10-23 February C NTENTASIA 2014

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Thai platforms draw battle lines Channel grab speeds up in Year of the Horse

from the horse's mouth The Year of the Horse kicked off with a coup for Turner (Shitiz Jain joins Ricky Ow’s team as finance SVP), a loss for Discovery (Shitiz Jain exits after 15 years), extremes for RTL CBS (new channel, RTL CBS Extreme, launches in March), more fighting in Hong Kong (RTHK knocked back on new HQ but vows to go down fighting)... clearly a mixed bag of fortunes so far for Asia’s content industry. What are the soothsayers forecast- ing for this year of the green wood horse? Most are using words like “fast”, some mention conflict and hard line Major League Soccer: Thierry Henry from New York Red Bulls, beIN Sports stands on principles that in other years Content battle lines continue to be drawn Scottish League Cup, and a schedule of would probably be negotiable. in , with sports at the centre of a factual and magazine programming. This year’s horse is also full of pow- high-stakes TV play that started last year. TrueVisions also added sports channel erful fire energy. Warnings abound Al Jazeera-backed sports channel, beIN ASN2 to its expanded sports offering this about explosions, gun-fire and con- Sports, is the latest beneficiary of intensified month. The platform said the new deal flict. The common theme is that this is rivalry between pay-TV incumbent TrueVi- gives viewers more NFL, NCAA, basketball unlikely to be a peaceful year. sions and restructured newcomer CTH and formula drift, among other sports. The good news is that media compa- (also known as Cable Thai Holding). This is in addition to TrueVisions’ exclusive nies do well under the fire/yang horse, beIN Sports 1 launched exclusively on access for 2014 to premium badminton even if there is a danger of sex scan- TrueVisions this month with live content events (Asian Championships, World dals (Vanity Fair and the Rupert/Wendi from, among others, the Scottish Profes- Championship, Thomas & Uber Cup, expose driven by higher celestial pow- sional Football League, cup tournaments Sudirman Cup, Super Series, Grand Prix ers?). The year’s energy can be posi- including the Scottish Challenge Cup and More on page 11 tively channelled into sports; a good omen for June’s FIFA World Cup. JUST SAYING... Yang wood people include Bruce I would like all NHK employees, beginning Lee, born on a yang wood day in with director [Katsuto] Momii, to continue 1940, who made his name with Fist of Fury (1970). Keifer Sutherland is anoth- broadcasting fairly and impartially without er yang wood guy, and 24 also goes yielding to any kind of political pressure”. down as a typical yang wood tale. And those, surely, are good signs. Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, following comments by new NHK boss Katsuto And with that, here’s wishing you all Momii about his willingness to toe the government’s political line even though NHK is legally Gong Xi Fa Cai, Kung Hei Fat Choi and obliged to be impartial. That was before another of Abe’s NHK appointees, Naoki Hyakuta, declared that the Nanjing massacre of 1937 “never happened”. Common opinion is that a prosperous year filled with hi-energy, Abe is attempting to shift NHK to the right. blockbuster content. 10-23 FEBRUARY page 2. contentasia 10-23 FEBRUARY 2014 Page 3. Lose Thailand’s Post boosts television focus Yourself Newspaper group targets booming TV environment To Find Thailand’s listed media group, Post Publish- dia, as its falling trend is being seen around Yourself ing Plc, is looking to the country’s booming the world and in Thailand. TV has a lot of television environment for growth. potential when Thai people will be able to Despite losing its bid for one of Thai- watch digital TV in the coming months,” land’s new digital terrestrial television (DTT) Supakorn Vejjajiva, president and chief op- licences at the end of last year, Post Pub- erating officer, toldBangkok Post. lishing’s message is that the group expects Vejjajiva called the move to television “dra- to generate almost half its revenue from its matic” and said the aim was to transform television business in the next four years. Post Publishing into an integrated commu- Priorities include acquiring production nications platforms. “This will eventually help houses to help populate Thailand’s emerg- to compensate for the decline of advertising ing DTT environment and to expand be- in print media,” he said. yond its current video news focus. He also said the company would invest up Post Publishing’s print titles include the to THB700 million/US$21 million in Post TV, and English-language daily, Post, that he expected THB10 million/US$305,000 and Post Today, as well as consumer profit in year one. magazines such as Elle, Cleo and Marie The company’s TV segment reported a Claire. Post TV is the group’s television/ loss of THB34 million/US$1 million in the first content unit, which, among other content nine months of last year after TV production activities, produces news programmes for revenue dipped from THB263 million/US$8 Channels 5 and 11. Post TV also has an million to THB132 million/US$4 million. The agreement to supply about five and a half company attributed this mainly to the costs hours of news programming a day for new of “heavy promotion and expansion”. Post DTT variety service THV Channel. Publishing has not reported its full-year 2013 “We plan to diversify risks from print me- financials yet.

