ContentAsia December 2014 by ContentAsia

c C

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Formats Outlook 2015

Eye on 2015: What’s most likely to happen in the next 12 months

PLUS: Free in India, who’s saying what, top issues in key markets and a whole lot of numbers

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Produced by Ostar Productions

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contents

NTENT ASIA

what’s inside...... Halle Berry and Goran Visnjic in CBS Studios’ Extant, RTL CBS Entertainment

Birthdays & anniversaries 10 RTL CBS Entertainment

12 Hits

RTL CBS Entertainment celebrates its first birthday with a bag full of awards, lots of glitz and glamour, and an even stronger commitment to doing what it has done since day one – choose carefully and air early. Programming boss Jennifer Batty talks about why.

Rewind Networks’ Hits channel went live in December last year with a clear and simple proposition: A celebration of the best television shows ever made. Founder and chief executive, Avi Himatsinghani, talks about winning, not winning (yet) and where he’s going next.

What’s going on in... 14 China online China’s Sohu courts foreign right holders while ramping up original content production

16 Taiwan Taiwan’s animation houses and producers are all over second

20 Trends & influences Programmers talk about trends and influences as 2014 draws to a close and the new year dawns.

Mobile

Charles Zhang, Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive, Sohu.com

in 2013. Viki’s Mela Cortez talks

page 14

screens and digital delivery.

Interview: Ricky Ow One year into a new era, Turner’s Asia-Pacific operation has reconnected with affiliates and started acting on a three-priority plan. Can lost glory be regained? Or a different one found?

It’s not that Chinese people don’t want to pay. It’s just that it used to be very inconvenient. Now this is resolved...”

Online video platform Viki hit 25 million mobile app installs at the end of September 2014 – up from 13 million at the same time about the forces driving growth.

My view is that TV everywhere is there to protect the ecosystem, and we have to use it as a weapon.” Ricky Ow, President, Turner International Asia Pacific

page 26

Mainland mania China’s producers, programmers and platforms are making new best friends all over the place. Gotham, WarnerTV

issue six, to december 2014 Boonie Bears the Rescue!, Fantawild

His first case at the CIA… his own family. Allegiance SEE YOU AT ATF NBCUniversal JUSTIN CHE Managing Director Asia Pacific WEI JIANBO VP, Sales Liaison China BARRY CHOI Director, Sales Liaison Korea SHREYA KAPDI Director, Sales Liaison South Asia RAJIV DHAWN SVP, TV Distribution Asia MIKE MENDELSOHN Director, Sales Operations Southeast Asia PAULINE BOHM SVP, International Marketing

JUSTIN CHE Managing Director Asia Pacific RAJIV DHAWN SVP, TV Distribution Asia

& Commuincations WEI JIANBO

VP, Sales Liaison China ATSUSHI MIYASAKA VP, SalesMIKE Liaison MENDELSOHN

Director, Sales Operations Japan Southeast Asia

BARRY CHOI Director, Sales Liaison Korea

SHREYA KAPDI Director, Sales Liaison South Asia

PAULINE BOHM SVP, International Marketing & Commuincations

ATSUSHI MIYASAKA VP, Sales Liaison Japan

CHRIS TAYLOR CHRIS TAYLOR JESSY TSE VP, International VP, International Television TelevisionDirector, Sales Liaison Australia/New Zealand Zealand North & Southeast Asia Australia/New

MARTINE DRUELLE IRELAND VP, Sales Liaison Australia & New Zealand

JESSY TSE Director, Sales Liaison

SEE YOU AT ATF North & Southeast Asia

MARTINE DRUELLE IRELAND VP, Sales Liaison

Australia & New Zealand

NBCUniversal

contents

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Tiny Times III, Zhejiang/China Huace Film and Television

What is most important is that we provide high-quality content continuously... the biggest challenge for us right now is to figure out how viewers of different races and social backgrounds could like our content and have knowledge of Chinese traditional culture.” Zhao Yifang, Zhejiang Huace Film and Television, China

page 34

Har Mushkil Ka Hal – Akbar Birbal, Big Magic/Reliance Broadcast Network India

A FTA is a must for any network.”

India: Free Radicals Free-to-air channels in India are

Raj Nayak, Colors/Viacom18

page 44

the flavour of the month. Why? Because, among other reasons, advertising on these so-called FTAs is forecast to double over the next three years.

48 c

ntent

Formats Outlook 2015

71 Who’s selling what...

Formats Outlook 2015

• CAKE Distribution

Major change is on its way to Asia’s formats environment in 2015, with new super heroes, turbo-charged ambition, overflowing talent and free-flowing funding to drive it all. For some, at least.

• Beyond Distribution • Alfred Haber Distribution, Inc. • Electus International

The others? Not so much... PLUS who’s who on Asia’s formats dial going into 2015.

94 InNumbers Ad revenue growth in Asia dips to 1.2%, ABS-CBN spends $177 million on production, Media Prima cuts 10% of staff, Viki hits 25 million downloads, Astro adds 10 channels... Plus other numbers that count in Asia right now

Vietnam’s Next Top Model season five

issue six, december 2014

BBC Worldwide WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO? Katherine Mills Mind games

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editor’snote

NTENT ASIA

Counting sheep Sheep people are everything from gentle, patient, elegant and assertive

to do battle with the Ram of Piracy. And the

to artistic, creative, curious and compassionate. But, soothsayers point

Ram will win.

out as the Year of the Sheep (or Goat or Ram, take your pick) dawns

• Pay-TV programmers will keep thinking about

in February, they can also run away from problems instead of staying

direct-to-consumer services, but probably won’t

to fix them. The Year of the Sheep is a Yin year, which heralds peace,

go there in 2015. Or even 2016. And maybe

harmony, tranquility and co-existence, a year infused with the spirit of

not even 2020, given the massive effort and

all that is calm and happy... at least it will be for those who trust that

infrastructure required to do it well. But they will

good will triumph. The Sheep’s symbolism runs long and religious – as,

keep thinking. Meanwhile, they will keep pushing

indeed, does the Ram’s. So, good and godly or

platform partners to work with them on branded,

aggressive and warlike?

stand-alone apps for authenticated pay-TV

Yin will win in the Year of the Sheep, common sense will triumph, calming vapours will spread, the good will join forces, and the world will focus on structure, back to basics, and solutions to long-running problems, soothsayers say. Nice, if you can dream it...”

The good news, if a random survey of online

subscribers. Platforms will push back, insisting

fortune tellers is anything to go by, Yin

that programmers join their own walled-garden

will win, common sense will triumph

online environments. Who will win? Both, if the

over brute force, calming vapours will spread over nations,

• The focus on content – already strong – will

the good will join forces and

strengthen, although the ability to cover the

war and destruction will be

costs of premium original production in Asia may

averted in the Year of the

not be as strong as the desire for it. There will also

Wood/Green Sheep. More

be an increase in higher-end online originals as

good news is that the planets

connectivity increases and usage rises. Chinese

will align to highlight structure

platform Youku Tudou set a new benchmark with

and a back-to-basics approach

the Big Brother and The Voice Kids commissions

and to focus on finding solutions to long-

for 2015. OTT platforms elsewhere in Asia proba-

running problems. Nice, if you can dream it... and

bly won’t go this route in 2015. But they will make

maybe we can. Or at least some of it.

their own brand of progress. As Singapore’s

What do I think is most likely to happen in the content industry in Asia in 2015?

monopoly broadcaster MediaCorp (operator of some of the country’s most powerful linear sta-

• “Everywhere” habits will continue to take root (at least among

tions) said, when it pulled four poorly performing

consumers). Will traditional broadcasters, rights holders and platforms

linear channels off its Toggle OTT platform and

figure out a way deliver content across all platforms, conveniently

signed a major on-demand movie deal with Dis-

and seamlessly, with customer service able to offer solutions instead of

ney: Online users prefer on demand. I would say

boilerplate scripts and company-centric attitudes? Maybe. If they do,

that has much to do with content relevance and

they will tread the path of the golden Sheep. If not, they will continue

quality. As always. No crystal ball required.

C Editorial Director Janine Stein Assistant Editor Malena Amzah malena@contentasia.tv Research & Production CJ Yong cj@contentasia.tv Editorial Aqilah Yunus aqilah@contentasia.tv Design Rae Yong

two philosophies can co-exist.

NTENT ASIA

INTERNATIONAL Associate Publisher (Americas, Europe) and VP, International Business Development Leah Gordon leah@contentasia.tv ASIA Sales and Marketing Manager Masliana Masron mas@contentasia.tv

What is ContentAsia?

ContentAsia is an Asia-based information resource that refines today’s info-deluge into usable, digestible, and reliable intelligence about entertainment content creation, funding, financing, licensing, distribution, design and branding and technology across the Asia-Pacific region. ContentAsia’s range of products include electronic, print and online publications.

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issue six, december 2014

Haute & Saucy With Kelly Randall Sia Eat well, dress well, live well Bomanbridge.tv

what’sgoingonin...

NTENT ASIA

birthdays

RTL CBS Entertainment celebrated its first birthday with a bag full of awards, lots of glitz and glamour, and an even stronger commitment to doing what it has done since day one. RTL CBS Entertainment Networks’ flagship Entertainment channel celebrated its first anniversary in September 2014, cutting the birthday cake on 12 months some thought would never happen after years and more years of hearing about European broadcaster RTL’s Asia channel plans and seeing, well, not a lot.

Jennifer Batty, Executive Vice President, Programming, RTL CBS Entertainment Networks (left); Halle Berry and Goran Visnjic in CBS Studios’s Extant (above)

Now, one year after ﬂicking the switch, the joint venture general entertainment channel has kept its content promises and

been closed; details had not been released as this issue went to print.

made more. Programming executive vice president, Jennifer Batty, says the original strategy and philosophy is being proven – repeatedly. “We had to launch strong channels... [with] strong brands, ﬁrst run, exclusive content,” Batty says. The joint venture’s programming commitment to big, best, live and as close as possible to the original broadcast date will continue, Batty says.

“We’ve always been interested in awards, and are supported by affiliates going down this path,” Batty says, adding that the Golden Globes was “a big one for us... it took us from being the new kids on the block to now standing shoulder to shoulder with established channels”. Year two’s schedule so far confirms RTL CBS Entertainment’s approach, with drama aired as close as possible to the original airdate, and an emphasis on live broadcasts of shows such as The X Factor U.K. “We were the first in the world to broadcast X Factor U.K. after the U.K. That was another big one for us,” Batty says. Like other regional general entertainment channels, Batty says affiliates support day-and-date releases. “Piracy is an issue and we want to help combat that,” she says.

If anything, acquisitions are bigger, with a

Scorpion, for instance, aired within 12 hours of the U.S. Elementary season three was on air in a

major bet on glitz and glamour in live and ex-

few days. The second season of Netﬂix’s House of Cards premiered in December, with season three

clusive awards shows such as the Billboard Mu-

already secured for 2015. CBS Studios’ Extant, starring Halle Berry, airs in January 2015, and there’s

sic Awards (May 2015) and the Golden Globes,

a short window on season two. The third season of Under the Dome will air day and date with the

which shifts from Fox International Channels’

U.S.. That’s in addition to daily shows The Insider, Entertainment Tonight and the Late Show with

Star World. In addition, the channel will air the

David Letterman.

Hollywood Film Awards, which were televised for the ﬁrst time ever this year. RTL CBS Entertain-

Batty says Entertainment’s value is a few key titles that deﬁne the channel. “We have an even mix of dramas, comedies, dailies and special programming,” she says.

ment also aired the People Magazine Awards

They’re also not all from joint venture partners, RTL and CBS Studios, which may have surprised

(December) and the American Music Awards

some. “We are very lucky that we have the parent companies that we do. RTL/FremantleMedia

(November). Two more deals for live awards

and CBS compliment each other very well. It’s the perfect combo. It’s also really important that we

shows with prime-time encores in Asia have

have the best content possible for the channel, and CBS and FremantleMedia support that”.

issue six, december 2014

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what’sgoingonin...

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birthdays

Rewind Networks’ Hits turns 1 in December By the time the Rewind Networks team parties with guests at its ﬁrst anniversary party on 9 December, founder and chief executive Avi Himatsinghani will have released nine-month average ratings that will prove, among other things, that his Hits channel and “best of” concept can stand tall with big-time entertainers in the space. Hits last released ratings in July this year, showing the channel among Singapore’s top

Clockwide from above: Star Trek – The Next Generation; Seinfeld; The A-Team

three six months after its launch. Hits came in at #3 among international general entertainment channels, with an audience share higher “Would I like to be in

than established rivals among all

have loved to be in

adults 25+ for the three months

taking a little longer

from 13 March to 25 June

more markets by now? Yes. I would Hong Kong and Thailand. Things are there... and I would have loved to be

(source: Kantar Media Singa-

on SingTel in Singapore as well, given our great performance in Singapore... but

pore). The channel was #1 of

it hasn’t happened yet,” he says, adding: “That’s business - some things go as

14 international GE channels

planned and some don’t.” What has gone as planned is the response to the channel’s core proposition: A

measured in average time

celebration of the best television shows ever made. Himatsinghani says it is this sim-

spent during prime time on

ple and clear positioning that is, ultimately, Hits’ strongest selling point in a crowded

weekends (all people, women

entertainment environment. “There is nothing else in the market that delivers this. We ﬁll

and adults 25+). Across the week, Hits ranked #2 in average time spent,

Avi Himatsinghani,

with 42 minutes a day. The top chan- Founder/Chief Executive, nel by time spent was watched for

Rewind Networks

a gap and that’s what platforms are looking for,” he adds. Hits launched as a single regional feed with about 750 hours of programming rights across 13 markets for year one, including hand-picked series such as The Golden Girls,

48 minutes a day and the third-ranked channel

Seinfeld, The A-Team, Cheers, Moonlighting, The X-Files, Mad About You, Married With Children,

for 33 minutes a day. On weekends, Hits rose

Taxi, Star Trek – The Next Generation and The Cosby Show, along with early seasons of Criminal

from #3 in audience share to #2. The latest rat-

Minds and Grey’s Anatomy.

ings that show the nine-month average in Sin-

Series are stripped Mondays to Fridays, and stacked on weekends. “People want binge viewing

gapore were still being compiled at presstime,

and we want to give that experience in a linear environment. It’s helping us retain audiences and

but Himatsinghani says they prove consistent

keep them with us for longer,” Himatsinghani says.

ongoing performance.

As new carriage deals are signed, the challenge is making sure audiences tuning in for the ﬁrst

How delighted is he? Very with some aspects

time have the same “best of” Hits experience. Himatsinghani and programming vice president and

of the business, including carriage in key mar-

channel head, Sandie Lee, are working on an encore grid designed to keep both old and new audi-

kets and viewership. Not so much with others,

ences happy.

but he’s working on it.

Himatsinghani’s belief in and support for linear channels is long-held and well known. But he

One year on, Himatsinghani lists carriage on

stresses that Hits is not solely a linear channel. “We are a TV everywhere service that also allows au-

four major platforms in key markets – StarHub

thenticated pay-TV subscribers to watch on-demand or live streaming,” he says, adding: “We may

(Singapore), Astro (Malaysia), Indovision (Indo-

be called Rewind, but we are pretty forward thinking in terms of what needs to be done”.

nesia), SkyCable (Philippines) – as highlights.

issue six, december 2014

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what’sgoingonin...

NTENT ASIA

online

China’s Sohu courts foreign right holders while ramping up original content production

Like many in Asia, China’s online platform Sohu has in-house original production at the top of its programming priority list in 2015. Three TV-quality drama series are being planned along with a lot more short-form programming, says Sohu.com founder, chairman and chief executive, Charles Zhang.

It’s not that Chinese people don’t want to pay. It’s just that it used to be very inconvenient. Now this is resolved, Chinese consumers are able to pay online, even in a taxi. It’s so easy.” Charles Zhang, Sohu.com

This follows a year during which the platform premiered its ﬁrst local 16-episode TV-quality

want to pay. It’s just that it used to be very inconvenient. Now this is resolved, Chinese consumers

drama and one in which The Simpsons, The

are able to pay online, even in a taxi. It’s so easy,” Zhang says, adding that Sohu will expand ac-

Strain (approx 1.3 billion views) and House of

quisitions to feature ﬁlms based on the new payment solutions.

Cards topped the list of signiﬁcant content

He says the online advertising model meant TV series made the most sense in the past. “Now that

achievements along with local titles such as

the payment systems are cleared, next we are going to buy movies. You will see another business

Indelible Designation (Yong Bu Mo Mie De Fan

model start to arrive and it will explode,” he says.

Hao), which had a total of 1.4 billion views, and A Happy Life, which was viewed 768 times. Focusing on original production also comes on top of a content agenda that may add European/French titles to acquisitions from the U.S., says head of international business, Yi Wang. If tommorow’s challenges include the high

Meanwhile, revenue models remain heavily advertising-based. Sohu.com’s total revenues for the three months to end September 2014 were US$430 million, up 17% year on year. Brand advertising revenues increased 19% to US$149 million. Total online advertising revenues were US$247 million, a 40% increase on the previous year. The company attributed the growth to online video advertising. Sohu.com serves three billion video views a day. Content driving this level of audience includes Hollywood and Korean programming, along with domestic television drama. About 80% of Sohu’s content is local, and 20% is acquired from other markets.

cost of international content and endless pres-

New regulations capping foreign content online at 30% of total content from April 2015 will not

sure to boost advertising revenue, some of last

impact Sohu, Zhang says, adding that the local content environment is booming. This boom fol-

year’s problems have gone away.

lows a decade of production development across China after an ofﬁcial ruling that separated

Zhang says major obstacles to monetisation of China’s online video have been resolved, and the mainland industry is on the brink of another explosion in usage. Speaking at this year’s Mipcom market in Cannes, Zhang said China’s piracy problem

broadcast and production operations. Zhang talks about the rise of stand-alone studios and higher quality “market-driven content”. “There are huge movements of entrepreneurial start ups to make content because people see they have outlets for it,” he says, highlighting online video’s advantage in an environment of tightly controlled state-owned traditional TV stations and no market-driven pay-TV cable. “There are a lot of things we can do to provide an alternative to state-owned stations,” he adds.

had, largely, been eliminated, and although

One of this year’s trends is the rise of user-generated content; “We need to catch up with the

determined pirates could still ﬁnd illegal con-

world on user-generated content,” Zhang says. Another trend is direct-to-online drama. “Suddenly

tent online, the process was difﬁcult. This, along

studios realised that they were making all these shows in a rush for TV stations but that content

with advances in micro-payment infrastructure,

online could be viable. They are starting to make shows for online platforms alone,” he says. Zhang

removed the two biggest obstacles to online

also says that Sohu adopts internationally accepted update schedules online, with weekly up-

pay content in China. “So you will see another

dates “just like American TV series”.

explosion in online video usage”, Zhang says. He adds that Chinese consumers will pay for content. “It’s not that Chinese people don’t

issue six, december 2014

At the same time, Sohu relies heavily on the domestic drama populating traditional TV schedules. The sweetener, Zhang says, is that “we pay much more than TV stations. Companies can double their income by selling to us as well”. Reporting by Janine Stein and CJ Yong

D A V I D

D U C H O V N Y

1967. THE SUMMER OF LOVE. BUT ONE MAN WILL KILL THE PEACE.

David Duchovny 1967. The summer of Love. But one man will kill the peace. Aquarius ITV Studios Global Entertainment

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what’sgoingonin...

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taiwan

Taiwan’s animation houses are all over second screens, digital, manga characters and games Taiwan’s animation houses are all over second screens and digital delivery, and looking to a future ﬁlled with stories (many of which are based on comic books), games, merchandising, video on demand, short ﬁlms... and coproductions partners. The general sentiment is that the domestic market,

although

Tomotoon, Next Media Animation

deﬁnitely

not short of talent, is small, fragmented

and

apps as a vehicle to promote visibility. This is driving demand for

viciously

competitive, and that local producers and rights hold-

Vincent Lee, Next Media Animation

short-form content. “The shorter the content the better,” he says. Next Media Animation’s short-form global ambitions centre around versioning its manga as well as expanding the reach of its CG ani-

ers need to think bigger and broader and look more globally. “Taiwan is a great country for the creative industry,” says Vincent Lee, Next Media Anima-

Ming H. Chan, Children’s Playground Entertainment

mated news clips, distributed under the TomoNews brand. Lee says the Taiwan-based team can turn around a one-minute animated news clip in just 90 minutes. If there is one big challenge in expanding the

tion’s brand and licensing director. “We’re also

international business, it’s that Next Media Animation’s original series and 3D co-production capabili-

very competitive in terms of costs... it’s one of

ties have perhaps been overshadowed by its animated news features. Lee says one of the goals for

Asian content production’s best kept secrets,”

2015 is to gain traction for the Tomotoon style of motion manga and “introduce this to more markets

he adds.

here in Asia and around the world”, along with growing the Mad Box Zombies, Spy Penguins and

Next Media Animation, well known for its news-

Karen Senki brands.

based animation, is tapping comic book and

Taiwan remains a key centre in the regional networks being established by children’s entertain-

manga habits to drive its screen-based creative

ment producers. Ming H. Chan, chief executive and producer of four-year-old Children’s Playground

business. Lee says the company’s new anima-

Entertainment, has set up an ofﬁce in Taipei, adding the city’s creative angle to a regional network

tion style Tomotoon bridges the gap between

that also includes Japan and mainland China. The Taipei entity, Children’s Playground Creative Inc,

diehard fans of manga/comic books and those

specialises in mobile games and CGI production. “We’re trying to give our IP different spices by in-

who favour screen-based manga.

tegrating the creative minds from these places while developing each market,” he says. Children’s

Xanthus Animation was also at Mipcom this

Playground Entertainment is based in Tokyo.

year talking about new title, Origami-Fighters

Chan was at Mipcom this year driving exposure for the company’s 2D animated Nano Invaders.

World, based on the international comic book,

The series follows ordinary kid Hikaru, who stumbles upon a device that transforms him into a being

and looking for co-production partners. Mer-

with extraordinary strength and the ability to control the ﬁve elements – Metal, Wood, Water, Fire,

chandising is key, says Xanthus’ chief executive,

Earth. But are these enough to save the world from vicious Nano-beasts? Nano Invaders, has aired

Bruce Yao, pointing to the success of 2011 title

in Japan and China, and will air in Europe (Spain, Turkey, France, Portugal, Italy) from next Spring.

Yameme, which has become an ofﬁcial mas-

In China, the series attracted 140 million views on VOD platform Sohu in less than six months after its

cot – an “endorsement character” – for Taiwan

launch in May 2014. Chan says this has driven a second season, planned for 2016.

government campaigns against, for instance, drugs and corruption. Yao also highlights the rising importance of

issue six, december 2014

Chan’s priority is to build broad brand awareness for his made-in-Asia IP. His biggest challenge is competing with other strong anime titles with a limited production budget, as well as co-ordinating distribution and broadcasting. “It’s certainly not an easy task,” he says. – Reporting by CJ Yong

Breaking Bad Season 5 Premieres Thursday 11th December 10pm SIN/TWN, 9pm BKK/JKT

First and Exclusive Only On Sundance Channel Sundance Channel 2014 Emmy Awards for breaking bad Outstanding Drama series Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series Outstanding writing in a drama series Outstanding Lead actor in a drama series Outstanding Supporting Actress in a drama series Outstanding Editing

what’sgoingonin...

NTENT ASIA

mobile

Explosive Mobile Growth drives installs, views...

Viki doubles downloads in 12 months Online video platform Viki hit 25 million mobile app installs at the end of September – up from 13 million at the same time last year – with more than 50% of video views a month viewed on mobile and connected devices. The latest ﬁgures show that mobile video starts were up 136.19% and minutes viewed were up 125.76% in the 12 months to September 2014. Viki.com’s

Singa-

pore-based director of product management,

Mela

Viki’s top mobile countries

Cortez, says mobile growth is not, in general, a big surprise, and that expectations

are

that installs will double Mela Cortez, Viki

again in the next 12 months. “As the mar-

ket moves towards mobile, Viki will move with that,” she says. What may have been a surprise was the fastest-growing markets – Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand – and the high viewership of long-form content on mobile devices. The common factor across the four markets is consumption of Asian drama.

Source: Viki.com

Indonesia is now Viki’s second biggest market, followed by Malaysia (third), Philippines

The 136% growth in video starts is driven by an

(fourth), Singapore (sixth) and Thailand (sev-

aggressive effort to acquire top drama in key

enth). The U.S. tops the list. Three of Viki’s top

markets such as Korea, Taiwan and Japan. Viki

What’s next? Wearables, Cortez says. “In the

10 languages are Asian – Indonesia (fourth),

has also improved its content discovery pro-

next few years, wearables are a global trend.

