar Malay- Sorayuth Sagrikananda, Zense Entertainment berg, ITV Choice sia Studios Thailand The rest of the album is at www.facebook.com/contentasia c ntentasia 7-20 September 2015 Page 7. 7-20 September 2015 the spacePage 7. Page 7. JC NbTENTASIA the place to look for the jobs that matter Discovery turns up the heat on new production 13 shows to air in Asia Pacific until March 2016 Head of Eccho Rights Southeast Asia Pacific

Discovery Networks Asia Pacific has kicked off its new era Eccho Rights is a distribution and rights management com- under Arthur Bastings talking about 13 upcoming productions pany based in Stockholm, Sweden with a subsidiary in Hong scheduled to air from this month to March 2016. Kong. The shows will air on Discovery channel, TLC, Discovery Kids and Animal Planet. We have been in the market for 10 years and are a leading independent company that provides content both ways All the programmes are made with either local production between Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. houses and crews or feature local talent. Discovery hasn’t said which are original commissions and which are sponsor- We are looking for a person with experience from the world driven. of licensing of formats and ready mades for online platforms Eight of the 13 titles are for Discovery channel and three are and TV-channels with experience in negotiation of commer- cial agreements, delivering key commercial and business for travel and lifestyle channel TLC. Discovery Kids and Animal results, maintaining relationships with clients and agencies Planet have one new original programme each. with an entrepreneurial spirit. The shows range from one-hour specials to 52-part animated kids series, The Insectibles, by Singapore-based production For more info and applications please contact Nicola Soder- house One Animation. The Insectibles, which has been in the lund, Managing Partner at [email protected] works for a year at least, will air on Discovery Kids. Three of the new productions are out of Malaysia. These include one-hour special Sabah Earthquake Decoded, produced by Malaysia’s Matavia Reka; 10-part one-hour home science experiment series You Have Been Warned Alibaba trials streaming service with Ean Nasrun, helmed by Malaysia production house Red Communications and hosted by Malay radio personality Ean E-commerce titan Alibaba is trialling a subscription streaming service to Nasrun; and eight-part half-hour lifestyle series Kitchen Khakis, some of its mainland China viewers. The service was initially announced produced by Malaysia’s Double Vision and featuring local in June this year, and went up quietly this month. cooks Aaron Chen and Yang Lee Keong. Alibaba said earlier this year that it wanted to become like HBO or In Taiwan, Discovery has a few shows in the works – two Netflix in the U.S. Tech reports say the Tmall Box Office (TBO) became three-part one-hour mini series, Taiwan’s Tribal Treasures and available at the beginning of September for users of Alibaba’s smart Taiwan’s Military Elite, and one 60-minute special, Taiwan TVs and set-top boxes. Made. The third instalment of eight-part Kitchen Cook Off on TBO content includes local and foreign films and TV shows, both in- TLC is also out of Taiwan. house, produced by Alibaba Pictures Group, and acquired. Two shows are coming out of India, along with single pro- Rates are RMB39/US$6 a month for unlimited viewing or RMB356/ grammes from Japan, Australia and New Zealand. US$57 for 12 months, payable via Alibaba’s Alipay smart wallet. 7-20 september 2015 page 8. c ntentasia formats 7-20 September 2015 Page 9.

ContentAsia’s regular section, ContentAsia Formats, looks at formats and format development in Asia, including new seasons, series and trends and what these mean to channels, producers and the overall formats industry in the region.

Vietnam’s Next Top Model season 6 (Người Mẫu Việt Nam 2015)