Singapore’s StarHub listens in New social tracking system strenthens relationship building

Singapore comms and entertainment ers in the social media space,” says Darren 100% first run, fresh platform, StarHub, has launched a social Choo, StarHub’s assistant vice president, so- and exclusive original media listening lab that allows the com- cial customer relationship management. programming pany to “actively listen to and extract Choo also says the ability to track results of real-time conversations about StarHub social media efforts “allows us to better ad- across Singapore”. dress all concerns more effectively and re- The facility builds on StarHub’s already solve issues for customers more efficiently”. high score for social response rates. The The new functions allow StarHub to de- company says its average response time cide when and how to reply to a Facebook to customer questions on Facebook is 6.5 query or complaint to tracking where in hours. This is 32.1 hours less than the industry Singapore mobile, pay-TV or broadband benchmark in Singapore, StarHub adds. connections are affected through location The new customised Social Hub “gives tagged tweets. The Hub is located within www.multichannelsasia.com us an overview of our performance in StarHub’s call centre using Vocanic’s in- https://www.facebook.com/OutdoorChannelAsia building strong relationships with custom- sights platform VSocial. 10-23 FEBRUARY page 4. contentasia 10-23 FEBRUARY 2014 Page 5.

Vietnam telcos’ content woes shake up launch plans

Vietnam’s telcos are pushing back against what they see as an effort to lock them out of content supply for their video platforms. Both FPT Telecom and Viettel say their pay-TV licences alone are insufficient to make their video businesses work, and they have warned of launch delays if their content difficulties continue. FPT Telecom deputy general direc- tor, Hoang Trung Kien, told Vietnamese agency, VietNamNet Bridge, that telcos had the advantage of transmission in- World Wars frastructure. But Kien lamented the fact comes to Asia that TV stations did not want to share their World Wars History, H2 Asia content. He called the sharing issue “a to showcase tough one” and acknowledged that the A+E Networks Asia’s History and H2 chan- Mario Monte six-part anniver- parties “have not been able to reach a nels will air the six-part special event series, and Senator sary special common voice”. World Wars, this year as part of a global John McCain. “New suppliers will encounter many rollout in 160 countries to commemorate Dirk Hoogstra, difficulties ahead in dealing with this the 100-year anniversary of World War I. executive vice presi- problem,” he said. The series, by Stephen David Entertain- dent and general manager of History and Viettel execs say that the content issue ment (The Men Who Built America), is cur- H2, promises that the series “will have the will delay IPTV service launch, originally rently in post-production in the U.S. same quality and cinematic story telling scheduled for April this year. FPT Telecom World Wars is the story of three decades that The Men Who Built America and plans to follow in August. of war from the perspective of the men America: The Story of US delivered”. Both companies have been pushing who came of age in the trenches and In addition to the series, History and H2 Vietnamese regulators to ensure con- later decided the fate of a world on the are developing a global educational tent supply to new operators. One of brink of disaster, A+E said this month. They outreach campaign geared toward high the arguments being used is access in include Roosevelt, Hitler, Patton, Mussolini, school and college students, the network rural areas. Churchill, Tojo, DeGaulle and MacArthur. said. Vietnam’s communications officials The series features interviews with Gener- Executive producers for History are Rus- are already on record with a commit- al Colin Powell, former British Prime minister sell McCarroll, Paul Cabana and Christian ment to a list of must-carry channels by John Major, former Italian prime minister Murphy. all platforms. It is still unclear whether the telcos think that the channels being considered will be sufficient to drive their new services. Nippon boosts global expansion, acquires Tatsunoko