Korean (sixth) and Thai (tenth).

load within ﬁve seconds. The average load time in Asia is about 10 seconds.

cess, including search and recommendation,

Another one we are exploring is mobile to TV

Cortez says habits have shifted in the past

Cortez says, adding: “Minutes-viewed growth is

interaction. Right now, there’s no link between

two years from mobile usage predominantly

because of the content. People are engaged

the two, so we are looking at that.” She pre-

while on the go. “Now even at home people

and watching longer”.

dicts a shift in in-home use of Viki and mobile

are accessing content on mobile,” she adds.

The biggest challenge is internet speed. “We

when users can beam to TV sets. As she says:

Mobile includes bigger-screen tablets, which

are continuously looking at ways to improve

“If people have the option to watch on big

could account for some of the higher usage.

the load time,” Cortez says. Ideally, videos will

screen...”

issue six, december 2014

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NTENT ASIA

OTT

Netﬂix is coming to Australia in 2015. Media Partners Asia explores some of the things the U.S. giant will ﬁnd when it arrives, including 200K VPN users and strong local players Australia’s internet-based video-on-demand

from mobile devices, Australia’s strong wireless broadband networks will be a key piece of the suc-

(VOD) sector – both advertising (AVOD) and

cess story for online video platforms, MPA says.

subscription (SVOD) funded – is one of the stron-

MPA also points out that VOD services are widely available in Australia, including SVOD services from

gest in Asia Paciﬁc, generating total revenue of

market leader Quickﬂix, whose shareholders include Nine Entertainment; Presto, a SVOD service of-

US$230 million at end-2014, according to Media

fered by Foxtel; and Stan, an A$100-million joint venture between Nine Entertainment and Fairfax.

Partners Asia’s (MPA) latest analysis. While most

Netﬂix is launching SVOD-based OTT services in Australia and New Zealand. The service will be

of this is generated from online video advertising

available on smart TV sets, tablets, mobile, computers and internet-capable game consoles and

(US$200 million in 2014), the over-the-top (OTT)

set-top-boxes. Netﬂix already unofﬁcially exists in Australia with 200,000 customers accessing the

delivered SVOD market is expected to generate

service using virtual private networks (VPNs) or changing DNS (Domain Name System) settings.

strong growth in the future, from a low base.

Netﬂix, at the outset, may face challenges as it looks to convert its VPN base to legal SVOD. The U.S.

MPA forecasts Australia’s SVOD market will

offering will have a wider breadth of Hollywood content, although the Australia launch slate includes

grow from US$31 million in 2014 to top US$160

original series such as Marco Polo, BoJack Horseman and kids titles such as DreamWorks Animation’s

million by 2020, powered by the entry of Netf-

All Hail Ling Julien.

lix in March 2015, competing with local incum-

The Stan service, meanwhile, is investing A$50 million-A$65 million to reach breakeven, targeted

bents such as Foxtel, Quickﬂix and Stan, a Nine-

over three to four years. The company’s target market is 1.4 million households, which should grow

Fairfax joint venture. Meanwhile, online video

to 2.5 million by 2019. Management expects to price its SVOD offering at the low end (A$9-A$10

advertising is expected to cross the US$1-billion

a month), in line with Netﬂix. Stan content is likely to be largely anchored to non-exclusive back

mark during the same period (CAGR of 32%).

catalogue programming, with some premium exclusive original content. Other key free TV networks

Key market drivers include high broadband penetration and the growing availability of VOD, MPA says.

(Seven and Ten) are also looking to enter the SVOD market. There is speculation Seven may partner with pay-TV operator Foxtel while various bidders, including Foxtel, are lining up to acquire Ten. MPA analysis suggests a total of 276,000 SVOD subscribers in Australia at end 2014, including those

Fixed broadband network household pen-

accessing Netﬂix, with revenues of US$31 million. By 2020, this is expected to grow to 1.44 million pay-

etration was 69% at end 2014, although MPA

ing SVOD subscribers with subscription revenue topping US$160 million. Content costs are expected

highlights low download speeds relative to

to scale up to almost US$50 million a year by 2016 and grow to US$78 million by 2020.

North Asia and Singapore. There are also signiﬁ-

AVOD services available in Australia include those from the three commercial terrestrial free-to-air

cant data caps and telcos often throttle speeds

broadcasters – Nine, Seven and Ten, which are advertising funded. The three have increased levels

to limit peak levels of video consumption. Both

of content available via catch-up services and also revamped their websites, improving digital apps

these issues could prove to be near-term barri-

and players. However, not all content aired on the free-TV channels has been cleared for digital and

ers to Netﬂix adoption, says MPA executive di-

catch-up rights, especially for library titles.

rector, Vivek Couto.

The online video ad sector currently accounts for 4% of the total online advertising pie, generating rev-

High-speed internet growth is expected with

enues of US$200 million in 2014. Three global majors – Google (via YouTube), Yahoo and Facebook – ac-

the rollout of a ﬁbre-based national broadband

count for an estimated 50% share of online video advertising. The sector experienced 45%-50% growth in

network (NBN). The critical catalyst for NBN

both 2013 and 2014. According to media buyers, growth is starting to taper off but advertiser demand for

growth is a deal with telecoms giant Telstra,

premium, brand-safe long-form content remains strong. Such content is currently unavailable via either

anchored to an US$11-billion package that in-

YouTube or Facebook and should help free-to-air broadcasters to capitalise on their AVOD platforms.

volves the Federal government. The deal has been delayed to 2015.

Piracy is one of the issues that could negatively impact the market, along with the propensity and willingness to pay. Australia’s pay-TV subs growth has long been stagnant, reaching just 30%

Wireless broadband continues to gain trac-

penetration of TV households at end-2013. High ARPUs (A$95 a month for Foxtel) and anti siphoning

tion, reaching 46% penetration (11 million subs)

have been key barriers to growth. Emerging SVOD services, priced at A$8-10 per month, could ﬁnd

in 2014. 4G deployments are growing with three

traction as consumers look for more affordable ways to access content. The ﬁrst steps in this direc-

of the largest telcos – Telstra, Optus and Voda-

tion were made as recently as the second half of 2014, when Foxtel halved prices for both its linear

fone – garnering a combined nine million 4G

pay-TV services, and for SVOD service, Presto. Subscriber demand has already picked up and MPA

subscribers in the ﬁrst half of 2014. With nearly

projects pay-TV penetration will grow to 40%-plus by 2020. Monthly pay-TV ARPU is likely to decline to

50% of all online video consumption derived

A$80 a month or lower over the next few years.

issue six, december 2014

Malaysia Moving Forward Exploring Opportunities Create your next industry breakthrough in Malaysia, Asia’s hub of creative content and production. Offering stunning locations, government incentives, world-class film and animation studios as well as a rich, multicultural talent pool, Malaysia is able to bring so much more to your set. To get the cameras rolling, please log on to www.finas.gov.my Date: 10-12 December 2014 Booth Number: D10 Location: Marina Bay sands, Singapore Finas

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trend&influences

NTENT ASIA

Trends & Influences Programmers in Asia talk about 2014’s most significant trends and what they think will be big in 2015. Asia’s biggest trends in 2014...

Asia, says Breakthrough Entertainment’s Kate Blank, adding that boys aged 6-11 seem to favour animated comedy while girls lean towards live-action comedy.

CONTENT “EVENTISING” BBC World-

Local programmers and producers have risen to the live-action demand, making content with local chil-

wide Asia’s content VP, Ryan Shiotani,

dren for higher relevance to domestic audiences.

says 2014’s big trend was the “eventis-

Zodiak Kids sales exec, Irini Kylkilahti, notes high de-

ing” of content. “Unmissable big event

mand for gender-neutral shows among pan-re-

programming is increasingly important to cut through the clutter and keep fans engaged,” Shiotani

Hud Woodle, Scripps Networks Interactive

adds that many free-TV channels are

tickets to the first Doctor Who tour sold

looking for strong comedies with action

out in less than five minutes. LOCALISATION “The localisation of

adventure.

content has become a norm in Asia,”

EXPLODING DEMAND Exploding program-

says Hyeonza Hong, ITV Studios Global

ming demand from digital channels in cer-

Entertainment’s SVP, sales, Asia. “We can no longer generalise that a big show Kelly Wright, Keshet International

issue six, december 2014

appeal to broad target audiences and enable a family viewing experience. She

says. In Korea, for instance,

Estefania Arteaga, Caracol Television

gional broadcasters, particularly those that

Lanny Huang, Playboy Plus Entertainment

tain key markets of Asia was a clear trend in 2014, says Bomanbridge Media’s chief execu-

that worked in Thailand will

tive, Sonia Fleck. She also points to Asian titles that have sealed landmark

also work in Indonesia or Viet-

deals in Europe and the U.S. “Korea and China have been pioneers and

nam, although the countries

are making real headway,” Fleck says, adding: “I’m pleased to see this be-

are categorised as Southeast Asia,” Hong says.

cause frankly, the culture gap isn’t as wide as one may assume. I am abso-

FORMAT RIGHTS & COPRODUCTION Format

lutely certain we will see more big-hitting formats come from Asia.”

rights and co-production opportunities were

NEW DISTRIBUTION OPPORTUNITIES Asia’s rising demand has opened up

2014’s biggest content trends in Asia for Playboy

first-time distribution opportunities and a new space for drama as chan-

Plus Entertainment Inc, says Asia Pacific GM, Lan-

nels seek creative ways to compete. Globo has licensed content to Indo-

ny Huang. “The entire Asia is looking for the right

nesia’s Kompas TV for the first time, for instance, and Brazilian telenovelas

format,” she says, highlighting the importance at-

are also premiering in the Philippines, says Raphael Corrêa Netto, Glo-

tached to production bibles and branding.

bo’s executive director, international business.

Caracol Television’s international sales execu-

Keshet International’s sales director, Kelly Wright, says broadcasters are

tive, Eastern Europe and Asia, Estefania Arteaga,

“more open to new genres, international ideas and formats” as a result

notes rising demand for both scripted and non-

of highly competitive markets. “More than ever, channels in markets like

scripted formats in markets such as China, Korea

China, Indonesia, Thailand and Korea are trying to carve out their own

and Vietnam.

niches and brands by offering consistent programming while staying on

EDU-TAINMENT Nippon TV’s senior director, interna-

top of trends, which is a difficult balance,” Wright says. “Where it might

tional business development, Shigeko Chino, says

previously have been more difficult to enter these somewhat ‘closed’

edutainment was one of 2014’s biggest trends.

markets, the playing field is certainly widening,” she adds.

Nippon TV formats are being remade in Asia as

LIFESTYLE Beyond Distribution says Southeast Asia’s appetite for lifestyle

edutainment shows. This ties in with the localisa-

content continues to grow, as do the channels to cater to this demand,

tion trend.

says Joanne Azzopardi, international sales VP for Australia, New Zealand

ANIMATED COMEDY, GENDER NEUTRALITY, ACTION

and Asia.

ADVENTURE In the kids’ space, animated come-

Scripps Networks Interactive’s VP, international programme licensing

dies continue to resonate with kids’ buyers across

and distribution, Hud Woodle, agrees. “In 2014, we saw lifestyle emerge

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trend&influences

NTENT ASIA

from a perceived niche genre into one that

face of newer digital offerings, which can be con-

competes with general entertainment;

sumed on more portable devices,” Breakthrough

general entertainment channels have

Entertainment’s Blank says. “In response to this transition and to stay com-

started to debut lifestyle programming in

petitive, linear channels have started opening up

prime time and those shows are out-rating

their own digital platforms or at least attempting

the U.S. dramas and reality shows that were previously more popular,” Woodle says. Nick Solowski, international sales/acquisitions director at Canada’s Tricon Films & Television, also says the success of lifestyle-based programming was 2014’s biggest trend.

& the big issue for 2015...

Sonia Fleck, Bomanbridge Media

to put a holdback on these rights by increasing their licence fees. Producers and distributors of programming have similar challenges in meeting these con-

tent demands while also seeing great new opportunities,” Blank adds. Caracol Television’s Arteaga says digital rights are 2015’s biggest issue. “It has become vital to have our programming in all of the multiple platforms available to remain competitive... Because of this growth it is important to make digital rights accessible,” she adds.

DIGITAL BOOM While Bomanbridge Me-

LOCALISATION & GLOBALISATION ITV Studios’ Hong says the biggest trend

dia’s Fleck notes digital’s positive impact

will be continued localisation and customisation. “Our customers have di-

on programming demand, she also

versified and the digital operators are now a significant proportion of our

says “there is a real concern

revenue in Asia. Digital operators’ audiences want customised and per-

from producers on how to

sonalised content that is relevant to them. So it is no surprise that one show

Ryan Shiotani, BBC Worldwide Asia

best maximise revenue on

Nippon TV’s Chino also says localisation will be 2015’s big content is-

ing all over Asia”. She ad-

sue. At the same time, she talks about globalisation and the need for

vocates

“pragmatic

programmes to be produced on a global level. At the other end of the

view on how we can sup-

spectrum, formats will be localised to accommodate the cultures and

port these digital media with Raphael Corrêa Netto, Globo

Irini Kylkilahti, Zodiak KIds

issue six, december 2014

no longer fits all,” she says.

the digital services bloom-

needs of particular regions, she adds.

content, and share

INNOVATION Keshet International’s Wright says the 2015 content search

in the staggering

will be “for new twists on celebrity-driven shows, which will make them fresh

number of potential

as the audience becomes accustomed to well-established formats”.

subscribers and therefore revenue”.

MARKET GROWTH Globo’s Corrêa Netto says 2015’s challenge is to expand

ONLINE DISTRIBUTION Beyond’s Azzopar-

on the progress made in 2014. “Last year, our productions entered coun-

di expects the TV distribution landscape

tries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Mongolia and Australia. There are still

to continue to evolve “as we see more

many possibilities in Southeast Asia, plus China and others,” he says.

and more major VOD streaming platforms

FAST ACCESS BBC Worldwide’s Shiotani expects 2015’s big issue will be

launch in this region. There is and will con-

meeting the demand for quicker access to content and more time- and

tinue to be growing consumption of online

place-shifted viewing. “Fast turnaround premieres are quickly becoming

video content across the board in Asia”.

the norm for popular premium content, allowing us to capitalise on social

Tricon’s Solowski also notes the SVOD surge

media buzz and helping to decrease piracy,” he says.

and emerging platforms and says “it feels like this

GREATER VARIETY While food will continue to be a big programming

trend will continue throughout 2015”.

trend, Scripps’ Woodle says demand for greater variety, including more

REGULATION For Playboy Plus Entertainment, the

diverse hosts and foods from different cultures, will increase in 2015, along

big issue in Asia in 2015 will be the Chinese gov-

with demand for rights across multiple formats.

ernment’s approach to online content. Huang

Nippon TV’s Chino expands this, saying that programme genres are di-

says foreign content quotas and approval on

versifying and that story-driven entertainment programmes are gaining

over-the-top/online and other platforms in China

popularity. “Recently, there has been a large success of turning documen-

in 2015 will be the biggest issue for global pro-

tary programmes into entertainment programmes in Japan. We believe

gramme providers.

this genre will grow in other countries throughout Asia as well,” she says.

CHANGING AUDIENCE HABITS The shift in audi-

EDUCATION Keshet’s Wright says the search is on for children’s/family

ence habits continues to tear through the tra-

shows with an educational element”.

ditional content landscape, forcing changes in

Zodiak Kids’ Kylkilahti says the market “is currently saturated with a

rights terms, licence fees and growth strategies.

wide choice of educational content for pre-schoolers; however we have

“In Asia as well... the traditional linear channels

noticed that some broadcasters in the APAC region are also looking for

are having challenges in keeping viewers in the

educational content for older kids and tweens”.

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interview

NTENT ASIA

Turner round One year into a new era, Turner’s Asia-Pacific operation has re-connected with affiliates and started acting on a three-priority plan. Can lost glory be regained? Or a different one found? Janine Stein spoke to regional president Ricky Ow.

The Last Ship

Turner now has a much stronger sense of connection with the marketplace and the consumer. That’s the basis on which everything can grow and develop. Without those two elements, you can’t do anything at all.” Ricky Ow, President, Turner International Asia Pacific

issue six, december 2014

Last year this time, veteran Asia pay-TV boss Ricky Ow was packing for Hong Kong, heading into one of the region’s biggest channel challenges – turning around Turner. Today, almost a year into the job as president of Turner International Asia Pacific, Ow says the biggest achievement has been that “Turner now has a much stronger sense of connection with the marketplace and the consumer. That’s the basis on which everything can grow and develop. Without those two elements, you can’t do anything at all”. TV everywhere is one of Ow’s three key goals, outlined soon after he arrived at Turner. The other two are “to fix Turner’s weaknesses” and to develop an Asian content strategy, which he’s started delivering with the Korean Oh!K channel. “We have to push for TV everywhere,” Ow insists. “Today, the TV set is just another device. If you pay for television, you want to be able to watch the content on every device,” he says. Although the industry has been talking about TV everywhere for three years, it’s still not a reality. “As an industry, we don’t do as well as we could to market this as part of

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interview

NTENT ASIA

a pay-TV subscription,” Ow says, warning: “We do not want a situation where the legal TV service is on TV and the illegal service is on mobile devices. That mindset will be hard to overcome”. “The consumer today consumes TV programming everywhere, on any device. If the subscription model is going to work and remain protected, it has to follow viewer consumption patterns,” he says. Ow is a strong supporter of a multi-pronged approach to everywhere services, including branded stand-alone apps offered on an authenticated basis via pay-TV platforms. He acknowledges that platforms may prefer to consolidate content within their own everywhere environments, and says there is space in the ecosystem for both. “My view is that TV everywhere is there to protect the pay-TV ecosystem, and we have to use it as a weapon. I’m very happy to give anyone my TV everywhere rights, but there also has to be the ability to offer my own app in a dedicated environment on an

Pride & Prejudice, Oh!K (above); Gotham, WarnerTV (left)

authenticated basis depending the

what

consumer

vice president, finance. Marianne Lee, who worked

chooses. It’s still

with Ow at Sony Pictures Television Networks, shifted

authenticated but it’s a dedicated en-

Universal Channels International in Singapore. Lee came

vironment,” he says.

on board in May as vice president, content, general enter-

Ow talks about 14 things that have happened in 2014 that he’s happy about, stopping short of grand

tainment. Phil Nelson, who was part of the old Turner guard, has, meanwhile, been given a bigger role as senior vice president and managing director, Southeast Asia Pacific and North Asia.

declarations of sweeping success (except may-

Another achievement has been building an entertainment portfolio to

be the success so far of kids channel Boomerang

add to Turner’s kids and news strengths. So far, this has involved closing

Thailand, the one-year-old free-sat channel that

a content supply deal with Korea’s Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

tops local cable and satellite charts with 72%

(MBC) and launching Korean channel Oh!K channel in October. That

audience share among kids and total individu-

came six months after Turner Broadcasting took operational control of

als 4+. General entertainment service WarnerTV

the region’s leading entertainment channel, WarnerTV, from HBO Asia in

also remains a top-rating channel, holding onto

April. The goal was – and remains – to create another pillar of revenue.

its number one spot in Singapore for 12 consecu-

The programming strategy includes more first-run shows from Warner Bros

tive months).

along with first-run content from Turner, such as The Last Ship, which was

Perhaps most critically though, Ow has his own, hand-picked management team in place. In

issue six, december 2014

back to Hong Kong to join Turner after a few years at

executive produced by filmmaker Michael Bay (Transformers) and aired on TNT in the U.S.

January, Turner appointed Greg Ho as vice presi-

Ow also talks about short licensing windows and fast-tracking premium

dent of communications and marketing. Discov-

programming. Korean drama Pride & Prejudice, for instance, premiered

ery stalwart Shitiz Jain joined in February as senior

on Oh!K one day after Korea, with language options in both English and

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interview

NTENT ASIA

Cartoon Network Amazone in Thailand

We have to go back to the old model where platforms and channel content providers are better partners than one versus the other. As a whole, we need to do better at cooperating with one another.”

also in October, of the Cartoon Network Watch & Play authenticated service on Thai pay-TV platform TrueVisions. Also on Ow’s watch, although they were in the works well before, are Monster Beach, an original movie that premiered on 31 October, and Cartoon Network Original animation productions made in Asia for a global audience. Currently in production, Exchange Student Zero, the first Cartoon Network animated series made in Asia Pacific for a global audience, is scheduled to air in mid-2015.

Chinese. This is the fastest delivery for Korean pro-

Turner has also licensed the CNN news brand to local partners in Indo-

gramming on record, Ow says. New Warner Bros

nesia and the Philippines. The CNN Indonesia website has launched, and

drama, Gotham, was on WarnerTV in Asia within

will be followed by the TV channel in 2015. CNN Philippines, announced

three days of its U.S. release.

on 14 October, also has plans to launch in 2015.

Other notable entertainment moments of the

By this time next year, Ow says he will deliver expanded distribution,

past year include launching WarnerTV Encore

improved penetration, a rebranded WarnerTV, much more first-run and

catch up service on Hong Kong pay-TV platform

exclusive content, and many more catch-up and TV anywhere rights.

NowTV in October, Ow says.

is to find new growth that makes sense to the consumer and to the plat-

Cartoonito and streamlined the Asia bouquet to

form,” he says, adding that “Asia has an opportunity still to continue to

three brands – Cartoon Network, Boomerang and

grow the ecosystem... which is not the case in many parts of the world”.

Toonami. “Kids is one of pay-TV subscription drivers,” he says. Refreshed kids channel, Boomerang, has already started rolling out across the region, beginning in Australia in November. Boomerang will make its way across Southeast Asia in 2015.

issue six, december 2014

His biggest challenge? “The biggest challenge for the whole industry

On the kids side of the business, Ow ditched

“The second biggest challenge, again not just for us, is that we have to go back to the old model where platforms and channel content providers are better partners, rather than one versus the other. As a whole, we need to do better cooperating with one another,” he adds. “Last but not least, ad sales for pay television has never taken off in the way it should have. There has been enough talk about it but nothing has

Kids highlights this year so far also include the

moved the needle... it doesn’t matter whether this is local or regional, it

opening of Cartoon Network Amazone Water-

hasn’t taken off in the way it should have”. The solution? Maybe in Year

park in Thailand in early October and the launch,

Two...

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NTENT ASIA

Mainland mania

China’s producers, programmers and platforms are making new best friends all over the place.

Tiny Times III, Zhejiang/China Huace Film and TV

Chinese online platforms are making new best friends around every corner, and the country’s voracious content appetite is being fed in myriad ways, including an even stronger push towards original content creation, no apparent end to the appetite for Chinese versions of great big branded international formats, and exclusive content deals with the likes of HBO. There’s also a new attitude and approach to the regional and global market for mainland productions, which may drive higher investment, increase global appeal, and create even more interest in domestic productions. The most recent deal, announced at the end of November, puts highend HBO Original titles on Tencent Video “in the very near future”. The exclusive online licensing agreement across multiple screens bodes well for international rights owners. This is despite new regulations that cap the amount of foreign content on online platforms from 2015 as well as increasingly tough censorship requirements to bring online content into the tightly controlled content fold. Titles involved in the Tencent-HBO “strategic partnership” include Band of Brothers, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Rome, The Newsroom and True Detective. HBO Asia Originals will be included although the three made-in-Asia productions – Dead Mine (2012), Serangoon Road (2013) and Grace (2014) – have not yet been mentioned by name in any of the official announcements. The Tencent-HBO announcement came a month after Sohu boss Charles Zhang took centre stage during Mipcom in October talking about an end to piracy, the beginning of an online pay model and welcoming foreign partners from everywhere. Tencent was in Cannes at the same time, talking about original production, Boonie Bears to the Rescue!, Fantawild

issue six, december 2014

DW Transtel

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NTENT ASIA

A Nation’s Destiny/Guo Jia Ming Yun, Zhejiang Huace Film and TV

including its decision to return a second season

including titles such as Weekend Show, The Show and Tudou K-pop.

of All3Media/Zoo Productions’ format Are You

Tudou says two thirds of its core production teams are from top local

Normal?.

producers such as Hunan TV and Jiangsu TV. The platform is also co-

Not two weeks later, Youku Tudou chairman

operating on web original content with at least 10 Asian companies,

and chief executive Victor Koo talked to dele-

including Korean broadcaster SBS and conglomerate CJ, and Japan’s

gates at the annual Casbaa event in Hong Kong

Fuji TV.

about the mega-platform’s content ambitions,

Youku Tudou talks about new kinds of partnerships to develop enter-

including the first local version of Endemol’s Big

tainment in China. “Tudou’s cooperation with Talpa fits into the new

Brother. The 10-episode Chinese version of the

partnership approach, designed to help build Youku Tudou’s multi-

reality show will go live on Youku Tudou in early

screen media and entertainment ecosystem,” the company says. De-

2015.

tails of how content creation partnerships are structured have not been

Youku Tudou has also acquired exclusive China rights to produce Talpa format, The Voice Kids.

disclosed, but it’s clear that significant investment is being put into original content development.