Vietnam’s Next Top Model (VNTM) continues to be part of the country’s enthusiastic embrace of foreign formats, including everything from a local version of Ugly Betty in the early days to today’s The Voice and Big Brother. Now in its sixth season, with a new logo and tag line (“Keep Moving”), VNTM has gone from newbie to established fran- chise with production house Multimedia JSC for national -TV broadcaster VTV’s VTV3 channel. Season six (10x60 mins; finale 90 mins) premiered Sunday, 2 Vietnam’s Next Top Model season 6 August, at 8pm. Like season five, this season’s live finale (11 October 2015) will be held els were introduced in season “Our aim is to present Vietnamese at Quan Khu 7 Stadium in Ho four, making “the competi- models to global designers, photogra- Chi Minh City. tion more fierce and cut-throat phers, magazines, and prove that Viet- Costing US$100,000/episode and Le Thi Quynh Trang than ever”, says Multimedia JSC namese models also have what it takes US$300,000 for the finale, VNTM is owner/executive producer, Le Thi to become international professional produced by a crew of 100 for each epi- Quynh Trang. models... We also go beyond on air and sode, with 100 additional crew members for Season four supermodel, Pham Thanh work with local agency BeU Models & audition and live finale episodes. Hang, is back in season six, and will also Talent Management to seek chances for Auditions for this year’s series increased judge alongside designer Adrian Anh the models to develop their modelling from two to four areas: Hanoi, Ho Chi Tuan and photographer Samuel Hoang. career in both local and international Minh City, Da Nang (new) and Can Tho This season is the first time the format market,” Trang says. (new). More than 1,000 applicants turned includes a live fashion show (episode Vietnam’s Next Top Model is part of a up at each of the venues. two) while revealing the top 14 via press broad business built by Multimedia JSC Season one premiered in Vietnam in conference 16 July. around fashion. Properties also include 2010 and ran to January 2011. Produc- Season six’s top 14 contestants include Project Runway Vietnam and Vietnam tion house Multimedia JSC says changes a 1.9m aspiring model (the tallest girl in International Fashion Week, along with have been made every season to keep the history of VNTM), a doctor from an modelling and talent agency, BeU Mod- the series fresh. For example, male mod- ethnic minority and a gay contestant. els & Talent Management.

Wh atsYoursto r y 7-20 september 2015 page 10. c ntentasia 7-20 September 2015 Page 11.

“I Can Do That” for India, Vietnam Celeb challenge show on Zee in Oct C NTENTASIA

India’s Zee TV is set to air its first season of HTV, Style TV and Info TV in Vietnam. The Editorial Director Armoza Formats’ I Can Do That in October. scheduled air date is June 2016. Janine Stein Assistant Editor The 11 episodes will air twice a week in The prime-time studio entertainment Malena Amzah prime time and will be hosted by actor/ show challenges a group of celebrities [email protected] singer Farhan Akhtar. to perform new, unique and show- Research Manager stopping live acts each week. The format has also been picked up for CJ Yong [email protected] Editorial Research Dickie joins Scripps Networks Aqilah Yunus [email protected] Discovery veteran to head channels Digital Marketing Emily Seibel [email protected] Long-time Discovery Networks Asia and EMEA. Design Pacific head, Kevin Dickie, has ​Dickie has been consulting​ Rae Yong joined Scripps Networks Interac- with Scripps since early this tive as senior vice president, year. He previously spent 15 Associate Publisher channels, for the U.K. and EMEA. years based in Singapore with (Americas, Europe) and VP, Dickie will oversee content, Discovery Communications. He International Business Development creative, marketing and com- was most recently senior vice Leah Gordon munications, and will report to [email protected] Kevin Dickie president, content group, Discov- Phillip Luff, managing director, U.K. ery Networks Asia Pacific. Sales and Marketing (Asia) Masliana Masron [email protected] www.contentasia.tv To receive your regular free copy Da Vinci streams with StarHub of ContentAsia, please email VOD block launches on StarHub Go [email protected] Published fortnightly by: Da Vinci Media has launched a around them,” Da Vinci says. Pencil Media Pte Ltd knowledge-focused edutainment Shows include Marvi Hammer, Finger 730A Geylang Road video on demand block on StarHub’s Tips, Backyard Science and Explorer Singapore 389641 online streaming service, StarHub Go, in Express. Tel: +65 6846-5987 Singapore. The Go Basic pack is available on contentasia.tv The Da Vinci Learning block, available StarHub Go for S$9.90/US$7 a month. on StarHub Go’s Go Basic pack, aims to StarHub is offering post-paid customers Copyright 2015 Pencil Media inspire kids 6-10 years old and parents various specials if they charge the Pte Ltd. All Rights Reserved. in “the joys of learning about the world service to their bills or credit cards.

Where Asia’s best new animation starts. December 7-9. 2015 • Jeju, South Korea