Former KBS president dies Japanese -TV broadcaster, Nippon TV, Properties include Gatchaman, The Genie Former KBS president, Park Kwon-sang, has acquired a 54.3% stake in Tomy Com- Family and Mach Go, Go, Go (Speed died this month in Korea. He was 85. pany’s Tatsunoko Production. Racer). Park headed the broadcast network The deal makes the 52-year-old produc- “Nippon TV believes that adding Tatsu- from 1998 to 2003, and was a supporter tion house a subsidiary of Nippon TV. noko Production to its group of companies of developing KBS into a public broad- Tatsunoko is involved in animated films, will enable it to strategically enhance its caster along the lines of NHK in Japan TV series and character licensing and remake and content businesses going and BBC in the U.K. owns/controls more than 50 original works. forward,” Nippon TV said. 10-23 FEBRUARY page 6. contentasia 10-23 FEBRUARY 2014 Page 7.

Disney boosts SE Asia advertising Baillie drives new media solutions initiative

Disney’s U.K.-based sales/relationships exec, Alex Baillie, is shifting to Singa- pore to join The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia as executive director, media solutions. Baillie reports to Amit Malhotra, general manager, Disney Media Distribution, and will be respon- sible for advertising sales and promo- tions working across the integrated Disney Southeast Asia. This includes the Disney channels, studios, retail and licensing, and interactive. Baillie joined Korean CJ E&M Disney in 2008 as director, international expands drama and digital based in London. themes Cheo Yong: The Paranormal Detective, CJ E&M New detective Live leap for Discovery series rides CJ E&M’s latest effort to expand Korean natural trend paranormal Asia Pac joins focus on Wave story lines rolled out at the weekend, include Nine: trend wingsuit jumper off Everest with the Sunday night premiere of new Nine Times Time original drama, Cheo Yong: The Paranor- Travel, as well as the Discovery Asia Pacific is joining the mal Detective. The series airs on CJ E&M’s fantasy dramas Who Are You, Master’s Sun network’s global focus on daredevil dedicated drama channel OCN. and My Love from the Star. Joby Ogwyn in May with a live broad- The series, starring Oh Ji-Ho as detective Cheo Yong tells the story of detective cast of the first wing suit flight off the Yoon and Jun Hyo-Seong from K-pop girl Yoon Cheo-Yong who has the unique summit of Mount Everest. group Secret, also tracks the country’s ability to see, listen, and touch ghosts. He Everest Jump Live includes two booming taste for sci-fi and the super- investigates unsolved cases with a female one-hour pre-shows tracking Ogwyn’s natural, CJ E&M’s drama production team ‘high-schooler’ ghost, Han Na-Young (Jun training for the climb and jump. The head, Park Ho-Sik, says. Hyo-Seong), and a young and passionate special culminates in a live two-hour Park stresses CJ E&M’s ongoing search for colleague Ha Sun-Woo (Oh Ji-Eun). broadcast of the final summit climb diverse and original themes for Korean dra- The series’ title is derived from a Korean and the plunge from the top. ma and says new production techniques myth about an extraordinary man living The custom-built wing suit is and idea development are designed to in ancient Silla who is believed to have equipped with cameras that will attract a modern generation of viewers. had the power to defeat the goddess of record the 10,000-feet vertical dive. CJ E&M titles alreadyWho riding shrunk the super- mysmallpox. Big List?Who shrunk my Big List?

Based on The Big List, Asia’s definitive print directory, theBased ContentAsia on The Bigapp List, lets Asia’syou: definitive print directory, the ContentAsia app lets you: Find out who’s who. Search and browse companies and their keyFind executives. out who’s who. Search and browse companies and their key executives.

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Coming soon contentasia formats 10-23 FEBRUARY 2014 Page 8.