The Chinese version will be available on the Tu-

Koo outlines an original content creation vision that also includes

dou platform, which skews younger and more

using big data to adapt shows in a way not previously possible. Youku

edgy. The Voice Kids expands Tudou’s exist-

Tudou currently has more than 500 million active users across multiple

ing slate of 30 original shows and 500 episodes,

screens, annually generating more than 200 billion views. “Our model is... a hybrid between Netflix and YouTube,” he says, adding that a

issue six, december 2014

recently inked partnership with e-commerce giant Alibaba is about “coming together to think about new ways to grow our business”. Hunan TV, perhaps best known at the moment for the local adaptation of Korean format Where Are We Going, Dad?, isn’t sitting back and letting newer players take all the spoils. The broadcaster is aggressively building out its mobile/online platform, MangoTV, both acquiring content from the international market and holding back its own Zhao Yifang, General Manager and Director, Zhejiang Huace Film and Television

shows for exclusive use by Mango. Hunan Broadcasting System’s head of programme strategy and international business, Beryl Yan, says Hunan shows have

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NTENT ASIA

Yan says Hunan TV’s mission and responsibility is to create role models for young people and children. She adds that this is driving the broadcaster’s goal to produce more educational programming for all age groups and, at the same time, “to produce something that will reflect social issues among teenagers and create public awareness”. Enterprises such as Changzhou Creative Industries Park are hoping to capitalise on China’s all-round bigger production ambitions and burgeoning platforms. Backed by the area’s municipal government, the six-year-old facility houses software, animation, online gaming and other media services. The park – home of franchises such as Dinobob – has an annual production capacity of 10,000 minutes of animation and acts as a hub and agent for animation producers in the area, says deputy chief Tony Stone.

Grade One, Hunan TV

Beyond mainland borders, Chinese media companies are also building production relationships across genres and platforms, including digital platforms, and borders. been sold in Hong Kong, Taiwan and

Thailand.

There

has

During Mipcom in October, animation house Fantawild

also

– the production house behind Boonie Bears, the TV series

been regional interest in Hunan

and feature film – said it was in discussion with a Holly-

formats such as X-change, now

wood entity on a new co-production; details are still un-

in its seventh season, and Divas Hit the Road. On the back of this format success, Hunan is promoting new reality

der wraps. Beryl Yan, Hunan Broadcasting

show, Grade One, which follows seven

Boonie Bears has already sold to Brazil and Indonesia, and at home is one of iQiyi’s top three titles. Season four is in production, with a scheduled release in 2015. The movie, meanwhile,

children from different backgrounds living away

has secured releases in the U.S., Russia, Philippines and Korea, and re-

from home in a school hostel. Celebrities are in-

mains a top-grossing animated film with box-office rev-

vited in as teachers.

enues of more than US$40 million. Beijing-based Uyoung, meanwhile, is venturing into the international space for the first time in a co-production with U.S.-based Little Airplane Productions. The animated P.King Duckling, aimed at four to seven year olds, is the story of an adventurous bird with big dreams but not a great deal of common sense. The series, created by Little Airplane’s president Josh Selig, is the company’s second Asian project after Super Wings!, a U.S./South Korea/China co-production between FunnyFlux Entertainment, QianQi Animation and Little Airplane. Stefanie Zhang is Little Airplane’s new resident producer in China. For older mainstream audiences, shows such as China’s Princess Changge – based on the popular comic Chang Ge Xing – are testament to highend production ambitions and the new global production landscape being shaped. The epic youth idol history title is set in the Tang Dynasty and tracks Princess Li Changge, who is as gifted as she is stubborn about what to love or hate and, finally, through about 50 episodes of martial arts action, vengeance and captivity,

Ipartment 3, Zhejiang Huace Film and TV

issue six, december 2014

A Love to remember Memori Cinta Suraya

She will overcome her past in order to find true love

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wrapchina

NTENT ASIA

she becomes a trusted aide and a messenger of reconciliation. The series will be shot in Turkey. Filming is scheduled for the second half of 2015 and the series could run to 50 episodes. Producer Zhejiang/China Huace Film and TV Co Ltd says it has assembled an international team, with original author Xia Da, as the artistic director. The aim is a “historical idol masterpiece of unique and fantastic visual feast”. The production house also says the series “exhibits the traditional culture, cultural customs, cuisine and history original of the two countries – China and Turkey – and the profound friendship between the people”. Huace Film and TV is the principal investor in Princess Changge, with cooperation from Xia Da Studio, which created the show. Budgets have not been disclosed. A second production on Huace Film and TV’s slate is The Last License, set during World War

The Master of the House, Zhejiang Huace Film and TV

II and based on the story of Dr Ho Feng-Shan, known as “China’s Shindler”. The show, scheduled for a 2015 release, stars Huang Xiaoming, Zhang Xinyi and Scarlett Johansson, and is directed by Mao Weining (Eternal Oath, Battle Flag).

If online and digital deals hog some headlines, there’s also a very traditional angle to much of the business being done. Huace Film and TV’s general manager and director, Zhao Yifang, says the company is marketing about 6,000 hours of local programming, in-

Huace Film and TV bosses also say they are work-

cluding 100 episodes of factual series Wei Dao (Taste) and 52 episodes

ing with studios and market leaders in the U.S.,

of travelogue Tai Hao Wan. Drama titles include The Virtuous Queen

U.K. and Europe on developing new drama and

of Han, a landmark co-production with Hong Kong’s PCCW Now TV,

variety content as part of bigger ambitions to be-

The Wife’s Lies and The Deer and the Cauldron. At this year’s Mipcom,

come an international media group with a strong

Huace sold about 2,000 minutes of animation, Zhao says.

online component. Also as part of this 2015 plan,

China’s all-powerful state-run behemoth, China Central Television

Huace is building a Chinese film and TV “experi-

(CCTV), meanwhile, is as bullish as ever about its factual business, which

mental zone”, which it describes as “a film and TV

is spreading to Spanish-speaking territories in a new deal with Miami-

platform for international communication”.

based Somos Distribution. The three titles in the latest deal are A Bite of China, Tea, Tale of A Leaf and Silk Road. CCTV hopes to expand these six hours with other genres, including kids and drama such as Drug Case on Mekong River and Nirvana in Fire. At the same time, China’s international distribution path is strewn with the same age-old issues faced by most content trying to find a home away from home. Some of the biggest challenges Chinese rights holders face in distributing their titles around the world include story-telling techniques and cultural differences, says Guan Yue International’s Yan He, who represents Red Arrow – China. This is not an isolated opinion. Despite its global and growing syndication business and its commitment to consistent high-quality content, Huace says “the biggest challenge for us right now is to figure out how viewers of different races and social backgrounds could like our content and have a knowledge of Chinese traditional culture”. (Reporting by CJ Yong. Written by Janine Stein)

P.King Ducking, UYoung/Little Airplane

issue six, december 2014

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indiafree-to-air

NTENT ASIA

By Vanita Kohli-Khandekar

Free radicals

Free-to-air channels in India are the flavour of the month. Why? Because, among other reasons, advertising on these so-called FTAs is forecast to double over the next three years.

Har Mushkil Ka Hal – Akbar Birbal, Big Magic/Reliance Broadcast Network

Zee Anmol is a huge hit in small-town India. The

Indian television business. According to one estimate, the advertising on

free-to-air satellite channel, launched in 2013,

FTAs could double over the next three years.

dominates the list of top 50 shows watched by between 20 million and 25 million free-to-air homes. Zee Anmol is the US$714-million Zee Entertainment

The spectacular rise of ad-driven free channels in a market starting to

Enterprises’ third free-to-air offering after 9X and

see pay-TV revenues thanks to digitisation seems contradictory. But it is

Zee Smile.

because of digitisation that the fortunes of free channels are burgeoning.

Late last year, Viacom18, a joint venture be-

While most of India was analogue, a one-size-fits-all pricing, program-

tween Network18 and Viacom, launched its free-

ming and distribution strategy worked. Currently, about half of India’s

to-air channel Rishtey.

160 million TV homes are digital. A bulk of these homes pay to watch

Reliance Broadcast Network’s Big Magic has

fresh, premium content on Star Plus or Zee, among dozens of other

become a favourite in the Hindi-speaking heart-

channels. Others are falling off the television map because they can-

land of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, thanks

not afford the higher prices that come with digitisation; for these a bou-

to shows such as Har Mushkil Ka Hal – Akbar Birbal

quet of FTAs is the answer.

(The Solution to All Problems – Akbar Birbal).

issue six, december 2014

“A FTA is a must for any network,” says Raj Nayak, the chief executive of Viacom18 channel Colors.

As the market of about 800 million viewers divides into those who can

There are, by some estimates, more than 300

pay and those who cannot, between new TV set owners and those who

free-to-air channels in India – just over a third of

have had one for a long time, the business models driving different parts

all channels available. At just under 7% of all the

of the Indian TV market are segmenting.

time spent viewing television in India and with

The former one-size-fits-all mindset is now breaking up to cater to

about US$21 million in advertising, the so-called

the different markets within India – each at different stages of growth

FTAs are a fast growing part of the US$7.7-billion

and maturity.

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indiafree-to-air

NTENT ASIA

A FTA is a must for any network.” Raj Nayak, Chief Executive Officer, Colors/Viacom18

“FTAs are more for smaller geographies where paying ability and infrastructure are challenges,” says Sidarth Parashar, media buying agency GroupM’s head, pricing and investment. FTAs work particularly well in poorer parts of metro-India and in small-town and rural India. Marketers such as Hindustan Unilever or Procter & Gamble use these channels to hawk soaps and shampoos to prosperous villagers and in semi-urban India, the fastest growing part of the Indian economy today. If small-town and rural growth has been a huge factor in deciding ad spends in the past, what is driving FTA growth now? Two major changes have pushed broadcasters to start paying attention to this market in the last couple of years. The first is that the penetration of TV in rural India has risen sharply thanks to the array of distribution options now available – cable, direct-to-home (DTH) and even mobile. Balika Vadhu, Rishtey

DD’s Freedish, a free satellite service offered by state-backed broadcaster Doordarshan (DD), has been the biggest catalyst in this market. At

with English-language entertainment; for a long time, older seasons of

an estimated 18 million homes, DD’s Freedish is

popular English-language shows have had a market in different parts of

bigger than privately owned and operated com-

the world, including India. Similarly, the older seasons of popular Hindi

mercial platforms Tata-Sky and Dish TV.

shows have a market within other parts of India.

Freedish is either bringing TV to homes that never had it or replacing dreary Doordarshan programming delivered to about 10 million terres-

“Good content is defined by what is available,” says Krishnan, adding

trial homes. More than 30 channels, such as Zee

that, for many homes, the FTAs, no matter how old their content, are of-

Anmol and Star Utsav, pay anywhere between

fering fresh content.

US$500,000 and US$1 million a year to be on the platform. “It is not FTA but good content coming onto cheaper platforms that is finding its market,” says

Krishnan reckons that most shows reach only 30% to 40% of the target audience in their first telecast and 60% by the second telecast. So the potential to keep finding new audiences and to monetise them exists for a long time.

L.V. Krishnan, TAM Media Research’s chief execu-

Earlier, these homes wouldn’t have mattered to programmers. Until

tive. TAM, a Nielsen-Kantar joint venture, is current-

about three years ago, almost all programming was focused on the top

ly the only agency providing TV ratings in India.

40 Indian towns (of a total of more than 160) that housed the sample

Krishnan reckons that there are so many emerg-

issue six, december 2014

India currently has 234 million homes and 160 million TV homes. This is rising by between six million and 10 million every year.

homes on which TAM calculated its ratings.

ing markets in India, by languages, geographies

This then brings us to the second reason broadcasters are focused on

or by genres, that there will always be a market

small-town and rural India – they will soon start showing up on ratings

for FTAs at the basic level. He draws an analogy

numbers for the first time.

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indiafree-to-air

NTENT ASIA

FTA vs Pay Channels – Share of Viewing

2012

2013

CS 4+

Digital 4+

Analogue 4+

FTA

4.3%

8.6%

2.9%

Pay

95.2%

90.7%

96.7%

FTA

6.6%

9.0%

3.9%

Pay

92.8%

90.3%

95.3%

Market: All India Source: Based on TAM Media Research data shared by industry sources CS 4+ – Cable and satellite, 4+

Previously, India ratings have not fully captured small-town India and rural India was largely left out. A new industry body, The Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), is working on a new rating system. BARC will cover 20,000 homes, roughly twice that of the current system. And it will include rural and small-town India. These are the markets that companies selling financial services,

Jhansi Ki Rani, Zee Anmol

consumer products and services are very interested in. BARC data is expected from the second

say some broadcasters. “Because Bihar is such a media dark market, in-

quarter of 2015.

ventory (on Big Magic) is usually sold out,” claims Tarun Katial, Reliance

This is pushing broadcasters to get their FTA act together. There is a third, albeit tangential, reason. Bharat Ranga, Zee’s former chief

Broadcast Network chief executive. However, FTAs are a big story only in the Hindi heartland. This is because penetration in the Hindi-speaking markets – the largest in the country – has always lagged behind potential and is just playing catch up.

content and creative officer, says

In markets such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra, the

that a lot of below-the-line or non-

big penetration push came in the 1990s and the early part

mass media money could soon

of the millennium, then came the FTAs. Most audiences in

start coming to television. More than 40% of the US$7.2 billion that marketers spent in India in 2013 went to events, onground activities and other

these markets have outgrown FTAs. But as they move to pay, it is the FTA channels they started with – such as Sun TV in Tamil Nadu or Eenadu in Andhra Pradesh – that have set the context. Similarly if Rishtey becomes popular, “when

things. As TV and audience

those markets go pay, the brand would have

measurement spreads to

been established,” says Nayak. As incomes start

the media-dark areas,

to rise, and propensity to pay increases, the hope

there is the hope that

is that viewers will be willing to pay a subscription

some of this money will

fee for brands they already know and like. Natu-

start coming to TV. The popularity of FTAs is simply evidence of that,

ral evolution or wishful thinking? Past experience says its the former. Future performance will determine the rest. twitter.com/vanitakohlik

Chhoti Bahu, Zee Anmol

issue six, december 2014

One New Pictures The Missing

One New Pictures

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formats2015

NTENT ASIA

Agents of c.h.a.n.g.e. Major change is on its way to Asia’s formats environment in 2015, with new super heroes, turbo-charged ambition, overflowing talent and free-flowing funding to drive it all. For some, at least. The others? Not so much. Asia’s formats landscape could change in a big

Shine’s MasterChef versions in Cambodia and Korea, and the first Junior

way in 2015.

MasterChef on Indonesian free-TV station RCTI, which aired MasterChef

In the next few months, the Asia structure of the

Indonesia in 2013. Speculation about a regional MasterChef continues,

Endemol, Shine, Core Media venture will be an-

although there was no confirmation of a deal with front-runner A+E Net-

nounced, combining, among other things, the

works Asia’s Lifetime by end November.

strengths of Shine’s MasterChef brand with En-

Endemol leads with at least 35 titles on air, led by six versions of The

demol’s high-profile properties, production expe-

Money Drop (Afghanistan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Thailand,

rience and resources across the region, including

Vietnam) and four versions of Big Brother, including the first China ver-

China.

sion in partnership with online platform Youku Tudou; Big Brother China is

Questions swirling around the Endemol/Shine

scheduled to debut in 2015.

changes include the Asia management structure

Shine had 17 local versions of its formats on air (or scheduled for 2015),

of the merged entity. Books are open and bets

including four versions of Minute to Win It (Cambodia, Myanmar, Phil-

are still being taken, including wagers on how

ippines, Singapore), formerly distributed in Asia by NBCUniversal, which

Asia’s indie production houses will fare in the new

had Dance Your Ass Off on air in Thailand in 2014 as Dance Your Fat Off. BBC Worldwide had at least seven formats on air in Asia through 2014,

environment. Another 2015 change agent is the region’s biggest talent reality format ever, Asia’s Got Talent,

including two versions of Top Gear (China, Korea) and two versions of Strictly Come Dancing (Cambodia, India).

which is scheduled to air on AXN in 2015. Freman-

The third major formats force – and perhaps, ultimately, one that could

tleMedia’s regional first will – hopefully – create a

have the biggest impact given the size of the audience – is China, where

new bar for regional shows. Meanwhile, the indus-

online platforms are locked in battle for users, viewers, fans and anyone

try is keeping a close eye on the FremantleMedia

else with a taste for reality.

franchise for insights into the deal and its details

As 2014 drew to a close, online platforms Youku Tudou, Tencent, Sohu

– particularly sponsorship details, which had not

and a new mega-platform from the Shanghai Media Group (SMG) said

been announced by the end of November.

they were pouring millions into content creation, pushing content devel-

Others say regional advertiser funding is as

opment in Asia to record levels. This included the first Chinese version of

difficult as ever, and

Endemol’s Big Brother for Youku, the first version of Talpa’s The Voice Kids

they’re not expect-

for Tudou and a second season of All3Media’s Are You Normal? for Ten-

ing miracles in 2015.

cent. Content plans for the new giant created by the merger of SMG’s

What is clear

BesTV and Shanghai Oriental Pearl are not yet clear; what is obvious is

that

demol, and

EnShine

Freman-

Myanmar, Cambodia and, more recently, Laos are also stepping up

were

their formats activity. Local versions of 1 vs 100, Deal or No Deal, The Kids are Alright and Minute to Win It headed for Myanmar in 2014/5, while

the local space

Cambodia picked up The Money Drop, MasterChef, Minute to Win It,

through

2014,

Got Talent, Strictly Come Dancing and Cambodia’s Next Top Model.

with at least 67

Laos has just bought Got Talent, bringing the country into the regional

formats on air or commissioned for

formats fold for 2015. As 2014 draws to a close, one question remains unanswered: Where is Asia with its ambition to create a global “superformat”? If the answer is

2015. En-

that it hasn’t done so yet, it’s not for lack of trying. As ContentAsia’s latest

demol and Shine

Formats Outlook shows, local creators – including Japan’s Nippon TV, Ko-

had 53 of those in

rea’s CJ E&M, China’s Star China Media and Malaysia’s Astro – are alive

2014,

and thriving in their home (and a few other) markets. Roll on 2015...

Combined,

The Voice of the Philippines coaches Apl de Ap, Lea Salonga, Sarah Geronimo, Bamboo

sive.

major players in

tleMedia

issue six, december 2014

that the new entity, Shanghai Oriental Pearl New Media Co, will be mas-

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formats2015

NTENT ASIA

Endemol 1. 1 vs 100 Korea 2. 1 vs 100 Myanmar 3. 1 vs 100 Vietnam 4. All You Need is Love Thailand 5. Big Brother China 6. Big Brother India 8 7. Big Brother Philippines 8. Big Brother Vietnam 9. The Brain 10. Deal or No Deal Myanmar 11. Deal or No Deal Philippines 12. Deal or No Deal Vietnam 13. Fear Factor (Celebrity) Malaysia 14. Fear Factor Malaysia 15. The Fever Vietnam 16. Give Me That Bill China 17. The Kids Are All Right China 18. The Kids Are All Right Myanmar 19. The Kids Are All Right Thailand 20. The Kids Are All Right Vietnam 21. Love in the Wild Vietnam 22. The Money Drop Afghanistan 23. The Money Drop Cambodia 24. The Money Drop Indonesia 25. The Money Drop Mongolia 26. The Money Drop Thailand 27. The Money Drop Vietnam 28. Next One Vietnam 29. Odd One In Vietnam 30. Star Academy Vietnam 31. Step Right Up Thailand 32. Step Right Up Vietnam 33. The Ultimate Entertainer Vietnam 34. Wall of Fame Thailand 35. Your Face Sounds Familiar China 36. Your Face Sounds Familiar Vietnam Shine 1. Anything Goes Indonesia 2 2. Anything Goes Thailand 3. Beauty & The Geek Vietnam 4. Big Town Dance China 5. Don’t Lose The Money Philippines 6. The Face Thailand 7. Identity Thailand 8. MasterChef Cambodia 9. Junior MasterChef Indonesia 10. MasterChef Korea 11. Minute to Win It Cambodia 12. Minute to Win It Myanmar 13. Minute to Win It Philippines 14. Minute to Win It Singapore 15. My Dad is Better than Your Dad China 16. The School China 17. The Singing Bee Philippines FremantleMedia 1. Asia’s Got Talent 2. Body Bowling Thailand 3. Cambodia’s Got Talent 4. China’s Got Talent 5 5. Got Talent Laos 6. Indian Idol Junior 7. Indonesian Idol 8 8. Let’s Make a Deal Indonesia 9. Myanmar’s Got Talent 10. The Noise Singapore

11. 12. 13. 14.

Project Runway Vietnam Take Me Out Indonesia Vietnam’s Got Talent X Factor Vietnam

CBS Studios International 1. Asia’s Next Top Model 3 2. Cambodia’s Next Top Model 3. China’s Next Top Model 2 4. The Doctors Vietnam 5. Korea’s Next Top Model 5 6. Wheel of Fortune Vietnam 7. Vietnam’s Next Top Model BBC Worldwide 1. Strictly Come Dancing Cambodia 2. Dancing with the Stars Kids Vietnam 3. The House That Made Me India 4. Junior Bake Off Thailand 5. Strictly Come Dancing India 6. Top Gear China 7. Top Gear Korea Talpa 1. The Voice Cambodia 2. The Voice of China 3. The Voice of the Philippines 1/2 4. The Voice Kids China 5. The Voice Kids Philippines 6. The Voice Kids Vietnam CJ E&M 1. Art Star Korea 2. Dancing9 3. Friends Over Flowers 4. The Genius Game 5. Grandpas Over Flowers 6. Let’s Eat Nippon TV 1. Gokuno 2. Old Enough Vietnam 3. Old Enough China 4. Perfect Balance 5. Tore! Thailand 6. Tore! China Zodiak Rights 1. Secret Millionaire China 2. Sing If You Can India 3. Sing If You Can Philippines 4. Sing If You Can Thailand 5. Sing If You Can Vietnam 6. So You Think You Can Dance China ITV Studios Global Entertainment 1. Baby Ballroom Vietnam 2. Big Star Little Star Korea 3. Come Dine with Me India 2 4. Hell’s Kitchen Indonesia 5. Popstar to Operastar Vietnam Keshet 1. Master Class China 2. Not A Star Yet 5 3. Prisoners of War Korea 4. Rising Star China 5. Rising Star Indonesia

Armoza 1. Do Me A Favour Thailand 2. House Call China 3. I Can Do That! China 4. Upgrade 3 China Telemundo 1. Hidden Passion/Pasion de Gavilanes 2. Where is Elisa? India 3. Where is Elisa?/Family Secrets Korea Red Arrow International 1. Schiller Street/Joy Street China 2. The Taste China 3. You Deserve It 2 Vietnam Global Agency 1. Keep Your Light Shining China 2. Mum Vote for Me! China 3. The Remix Vietnam All3Media 1. Are You Normal? China 2. Gogglebox China Bomanbridge Media 1. Big in Japan 2. Dr G’s File Japan Disney/Buena Vista International 1. The Amazing Race Philippines 2. The Amazing Race Vietnam 3. Ugly Betty Thailand NBCUniversal 1. Dance Your Ass Off Thailand 2. Top Chef Vietnam NHK Japan 1. Cook the Unknown 2. The New Anatomy Show Thailand Star China Media 1. Amazing Chinese 2. Sing My Song Sony Pictures Television 1. Dr Oz Indonesia 2. Mad About You China TV Azteca 1. Acapulco Forever Yours, Malaysia 2. La Akademia Kids Indonesia & with one title each... ActiveTV Food Detectives Singapore; Banijay Super Star Ding Dong China; Dori Media Smart Face; Electus Bet on Your Baby; FCCE Entertainment Experience China; Mabui Stone Corp Ryujin Juwara; MBC Korea Where Are We Going Dad?; Refinery Media SuperModelMe; Sol Productions Dare2Dance; Sparks Eccho Group Crack Them Up China; Imagine Group The Apartment; TVB International Lady First – Singapore; Warner Bros Gossip Girl Thailand

Note: Formats data was gathered from distributors, production houses and rights holders. All companies were given equal opportunity to participate and information was as far as possible verified and correct at press time. Formats listed were aired in 2014 or commissioned in 2014 for 2015 broadcast. Options have not (or not intentionally) been included.

issue six, december 2014

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formats2015

NTENT ASIA

1 vs 100 Korea

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: KBS 2, Korea Broadcast date: Ongoing, premiered early 2013 Time slot: Tuesdays, 8.55pm-10pm Produced by: KBS Created in: Endemol Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol The pitch: 1 vs 100 pits one player against 100 opponents. The player’s goal is to eliminate all the opposition by correctly answering questions. The battle continues until the last opponent is defeated. Only then can the winner walk away with the money.

