c ntentasia 7-20 September 2015 Page 3.

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 (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”.