ContentAsia’s new regular section, ContentAsia Formats, is dedicated to 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.

Hidden Cities Extreme

A+E Networks’ factual format, Hidden Cities Extreme, returns to Asia at the end of this month with bigger stories, and promises of even more challenging antics and off-the wall discoveries by host, actor/ filmmaker Simon Yin. The second season of Hidden Cities Ex- treme (8x30 mins), produced by Singapore- based Beach House Pictures, premieres on History and History HD on 25 February 2014 and airs Tuesdays at 10pm. Season two’s adventures include rat catching in the Philippines, drinking cow urine in India, ninja training in Japan and swallowing coconut worms in Mongolia. Season one in 2012 rated number one in its timeslot among 25+ audiences in Singa- Hidden Cities Extreme pore (source: Kantar Media Singapore). In globally relevant,” he adds. natural, he says. U.S. hit Dance Moms has Malaysia, the Korea episode was the top While many formats work well in that the proven a lot more difficult to format. show on History in 2012, with a combined network can deliver locally produced pro- “Although our audience may like watch- average audience of 107,000 in its slot for grammes with well-established track records, ing Dance Moms, Asian parents never 15+ on both SD and HD channels. the challenge can be translating some of want to voluntarily show their ugly side on A+E Networks Asia’s production director, A+E Networks’ hit U.S. formats for Asia. TV, let alone have their own child’s worst Chris Humphrey, says the network’s strat- Character-driven series, for instance, moments broadcast all around the world. egy includes developing “our own original, are heavily dependent on casting. “Asia’s We certainly have to pick and choose what tradable formats as well as leveraging the value system varies greatly from that of the we think will work here and what won’t,” format activities of our own channels in U.S., and our viewers’ attitudes toward fam- Humphrey says. the U.S.” ily life, education, physical contact and of Will Hidden Cities Extreme be followed by “In many aspects TV is still tied to local course religion mean we have to approach more formats on the channel this year than and national culture, so the demand for the format space differently,” he adds. last? “We certainly hope so,” Humphrey local content is still very strong. We need to Formats such as My Ghost Story work be- says, adding: “It takes a bit of time to get find and make television programmes that cause the series is interview-led and there is these things off the ground but we’re work- our audiences find locally appealing yet a very strong regional interest in the super- ing on it.”

FORMATS at the ContentAsia Summit. September 2014. Be included. Contact CJ at [email protected] contentasia 10-23 FEBRUARY 2014 Page 9. PlatformTruevisions anywhere

piracy and ultimately be the sole legal on- line TV application provider in Thailand.”

What kind of rights do you buy? “We’re hoping for first and exclusive.”

The biggest challenge… “Piracy, because the people in Thailand are so used to pirat- ed services that are either cheap or free. We need to find an appropriate business model to win this competition. Business model in terms of the right pricing and ex- clusivity (content), accessible everywhere in Thailand and a user interface design In a regular section looking at up and coming platforms in Asia, that is simple and easy to use by all ages.” Malena Amzah speaks to Soothi Na-Ranong, Thailand’s TrueVisions Group senior manager, product development, business development. Why did you call it TrueVisions Anywhere? “It is straightforward and simple to under- stand by all.” What is TrueVisions Anywhere? An online Wongumnitkul, business development TV service, offering live-TV streaming and director and Soothi Na-Ranong, senior How many subscribers or registered users catch-up services of local and interna- manager product development, TrueVi- do you have? “400,000 downloads and cur- tional channels. TrueVisions Anywhere is sions Group rently 90,000 registered subscribers (watch- accessible for free to TrueVisions’ pay-TV ing the channels they subscribe to).” subscribers via web browsers and mobile Available right now in… Thailand and iOS and Android apps. Chargeable for hopes to extend to Burma, Vietnam and What are your take-up expectations for non-subscribers. Currently not supported Cambodia 2014? 180,000 registered subscribers by on Symbian and Blackberry OS end 2014 The offering... Live streaming of more than Been around since… Launched in 2012, 150 local and international channels. Fea- What’s the average viewing time? 10-15 with live streaming of 40 local and interna- tures include time-shift (rewind live TV up minutes daily tional channels. Relaunched in May 2013 to two hours) and catch-up TV (two days with 120 channels archive) The biggest surprise? “We found that our users are mostly children.” Targeting… All demographics What would you like to add to the offer- ing? A video on-demand service by mid How are you using social media to ex- Pricing… Non-subscribers pay THB200/ February 2014 offering Hollywood movies. pand your online presence? “We have US$6 a month for the basic package, con- The plan is to launch with 100 movie titles, our own social media team consisting of sisting of 53 local and two international including Thor and Frozen, and ramp up six people. We have about 480,000 likes to channels. Five TrueVisions-branded chan- to 170 movies by mid 2014. The aim is to our Facebook page, where we also pro- nels are offered for free to the public have 10 new, current titles each month. mote our content to watch on Anywhere. We are also on TrueVisions’ official Twitter Who’s driving the initiative… Nantanee What’s the goal? “The goal is to minimise and Instagram.” contentasia 10-23 FEBRUARY 2014 Page 10. interviewcreative