Are You Normal? China 68% of mainland viewers involved in an online entertainment format say they would give up sex rather than their internet connection. How does mainland Chinese platform Tencent know this? Via its local version of entertainment format Are You Normal?, which polls viewers on various behaviours and then asks them whether they think this is normal or not. The All3Media International/Zoo Productions format debuted on the platform in April 2014. Season two will be uploaded in first half 2015. Season one had more than 330 million views and 114 million unique views by early October 2014. Tencent said this was a record for a VOD show in China. Benny Luo, Tencent’s deputy creative director, video, describes Are You Normal? as “the perfect choice” for Tencent. Luo says the use of social media plays to Tencent’s WeChat and QQ social networking strengths. New shows involve voting and interaction with contestants. “Social media plays a very important role... teenagers nowadays, especially those who spend most of their time on new media, are very aggressive and are eager to be part of the game. They want to express their thinking and want people to agree with them,” he says. The added benefit is the big data collected from participants, including age and gender. Luo says Are You Normal? also ticks the video content box for Tencent and its quest to differentiate the platform from rivals across the media landscape, including traditional broadcasters. Tencent’s technical team integrated Are You Normal? into WeChat with a plugin app. After that, consumers were encouraged to join the survey and to recommend participation to their friends in exchange for small gifts. The main adaptation for the Chinese series is versioning the questions. Luo says 30% to 40% of the original questions in season one could be used for China, and the rest had to be created using the existing list as a guide. The China version also pairs up a celebrity and a ‘regular’ person instead of teams of two ordinary people. Luo adds that season two will be similar to season one with a set and visual identity that is “even younger, fresher and cooler”. The basic rules of the game and the use of Tencent’s WeChat will remain the same. In addition, “we will keep using celebrities because young audiences are eager to know the “secret habits’ of their idols,” Luo says. Live “telecasts” are also an option, although Luo says the commercial case for ‘live’ has not yet been made.

issue 6, December 2014

1 vs 100 Myanmar

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: In pre-production Time slot: Daily Produced by: Forever BECTero Company Limited, a joint venture between Thailand and Myanmar Created in: Endemol Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol The pitch: 1 vs 100 pits one player against 100 opponents.

1 vs 100 (Đấu Truờng 100)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: VTV 3, Vietnam Broadcast date: 22 July 201314 July 2014 Time slot: Mondays, 8pm-9pm Produced by: Song Vang Created in: Endemol Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol The pitch: 1 vs 100 pits one player against 100 opponents.

Acapulco, Forever Yours (Memori Cinta Suraya/ A Love to Remember)

Genre: Telenovela/drama Broadcast on: Astro, Malaysia Broadcast date/time slot: 120 episodes; broadcast date to be announced Original created in: Mexico Rights owner: TV Azteca Produced by: Malaysian pro-

duction house Global Station is producing A Love to Remember (known locally as Memori Cinta Suraya) as well as adaptations of other telenovelas as part of a broader three-year licensing/ production alliance between Mexican media company TV Azteca and Malaysian media company Astro. Production notes: Suraya (played by Malaysian actress Anzalna Nasir) is a humble beautiful young lady with a big heart and dreams of love. Her life takes a turn when she unexpectedly meets Rayyan (Hisyam Hamid), who does not remember who he is or where he comes from after a terrible accident. Suraya gradually falls in love with this unknown man, unaware of all the suffering that love will bring. Only in the depths of darkness does Rayyan finally open his eyes to true beauty and a love that flows from the heart. The series is being filmed in Langkawi.

All You Need Is Love Thailand

Genre: Reality Broadcast on: GMM One Broadcast date: October 2014 Produced by: GMM HD Digital TV Co. Ltd/Exact Original created in: Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol The pitch: All You Need Is Love sees how far people will go to start, stop or save a relationship. In each show, two people are brought to the stage to reveal to each other, and the world, their true feelings about their relationship.

Amazing Chinese

Genre: Talent show Broadcast on: CCTV-1, China Broadcast date: Premiered 9 February 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 8pm Produced by: Star China/Starry Production Original created in: China Rights owner: Star China/Starry Production The pitch: An inspiring talent show about the Chinese dream. The show focuses on the dreams and efforts of ordinary Chinese people from all walks of life. Contestants sing and dance on stage, but also show off special skills related to their professions.

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The Amazing Food Challenge: Fun in the Philippines seasons 1 & 2

version,” says activeTV president and managing director, Michael McKay. This has never been done anywhere in the world before, “so it was very challenging,” McKay adds. The production team also used a helicopter drone camera on almost every leg.

Amazing Race Vietnam season 3

Asia’s Next Top Model Fox International Channels’ (FIC) Star World opened 2014 with the second season of pan-regional reality contest, Asia’s Next Top Model, and closed the year with season three in production and scheduled for a 2015 premiere. Each season has been commissioned from a different production house. Beach House Productions, based in Singapore, is making season three. Season two was made by activeTV, which picked up the pieces of a rocky season one by IceTV. A third season proves a few things, mostly that FIC still has an appetite for regional productions – if only one big one a year – that run alongside its commitment to local channels. And second that the strength of the format clearly rises above production issues, personality clashes and budget challenges of the first two seasons. FIC has not disclosed production budgets beyond “multi-million dollar”. Industry estimates cap spend at about US$3 million. Asia’s Next Top Model strengthens Star World’s claim to the sought-after female space. “Asia’s Next Top Model is the perfect opportunity for us to own the female space in an even more powerful way,” says Sun Young Moon, FIC’s programming director for Star World, National Geographic Channels and Channel [V]. Joon Lee, FIC’s managing director for Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, says the format is part of a much broader FIC commitment in Asia to original production. In 2014, this included original factual series I Wouldn’t Go In There, Frogmen in Taiwan and Emergency Room for India. Asia’s Next Top Model 2 premiered on 8 January at 9.40pm (HK/SG; 8.40pm Jakarta/BKK/Vietnam), and ran Wednesdays for 13 weeks to 9 April 2014, with encore broadcasts through the rest of the week. Repeats also included a Wednesday slot (8.45pm-9.40pm) before the premiere of the new episode. The show was supported online. Season three will air in the first half of 2015; the airdate had not been confirmed by end November 2014. Model Georgina Wilson is hosting the season, with designer Alex Perry as creative director and Joey Mead King as mentor to the contestants.

issue 6, December 2014

Genre: Food, Reality, Travel Broadcast on: Asian Food Channel (AFC) Broadcast date: Premiered Tuesday, 11 March 2014 Time slot: Tuesdays, 9pm Commissioned by: Asian Food Channel/Scripps Networks Interactive Produced by: AFC Original Productions Original created in: Singapore, Philippines Rights owner: Scripps Networks Interactive (Asia) The pitch: 10 people from all over the world travel across the Philippines to compete for the grand prize through a set of physical and culinary challenges.

The Amazing Race Philippines season 2

Genre: Reality competition Broadcast on: TV5 Broadcast date: Premiered 6 October 2014 Time slot: Mondays to Fridays 9pm-9.30pm, Saturdays 8pm8.30pm, Sundays 9pm-9.30pm Produced by: activeTV Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Buena Vista International Inc The pitch: Teams of two people race around the country/region/ world, using whatever transport and wiles they can, performing challenges and winning prizes for being first to pit stops. Losers pay penalties – or get eliminated entirely. The Philippines’ version raced around the Philippines only. Production notes: Eleven teams are involved in season two, hosted by Derek Ramsay. The big difference in the Philippines’ version is that the series airs seven nights a week; Monday-Friday is race/challenges, Saturday is pit stop and Sunday is recap. “We had to set the race up differently, re-engineer it to suit a nightly

Genre: Reality competition Broadcast on: VTV6, VTV9, SNTV Broadcast date: 21 June 2014 Time slot: Saturdays 7.55pm8.55pm Commissioned by: BHD Co Ltd Produced by: BHD Co Ltd Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Buena Vista International Inc The difference is... Pitstops for the Vietnamese version included other countries as well as Vietnam.

Anything Goes (Slide Show Indonesia season 2)

Genre: Variety show Broadcast on: Trans TV Broadcast date: 2 October 2014 Time slot: Mondays-Fridays, 3.45pm Produced by: Trans TV Original created in: France Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: Live studio entertainment format where TV’s funniest personalities and comics are tasked to perform mime, song, dance, improvisation and play quizzes based on specific challenges. There are no winners and no losers: the only challenge is to entertain and have fun.

Anything Goes Thailand

Genre: Comedy entertainment Broadcast on: Thairath TV Broadcast date: 17 May 2014 Produced by: Kantana Original created in: France Rights owner: Shine International

The Apartment season 4

Genre: Design and renovation reality contest Broadcast on: StarWorld HD Broadcast date: 11 January 2015, runs for 10 weeks Commissioned by: Imagine Group and Fox International Channels Produced by: Imagine Group Original created in: Singapore Rights owner/distributed in Asia

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by: Imagine Group Entertainment The pitch: Season five challenges celebrities from the worlds of television, music, high fashion and film to prove that they have what it takes in design. The $100,000 prize will be donated to the charity of their choice.

Are You Normal? 2

Genre: Reality modelling show Broadcast on: Star World/Fox International Channels (FIC) Asia Broadcast date: Season 2 aired in 2014. Season 3 premieres in 2015 Produced in Asia by: Season two was produced by activeTV out of Singapore. Beach House Productions in Singapore has been brought in for season three. Original created in: U.S. Rights owner/distributed in Asia by: CBS Studios International Production notes & quotes: See box on page 54

Asia’s Got Talent

The Band Local reality show, The Band, premiered on Malaysian pay-TV channels Astro Ria and Astro Mustika HD on 31 March 2014 and ran to 8 June 2014. The Band is a competition format created by Malaysian entertainment group Sedania’s founder and group CEO, Azrin Mohd Noor, who has plans to format the show internationally. Sedania subsidiary, I Like Entertainment, produces the series. Auditions for the 40-episode talent hunt for six band members kicked off across Malaysia in September 2013 and ran to January 2014. Judges – dubbed The Agents – decide who gets to be in the band. Iris Chia, The Band producer and chief executive officer of I Like Entertainment, says the aim is to create international superstars. Chia has been involved in Fear Factor, Deal and No Deal, among other reality shows and TV dramas, live reality shows, and awards shows for the Malaysian market. The 31 March premiere featured snippets of the auditions and an introduction to the competition’s format. From 4 April, the series aired three times a week (Fridays at 9pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 10pm). Friday nights featured Whazzup The Band rehearsals. Saturday episodes, Konsert The Band, were the format’s competition rounds, while X The Band episodes on Sundays were the elimination rounds. The show was created by Mohd Noor, who was involved in local versions of Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud as well as producing Who Wants to be a Millionaire for Malaysia. Chia says the biggest challenge is to create a totally new format. “We try to instil a spirit of creativity in everyone involved,” she says, adding: “I don’t just want to create a show; I want at the same time to challenge the team to think outside of the box. These people have never created something like this, something so different and new from scratch... I want to empower them and show them that the next level is totally possible. So my biggest challenge to bring everyone’s creativity to the next level.” At the conclusion of the show, the six winners are signed to Astro and nurtured to be international music stars. The programme is hosted by local celebrity Awal Ashaari. Judges are Aznil Nawawi, Syafinaz Selamat and Yusry Kru. The Band’s music and vocal instructor is Damien Mikhail Seet, dance instructor is Alam Wakaka and image consultant is Wahyu Rahman.

issue 6, December 2014

Genre: Survey quiz show Broadcast on: Tencent China Broadcast date: Season 2 to premiere in first half 2015 Original created by: Zoo Productions/All3Media. Distributed in Asia by All3Media International The pitch: Participants are polled on various behaviours and then asked whether they think these are normal or not... and are compared with the rest of the universe. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 52

Art Star Korea

Genre: Contemporary art reality contest Broadcast on: Cable channel StoryOn/CJ E&M Broadcast date: Premiered 30 March 2014, ran Fridays to 22 June 2014 Original created in: South Korea The pitch: 15 artists compete to create an artwork that challenges public preconceptions about art. The aim is a show that appeals to average viewers. Three finalists exhibited their work at the Seoul Museum of Art. The winner was given a private exhibition in addition to KRW100 million/ US$98,000 and other prizes.

Asia’s Next Top Model season 2/3

Genre: Talent competition Broadcast on: Sony Pictures Television’s AXN channel across Asia, followed by slots on terrestrial channels in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India, as well as on mainland Chinese online platform Youku Broadcast date: early 2015 Commissioned by: Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia Produced by: FremantleMedia Asia Original created by: FremantleMedia and Syco Entertainment Distributed in Asia by: FremantleMedia Asia Rights owner: FremantleMedia and Syco Entertainment The pitch: Singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts and other talent of all ages perform as individuals or groups before a panel of judges. A selected few progress to the semifinals, where the public have the chance to vote. Favourites move to the next rounds. Notes & quotes: Asia’s Got Talent is the first pan-regional edition of the format and could well be the largest talent competition in the world. Multi-country auditions kicked off at the end of September 2014, running across 13 countries in Asia, including open auditions on the ground in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. The hunt was extended to Japan, Korea, China and India as well as online. “No stone is being left unturned to find talent,” said FremantleMedia’s Asia managing director, Paul O’Hanlon. The series will use the new facilities at Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in Iskandar, according to Astro chief executive, Rohana Rozhan, who

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conﬁmed the deal at the Iskandar facility’s formal opening in August 2014. Judges for the regional Asia series had not been announced by end November 2014.

Baby Ballroom Vietnam (Vu Dieu Tuoi Xanh)

Asian Battleground 2014

Bet on Your Baby, Philippines Season two of the Philippines’ Bet on Your Baby on free-TV network ABS-CBN marked the return of weekday afternoon game shows to the Philippines for the first time since TV5’s Jeepney Jackpot: Pera o Para! last year. The last game show scheduled on ABS-CBN’s weekday afternoon slot was The Price is Right in 2011. Bet on Your Baby season two, launched on 22 September 2014, shifted from Saturdays at 6pm-7pm to a 5pm-6pm slot stripped Mondays to Fridays. The game show replaced Koreanovela Pretty Man. Raymund Dizon, ABS-CBN’s business unit head, says season one did so well the network extended the original 26-week run to a total of 30 episodes. The switch to a daily schedule follows this success. Season two of Bet On Your Baby is part of ABS-CBN family Kapamilya Gold lineup, which also includes local movie belt “Kapamilya Blockbusters” and current affairs programmes. Designed for kids aged two to three and a half years old, Bet On Your Baby tests parents’ knowledge of their children. Each episode features three couples with their kids competing in three game segments. Season two features two new segments – “Watcha Makulit”, which replaces season one’s Puzzle Round; and “Dice Dice Baby”, where kids roll numbered dice on a slide and parents advance on the course. Season two also added five piggy banks to the jackpot round, upping cash prizes from 10 piggy banks holding between Php25,000/US$559 and Php200,000 to 15. Prizes include a furnished house and Php1 million cash. Season one, in which 87 families competed, awarded more than Php15 million/US$335,383 to winners in cash/ prizes and produced eight millionaires. Season one host, Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo (the host of Junior MasterChef Pinoy Edition and ABS-CBN’s first original reality series I Do), is also the host for season two. Season one ran for seven months until May 2014, consistently ranking among the 15 most-watched shows in the Philippines with an average nationwide TVR of 19.5% (source: Kantar Media). The second season continues to rule its time slot. The pilot episode recorded 12.9% TVR vs Korean drama Full House’s 8.8% TVR on TV5 and local docu-drama Alisto’s 7.5% TVR on GMA, according to Kantar Media data provided by ABS-CBN. In its fifth week (20-24 Oct), Bet On Your Baby continued to top its time slot with an average 11.9% TVR against Korean drama May Queen’s 8.2% on GMA and Full House’s 10.1% on TV5.

issue 6, December 2014

Genre: Street dance reality Broadcast on: WLT, ZZHD, Malaysia Broadcast date: Premiered on 12 April 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 9pm-9.30pm Produced by: Astro Productions Created in: Malaysia by Astro Rights owner: Astro The pitch: One of Astro’s most competitive dance reality television series. Challenges are designed to search for and ﬁnd dance crews, which ultimately can represent Astro and Malaysia on the international stage.

Astro Classic Golden Melody Singing Competition (CGM) 2014

Genre: Entertainment/talent Broadcast on: Astro AEC, Astro QJHD Broadcast date: Premiered 7 June 2014 Time slot: 8.30pm-10pm Produced by: Astro Production Original created in: ContentChinese Production Unit Rights owner: Astro AEC The pitch: A platform for Malaysian Chinese participants from 45 years old and above who like singing, no matter what their amateur (or professional) status. The 2014 edition included a celebrity element. Ratings: Fourteen years on, the Astro Classic Golden Melody Singing Competition has hit the highest ratings among locally made programmes on Astro Channel AEC.

Astro Star Quest 2014

Genre: Singing competition Broadcast on: WLT, ZZHD, Malaysia Broadcast date: Premiered 11 May 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 8pm-9.30pm Produced by: Astro Original: Astro Talent Quest Rights owner: Astro The pitch: The search for 2014’s multi-talented star with “5 Ability” – good singing skills, dancing skills, showmanship, star quality Image and stage charisma.

Genre: Entertainment/talent Broadcast on: HTV7 Broadcast date: Premiered July 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 9pm Produced by: Dong Tay Production Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: ITV Studios Global Entertainment The pitch: Pairs of child dancers battle it out in a ballroom dancing competition

The Band, Malaysia

Genre: Reality show Broadcast on: Astro Mustika HD, Astro Ria Broadcast date: 4 July 2014 Time slot: Fridays 9pm, Saturdays 10pm, Sundays 10pm Produced by: I Like Entertainment Sdn Bhd Original created in: Malaysia Rights owner: Datuk Azrin Mohd Noor, Founder and Group CEO, Sedania Distributed in Asia by: Sedania The pitch: Aims to create international superstars via a crosscountry talent hunt for six band members. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 56

Beauty & The Geek Vietnam

Genre: Dating/matchmaking reality show Broadcast on: VTV Broadcast date: Commissioned in 2014 Produced by: Cattiensa Original created in: U.S., Australia Who owns the rights: Shine International

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Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: Beautiful girls are teamed with genius boys in the hope that one group’s strengths will help overcome the other’s weaknesses. The most successful team shares a cash prize.

Big Brother India (Bigg Boss season 8)

Bet on Your Baby Philippines season 2

Big Brother Vietnam (Nguoi Giau Mat/The Hidden Man) A second season of Endemol’s Big Brother is on the cards for Vietnam, riding the country’s ongoing appetite for international formats and further pushing national broadcaster VTV’s youth engagement agenda. The second series is likely to be produced in association with local company BHD, which introduced the Big Brother brand to Vietnam in 2013; Neither BHD nor Endemol had confirmed production details and airdates by the beginning of September 2014. Known locally as Nguoi Giau Mat (The Hidden Man), Big Brother was a risk for Vietnam, with story-telling techniques, production and scheduling methods that were totally new for local audiences. Big Brother premiered in November 2013 and ran daily in a prime-time 8pm slot on free-TV network VTV-6, with weekly evictions over nine weeks. The finale aired in January 2014 and winner, Hoang Son Viet, went home with an apartment worth US$95,000. Sixty-five episodes were commissioned for season one, directed by film director Nguyen Quang Dung. The purpose-built house had more than 30 cameras trained on the 12 contestants – an element that prompted local commentators to remark that the show invaded contestants’ privacy. “The biggest challenge when producing this format in Vietnam was getting viewers to grasp the basic idea – Big Brother being a window on to real people – and to believe that the day-to-day stories are actually genuine and not constructed,” says Endemol Asia’s managing director of operations, Fotini Paraskakis. She adds that the challenge was overcome as storylines emerged and viewers were taken through the series’ emotional highs and lows. “Some real stars are now being born,” she says. The Big Brother pick-up was seen as a sign that Vietnam’s appetite for entertainment formats remains undiminished, and showed that, in many ways, the market, whatever the regulatory grumbles, was (and remains) younger, bolder and more willing to take risks than some of its Southeast Asian neighbours. Endemol has nine shows in production in Vietnam, and is in negotiations for at least five more. Titles include game shows such as Step Right Up, Next One and The Kids are Alright; family comedy panel Odd One In; and talent quest Star Academy. Also on air is a local version of Endemol’s The Money Drop on free-to-air entertainment channel VTV-3.

issue 6, December 2014

Genre: Family/baby game show Broadcast on: ABS-CBN Philippines Broadcast date: September 2014 Time slot: Mondays through Fridays at 5pm-6pm. Commissioned and produced by by: ABS-CBN Original created in: U.S. Rights owner/distributed in Asia by: Electus The pitch: Family game show that tests how well parents know their children. Over three rounds, parents guess whether their children will be able to accomplish certain tasks. Ratings Kantar Media ratings show the pilot at 12.9% against direct competitor’s 8.8%.

Big Brother China

Genre: Reality Broadcast on: Youku Tudou Broadcast date: Early 2015 Original created in: Netherlands Commissioned by: Youku Tudou and produced in conjunction with Endemol’s new China office in Beijing. Distributed in Asia by: Endemol Asia The pitch: A group of strangers lives together in a house with cameras and microphones recording their every move. Landmark because... it puts China’s online platforms, which are already big buyers of international content, in the formats/ original production big league. Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed. This is Endemol’s first deal for Big Brother in China.

Genre: Reality Broadcast on: Colors India Broadcast date: Premiered September 2014 Time slot: 9pm-10pm Produced by: Endemol Original created in: Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol Distributed in Asia by: Endemol The pitch: A group of strangers lives together in a house with cameras and microphones recording their every move. Ratings: Bigg Boss 8 opened in the week of 27 September with 7.6 TVM (TV viewership in millions). Driven by the format, Hindilanguage general entertainment channel Colors was the week’s biggest gainer, adding 19 GVMs (gross television viewership/millions), according to TAM data. Other things you might like to know: Faces fell all round when E!’s Kim Kardashian had to cancel her trip to the Bigg Boss 8 house in November 2014. Official reasons were a short window of time between Australia and Dubai and visa issues.

Big Brother Philippines (Pinoy Big Brother)

Genre: Reality Broadcast on: ABS CBN Channel 2, Channel 23, Philippines Broadcast date: 27 April 2014June 2014 Time slot: Daily, prime time Produced by: ABS-CBN Corp Original created in: Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol Distributed in Asia by: Endemol

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Big Brother Vietnam (Nguoi Giau Mat/The Hidden Man)

Genre: Reality game show Broadcast on: VTV-6 Broadcast date: November 2013January 2014 Time slot: Daily, 8pm Commissioned by: VTV Produced by: Endemol/BHD Vietnam Distributed in Asia by: Endemol Asia Production notes & quotes: See box on page 60

Big in Japan (Japanizi: Going Going Gong!)

Cambodia’s Next Top Model Reality model competition show Cambodia’s Next Top Model is the first legitimate international format of its kind to be produced and aired in Cambodia. The series premiered on free-TV channel MYTV on 14 November, scoring a TVR of 3% (source: TNS Kantar Media) and airs Fridays at 7pm on general entertainment channel MYTV. The highestrated programme on MYTV so far this year was a drama series, with 12% TVR. The Cambodia series features 35 model wannabes vying to win the title. The 16-part format is made up of an audition round in episode one, competition/elimination rounds in episodes two to14, recap episode 15 and finale episode 16. Local twists include an episode that challenges the contestants to learn the traditional Cambodian dance, and much less skin/sexy clothing than in some other markets, says executive producer Lim Sujin. The aim of the first season is to entertain and educate viewers about international modelling standards. Unlike markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, where “models are celebrities admired by young girls, there are still big sections of the population here who are pretty conservative and they view modelling differently,” Lim says. Production challenges are mostly due to the young, emerging state of Cambodia’s fashion industry. “There is not a large pool of designers, trainers, photographers or story producers to choose from in Cambodia… there are also not many brands (especially international) to participate in the show,” Lim says, adding that local contestants are much less outspoken and conservative than in some other parts of the world. They are also unaccustomed to being filmed 24-7; besides the broadcast cameras, there are 18 CCTVs in the cast house. Producers also had to cope with widespread unfamiliarity with the Next Top Model brand. “Contestants came to the audition without knowing that the top 15 have to stay in a cast house for nearly two months and pulled out halfway during the audition when they found out,” Lim says. Some of the young would-be models also arrived at auditions without consulting their parents, which disqualified them. MYTV is owned and operated by Cambodian Broadcasting Service (CBS). CBS has been an active player in Cambodia’s international formats scene. Cambodia’s Next Top Model is MYTV’s second international format, after Hole In The Wall Cambodia. The 2015 plan is to produce Hole In The Wall Kids and My Man Can.

issue 6, December 2014

Genre: Studio game show Broadcast on: Disney XD Broadcast date: 16 June 2014 Time slot: 7pm Commissioned by: ABC U.S.A. Produced by: Babyfoot Original created in: Denmark Rights owner: Bomanbridge Media (Asia), Small World IFT (Global) Distributed in Asia by: Bomanbridge Media (Asia) The pitch: Adaptation of I Survived a Japanese Game Show. Audiences experience the world of Japanese game show culture, complete with dizzy chairs and velcro walls.

Big Star’s Little Star Korea

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Channel 7, Thailand Broadcast date: Ongoing since July 2013 Time slot: Saturdays, Sundays, 6pm-6.30pm Produced by: FremantleMedia Original created in: Japan Rights owner: FremantleMedia The pitch: Contestants have to strike as many bowling pins as possible using their bodies and customised props on wheels. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 75

Big Town Dance (舞动全城)

Genre: Factual entertainment Broadcast on: Yunnan TV, China Broadcast date: 18 July 2014 Time slot: 7.30pm Produced by: 3C Media Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: Big Town Dance is designed to inspire a community to come together in a dance spectacular. The journey begins with open auditions to form new dance groups. Each group works to perfect their own routine... then they have to persuade the rest of the town to join them in the final Big Town Dance.

The Brain (最强大脑/Zui Qiang Da Nao)

Genre: Family game show Broadcast on: JTBC Broadcast date: May 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 7pm Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: ITV Studios Global Entertainment The pitch: Celebrity kids reveal their secrets

Body Bowling Thailand (Game Kampang Za Strike/ Crazy Wall Strike Game)

Genre: Entertainment/talent show Broadcast on: Jiangsu Satellite TV, China. Season two green lit in second half 2014 for broadcast in Q1 2015 Broadcast date: 3 January 201428 March 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 10pm Produced by: Jiangsu Satellite TV Original created in: Germany Rights owner: Endemol Distributed in Asia by: Endemol Asia The pitch: Talent show that celebrates gifted minds and incredible skills. Contestants perform mental and physical challenges impossible for ‘normal’ people.

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Cook the Unknown Japanese broadcaster NHK is expanding its formats stable beyond game shows with cooking factual/documentary series Cook the Unknown. Hopes are that domestic success will be followed by a boost in regional and international format sales. “The strategy is to design a format based on our speciality such as documentary,” says Miki Mori, NHK’s senior producer, content marketing division, rights management and global development centre. “That’s the reason we picked up Cook the Unknown, where format and documentary combine,” Mori adds. The first season of Cook the Unknown had a 2% average TV rating per episode, according to data provided by NHK (source: Video Research Ltd). The second season of the reality format premiered in October 2014 in a Saturday slot on flagship general entertainment channel, NHK-G. The show targets 18-30 year-olds. Season two (20x30 mins) airs in the same 11.30pm-midnight slot (with no repeats) as season one, which ended transmission on 22 March this year. The idea behind Cook the Unknown is to introduce exotic Japanese dishes and showcase cooking skills. The concept is how chefs create dishes based on their experience and knowledge of cuisines from other parts of the world. The series follows different chefs each week as they experiment with dishes they have never made before. With only three hints and a name, the chefs are challenged to create single-handedly their own version of the dish. Googling or contacting peers is prohibited. Dishes in past episodes included “meron-pan” (Japanese melon-shaped bread). Chefs have included Frederic Lalos, the youngest chef to have won the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) award for the best French baker in 1997. The series is produced by Fumihiko Kakuno, senior producer, special programmes and culture division, NHK Educational Corporation. The Japanese version has a studio section, hosted by Michiko Shimizu and Japanese fashion model Rui Kurihara. The version for the international market is without host/presenter/studio section. “The key to the format is unpredictability,” Kakuno says, adding: “Even the director/chefs do not know [beforehand] what kinds of dishes are being cooked”. Selecting chefs with absolutely no prior knowledge of the culture or the ingredients involved is a challenge, Mori says, adding: “A few times, the director had to re-film after discovering that the chef had been to Japan and to find a replacement in the shortest time possible”.

issue 6, December 2014

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Cambodia’s Got Talent

China’s Got Talent season 5

Genre: Reality talent show Broadcast on: Hang Meas HDTV Broadcast date: 23 November 2014 Rights owner/Asia distributor: FremantleMedia

Genre: Entertainment, reality, talent competition Broadcast on: Dragon TV/Shanghai Media Group (SMG) Broadcast date: December 2013 to 23 February 2014 Slot: Sundays, 9.30pm Commissioned by: Huanwei, Dragon TV Produced by: Dragon TV in-house Original created by: Syco Entertainment and FremantleMedia North America Rights owner: FremantleMedia and Syco Entertainment The pitch: Judges decide which performers progress to the live semi-finals, when the public votes for their favourites.

Cambodia’s Next Top Model season 1

Genre: Reality show Broadcast on: CTN Broadcast date: Premiered 14 November 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 7pm Original created in: U.S. Rights owner/Asia distributor: CBS Studios International Production notes & quotes: See box on page 62

The Clash: Search for the Next Great Dessert Master

China’s Next Top Model season 2

Genre: Reality modelling competition Broadcast on: Travel Channel Broadcast date: Broadcast date and time slot not yet available Produced by: IPCN Rights owner/Asia distributor: CBS Studios International

Cin Cai Pun Hua Hee Genre: Reality/baking talent show Broadcast on: The Lifestyle Network, Philippines Broadcast date/time: Premiered 14 November 2014, 9pm Original created in: Philippines Rights owner: Creative Programs, Inc’s Lifestyle Network Asia distributor: ABS-CBN The pitch: Dessert-making competition judged by chef-judges Buddy Trinidad/Jill Sandique and mentors from the Pastry Alliance of the Philippines.

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Hua Dee Dai, Malaysia Broadcast date: Premiered 24 November 2013 Time slot: Sundays, 9.30pm-10pm Produced by: Astro Productions Original created in: ContentChinese Production Unit Rights owner: Astro Malaysia The pitch: Game show-cumground event that revolves around weighing vegetables/fruits. Ground events held near wet markets

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across Malaysia are recorded and edited into half-hour episodes for TV. “Cin Cai” is a play on the Hokkien homonym “cincai”, which can mean: 1. To weigh vegetables. 2. Effortlessly/simply/without thought. “Hua hee” is a Hokkien catchphrase meaning “happiness”. Combined, Cin Cai Pun Hua Hee means (in Malaysia’s local communities): 1. Weigh vegetables also can be happy and 2. Simply simply also can be happy.

Come Dine With Me India season 2 (Namaste Come Dine With Me)

Crack Them Up China Comedy formats may be on the rise in China in the wake of regulations that limit singing shows and the success of a local version of Ukrainian format, Crack Them Up. Crack Them Up China ran from 17 February 2014 to 5 May 2014 on Chinese station Jiangxi with an average TV rating of 0.76 and average share of 3.15. The format, created by Studio Kvartal 95 and distributed in Asia by Eccho Rights, challenges regular people to make two comedians laugh. Winners walk away with cash prizes. The series debuted at number three for the time slot. The first episode (Monday, 10pm-11pm) scored 2.87 market share, equating to around 20 million viewers. The show was Jiangxi’s most popular since 2012. The first three episodes ranked third among satellite shows in both ratings and share (CSM48 TV Ratings Report – excluding China Central Television – based on data from 48 cities). Episodes four and five climbed to number one, outstripping China’s top two satellite channels – Hunan and Zhejiang. They improved Jiangxi’s share of the timeslot by 46.7% for episode four and 59.6% for episode five. The remaining episodes consistently ranked second/third among satellite shows at the timeslot. The Chinese version, produced by 3C Media, had three rounds instead of the original five. The aim was to make the show more relevant and to prevent repetition. While jokes take centre stage in the Ukrainian original, the Chinese version includes participants trying to make the comedians laugh. “Anything goes as long as it makes the judges crack up,” says Eccho Rights’ Asia-Pacific head, Gary Pudney. To comply with regulations, the prize money was limited to RMB10,000/US$1,603 max for each contestant. Challenges included working to tight deadlines. “With just one and a half months between securing the rights to the format and the first recording, the crew was up against the clock. This timeframe meant that the channel faced challenges promoting the show and recruiting participants. It was also the company’s first international format and the unusual circular set was a challenge to build,” Pudney says. The local commission came in the wake of the crackdown on reality singing contests in China. The new rules allow stations to air only one new music talent show every three months and stations have to increase “morality-building” (such as documentaries and news) and educational shows. Stations also have to ensure that “morality-building” content fills at least 30% of their overall schedule. “The new restriction on singing formats in China gives other genres the chance to blossom,” says Xichen Liu, 3C Media’s chief executive.

issue 6, December 2014

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: Life OK/Star India Broadcast date: March 2014 Time slot: Mondays to Fridays Produced by: Miditech Original created in: U.K. Rights owner/distributed in Asia by: ITV Studios Global Entertainment The pitch: Amateur chefs compete by hosting dinner parties for the other contestants.

The pitch: The series introduces exotic Japanese dishes and showcases cooking skills. The concept is how chefs create dishes based on their experience and knowledge of cuisines from other parts of the world. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 64

Crack Them Up China

Genre: Comedy show (studio based) Broadcast on: Jiangxi Broadcast date: Monday, 17 February 2014 Time slot: Mondays,10pm-11pm Produced in China by: 3C Media Original created in: Ukraine Rights owner: Sparks|Eccho Group Distributed in Asia by: Eccho Rights The pitch: Regular people are challenged to make two comedians laugh. Winners receive cash prizes. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 66

Dance Your Ass Off (Dance Your Fat Off)

Cook the Unknown

Genre: Cooking reality format Broadcast on: General entertainment NHK-G Broadcast date: October 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 11.30pmmidnight Commissioned by: Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) Produced by: Fumihiko Kakuno, senior producer, special programmes and culture division, NHK Educational Corporation Original created in: Japan Rights owner: NHK Distributed in Asia by: NHK Enterprises Inc

Genre: Weight-loss dance format Broadcast on: Bangkok Entertainment’s Channel 3, Thailand Broadcast date: Last episode aired on 24 May 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 5.30pm-7pm Produced by: Creatist Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: NBCUniversal The pitch: Contestants dance with professional partners in all kinds of dance to see who can lose the most weight. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 68

Dancing with the Stars Cambodia (Strictly Come Dancing)

Genre: Entertainment, talent Broadcast on: CTN, Cambodia Broadcast date: End of May 2015 Time slot: Primetime, weekends Produced by: Cambodian Broad-

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Tomorrow belongs to Me (Sana bukas pa ang kahapon) 44 episodes x 45 minutes Rising from the ashes, her quest for justice is fulfilled through another woman’s face and name No Greater Love (Ikaw Lamang) 85 episodes (approx.) x 45 minutes Across time, through chance, and in spite of circumstance, love will find its way. Two Wives 65 episodes (approx.) x 45 minutes is the rightful one the woman in his mind or the woman in his heart? Because first love never ever dies Forevermore 40 episodes (approx.) x 45 minutes All programs available in HD For more information, please contact: Pia Bacungan-Laurel email: pia_bacungan-laurel@abs-cbn.com Tel No: 632 415 2272 ext 2389 Direct Line: 632 411 1670 website: http://internationalsales.abs-cbn.com

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casting Service Co, Ltd Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: BBC Worldwide The pitch: Well-known celebrities are paired with professional ballroom dancers, who each week compete by performing one or more choreographed routines. The couple with the lowest combined score provided by the judges and viewers is eliminated. This continues until one couple is declared the champion.

Dancing with the Stars Kids Vietnam (Buoc Nhay Hoan Vu Nhi)

Dance Your Ass Off (Dance Your Fat Off Thailand) Thai terrestrial broadcaster Bangkok Entertainment’s (BEC) Channel 3 moved into the second half of 2014 on a reality high following the successful close of reality dance competition Dance Your Ass Off (known locally as Dance Your Fat Off). Channel 3’s programme acquisition head, Art Kaneearch Dandumrongsuk, said season two of the weight-loss dance format built successfully on the first series. “Ratings were higher, more people were talking about it… it was a healthy show for the channel,” he says. Season two closed on 24 May after 12 episodes of 90 minutes each. Season two aired in the same Saturday 5.30pm-7pm slot as season one. Brokered by NBCUniversal, Dance Your Ass Off features full-figured contestants competing to lose the most weight and score the highest in dance routines. Contestants are paired with professional dance partners training them for weekly stage performances, which range from hip hop and ballroom to pole dancing. The weakest contestant is sent home. Producers on the ground are given the flexibility to use local songs and dance routines. “The format targets adults but is noticeably more popular with women aged 15-40,” says Linfield Ng, NBCUniversal International Television Production’s format sales liaison director. The final episode of season two on 24 May attained a TV rating of 3.8 for all audiences 4+ nationwide and a high of 6.9 among female audiences (Bangkok/urban) between 25-34 years old. The first episode in March earned a TV rating of 3.3 for all 4+ nationwide and a high of 5.3 among females 25-34 (Bangkok/urban). Viewers uploaded series’ clips online, which also drove buzz, Dandumrongsuk says. The Thai version followed the format’s Asia debut on Hangzhou/Zhejiang provincial television network station, Zhejiang Satellite TV, in 2012. One of NBCUniversal’s unique challenges in selling Dance Your Ass Off is convincing broadcasters that the series is about positive lifestyle journeys, and that weight has little to do with grace. “There is also the perception that overweight people can’t dance as gracefully and our show has proven every one wrong,” Ng says.

issue six, december 2014

Genre: Reality dance contest Broadcast on: VTV3 Broadcast date: Premiered Friday, 18 July 2014 Produced by: Co-production, VTV3 and Catiensa Media Company

Dancing9

Genre: Dance competition show Broadcast on: CJ Media’s Mnet, Korea Broadcast date: 13 June 201415 August 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 11pm Original created in: Korea Commissioned by: Mnet Distributed in Asia by: CJ E&M The pitch: Global dance survival format. Competition genres range from K-pop and street to jazz and ballet.

Deal Or No Deal Myanmar

Genre: Game show Broadcast date: 2015 Time slot: To be confirmed Created by: Endemol Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol The pitch: 22 people are each given a box with varying amounts of cash. In every episode, one person plays for the big prize by eliminating boxes. An unseen opponent – ‘the Banker’ – offers players cash to buy back their box and they must decide whether to play on or accept the deal.

Deal Or No Deal Philippines (Kapamilya Deal or No Deal)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: ABS-CBN Channel 2, Channel 23 Broadcast date: 2015 Time slot: Weekly Produced by: ABS-CBN Corporation Created by: Endemol Netherlands Rights owner/Asia distribution: Endemol

Deal Or No Deal Vietnam (Đi Tìm Ẩn Số)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: HTV 7, Vietnam Broadcast date: 23 March 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, day time Produced by: Kiettuong Created by: Endemol Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol

Do Me A Favor Thailand

Dare 2 Dance

Genre: Dance, adventure reality Broadcast on: Life OK/Star India Broadcast date: Premiered 6 September 2014 Time slot: Weekends, 8.30pm Produced by: SOL productions Original created in: India Rights owner: SOL Productions and Life OK Distributed in Asia by: Life OK The pitch: The series challenges contestants to dance on various platforms on land, water or air.

Genre: Street game show Broadcast details: Channel 9 Broadcast date: 7 November 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 8.30pm-9.30pm Commissioned by: Thai production company, Zense Entertainment Produced by: Zense Entertainment Original created in: Argentina Rights owner: Armoza Formats The pitch: Two contestants attempt to convince strangers to do them a favour. With a 10-minute time limit and a $250 budget, the participants can ask, beg, compliment or bribe to get their way.

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Don’t Lose The Money Philippines

Do Me A Favor Thailand Asia’s first local version of street game show format, Do Me A Favor, premiered in Thailand in early November 2014. The show airs on terrestrial TV station Modernine TV/ Channel 9 on Fridays at 8.30pm-9.30pm. Thai production company, Zense Entertainment, commissioned 26 episodes of Do Me A Favor Thailand from Israeli distributor Armoza Formats. This is the first deal brokered by the two companies. The original format was created by Itay Herman and Oded Kramer (Catch, Still Standing). It was jointly developed by Telefe and Armoza, and first produced by Telefe in Argentina. Do Me A Favor features two contestants attempting to convince strangers on the street to do them a favour in the least amount of time. With a 15-minute time limit and cash prize of THB20,000/US$623, the participants are allowed to do anything, including begging, complimenting and/or bribing to win the challenge. “The plan is to have at least 26 episodes [60 minutes each], with more to come,” says Varavuth Jentanakul, Zense Entertainment’s chief executive officer and producer. The Thai version features local celebrities as contestants. Challenges will be devised to suit local tastes, Jentanakul says. Behind the camera, the greatest challenge for Thailand’s content market at the moment is sourcing fresh programming that local viewers haven’t seen before. “There are already a lot of huge studio set programmes, which are mostly big international formats in Thailand right now,” Jentanakul says. “We think it’s great to offer the Thai audience a different kind of show with a distinct [street] element and coupled with cheeky, humorous challenges,” he adds. Zense Entertainment has been actively involved in the localisation of international formats, including Endemol game show The Money Drop Thailand, which premiered on Bangkok Broadcasting & TV’s (BBTV) Channel 7 in August 2014, airing at 6pm on weekends, as well as Step Right Up Thailand, a game show aired on Modernine TV early this year. 24-hour Modernine TV broadcasts from Bangkok to 35 local network stations nationwide, covering about 87% of Thailand. The service is operated by MCOT plc, which also operates two satellite TV channels – MCOT 1 and MCOT World – and a bouquet of radio stations in Thailand.

issue six, december 2014

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: GMA 7, Philippines Broadcast date: 22 September 2014 Time slot: Weekdays, 3.20pm3.50pm Produced by: GMA Networks Original created in: Germany Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: Two teams go headto-head to win a life-changing amount of money.

Dr G’s File (Dr. What: Diagnosis Unknown season 5) Genre: Studio-based medical detective game show Broadcast on: NHK, Japan Broadcast date: Ongoing Time slot: Fridays, 10pm Produced by: Home Room Co Original created in: NHK, Japan Rights owner: Bomanbridge Media (Asia ex Japan), Small World IFT (global) The pitch: Medical interns are challenged to diagnose real-life medical conditions.

Dr Oz Indonesia

Genre: Health talk show Broadcast on: TransTV Broadcast date: 19 April 2014 Time slot: Weekends, 3pm-4pm Produced by: TransTV Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Sony Pictures Television The pitch: Long-running health series that caters to viewers increasingly aware of health issues. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 72

The Doctors Vietnam Season 2 (Các Bác sĩ nói gì?)

Genre: Health talk show Broadcast on: HTV7, Vietnam Broadcast date: Season 2 ongoing Time slot: Thursdays, 9.30pm Produced by: Kiet Tuong Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: CBS Studios Int’l The pitch: Talk show with reliable medical, health and wellness advice dispensed by a distinguished panel of “on call” professionals.

Entertainment Experience China

Genre: Reality entertainment Broadcast on: HeilongJiang Satellite TV Broadcast date: 6 September 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 9.20pm10.30pm Commissioned by: Sam Mu Produced by: Sam Mu Productions Original created in: FCCE/HeilongJiang Media Group co-pro Rights owner: FCCE Hong Kong The pitch: Reality series with guest appearances by members of China’s movie-making elite. Teams of young movie-making amateurs battle each other to participate in John Woo’s usergenerated movie.

The Face Thailand

Genre: Modelling reality competition Broadcast on: Channel 3, Thailand Broadcast date: 4 October 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 5.30pm Produced by: Kantana Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: Supermodels choose new faces to create teams of potential models.

Fear Factor (Celebrity) Malaysia (Fear Factor Selebriti Malaysia)

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: Astro Ria, Malaysia Broadcast date: 15 February 2014-11 May 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 9pm Produced by: Endemol Original created in: Endemol Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol Distributed in Asia by: Endemol Asia The pitch: Daredevil participants put aside their biggest fears and test the limits of physical endurance and mental resolve for the chance to win a cash prize.

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issue six, december 2014

formats2015

NTENT ASIA

Fear Factor Malaysia (Akses Fear Factor)

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: Astro Ria, Malaysia Broadcast date: 16 February 2014-12 May 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 9pm Produced by: Endemol Created by: Endemol Netherlands Rights owner: Endemol Distributed in Asia by: Endemol Asia

The Fever Vietnam (Đọ Sức Âm Nhạc)

Dr. Oz Indonesia On Monday, 4 August 2014, Sony Pictures Television format, Dr. Oz Indonesia, became Indonesian station TransTV’s first health show stripped seven days a week. As the long-running series moves beyond the 150episode mark, station programmers are considering other upgrades, including outdoor shoots, home visits, and a broader range of topics such as the danger of kitchen sponges. The local version of the format targets Indonesia’s rising middle class. “What could be better than a health show, remembering our economy is growing, higher buying power, more people growing from middle to upper class and they have started to ‘care’ about their health,” says Anselma Cynthia Purnama Sari, who takes care of programme acquisition for free-TV terrestrial channels TransTV and Trans7. She adds that yoghurt shops, zumba classes, yogalates, Thai boxing and “other girly more expensive sports inventions are sprouting” in Indonesia. The local version of Dr. Oz premiered in Indonesia in 2013, introducing the health-lifestyle talk show genre to the mass market terrestrial network for the first time. Season two premiered on 19 April 2014; episode 122 aired in June. The original slots – Saturdays and Sundays, 3pm-4pm – have been extended with a morning hour (9am-10am) Mondays to Fridays. The show is hosted by Dr Ryan Thamrin, who was chosen to appeal to TransTV’s female demographic. “Dr Ryan Thamrin is not just an experienced doctor but his outer charm wins not only the eyes but the hearts of our audiences. It’s very rare to find a good-looking male doctor, who’s not just experienced in his fields but has tremendous hosting and interpersonal skill,” Purnama Sari says. For TransTV, the Indonesian version has to be “simple, interesting and yet fast-paced”. Purnama Sari says the station looks at topics such as beauty and lifestyle differently. “For example, we do not discuss plastic surgery. Instead we talk about ‘the danger of high heels’ and it works for our audience, because it is informative, it is interesting, it is relevant to them (who wear heels once in a while), plus it is chic…” she says.

issue six, december 2014

Genre: Entertainment/game show Broadcast on: HTV 7, HTV 9, Vietnam Broadcast date: 5 March 2014 Time slot: Wednesdays, 9.15pm Produced by: BHD Co Limited Original created: Endemol France Rights owner: Endemol Distributed in Asia by: Endemol Asia The pitch: Part game show, part entertainment – all set to music. A team of male celebs competes with a panel of female stars in a series of musical challenges. Male celebs’ prizes go to men in the audience; women’s go to women.

Food Detectives season 2

Genre: Lifestyle, food, investigative Broadcast on: Channel 5, S’pore Broadcast date: 7 October 2014 Time slot: Tuesdays, 8.30pm Commissioned by: Spruce Leong, MediaCorp Singapore Produced/created by: activeTV Rights owner/distributor in Asia: activeTV The pitch: Aims to foster and inform viewers of the positive and not so positive facts about food – nutritional value, where it comes from and what happens to our bodies when we consume it.

Friends Over Flowers

Genre: Factual entertainment Broadcast on: tvN, Korea Broadcast date: 1 August 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 9.50pm Commissioned by: Rhee Myung Han, Nah Young Suk, Shin Hyo Jung Produced by: tvN Original created in: South Korea Who owns the rights: CJ E&M The pitch: Spin-off series from the creators of Grandpas Over Flowers. The show involves three long-term celebrity best friends agreeing to forget life’s complications and take off on a sudden adventure.

The Genius Game

Genre: Social reality game show Broadcast on: CJ E&M’s general entertainment channel tvN Broadcast date: Q4 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 11pm Commissioned/produced by: tvN Original created in: Korea Rights owner/distributor: CJ E&M Production notes & quotes: See box on page 76

Give Me That Bill (Happy Bill Xing Fu Zhang Dan 幸福)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: CCTV 3, China Broadcast date: 3 January 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 9.35pm Produced by: Beijing Legend Culture Communication Ltd Created by: Endemol Netherlands Who owns the rights: Endemol Distributed in Asia by: Endemol Asia The pitch: Game show for people in a financial crisis.