Amit Malhotra, General Manager, Disney Media Distribution, The Walt Disney Company Southeast Asia

While tech- The title of your session at the Creative nology is an Content Production Conference* is: One story, multiple screens, countless eyeballs. enabler, con- What does this mean right now in Asia for tent is still a key to Disney? “We constantly push ourselves to consumer engage- challenge the status quo and are focused ment...” on finding new ways to deliver our content to more people and on more platforms across markets (whether that is TV, mobile phone, tablet or online). We work closely with our local partners to find new media platforms to meet consumers’ desires to playback archiving, selecting/sorting, essen- ing to our viewers. And ultimately, we work receive content when they want it and how tially allowing the viewer to re-programme closely with local affiliates to allow seamless they want it.” a channel or to create and customise one authentication of users and coordinated at will, using technologies like cloud services marketing efforts. For example, Watch Marvel’s Avengers franchise is one of the to deliver a compelling experience. While Disney Channel, Watch DJ and Watch examples you use... “Following the as- technology is an enabler, content is still a key DXD are available in English, Mandarin tounding box-office success of Iron Man 3 to consumer engagement.” and Bahasa Malay. VOD content is also in 2013, the title has been made available customised based on the preference of the on premium VOD and PPV services as well You see this as opportunity than challenge... consumer in market.” as on gaming platforms such as the Aveng- “We curate our library of content, customis- ers Alliance game. Crossovers have also ing to the needs of new emerging digital What do you see as the evolution of the done very well in the case of P&F: Mission platforms and managing the needs and pref- Disney-branded apps in Asia? “As consum- Marvel, which generated very high ratings erences of consumers. Hence, we have dig- ers in Asia become even more tech-savvy, when it premiered on Disney Channel. It ital products that cater specifically to these there is going to be a greater demand for also premiered on Fox Movies Premium for digital platforms. Disney Movies on Demand, apps and the availability of content online the Chinese New Year weekend in most ABC TV on Demand as well as Disney Chan- and on-the-go. We also know that apps markets and will air soon on Disney Channel nel on Demand are a few examples of how create greater engagement among users; and other pay-TV networks and our partner we have done this successfully.” the likelihood for them to engage with a free-to-air channels.” piece of content has been much higher. You can obviously draw on sophisticated We are focused on making the Disney What are the biggest challenges facing digital development teams in the U.S. How experience more personal and engaging rights holders in Asia right now? “New tech- much digital input does the team in Asia through increased branded environments, nologies and how they enable and affect have? “Other than the user interface, which including apps for consumers.” consumer behaviour have made the busi- is centrally invested in to create a world-class ness model increasingly complex yet ex- experience and look and feel, everything else tremely exciting. Multi-screen is now not just is available for us to customise. We have mul- * Amit Malhotra will be speaking at this year’s Creative Content Production Con- a matter of putting the same content (linear tiple language tracks on our apps, which are ference, which runs in Singapore from or VOD) onto another screen beyond the locally developed. Content-wise, we have full 18-19 June alongside BroadcastAsia and TV set. For example, there are systems that discretion on programming, which will always CommunicAsia. can take the content and create so many be attuned to local preference to make the This interview has been edited for space; different ways of watching it – fast forward, Disney experience as relevant and engag- the full interview is at www.contentasia.tv contentasia 10-23 FEBRUARY 2014 Page 11.