Gogglebox

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: Jiangsu TV China

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tants compete in front of a live

E: Cyrus.Farrokh@electus.com

studio audience in six categories of smarts: musical, physical, social, logical, visual and linguistic. In the finale, eight finalists go head-to-head to earn

For ABC Sold into over 20 territories including China (CCTV-1), South Korea (CJ E&M), Philippines (ABS-CBN) and now Vietnam (VTV-3). A prime-time game show where families compete to see which parents can predict their toddler’s next move in an effort to win money for their child’s future education!

the title of Smartest Person.

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Family Secrets, Korea Korean cable programmer CJ E&M’s new drama adaptation, Family Secrets (Gajokui Bimli), debuted in October 2014 stripped across prime-time morning weekday slots on general entertainment channel, tvN. The 100-episode revenge melodrama runs Mondays to Thursdays at 9.40am (KST), with encores at 7.50pm and four-episode omnibus sessions on Fridays at 9.30am. The series runs to the end of April 2015. Previous local dramas in this morning slot have included Glass Mask (2012-2013) and Ice Adonis (2012), along with reruns of drama series such as Crazy Love. Family Secrets is the remake of Telemundo’s Where is Elisa?. The drama format has also been made in Indonesia on SCTV (Di Mana Melani) and the Philippines on ABS-CBN (Nasaan Ka Elisa?). The series is about a mother from a well-off family who loses her son in a tragic accident and later finds her only daughter is missing. Her world is turned upside down when she discovers that her daughter has been kidnapped by someone from her own family. The Korean version was produced by Jiyoun Kim, directed by Sung Do-Joon and written by Lee Do-Hyun. The cast includes former K-Pop singer Hyo Young and veteran TV stars Sin Eun Gyeong and Ryu Tae Joon. Local adaptations included having more outdoor shots, which “raises the dramatic effect”, says Kim, adding that the ultimate aim is “to maintain the original plot and at the same time being able to reflect the Korean society and culture of the gentle and yet strong Korean motherhood”. tvN’s morning slots target housewives in their 30s-40s. The network generally targets the middle-aged and 1020 year olds. Production challenges include making the cast look appropriate to the story/script. Kim says the team pays a lot of attention to the style of each character. For instance, the lead actress changed her clothes as many as 80 times in the first week of filming. Family Secrets is but one of many CJ E&M acquisition deals for tvN. After Korea’s Got Talent in 2011, tvN made Saturday Night Live Korea, based on the Saturday Night Live format as well as romantic comedy A Witch’s Love, a remake of Taiwan’s hit drama series My Queen. Scripted formats continue to be on the Korean network’s shopping list. “We hope to find a couple of other good formats to adapt for Korea,” says Jangho Seo, CJ E&M’s head of international sales and acquisitions.

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Broadcast date: Q1 2015 Time slot: Prime time Produced by: Studio Lambert Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: all3media International The pitch: Highlights of the week’s television, intercut with footage of ordinary people watching it at home. Viewers see not only diverse reactions to the week’s biggest soap storyline or high-end drama, but also to the country’s sporting events and unfolding news stories. The show features the same characters every week. Gogglebox provokes conversation not only about what’s on the screen but also what’s happening in viewers’ lives.

Gokuno (終極大脳/ Ultimate Brain)

Genre: Science entertainment Broadcast on: Beijing Kaku TV, Jiangsu Kids Broadcast date: Premiered 3 August 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 6.30pm-7.30pm Produced by: IPCN, Uyoung Media Original created in: Japan Rights owner: Nippon TV (Brunei, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand), Eccho Rights (others) The pitch: University professors, geniuses with IQs of over 148, junior high-school students from well-known private schools and celebrities with high education compete in this brain-twisting game show.

Gossip Girl Thailand

Genre: Teen drama Broadcast date: 2015 Original created in: U.S. Produced by: Kantana Group Public Company Limited Distributed in Asia by: Warner Bros The pitch: Lives and times of privileged students at an exclusive private school. The series ran in the U.S. for six seasons.

Got Talent Laos

Genre: Talent reality contest Broadcast on: LNTV3 Broadcast date: Not announced by end November 2014 Distributed in Asia by: FremantleMedia International Other things you might like to know: Got Talent has also been sold to broadcasters in Myanmar and Cambodia as part of a slate of 25 formats sold in seven Asian markets in the 12 months to October 2014. FremantleMedia International says this is the first time a major international format has been sold to Laos.

Grandpas Over Flowers (꽃보다 할배 시즌 2)

Genre: Travel variety show Broadcast on: tvN Broadcast date: 7 March 20142 May 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 9.50pm Produced by: CJ E&M Original created in: South Korea Rights owner: CJ E&M Distributed in Asia by: CJ E&M The pitch: Veteran actors backpack around the world.

Hell’s Kitchen Indonesia

Genre: Reality entertainment Broadcast on: SCTV Broadcast date: January 2015 Time slot: To be confirmed Produced by: FremantleMedia Asia Original created in: U.K. Who owns the rights: ITV Studios Global Entertainment The pitch: A terrifying chef attempts to instill his love of food into a group of competing amateur chefs.

Hidden Cities Extreme

Genre: Factual Broadcast on: History, History HD Broadcast date: 25 February 2014 to 5 April 2014 Time slot: Tuesdays, 10pm Commissioned by: A+E Networks Asia Produced by: Beach House Pictures Original created in: Based on the original production, Hidden Cities, in Asia Rights owner: A+E Networks Distributed in Asia by: A+E Networks Production notes & quotes: See box on page 77

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Produced by: BBC Worldwide Productions, India Original created in: U.K. Who owns the rights: Nutopia Asia distributor: BBC Worldwide The pitch: Celebrities return to the people and places that helped make them who they are today.

How to Make It: Culinary Dreams

Hidden Passion (Pasión de Gavilanes)

Genre: Telenovela Broadcast on: In production for ABS-CBN Philippines, VHD Vietnam Produced by: Telemundo Studios Rights owner: Telemundo Studios The pitch: Three brothers arrive to work at the home of their deceased sister’s lover, who died with her in an accident. They have every intention of wreaking revenge. But they fall madly in love with his daughters, ruining all their plans.

House Call, China

Genre: Factual Broadcast on: China Central Television (CCTV) Broadcast date: To be confirmed Time slot: Weekly prime time Produced by: United Studios Israel Rights owner: Armoza Formats The pitch: Each week a team of doctors visits a family and forces them to take a close look at how their lifestyle is affecting their health.

The House That Made Me (Har Ghar Kucch Kehta Hai season 2)

Genre: Factual entertainment Broadcast on: Sony (SET India) Broadcast date: 7 September 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 7pm Commissioned by: Ajay Bhalwankar, Chief Creative Director, Sony Entertainment Television India

Genre: Food, Reality Broadcast on: Asian Food Channel (AFC) Broadcast date: Premiered Wednesday, 9 April 2014 Time slot: 9pm Commissioned by: AFC Produced by: AFC Original Productions Original created in: Singapore, Malaysia Rights owner: Scripps Networks Interactive (Asia) The pitch: A celebrity and an aspiring restaurateur are thrown into a six-week crash course at a culinary school. Ratings: Among adult audiences, posted 0.07 average ratings across six episodes.

Hua Hee Karaoke 2014

Genre: Hokkein singing competition Broadcast on: HHD, HHD HD Broadcast date: Premiered Sunday, 25 May 2014 Time slot: 8.30pm-10.30pm Produced by: Astro, Malaysia Original created by: Astro Rights owner: Astro The pitch: A national concert focusing on friendly interaction with hosts, contestants and audiences.

I Can Do That!

Game Kampang Za Strike (Crazy Wall Strike Game/Body Bowling) Game Kampang Za Strike (the Thai version of Body Bowling) is a game show based on the TV property created by Japan’s Fuji Television Network. The series, produced in Thailand by FremantleMedia for Channel 7, features six contestants from two teams. The aim is to strike as many bowling pins as possible using their bodies and customised props on wheels. The show is part of the network’s robust formats acquisitions strategy, including Iron Chef, Dancing with the Stars and Hole in the Wall. “Formats have proved to be one of our most successful programmes,” says Palakorn Somsuwan, Channel 7 managing director. “With this success, now we plan to roll out more exciting formats, from both international sources and our own format (local production), to grow the audience base,” he says, adding: “In the future, we believe that formats will remain an integral part of our schedule and strategy”. Game Kampang Za Strike aired on Saturdays and Sundays from 6pm to 6.30pm – the slot originally filled by the local version of Hole in the Wall (aired as Game Kampang Za) – on the mass market general entertainment channel owned and operated by Bangkok Broadcasting & Television (BBTV). The Thai version of the show was bigger than any other, including planes and pirate ships to roll down the bowling alley and super-sized obstacles that made hitting the mark more difficult. In addition, cameras were fixed to the contestants, the vehicles and bowling pins. Executive producer Pink Pravitra said ensuring safety was a major consideration. “Combining a ramp, intentionally unwieldy wheeled contraptions and oversized bowling pins could easily be a recipe for disaster... one accident could end the entire series,” he said. The series ran from July 2013 to 27 July 2014 and was replaced with The Money Drop Thailand, which premiered on 2 August 2014. Game Kampang Za was replaced with Knockout (Game Kampang Za Knockout) when its run ended. Programming bosses say maintaining similar names means viewers remain familiar with the brand. Somsuwan is a strong supporter of local adaptations of international formats, including Body Bowling and Iron Chef, which has surprised programmers with “overwhelming feedback despite its late night 11pm slot on Wednesdays”. Somsuwan also said “formats usually carry some foreign elements that can be difficult for Thai audiences to comprehend... the greatest challenge is to adapt the prototype to suit local preferences”.

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Genre: Prime-time studio entertainment Broadcast on: JSBC, China Broadcast date: Early 2015 Time slot: Weekly, prime time Produced by: Armoza Formats in partnership with JSBC Rights owner: Armoza The pitch: Eight celebrities are challenged to perform breathtaking live acts and prove that if you just give them a week, there’s nothing they can’t do. Viewers judge who does best.

Broadcast date: 27 December 2013 -23 May 2014 Time slot: 8.30pm-midnight Commissioning editor: Sugimin Produced by: FremantleMedia Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: FremantleMedia The pitch: The most popular singing/talent search show in the world

It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez (Season 1 & 2)

Identity Thailand

The Genius Game Social reality game show, The Genius Game, returns to CJ E&M’s general entertainment channel tvN at the end of 2014. Developed in-house by tvN, The Genius Game features 13 players pitted against one another in a battle of wits over 12 episodes. This third season features 12 new strategic games. Each episode includes a main match and a death match, with one player eliminated every week. The contestant with the lowest score in the main match is relegated to the death match, and must pick an opponent to compete against. The main match winner and his or her ally is exempt from selection. The winner of the death match takes the “garnet” (virtual currency) of his or her opponent, who is eliminated. The ultimate winner cashes in the garnets. In past seasons, The Genius Game has invited a magician, poker champion, billiard player, progamer, hacker, mathematician, news anchor, politician, music producer and K-pop idol star. Targeting the 20-49 age group, the format was created during Korea’s 2012 elections, says CJ E&M’s Jin Woo Hwang, senior manager of content R&D. The election meant that “in real life, people were witnessing the art of social relationship management every day. This is where we got the idea of creating a new type of social reality show,” Hwang says, describing the format as “an innovative hybrid genre show, which has the structure of a game show but consequences of a survival reality show”. The Genius Game’s distinguishing feature is “the unique demand on contestants to utilise their ‘sociability’ and ‘wit’ in order to win”. Ratings for the first two seasons were consistently high. Both seasons ranked number one in their prime-time slots among adults aged 20-49. CJ E&M says season two recorded the highest ATS (Average Time Spent) with 42 minutes and 48 seconds, among prime-time pay-TV programmes. The greatest challenge was ensuring that games presented the right level of difficulties for the contestants. The games were primarily inspired by board games, cartoons and social issues, and the format had the longest pre-production time for an entertainment show in Korea. Hwang says this was due to the need for attention to detail and uniqueness. “It was important to get the level of difficulty right so creator/producer Jeong Jong-Yeon ran multiple tests before creating each game and adjusted accordingly. After the initial testing, we held two simulations filming with college student volunteers,” Hwang adds. The ultimate aim is to bring the programme to the global market.

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Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Channel 9 Broadcast date: Premiered February 2013, ongoing Time slot: Wednesdays, 8.30pm9.30pm Produced by: Workpoint Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: A game of first impressions, perception and instincts that can lead to big money. Each new contestant faces 12 strangers and a list of 12 identities. The game unfolds as the contestant picks an identity ranging anywhere from profession, age, shoe size or even sleeping pattern and tries to match it with one of the 12 strangers.

Indian Idol Junior

Genre: Talent hunt Broadcast on: Sony Entertainment Television India Broadcast date: December-January 2015 (date not confirmed by 15 November 2014) Commissioning editor: Ajay Bhalwankar Produced by: Fremantlemedia TV Productions Pvt Ltd Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: FremantleMedia/19 The pitch: Search for a kid singer from across India.

Indonesian Idol season 8

Genre: Talent show Broadcast on: RCTI

Genre: Original Reality Series Broadcast on: E! Broadcast date: Season 1 premiered 1 June 2014. Season 2 premiered 5 October 2014 Time slot: Season 2, Sundays, 9pm (Philippines), 10pm (Malaysia) Commissioned by: NBCUniversal Channels out of Singapore Produced by: Seaon 1 TakeOne, Philippines. Season 2 Matchbox Pictures Original created in: Philippines with input from NBCUniversal global Who owns the rights: Gutierrez family The pitch: E!-style celeb reality show in the tradition of the Kardashians Production notes & quotes: See box on page 78 Performance: Season one was the channel’s most-watched programme in the Philippines since January 2013, when ratgs were first recorded. At its peak, Gutz made E! the number one channel during the show’s 9pm-9.30pm timeslot among key demographics (total viewers, adults 16+, women 16+) out of 24 English-language general entertainment/lifestyle channels in the Philippines. The series also performed well in Malaysia, where it ranked as the number two programme on E! for the week of 15-21 June 2014. (Source: Kantar Media (Philippines)/Nielsen Media Research (Malaysia)/ Arianna). Season two ratings in

the Philippines (original telecasts of the first five episodes) posted an increase of 342% versus the primetime averages among total viewers. The combined original and repeat telecasts of the first five episodes in the Philippines delivered an increase of 118% versus the channel’s all day average. Season two was the top telecast on E! in the Philippines in October among women 20-44. In Malaysia, the combined original and repeat telecasts of the first five episodes delivered an increase of 142% amongst total viewers and 209% among women 15+ versus E!’s full day average during the same period. Compared to season 1, season 2’s average viewership of original and repeat telecasts was up by 23% with total viewers and 23% with adults 15+ (Source: Philippines: Kantar Media Philippines/Infosys. Total urban Philippines. Individuals in payTV homes. Prime-time average comparison is for Saturday to Sunday for the past 12 weeks. Malaysia: Nielsen TV Audience Measurement (Malaysia)/ Arianna. Individuals in Astro payTV homes. Data for episodes that aired from 5 October to 2 November 2014).

Junior Bake Off Thailand

Kaitai-Shin Show Thailand (Kai Tai Shin Show/ The New Anatomy Show)

Genre: Studio-based infortainment show about the human body Broadcast on: Modernine MCOT Broadcast date: Premiered 2 January 2014 Time slot: Thursdays, 8.30pm9.30pm Commissioned by: Worrapol Phutjoye, VP, TV Programme Production Dept Produced by: MCOT Original created in: NHK, Japan Who owns the rights: NHK Enterprises, Inc The pitch: Studio-based show with videos proving the secrets of the human body.

Keep Your Light Shining China

Genre: Singing talent competition Broadcast on: Zhejiang TV, China Broadcast date: 2014 Time slot: Prime time Produced by: Star China Media Original created in: Turkey The pitch: 12 contestants have 15-20 seconds to sing before the spotlight moves onto the next performer. The audience eleminates one contestant in every episode, but the jury can protect one singer.

The Kids Are All Right (鸡蛋碰石头 Jidan Peng Shitou) Genre: Cooking/baking competition show Broadcast on: Now TV Thailand. The format rights are a key acquisition for the new digital terrestrial channel, operated by the Nation Multi Media Group Broadcast date: 5 October 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 4pm Produced by: Content Lab Original created in: U.K. Who owns the rights: BBC Worldwide Production notes & quotes: See box on page 80

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Genre: Family game show Broadcast on: Xiamen Satellite TV, China Broadcast date: 17 November 2013-12 May 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 7.30pm Produced by: Xiamen Star TV Station Original created in: Endemol U.K. Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: Seven ‘super kids’ stand between four adults and cash prizes that could be theirs – if they can get past the smart young team aged between nine and 15 whose goal it is to see them go home with nothing.

Hidden Cities Extreme A+E Networks’ factual format, Hidden Cities Extreme, returned to Asia in 2014 (25 February-15 April 2014) with bigger stories, more challenging antics and off-the wall discoveries by host, actor/filmmaker Simon Yin. The 8x30 mins second season, produced by Singaporebased Beach House Pictures, ran on History and History HD on Tuesdays at 10pm. Season two’s adventures included 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 Singapore (source: Kantar Media Singapore). In Malaysia, the Korea episode was the top show on History in 2012, with a combined average audience of 107,000 in its slot for Astro 15+ on both standard- and high-definition channels. A+E Networks Asia’s production director, Chris Humphrey, says the network’s strategy includes developing “our own original, tradable formats as well as leveraging the format activities of our own channels in the U.S.” “In many aspects TV is still tied to local and national culture, so the demand for local content is still very strong. We need to find and make television programmes that our audiences find locally appealing yet globally relevant,” he adds. While many formats work well in that the network can deliver locally produced programmes with well-established track records, the challenge can be translating some of A+E Networks’ hit U.S. formats for Asia. Character-driven series, for instance, are heavily dependent on casting. “Asia’s value system varies greatly from that of the U.S., and our viewers’ attitudes toward family life, education, physical contact and of course religion mean we have to approach the format space differently,” he adds. Formats such as My Ghost Story work because the series is interview-led and there is a very strong regional interest in the supernatural, he says. U.S. hit Dance Moms has proven a lot more difficult to format. “Although our audience may like watching Dance Moms, Asian parents never want to voluntarily show their ugly side on TV, let alone have their own child’s worst moments broadcast all around the world. We certainly have to pick and choose what we think will work here and what won’t,” Humphrey says.

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The Kids Are All Right Myanmar Genre: Family game show Broadcast on: TV3 Broadcast date: 2015 Produced by: Thai BEC Tero Original created in: Endemol U.K. Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: Seven ‘super kids’ stand between four adults and cash prizes that could be theirs – if they can get past the smart young team aged between nine and 15 whose goal it is to see them go home with nothing.

The Kids Are All Right Thailand

It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez NBCUniversal entered into new territory in Asia for the first time with original reality series, It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez. In the tradition of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, It Takes Gutz to be a Gutierrez follows the Philippines’ Gutierrez family – Eddie, Annabelle, Ruffa, Raymond and Richard – “as they give audiences an unfiltered look at their incredible personal and professional lives”. The six-part first season, produced by One Mega Group’s TV100 and directed by Filipino TV producer/ director Michael Carandang, premiered on E! at 9pm (Philippines time) on 1 June 2014. The finale aired on 6 July 2014. Season two switched production houses to NBCUniversal-owned Matchbox Pictures (The Real Housewives of Melbourne, The Slap) and premiered on 5 October 2014. Gutz represents at least four firsts. The show was the first time NBCUniversal spread its Kardashian-style reality beyond the U.S., and wads the first original reality series for E! in Asia. The series was also the first production under NBCUniversal’s Asia channels vice president, Scott Mackenzie, who joined the Singaporebased regional operation in February 2014. In addition, the Gutierrez family members, all celebs in their own right, have never done anything together on screen before. “This is a family where everyone is already famous... and there’s a lot of potential to develop,” Mackenzie says. The NBCUniversal and E! programming, branding and promotions teams in L.A. are all over the look and feel and everything else about the series. Challenges include spreading the family’s fame beyond the Philippines. Will viewers in Asia care? The ingredients are all there, NBCUniversal International’s L.A.-based programming senior vice president, Gracia Waverly, said shortly before season one aired. “With the right combination of people and the right story, it doesn’t matter if they are known or not,” she says, adding: “It’s about their issues and their story.”

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Produced by: Beach House Pictures, Singapore Original created in: Singapore by Discovery Networks and Beach House Pictures Who owns the rights: Discovery Networks Asia Pacific The pitch: Kids learn what goes into the making of a TV documentary by creating their own Discovery Channel-style short film under the guidance of a professional film and production crew.

Korea’s Next Top Model season 5

Genre: Family game show Broadcast on: Channel 3, Thailand Broadcast date: 2015 Produced by: The Bangkok Entertainment Co. Ltd (owned by BecTero) Original created in: Endemol U.K. Who owns the rights: Endemol

The Kids Are All Right Vietnam (Trẻ em luôn đúng)

Genre: Reality modelling show Broadcast on: On Style Broadcast date: Premiered 16 August 2014 Time slot: Midnight Original created in: U.S. Who owns the rights: CBS Studios International

La Akademia Kids Indonesia (La Academia Junior Indonesia) Genre: Family game show Broadcast on: VTV6, Vietnam Broadcast date: 15 April 201314 April 2014 Time slot: Mondays, 9pm-10pm Produced by: Blue Ocean Production Original created in: Endemol U.K. Who owns the rights: Endemol

Kids vs Film

Genre: Talent show Broadcast on: SCTV Broadcast date: 5 September 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 12.30pm Original created in: Mexico Rights owner/distributed in Asia by: TV Azteca/Comarex The pitch: Kids version of the long-running reality talent show, which debuted in Asia in 2003 as Akademi Fantasia on Malaysia’s Astro.

Lady First – Singapore season 2

Genre: Kids edutainment reality show Broadcast on: Discovery Kids Asia Broadcast date: May 2013 (season 1) and June 2014 (season 2) Time slot: Weekdays, 8pm Commissioned by: Discovery Networks Asia Pacific

Genre: Magazine show, lifestyle, beauty, fashion Broadcast on: E City, StarHub Broadcast date: 3 July 2014 Time slot: 8pm-9pm Produced by: Wawa Pictures Original created in: TVBS Taiwan Who owns the rights: StarHub and TVB International (TVBI) Production notes & quotes: See box on page 81 Ratings: Lady First – Singapore season two attracted nonChinese viewers with the introduction of English-language

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subtitles, and reached 44% more viewers compared to the previous programme screened in the same slot.

Let’s Eat

around deals offered to audience members. Ratings: Ratings peak for May 2014 was 3.1 TVR (12.6 TVS) on 21 May. June peaked at 3.5 TVR (14.7 TVS) on 9 June, with at least eight days TVR of 3 or above. The highest rating from 1-10 July was 3 (13% TVS) on 8 July.

Love In The Wild Vietnam

Junior Bake Off Thailand Thailand’s Nation Multimedia Group’s freshly minted digital terrestrial channel, Now 26, launched Asia’s first version of U.K. kids’ cooking show, Junior Bake Off Thailand, in September 2014. A spinoff of BBC series, The Great British Bake Off, Junior Bake Off gives children between seven and 12 years old the chance to become baking champions. The eightepisode 33-minute series premieres on 7 September, airing at 4pm on Sundays, and ran to 26 October. Junior Bake Off Thailand was produced by Thai production house Content Lab. Executive producers are Gavin Wood and BBC Worldwide’s executive producer for formats and local production Duncan Cooper. Given Thailand’s wet weather during filming, the greatest production challenge was finding a location. “The show is usually recorded in a large marquee located in a park or on the grounds of a country estate. Our recording schedule clashed with Thailand’s rainy season, which made shooting in a tent impractical,” says Noppakorn Thongman, Content Lab’s MD. Junior Bake Off Thailand eventually recorded at Thailand’s biggest family water park, Siam Park, in Bangkok. Another challenge was training the kids to use modern kitchen appliances. Most had never used an electric mixer, blender or electric whisk and opted for spoons and hand whisks instead. Ovens are also an uncommon commodity in Thai domestic kitchens. “We held a workshop day for all the children so they could become familiar with the appliances. It was a challenging day for them and they learned a lot of other skills, like using digital scales with the tare weight function so the bowl weight was not included when weighing ingredients,” Wood says. Recipe ingredients were adapted for Thai tastes. For example, bread and savoury dishes were ditched and the challenges built around more popular baked goods. “There is a lively coffee shop culture in Thailand and the demand for cakes, scones, doughnuts, etc is high,” Thongman says. “The children also delivered some inspired and creative bakes far ahead of their age and experience,” he adds. The show’s production budget has not been disclosed, but is “within the normal range for an international format of this quality and duration”, Thongman says. Launched in April this year, Now 26 is part of Thailand’s bouquet of 24 new commercial digital terrestrial stations. The channel’s line-up also includes sitcom How I Met Your Mother and drama series White Collar.