from page one: Thailand Gold), ATP tour and WTA tour. C NTENTASIA From the beIN Sports camp come promises of ATP 250 Editorial Director tennis events, RBS Six Nations Janine Stein rugby, and Spanish Basketball Assistant Editor League (Liga Endesa) along Malena Amzah with Asian properties such as [email protected] the Asian Beach Games 2014. Production Assistant The TrueVisions launch is CJ Yong beIN Sports’ first exposure in [email protected] Thailand. In Asia, the brand has Design so far signed carriage deals in Rae Yong Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong [email protected] and the Philippines. Associate Publisher The new launch boosts True- (Americas, Europe) and Visions’ sports channels to 30. VP, International Business The beIN Sports announce- Josh Holloway in Intelligence, RTL CBS Entertainment Development ment came about a week after Leah Gordon CTH announced a tie up with [email protected] Grammy’s pay-TV outfit GMM TrueVisions, which started drop- hard on the family and enter- Sales and Marketing (Asia) Z on an English Premier League ping FIC channels as soon as tainment front, working with The Masliana Masron (EPL) football package. contracts expired. Walt Disney Company South- [email protected] GMM Z will market CTHZ Pre- Both sides say they are open east Asia on a Thai version of mier League+ HD for THB999/ to negotiations, but nothing Disney XD. Disney XD is part of a US$30 a month and the com- has been made public for the broader deal that also includes To receive your regular free copy of ContentAsia, panies will share revenue. De- past 10 months. the first Thai-language versions please email tails of the revenue split have TrueVisions, meanwhile, ac- of Disney Junior and Disney, [email protected] not been made public. quired exclusive rights for Thai and expanded nationwide The pack includes six EPL Premier League for the next reach for the Disney Channel. channels as well as 35 pay-TV three years, and has picked TrueVisions says this is the first Published fortnightly by: channels from Fox International up indie and other channels, time an international network Pencil Media Pte Ltd Channels (FIC). including , is being offered to subscribers 730A Geylang Road The Grammy tie-up follows Motorvision and Manchester of every pay package. Singapore 389641 reports that CTH had missed United channel MUTV. The ad- More recently, TrueVisions Tel: +65 6846-5987 its EPL revenue target of THB3 ditional sports services are be- added general entertainment contentasia.tv billion/US$91 million by about ing offered at no extra charge channel RTL CBS Entertainment asiacontentwatch.com THB1 billion/US$30 million. to subscribers. to its entertainment line up. CTH is said to have paid TrueVisions’ chief programme The TrueVisions/beIN Sports about US$250 million for the and content officer, Attaphon announcement co-incided EPL, shocking a market more Na Bangxang, says the sports with news that CTH is reshap- familiar with the platform as rallying cry going forward in- ing its deal with local cable a loose structure of smaller cludes “Cheer Thai” in support operators (LCOs). CTH has told regional operators. of Thai athletes. “Our heroes local media that partnerships This was followed in May last currently hold championship with LCOs have been pared year with the announcement titles in many tournaments. We down from 170 to 100. Insiders that CTH would pay Fox Inter- have exclusive, world-class say low-revenue relationships Twitter @ContentAsia national Channels (FIC) US$84 events for golf, badminton, are being jettisoned as the million in a multi-year carriage volleyball and Muay Thai, platform moves from the origi- Copyright 2014 Pencil deal for about 23 channels. where Thai fans can follow our nal focus on the regions into Media Pte Ltd. All Rights FIC’s new non-exclusive national team and players in a mainstream play and goes Reserved. strategy in Thailand found little international events,” he says. after higher-value alliances MICA (P) 111/06/2013 support at long-time partner TrueVisions is also fighting and audiences.