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Genre: Scripted format, romantic comedy Broadcast on: tvN, Korea Broadcast date: Premiered 28 November 2013, ongoing through 2014 Time slot: Thursdays, 11pm Commissioned by: Park Jong Hoon, Park Joon Hwa Produced by: tvN Original created in: South Korea Rights Owner: CJ E&M The pitch: A hybrid drama from director/creator Park Joon Hwa, who created Korea’s longest running hit drama series Mean Lady. The story delves into the lives of four single people – neighbours living on their own, hungry for food and love. Their common ground is that they are foodies. When a strange murder occurs in their neighborhood, how will their lives change?

Lets Make a Deal Indonesia (Super Deal)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: ANTV Broadcast date: Premiered 17 February 2014 Timeslot: Mondays-Fridays, 7pm8.30pm Produced by: Co-produced by Antv and FremantleMediaowned production house PT Dunia Visitama Produksi Original created in: U.S. Owned/distributed in Asia by: FremantleMedia International The pitch: A game show based

Genre: Reality Broadcast on: VTV 6, Vietnam Broadcast date: March 2015 Time slot: Fridays, 9pm-10pm Produced by: TVPlus Company Limited Original created in: Endemol U.S.A. Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: Singletons journey to a tropical paradise to find that special someone.

Mad About You, China

Genre: Sitcom Co-production partners: Huaso Film/TV Digital Production (jointventure production company of Sony Pictures Television and CCTV6’s HuaCheng Pictures), and Croton Media Broadcast on & date: Production scheduled to begin in early 2015. Channel and broadcast date had not been confirmed by 1 December 2015 Original created in: U.S. Who owns the rights: Sony Pictures Television The pitch: A newlywed couple tries to maintain marital bliss despite the demands of city life, career, families and friends. Things you might like to know: Huaso has also produced Chinese versions of SPT talk show Dr. Oz, and competition series Raid the Cage and Dancing Nation.

MasterChef Cambodia

Genre: Cooking show Broadcast on: CTN Broadcast date: Q3 2016 Produced by: CTN Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: Chefs go knife-to-knife in a battle for kitchen supremacy.

Junior MasterChef Indonesia

Genre: Cooking show Broadcast on: RCTI Broadcast date: Premiered 6 April 2014

Time slot: Saturdays/Sundays, 4.30pm Produced by: RCTI Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: An inspirational and fun programme that gives children aged nine to 12 years old a chance to become a Junior MasterChef champion.

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onds pushes contestants one step higher up the prize ladder. 10 successful challenges in a row equals a life-changing amount of money

Minute to Win it Philippines

MasterChef Korea

Genre: Cooking show Broadcast on: Olive TV Broadcast date: 19 Apil 2014 Time slot: 11pm Produced by: CJ Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: Shine International

Master Class China (音乐大师课/Yin Yue Da Shi Ke)

Genre: Entertainment Broadcaster: BTV Beijing Satellite TV Broadcast date: Q1 2015 Produced by: Beijing 3C Media Creative International Culture Media Co Ltd Rights owner: Keshet International The pitch: Children’s talent show with all-time classic songs, only positive reviews and no eliminations Other things you might like to know: The original deal was announced in April 2014.

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: ABS-CBN, Philippines Broadcast date: 14 January 201321 February 2014 Timeslot: Weekdays, 11am Produced by: ABS-CBN Rights owner: Shine International

Minute to Win it: Singapore

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Channel 5 Broadcast date: 9 August 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 8pm-9pm Produced by: MediaCorp Rights owner: Shine International

Missing (Donde Esta Elisa?/ Where is Elisa/Laut Aao Trisha)

Minute to Win it (1 Neati Daembi Chhneah)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: CTN, Cambodia Broadcast date: 19 January 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 8pm-9pm Produced by: CTN Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: Every challenge successfully completed in 60 seconds pushes contestants one step higher up the prize ladder. 10 successful challenges in a row equals a life-changing amount of money.

Minute to Win It Myanmar

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: MRTV4/Channel 7, Myanmar Broadcast date: 2014 , ongoing Time slot: Mondays-Fridays, 5pm-6pm Produced by: Forever BEC-Tero Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: Every challenge successfully completed in 60 sec-

Genre: Telenovela/drama Broadcast on: Star India. Previous Asia adaptions were in Indonesia and the Philippines. A Korean version is currently in production. Broadcast date: July 2014 Time slot: Mondays-Fridays, 10pm Produced by: Star India Distributed by: Telemundo Studios The pitch: Drama about a father and mother faced with the loss of a child. Performance: The India premiere episode at 10pm attracted an average of two million viewers, Telemundo says.

Mom Vote For Me! China

Genre: Singing talent competition Broadcast on: To be announced Broadcast date: 2015

Lady First – Singapore Taiwanese beauty and lifestyle format, Lady First, returned to Singapore for a second season on 3 June 2014 with a few new faces and its first episode dedicated to men. Another first for the returning season was English subtitles, which broadened the series potential viewer base beyond pay-TV platform StarHub’s Mandarin-speaking viewers. The special men’s episode madeover five typical Singaporean men. The idea came about after returning host Pauline Lan commented that “Singaporean men are oily”, StarHub’s Lee Soo Hui, head of media business unit, says. “So the team came up with the idea [that would...] allow the men to get into the action with practical grooming and styling tips,” Lee adds. Lan was joined on screen by returning stylists Kevin Chou, Xiao Kai and Wu Yu Lin. The new addition was Taiwanese skincare specialist Liu Yan, one of Lady First – Taiwan’s resident gurus. The Singapore team included returning health guru Bryan Gan and style guru Keith Png. New additions to the Singapore team were hairstylist Dexter Ng and fitness instructor Jackson Tan. The women’s team of 13 included six new faces. Lady First – Singapore is a co-production between StarHub, Hong Kong broadcaster Television Broadcasts Ltd (TVB) and TVB’s Taiwanese unit TVBS. The original Lady First is Taiwan’s longest-running variety show and is now in its 11th year. Lady First – Singapore is the first overseas format adaptation. Season one of the Singapore version garnered about three times more viewers compared to programmes aired in the same time slot previously, Lee said. “The programme was so popular that it had a positive knock-on effect on the original Taiwanese version, which garnered 34% more viewers after the premiere of Lady First – Singapore,” Lee added. One of the challenges was blending a team from Taiwan and Singapore and ensuring synergy. Lee said viewers needed to see “a seamless relationship between the two teams of gurus on air, and are able to get practical advice on beauty and fashion despite climate and cultural differences between Taiwan and Singapore”. The weekly beauty and style format (13x60 mins) aired on StarHub’s in-house entertainment channel E City in an 8pm9pm (Tuesdays) slot. E City is offered for free to all StarHub TV subscribers, which totalled 533,000 Singapore households in the first quarter of the year. The show was also on StarHub’s second-screen app, StarHub TV Buddy, which provides real-time product reviews and cast details during broadcast. The app is available on Android and iOS mobile devices.

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Time slot: Access prime Produced by: Beijing Enlight Media Original created in: Spain Distributed in Asia by: Global Agency The pitch: Young singers between 18 and 30 years old compete before a panel made up of their mothers.

Mom’s Time Out

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Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Hang Meas HDTV, Cambodia Broadcast date: 13 April 2014 Time slot: Sundays Produced by: Hang Meas HDTV

The Money Drop Indonesia Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Kompas TV, Indonesia Broadcast date: 2015 Time slot: To be confirmed Produced by: Kompas TV

The Money Drop Mongolia (50 саяын)

Ryujin Juwara, Malaysia The local version of Japanese format Ryujin Mabuyer marked many firsts in Malaysia. Known locally as Ryujin Juwara, the format is Malaysia’s first in the genre of Tokusatsu (Japanese for live animated, special effects show). Ryujin Juwara is also Malaysia’s first production to include fighting scenes in every episode and also the first Malay TV series shot (for two episodes) in Okinawa. The series is a story of an average man, Andil, chosen to fight evil and retrieve the nine legendary Mabui stones. The original was created by Japan’s Mabui Stone Corporation. Part two of the 26-episode series ran from 15 August to 7 November 2014. The first 13 episodes ran from January to April 2014. The second 13 focus on the adventures of Ryujin Juwara and his new-found friend/ fighting partner, Ryujin Gelora. Both fight new villains, including Starfish, to save the Mabui stones. Commissioned by Malaysian free-TV broadcaster Media Prima and brokered by Japan’s Yomiuri TV Enterprise, Ryujin Juwara aired on Fridays at 7.30pm-8pm targetting audiences aged nine and above. The format had a cumulative viewership of more than 18.3 million among audiences 4+. Local elements were injected into the original Ryujin Mabuyer concept, including ‘batik’ (manual wax dye painting), Malay dance, shadow art performance, nasi lemak (local dish) and the KLCC Twin Tower landmark. The relationship between the two Ryujins was also changed for Malaysia. In the Japanese version, the two are brothers. The Malaysian version casts them as friends. The transformation power in the original version is from the sun of god but in the local version, the power is kept in a bracelet, which can only be awakened through Andil’s sacrifices (by saving lives). A fairy character ‘Hibi’, which represents Malaysia’s national flower, has also been added. The fighting scenes were one of the major challenges. “The tightness and the weight of the costumes caused difficulty for the moves as most of fighting was shot outdoors, it was a very tough task for our artist and stunt team... under the hot sun, appropriate break and rest were required during the shoot, which has given us a hard time to maintain the production schedule,” says Lim Siu Min, business development director of production house Double Vision. Enormous amounts of computer graphics were injected into the show, added Lim. Lim’s big hope for Ryujin Juwara is that the success of the format in Malaysia will be followed by localised versions in other countries.

The Money Drop Cambodia

Genre: Documentary, Reality Broadcast on: Lifetime Asia Broadcast date: 28 August 2014 Time slot: Thursdays, 9pm Commissioned by: Michele Schofield, Senior Vice President, Programming & Production, A+E Networks Asia Produced by: Wonderland Pictures Original created by: A+E Networks Asia Who owns the rights: A+E Networks Asia The pitch: Three mothers go on a luxury one-week holiday, leaving the dads in charge of the house and the kids. Will Dad step up or give up? Will this social experiment give mum the recognition she deserves?

The Money Drop Afghanistan (Shoma Wa Million)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: 1 TV Media, Afghanistan Broadcast date: 18 February 2014 Time slot: Daily, 30 mins Produced by: 1 TV Media Original created in: Endemol U.K. Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: A high-jeopardy TV game show that can be simultaneously played online at home. Contestants are given their prize at the top of the show – a million in cash. All they have to do is keep hold of it by correctly placing their winnings on the trapdoor displaying the correct answer. If the answer is wrong, their money falls through the floor and is lost forever.

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Education TV Channel, Mongolia Broadcast date: 8 February 201424 December 2014 Time slot: Wednesdays, 9pm Rights owner/distributor: Endemol Produced by: Mongol Mass Media Group

The Money Drop Thailand

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: BBTV 7, Thailand Broadcast date: Season one premiered on 2 August 2014, with the finale scheduled for the third week of January 2015. Season two will run straight on in the same timeslot. Time slot: Saturdays/Sundays, 6pm-6.30pm Rights owner/distributor: Endemol Produced by: Zense Entertainment

The Money Drop Vietnam (Dung De Tien Roi)

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Genre: Game show Broadcast on: VTV3, Vietnam Broadcast date: 16 January 2014 Time slot: Thursdays, 8pm-9pm Rights owner/distributor: Endemol Produced by: Blue Ocean Communication Advertising Corporation

The Noise (Silence!, Singapore)

My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad China 老爸拼吧

The Singing Bee, Philippines When central Philippines was hit by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, national broadcaster ABS-CBN did more than drive major relief initiatives. Returning singing format, The Singing Bee, to local screens was part of the effort to entertain and uplift the Philippines’ spirit, says ABS-CBN’s Leng Raymundo, head, integrated acquisition and international sales. Based on the original creation by the U.K.’s Gurin Company, The Singing Bee is a musical game show, challenging contestants in singing and their knowledge of lyrics. Season six was hosted by Amy Perez and Roderick Paulate. The first five seasons, hosted by Cesar Montano, aired on Channel 2 from 2008 to 2010. The competition concept was adjusted earlier this year, when the show shifted from Saturday afternoons at 3.30pm to a stripped slot Mondays to Fridays at 11am. Champions of the day were introduced on Mondays to Thursdays. Daily champions returned and challenged one another on Fridays to be the grand winner. The Singing Bee ranked ninth in its former Saturday slot, with a 13.2 TV rating and a place on the top 20 programmes chart on 1 February (total Philippines, urban and rural, source: Kantar Media/TNS). In its new weekday slot, the show ranked 16th (24 July 2014) with a 10.2 TV rating. Raymundo says The Singing Bee complements the lifestyle and culture of the Filipinos because of their passion for singing. “We knew beforehand that The Singing Bee can deliver this experience as Filipinos love to sing. Karaoke has been part of the Filipino lifestyle and culture,” she says. In each episode, six contestants are selected from the audience to play a series of games that test their knowledge of song lyrics. If contestants make an error, they forfeit the chance to get into the ‘musical chairs’. If a contestant is not in a musical chair when the round is over, he or she is eliminated. The grand prize is Ps1 million/US$22,346. ABS-CBN is home to other format franchises, including 2013’s The Voice, Minute to Win It and Bet on Your Baby, as well as Deal or No Deal, Got Talent, The X Factor, Big Brother, MasterChef and The Biggest Loser. Raymundo says the aim is to offer a complete portfolio that will address diverse viewing preferences in predominantly one-TV-set homes. 80% of ABS-CBN’s programmes are locally produced. 20% is foreign content.

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Genre: Reality game/sports show Broadcast on: Xiamen TV, China Broadcast date: Dec 2013-May 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 7.30pm Produced by: Xiamen TV Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: School-yard taunts are put to the test in a contest to see whose dad is best. Dads team up with their sons/daughters in a series of stunt-driven challenges that test strength, speed, agility, and how well he knows his child. After each challenge, one team is eliminated, until one team remains.

Myanmar’s Got Talent

Genre: Talent show Broadcast on: MRTV-4 Broadcast date: Premiered 28 September 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 7.30pm8.30pm Rights owner/distributed in Asia by: FremantleMedia Rights acquired by: Forever BEC-Tero

Next One Vietnam (Người Kế Tiếp)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: VTV 6, Vietnam Broadcast date: 19 September 2013-3 April 2014 Time slot: Thursdays, 9pm Produced by: Blue Ocean Production Original created in: Endemol Italy Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: Next One is a daily game show where players queue up on stage and one by one take part in a high-speed game of knowledge.

Genre: Studio game show Broadcast on: StarHub E City with an encore on Super Sports Arena Broadcast date: Premiered 21 October 2014 on E City and 27 October 2014 on Super Sports Arena Time slot: E City, Tuesdays, 8pm; Super Sports Arena, Mondays, 7.30pm Original created by: Fuji TV Japan Commissioned by: StarHub Singapore Produced by: Very! Pte Ltd Distributed in Asia by: FremantleMedia International The pitch: The Noise challenges teams of friends to perform a host of tasks without making a sound. Other things you might like to know: The Noise was Starhub’s first ever international gameshow format acquisition. The platform bought rights for two seasons.

Not a Star Yet season 5 (我不是明星)

Genre: Talent show Broadcast on: Zhejiang TV Broadcast date: 28 October 2014 Time slot: Mondays, 10pm Original created in: China Produced by: Wu Tong for Zhejiang TV Rights owner/distributed in Asia by: Keshet International The pitch: A talent show that sees the children of the nation’s best known stars take to the stage. Having been shielded from the limelight until now, this time they bask in it by choice and must win over the voting crowd on their own merits.

Odd One In Vietnam (Người Biẩn)

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: HTV7, Vietnam Broadcast date: Premiered on 30 March 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 9pm-10pm Produced by: Dongtay promotions Original created in: Endemol U.K. Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: Two celebrity teams try to spot the person with the unique skill, secret or story in a series of outlandish line-ups. In each line-up, the odd one in is surrounded by fakers who try to trick the teams into believing that they are the one with the special skill or secret.

Old Enough! (Con da Lon Khon) Genre: Docu-entertainment Broadcast on: HTV, Vietnam Broadcast date: Ongoing, premiered on 30 July 2011 Time slot: Saturday evenings Produced by: MCV Corporation Original created in: Japan Who owns the rights: Nippon TV Japan The pitch: Old Enough captures the wonder, amazement and charm of little children going on “big adventures” – running errands on their own for the very first time. In Japan, Old Enough has been a prime-time hit for more than 18 years.

Old Enough (Daddy, Mommy, Look at Me, 老爸老妈看我的) Genre: Docu-entertainment Broadcast on: Qinghai Satellite TV, China Broadcast date: Season two is currently in production. Season one remiered on Sunday, 13 October 2013. Distributed in Asia by: Nippon TV Japan Time slot: Sundays, 9.10pm Produced by: Qinghai Satellite TV’s in-house production team

Perfect Balance Vietnam/Mekata de Don (Chiec Can May Man/ Lucky Scale)

Genre: Entertainment, studio game show Broadcast on: Today TV, Vietnam Broadcast date: Ongoing, premiered 20 July 2013 Time slot: Saturdays, 9pm-10pm Produced by: International Media JS Company in-house production team Original created in: Japan Who owns the rights: Nippon TV The pitch: Studio game show broadcast on NTV in Japan for more than nine years. Contestants win their dream items by weighing them. The hook? They have to balance their chosen items with their female partner’s body weight.

Photo Face-Off

Genre: Reality competition Broadcast on: History channel Asia Broadcast date: 23 September 2014 Time slot: Tuesdays, 9pm Commissioned by: Michele Schofield, Senior Vice President, Programming and Marketing, A+E Networks Asia Produced by: FremantleMedia Asia Created by: A+E Networks Asia Rights owner: A+E Networks Asia The pitch: Five amateur photographers compete against professional photographer Justin Mott in a three-round battle to show how far they will go to get the perfect shot. In the season finale, the winner is awarded the grand prize of an all-expenses-paid trip to a red-carpet event in New York. The performance: A+E Networks Asia hit paydirt with Photo FaceOff. The series doubled History’s prime-time average audience and made History the top factual entertainment channel in Thailand on 23 September 2014. Along with the premiere of the new Storage Wars, the two shows put History in top spot among Astro’s regional English-language entertainment/ factual entertainment channels in prime time (6pm-midnight, 15+, Nielsen Malaysia) on the night.

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Super Deal Indonesia (Let’s Make A Deal) The Indonesian version of game show format, Let’s Make a Deal, continues to be a key ratings driver for Indonesia’s terrestrial television station Antv. Now in its fourth season, Super Deal had an average TV rating of 2.4 points over its first 182 episodes, with record ratings for the current series, says Antv’s acquisition manager Gunawan. Antv attained its highest TV share of 14.8% in July 2014 and attributed its performance to a slate of driver content, including Super Deal (Mondays to Fridays, 6pm8pm). Brokered by FremantleMedia, Super Deal is coproduced by Antv and FremantleMedia-owned production house PT Dunia Visitama Produksi. Super Deal is all about winning the most cash and merchandise via mini-games (“deals”) played by selected contestants. Each episode features 120 participants, dressed in crazy thematic costumes to increase their chances of being selected as contestants (“traders”). Traders either walk away with their winnings or continue playing and risk getting “zonked”, losing their cash and all chances to win bigger prizes. Following the original format, there are various game segments in each episode but the main ‘deal’ offering grand prize is played in the last segment called the “End Games”. The Indonesian adaptation has a special game segment, called “Games Bahaya” (dangerous games), where contestants compete in stunts to win cash prizes starting from Rp2 million/US$164. In the third segment, the winning amount starts at Rp1 million/US$82 and carries through to the next episode if there is no winner. Super Deal season four is hosted by comedian and magician Uya Kuya. Hosts for the last three seasons were Nico Siahaan (season one), Aditya Herpavi (season two) and Indra Bekti & Indy Barens (season three), along with celebrity co-hosts such as Luna Maya, Raffi Ahmad, Olga Syahputra and Sapri. Ratings have so far been consistent, except during the festive period, where audiences are mostly not at home to watch television, but overall the ratings are consistent above 2.2 points. Owned and operated by The Bakrie Group’s Viva, Antv produces about 65% of its content in-house and acquires the rest, including format rights to Deal Or No Deal Indonesia, Total Blackout Indonesia and New Kata Bergaya (Hot Streak).

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Popstar to Operastar Vietnam (Chinh Phuc Dinh Cao)

Vi Ban Xung Dang (You Deserve It) Feel-good quiz game show, Vi Ban Xung Dang (You Deserve It), moved into a 52-episode second season on VTV3 mid-2014 with Vietnam reality TV’s biggest prize money, a heart-full of good deeds and decent ratings for the first three episodes. The first three episodes generated an average TV rating of 1.3% (22 June, 29 June, 6 July 2014) on VTV3, says Vietnamese broadcaster Vietnam Television. Season two (52x60 mins) aired on Sundays at 5pm-6pm. Season one, premiered in June 2013, had an average TV rating of 1.7% for all 52 episodes. You Deserve It, distributed in Asia by Red Arrow International, is billed as a “feel good” game show, where the contestant plays for “someone else who deserves it”. Through several rounds of quiz play, contestants try their luck for cash prizes. The winnings go to a less fortunate individual/family. The aim is to reach out and change the life of a deserving person in each episode. Beneficiaries include a child who was suffering from a serious illness and two babies who underwent surgery to correct birth defects. The average prize of VND50,000/US$2,362 is the highest for a local game show on Vietnamese TV, including Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Money Drop and 1 vs 100. The biggest challenge is “searching and selecting beneficiaries because there are too many troubled individuals that we cannot reach out to,” says Nguyen Ha Nam, VTV’s general director programming department. He describes the series as “attractive, interesting and humanitarian”. Vi Ban Xung Dang was part of a stripped evening prime-time line up that included local versions of The Voice Kids and Money Drop. Endemol format 1 vs 100 aired on Mondays at 8pm, followed on Tuesdays by Sony Pictures’ Who Wants to be a Millionaire at 8pm, and Don’t Forget the Lyrics! on Wednesdays at 8pm. Endemol’s Money Drop aired on Thursdays at 8pm, with The Youth Report – KBS on Fridays at 8pm. Giong Hat Viet Nhi, the local version of reality singing competition The Voice Kids aired on Saturdays at 9pm, following MasterChef, which went out at 8pm. A local version of FremantleMedia’s X Factor aired on Sundays at 9pm. In yet another format acquisition, the local version of Dancing with the Stars Kids, a co-production with Cat Tien Sa Media Company, premiered in a Friday slot on 18 July 2014. VTV3, the sports and entertainment network of national television broadcaster, Vietnam Television, says it has every intention of keeping up its high format profile.

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Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: VTV3, Vietnam Broadcast date: Premiered 29 December 2013 Time slot: Sundays, 9pm Produced by: Cattiensa Original created in: U.K. Who owns the rights: ITV Studios Global Entertainment The pitch: Popstars compete against each other in a battle to become opera singers.

Prisoners of War

Genre: Drama Broadcast on: No details of when or where the show will air in Korea had been released by November 2014 Produced by: Star J, Youngbeom Jeong, Sebastian Lee and Teddy Zee. Nam-gil is attached to star. Who owns the rights: Keshet Int’l The pitch: Two soldiers attempt to re-adjust to their lives after returning home from 17 years in captivity. Based on the original drama remade in the U.S. as Homeland. Other things you might like to know: In February 2014, Keshet said Korea’s Star J Entertainment had bought format rights for a local version of Prisoners of War for Korea. This will be the first Asian adaptation of the drama format.

Project Runway Vietnam

Genre: Fashion/design reality Broadcast on: VTV3 Broadcast date: April-July 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 8pm Produced by: Multimedia Original created in: U.S. as Project Runway USA Who owns the rights: FremantleMedia Asia The pitch: Reality show that gives fashion designers the chance to have their collections shown at a major fashion show and displayed in the pages of a leading fashion magazine.

Ready To Fly?

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Astro AEC, Malaysia Broadcast date: 12 July 2014 Time slot: 10pm-11.30pm Produced by: Astro Production Original created by: Measat Broadcast Network Systems and Astro Production Sdn Bhd Who owns the rights: Measat Broadcast Network Systems The pitch: A live interactive game show that tests contestants’ knowledge of travel. Contestants play for travel packages and cash. The TV element is complemented by a mobile game for Android and iOS. The app is tagged to the main TV show as a second screen.

The Remix Vietnam

Genre: DJ, singing talent competition Broadcast on: VTV Broadcast date: January 2015 Time slot: Prime time Produced by: Cattiensa Original created in: India by Greymatter Entertainment Distributed in Asia by: Global Agency The pitch: Live music reality show. DJs and singers pair up and compete over 15 weeks for a money prize and the chance to cut their own album with a music label.

Rising Star China

Genre: Talent show Broadcast on: CCTV-3 Broadcast date: Not decided Original created by: Keshet International U.K. Licensed by: Enlight Media China Rights owner: Keshet International The pitch: Live interactive talent show with full-on app-based audience participation. The giant wall rises as soon as contestants receive enough votes Other things you might like to know: Keshet announced the two-season, 30-episode deal in September 2014.

Rising Star Indonesia

Genre: Talent show Broadcast on: RCTI, Indonesia Broadcast date: Premiered 28 August 2014 Produced by: RCTI Created by: Keshet International U.K.

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Vietnam’s Next Top Model (Người Mẫu Việt Nam 2014) Vietnam’s Next Top Model (VNTM) is part of the country’s enthusiastic embrace of a wide range of foreign formats, including everything from Ugly Betty in the early days to The Voice and Big Brother. Now in its fifth season, the modeling property has been taken from newbie to established franchise by production house Multimedia JSC for national free-TV broadcaster VTV’s VTV3 channel. Season five premiered in November 2014 and runs Saturdays at 8pm. The finale is in Ho Chi Minh City on 17 January 2015. Auditions were held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in August 2014. Season one premiered in 2010 and ran to end January 2011. Production house Multimedia JSC says changes have been made every season to make the series more interesting. For example, male models were included for the first time in season four, which “made the competition more fierce and cut-throat than ever”, says Multimedia JSC owner, Trang Le Thi Quynh. Season five has movement coach Adam Williams returning as model mentor and one of the show’s main judges. “This is the first time we have a permanent international judge on the judging panel, giving an international view to the show,” she adds. Other firsts for season five include allowing experienced models to compete. Previously, only amateurs and wannabe models were accepted. This season also features the first catwalk lesson on a helipad atop a 68-storey building as well as the inaugural spiral catwalk challenge and the first photo-shoot challenge where contestants are hung up to 25 metres by only one string. This season’s best contestants will do the rounds of modeling agencies in Milan. “We strongly believe that their unique Asian characters will impress this new market in context of the prominence of Asian faces on the international runway now,” she says. Previous destinations were Thailand and Australia. The biggest challenge in every season has been how to up the ante, keep audiences coming back, and find the best ways “to both entertain the audience and satisfy the sponsors/partners while keep the best model training quality for the show”. “VNTM’s biggest goal is to search for, train, and generate new potential model generations for Vietnam, so that they are not only successful in the local market but also able to strut their walk at international catwalks for big fashion weeks/events,” Trang says.

Judge and style coach, Adam Williams

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Rights owner: Keshet International The pitch: Live interactive talent show with full-on app-based audience participation. The giant wall rises as soon as contestants receive enough votes

Ryujin Juwara, Malaysia

Genre: Action/adventure/special effects drama series Broadcast on: TV3 Broadcast date: Season one (part one) aired 17 January 201411 April 2014 (episodes 1-13). Season one (part two) airs 15 August 2014-7 November 2014 (episodes 14-26) Time slot: Fridays, 7.30pm Commissioned by: Media Prima Produced by: Double Vision (Malaysia), Yomiuri-TV Enterprise (Japan) and Mabui Stone (Japan) Original created in: The original Ryujin Mabuyer TV series was created in Japan. Rights owner: Mabui Stone Corp Distribution: Yomiuri-TV Enterprise The pitch: Ryujin Juwara is the story of average man, Andil, chosen to fight evil and retrieve the nine legendary Mabui stones. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 82

director guides each comedian with individual instructions that are unknown to the other cast members to create improvised comedy with a sitcom feeling.

The School (青春校园)

Genre: Factual entertainment Broadcast on: Hunan TV, China Broadcast date: Commissioned 2014 Time slot: To be confirmed Produced by: Hunan TV Original created in: Twofour, U.K. Rights owner: Shine International The pitch: A look at life behind the school gate. Fitting in, falling out, exam pressure, peer pressure, first love and last chances...

Secret Millionaire (小善大爱/ Xiao Shan Da Ai)

Genre: Factual entertainment Broadcast on: Dragon TV of SMG Broadcast date: 4 June 2014 Time slot: Wednesdays, 10pm Commissioned by: Li Yong Produced by: IPCN/80 Productions Original created in: U.K. Who owns the rights: Zodiak Rights The pitch: Millionaires go undercover in the nation’s poorest areas, looking for deserving people to give their money to.

Schiller Street “Joy Street” (喜乐街)

SG Mania

Genre: Comedy show Broadcast on: CCTV 1, China Broadcast date: Premiered 6 June 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 11.30pm Original created in: Germany Rights owner: Red Arrow Int’l The pitch: A stage, top-class comedians, a continual flow of surprise guests – and no script whatsoever. Using a headset, the

Genre: Variety, reality singing competition Broadcast on: Suria, Singapore Broadcast date: 12 August 201430 September 2014 Timeslot: Tuesdays, 8.30pm Produced by: MediaCorp Suria Original created in: Singapore Rights owner: MediaCorp Suria The pitch: A tribute to local composers

Sing If You Can (Killer Karaoke India season 2)

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: Star TV/Zee Tamizh TV Broadcast date: 14 December 2013-June 2014 Time slot: Weekends, 7pm-8pm Produced by: Sol The pitch: Contestants sing while the host puts them through physical challenges.

Sing If You Can (Killer Karaoke Philippines series 1/Pinoy Naman) Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: TV5 Broadcast date: December 2013 to January 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 8.45pm The pitch: Contestants sing while the host puts them through physical challenges.

an additional deal with Alibaba. com to distribute the show’s music Broadcast date: Season one aired 3 January 2014- 21 March 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 7.30pm Produced by: Star China/Starry Production Original created in: China Who owns the rights: Star China/ Starry Production The pitch: A studio-based song contest, searching for the best original songs in the nation Ratings: CSM viewership data released by Starry Productions shows season one reach at 480 million viewers across the season, with a total audience share of 37% and CCTV’s slot ratings up 59% year on year.

The Singing Bee, Philippines

Sing If You Can (Killer Karaoke Thailand series 3)

Who owns the rights: Dori Media The pitch: Trivia game show where contestants are asked questions and must find someone on the street to answer for them. If the person they choose answers correctly, the contestant wins money, and moves on to the next question. If the person is incorrect, the contestant is out of the game.

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Other challenges are designed to unleash hidden or unusual talents.

Step Right Up Vietnam (Một bước để chiến thắng)

So You Think You Can Dance China

Genre: Dance talent show Broadcast on: Zhejiang TV, China Broadcast date: 19 April 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 9pm Produced by: Star China/Starry Production Original created in: U.S. The pitch: Competitors attempt to master a variety of dance styles. The Chinese version featured four of the nation’s most accomplished dancing artists as judges.

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: VTV6, Vietnam Broadcast date: 17 September 2013-25 March 2014 Time slot: Tuesday, 9pm-10pm Produced by: Blue Ocean Production

Strictly Come Dancing (Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa)

Star Academy (Hoc Vien Ngoi Sao)

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: MCOT Broadcast date: January-October 2014 Time slot: Mondays, 8.25pm Original created in: U.K. Who owns the rights: Zodiak Rights The pitch: Contestants sing while the host puts them through physical challenges.

Sing If You Can Vietnam series 2 Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: VTV Broadcast date: Premiered June 2014 Time slot: Prime time Produced by: BHD VMC The pitch: Contestants sing while the host puts them through physical challenges.

Sing My Song

Genre: Original music talent format Broadcast on: Season one aired on CCTV-3, China. The season two pick up for China was announced in October 2014, with

Genre: Musical game show Broadcast on: ABS-CBN Broadcast date: 16 November 2013-29 August 2014 Time slot: Mondays to Fridays at 11am since 24 February 2014. The original slot was Saturdays at 3.30pm. Commissioned by: ABS-CBN Produced by: ABS-CBN Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: Shine International Production notes & quotes: See box on page 84

Smart Face season 1 & 2

Genre: Trivia game show Broadcast on: KompasTV, Indonesia Broadcast date: 3 February 201430 April 2014 (season one). Season two premiered in August 2014 Time slot: 4pm Commissioned/produced by: FremantleMedia for KompasTV

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: VTV 6, Vietnam Broadcast date: 19 March 20143 June 2014 Time slot: Daily 8pm-10pm Produced by: VTV, BHD Co Limited Created by: Endemol Netherlands The pitch: Candidates are trained by a team of professionals whose ultimate aim is to create a single for one performer. In the specially designed academy, cameras follow the contestants during their day-to-day activities with their vocal, choreography and acting coaches.

Step Right Up Thailand (Step Right Up Krai Keng Krai)

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: Channel 9, Thailand Broadcast date: Premiered 3 January 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 6pm Produced by: Zense Entertainment Created by: Endemol Argentina Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: Contestants queue to play different games with different prizes and must complete different challenges to win them. With one chance to play, each person has one shot of winning the featured prize. Challenges might require physical skill and others might test the contestant’s talent or mental competence.

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: Colors, India Broadcast date: Premiered 7 June 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, Sundays 9pm Commissioned by: Manisha Sharma, Head of Weekend Programming, Colors Produced by: BBC Worldwide Productions, India Original created in: U.K. Who owns the rights: BBC Worldwide The pitch: An eclectic mix of celebrities and well-known faces perform with professional dancers. The USP: Use of cutting edge video mapping technology never seen before on Indian television.

SuperModel Me season 5

Genre: Made-in-Asia model talent show Broadcast on: Diva Universal

issue six, december 2014

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NTENT ASIA

Broadcast date: Monday, 24 November 2014 Time slot: Mondays, 8pm Produced by: Refinery Media Original created in: Singapore The pitch: Asia’s first original super model series. The angle is that contestants are already models. Things you might like to know: The title started life in 2009 on Sony Pictures Television’s AXN channel (season one) before shifting to Celestial Tiger Entertainment’s Kix channel for seasons two and three. The series found a new home at Universal Channels International’s Diva from season four.

April 2014 Time slot: Sundays, Mondays, 9pm-11pm Commissioned/produced by: FremantleMedia Rights owned by: FremantleMedia Other things you might like to know: Indonesia’s first dating show premiered in June 2009. Season three returned on 15 November 2012 and ran on Thursdays and Fridays at 8.30pm.

The Taste (味觉大战, Wei Jue Da Zhan, The Big Battle of the Taste)

Broadcast on: Shanghai Dragon TV & iQIYI.com (in China) Broadcast date: Premiered 12 November 2014 Time slot: Wednesdays, 10pm Original created in: U.K. Commissioned by: Dragon TV Produced by: Honyee Media Distributor in Asia: BBC Worldwide The pitch: Extraordinary and ordinary cars are tested to their limits.

Genre: Large-scale studio game show Broadcast on: Aniworld TV, China Broadcast date: Premiered 18 January 2014 Time slot: Saturdays 7pm Produced by: Idea Asia Media Original created in: Japan Who owns the rights: Nippon TV

Top Gear Korea series 6 (탑기어 코리아)

Genre: Drama/comedy Broadcast details: 2015 Original created in: Colombia, Yo Soy Betty, La Fea. Adapted for the U.S. market as Ugly Betty Produced by: Kantana Group Public Company Limited The pitch: The series focuses on the life of wannabe writer Betty Suarez, a plain girl from Queens, N.Y., who is smart, hardworking and savvy but has a different sense of style. Other things you might like to know: (1) Drama adaptations of international formats in Asia still trail talent and game shows. Commissions such as this drive optimism about the future of drama formats in the region, but expectations are that, even if there is higher interest in 2015, the high cost of drama production remains a barrier. (2) India is arguably Ugly Betty/Yo soy Betty La Fea’s favourite and definitely its biggest market in Asia. The show ran as Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin on Sony’s Hindi-language general entertainment channel SETS from 2003 to 2007. As India’s regional market grows, dubbed versions of the Indian seasons are making their way into ethnic markets across India.

Super Star Ding Dong

Genre: Musical game show Broadcast on: CCTV China Broadcast date: 2015 Time slot: Monday nights prime time Produced by: In-house with support from Idea Asia Media Original created in: Ireland, Vision Independent Productions (VIP) Rights owner: Banijay International The pitch: Eight closed doors, each with a doorbell that chimes out a popular song. Can the contestants recognise hit tunes in this wacky form? That’s the challenge in this shiny musical floor show. Correct answers are rewarded with a performance from a top celebrity look-alike. Incorrect guesses mean the contestant loses valuable guessing and points-scoring time.

Take Me Out Indonesia season 4

Genre: Dating reality show Broadcast on: Indosiar Broadcast date: October 2013 to

issue six, december 2014

Genre: Cooking show Broadcast on: CCTV 2 Broadcast date: 17 November 2013-12 January 2014 Time slot: 17-24 November 2013: 5.55pm-6.25pm. 30 November 2013: 6pm-6.30pm. 1-29 December 2013: 7.30pm-8.30pm. 5 January 2014: 7pm-8pm. 12 January 2014: 7.30pm-8.30pm. Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Red Arrow Int’l The pitch: Four superstar mentors rely only on their taste buds to handpick the team of four cooks to coach.

Top Chef Vietnam (Đầu bếp đỉnh)

Genre: Reality cooking competition Broadcast on: HTV7 Broadcast date: 23 November 2014 Time slot: 8pm-8.45pm Content provider: TVplus Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: NBCUniversal Int’l The pitch: Chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges.

Top Gear China (颠覆拍档)

Genre: Factual entertainment

Genre: Lifestyle Broadcast on: XTM Broadcast date: Launched in August 2011. Series six premiere in December 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 10.50pm Produced by: CJ E&M Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: BBC Worldwide

Tore!/Pharaoh!

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: Channel 9, MCOT Broadcast date: 3 January 201427 June 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 8.30pm-9.30pm Produced by: KantaLucks Original created in: Japan Who owns the rights: Nippon TV The pitch: Two teams of five go head-to-head in a large-scale studio game show to collect gold pharaohs in order to win cash prizes. While challengers solve riddles, the floor moves up, the walls come closer and blocks randomly come out of the wall. Teams that solve riddles win points. The team with the most points advances to the final stage.

Tore!/Pharaoh! (Crazy Maiji, 疯狂的麦咭)

Ugly Betty, Thailand

The Ultimate Entertainer Vietnam (Tuyệt Đỉnh Tranh TøI) Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: HTV7, Vietnam Broadcast date: 19 April 20145 July 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 9pm10.30pm Produced by: Dong Tay Promotion Cooperation Original created in: Norway Rights owner: Endemol (excluding Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark) The pitch: Musical celebrities compete in a variety of styles – opera, rock, hip-hop, etc.

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Upgrade season 3

Genre: On-location game show Broadcast on: CCTV 2, China Broadcast date: 17 June 201419 August 2014 Time slot: Tuesdays, 6.40pm7.20pm Produced by: BCMI Rights owner: Armoza Formats The pitch: Contestants upgrade personal items for brand new ones – if they get the answers right. Items are taken away for wrong answers. Other things you might like to know: (1) There’s talk of a local version of Upgrade for Hong Kong but the local platform involved has not confirmed the commission and has declined to comment (as of end November 2014). (2) Two other local versions have been made in Asia so far: Korea (Channel A, 2012, produced by Box Media Productions) and India (Sun TV, 2012). (3) In India, special episodes were added to help various causes, including participants from a school where school uniforms were upgraded.

Vallavar Malaysia

Genre: Reality show Broadcast on: Astro Vinmeen Broadcast date: Mid-August 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 8pm Created/produced by: Indian Production, Astro Who owns the rights: Astro The pitch: Contestants’ physical and psychological strength is tested in challenging and unusual activities completed in the shortest time possible.

Vietnam’s Next Top Model Season 5

Genre: Modelling reality show Broadcast on: VTV3 Broadcast date: Premiered on 1 November 2014. The season 5 finale will be held in Ho Chi Minh City on 17 January 2015 Time slot: 8pm Produced by: Multimedia JSC Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: CBS Studios International Production notes & quotes: See box on page 88

The Voice Cambodia

Genre: Singing talent contest Broadcast on: Hang Meas HDTV Broadcast date: 3 August 2014 Time slot: 8pm Original created in: Netherlands Who owns Asia/global rights: Talpa

The Voice of China

Genre: Singing talent show Broadcast on: Zhejiang Broadcast premiere: 18 July 2014 Time slot: Fridays, 9pm Production house: Star China/ Starry Production Original created in: Netherlands Who owns Asia/global rights: Talpa

The Voice of the Philippines 1&2

The Voice Kids China (中国好声音少年版/Zhong Guo Hao Sheng Yin Shao Nian Ban)

Genre: Talent contest Broadcast on: Youku Tudou’s Tudou platform Broadcast date: 2015 Original created in: Netherlands Commissioned by: Youku Tudou’s Tudou division Distributed in Asia by: Talpa The pitch: Talent hunt to find young singers. Spin-off of The Voice Three more things you might like to know: (1) The Voice of China Kids will retain the classic format, including blind auditions, battles and professional coaching. As the China version is on an internet platform, viewers will have the opportunity to interact with the show across multiple screens. (2) The structure of this deal has not been disclosed, but the partners indicated in November 2014 when the deal was announced that it involved a “new partnership” approach. Tudou’s exact words were: “Tudou’s cooperation with Talpa fits into the new partnership approach, designed to help build Youku Tudou’s multiscreen media and entertainment ecosystem”. (3) Tudou stepping into the bigtime original production arena is part of rising optimism about mainland China – and particularly mainland Chinese online platforms – as a market for foreign rights. At the same time, few expect the regulatory goalposts to stop shifting and risk-minimisation remains a priority.

The Voice Kids, Philippines

issue six, december 2014

The Voice Kids, Vietnam (Giong Hat Viet Nhi)

Genre: Singing talent contest for kids Broadcast on: VTV3 Broadcast date: Summer 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 9pm The pitch: Talent hunt to find young singers. Spin-off of The Voice

Wall of Fame Thailand

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: To be announced Broadcast date: In pre-production, broadcast date to be decided Produced by: GMM HD Digital TV Co. Ltd/Exact Original created by: Endemol U.S. Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: Families of four win cash by correctly answering general knowledge questions and then identifying which celebrity on a ‘wall of fame’ also got the right answer.

Wheel of Fortune Vietnam season 7 (Chiếc nÄn kỳ diệu)

Genre: Game show Broadcast on: VTV3 Broadcast date: Ongoing Time slot: Saturdays, 12pm Original created in: U.S. Rights: CBS Studios International The pitch: Three contestants solve word puzzles to win prizes.

Where Are We Going Dad?, China season 3

Vietnam’s Got Talent (Tim Kiem Tai Nang Viet Nam)

Genre: Talent reality show Broadcast on: VTV3 Broadcast date: September 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 8pm Produced by: BHD Vietnam Original created in: U.K. Rights owner: FremantleMedia The pitch: Quest to find the best talent on offer. At stake is a lifechanging opportunity.

ing of 35.8%. The blind auditions aired at 6.45pm on Saturdays and 7.30pm on Sundays. The show topped the Philippines’ viewership charts in June 2014 with a rating of 35.6% (source: Kantar Media). The kids’ reality competition show beat drama Dyesebel (31%), with The Legal Wife in fifth spot at 28.8%.

Genre: Singing talent show Broadcast on: ABS-CBN Broadcast premiere: Season two premiered on Sundays, 26 October 2014. Season one aired June-September 2013 Time slot: Season 2, Sundays, 8.30pm Original created in: Netherlands Asia/global rights: Talpa

Genre: Kids version of singing talent contest Broadcast on: ABS-CBN Broadcast date: Premiered Saturday, 24 May-July 2014 Ratings: The Voice Kids premiere episode on 24 May 2014 recorded a national TV rating of 33.3%, followed the next day with a rat-

Genre: Reality Broadcast on: Hunan Broadcast date: Q3 2015 Time slot: To be confirmed Original created in: Korea Produced by: Hunan TV in-house production Rights owner: Hunan TV and MBC Distributed in Asia by: Hunan TV and MBC The pitch: The show features fathers and their children as they travel to rural places.

Where is Eliza? (Family Secrets, Korea)

Genre: Drama Broadcast on: tvN Broadcast date: Mondays through Thursdays from 28 October 2014. Runs to the end of April 2015 Time slot: 9.40am. Encores at 7.50pm and four-episode omnibus sessions on Fridays at 9.30am. Produced by: CJ E&M Original created in: Chile Distributed by: Telemundo The pitch: 100-episode revenge melodrama about a mother (played by Sin Eun Gyeong) from a well-off family who loses her son in a tragic accident. Then her only daughter goes missing... Notes & Quotes: See box on page 74 Other things you might like to know: Has also been made in Indonesia (Di Mana Melani, SCTV) and the Philippines (Nasaan Ka Elisa?, ABS-CBN).

X Factor Vietnam (Nhân Tố Bí Ẩn) Genre: Singing Reality Show Broadcast on: VTV3 Broadcast date: 30 March 201419 October 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 9pm Produced by: Cattiensa Original created in: U.K. Asia/global rights: FremantleMedia The pitch: Singing reality show open to all. Judges get in on the act, pitting their skills against each other as they search for that one performance with the X factor.

You Deserve It season 2 (Vi ban xung dang/Because You Deserve It)

Genre: Game/quiz show Broadcast on: VTV, Vietnam Broadcast date: Season two

(52x60 mins) premiered in late June 2014 Time slot: Sundays, 5pm-6pm Original created in: U.S. Rights owner: Red Arrow Int’l The pitch: “Feel good” game show. Winnings go to a less fortunate individual/family. Production notes & quotes: See box on page 86 Ratings: The first three episodes of season two generated an average TV rating of 1.3% (22 June, 29 June, 6 July) on VTV3, says Vietnam Television. Season two aired on Sundays at 5pm-6pm. Season one, premiered in June last year, had an average TV rating of 1.7% for all 52 episodes.

Your Face Sounds Familiar China (百变大咖秀/Bai Bian Da Ka Xiu)

NTENT ASIA

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Formats Outlook 2015 The where, when, what, why and how of Formats in Asia.

Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: Hunan TV, China Broadcast date: 2 January 2014 Time slot: Thursdays, 10pm-12am Produced by: Hunan Broadcasting System Created by: Endemol Spain Who owns the rights: Endemol The pitch: Well-known personalities take on a new identity as an iconic music performer. The catch is they may find themselves transformed into someone far older, younger or even of the opposite sex.

Please contact Aqilah at aqilah@contentasia.tv or +65 6846-5985 to add your formats deals and productions in Asia to the list www.contentasia.tv @Contentasia Facebook/Contentasia

Your Face Sounds Familiar Vietnam (Gương mặt th«n quen) Genre: Entertainment Broadcast on: VTV 3, Vietnam Broadcast date: 29 March 2014 Time slot: Saturdays, 9.20pm Produced by: Song Vang Created by: Endemol Spain Distributed in Asia by: Endemol Asia

Compiled by: Malena Amzah and Aqilah Yunus Source: Distributors, production houses, channels Notes: Updated as of 30 November. The next update will be published at the end of Q1 2015

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Henry Tan, Chief Operating Officer, Astro Malaysia

Malaysian platform, Astro, added 10 channels – 8 HD and 2 SD – to its platform in mid-November, bringing an end to more than a year of nail biting over capacity delays. Astro also rolled out a new video-on-demand platform, Astro Plus, on 1 December, with more than 1,000 hours of Hollywood movies, complete U.S. seasons and kids content, and two new packs – Fans Pack (RM99/ US$30 a month) and Astro Super Pack Plus (RM178/US$53). Astro hasn’t confirmed additional channel and service launches. But the amount of capacity it has secured on new satellite Measat-3b indicates that the November/December launches are just the beginning of significant service growth.

Southeast Asia could record its lowest advertising revenue growth in five years in 2014, says a new report, Asia Pacific Advertising Trends and Database 2014/5, from analysts Media Partners Asia (MPA). 2014 growth in Southeast Asia will be 1.2%, with a rebound to 7.2% expected in 2015. MPA says Asia’s net advertising revenues will grow 5% this year to top US$121 billion. The report measured revenues after discounts across 14 markets. For 2015, MPA projects a re-acceleration in growth with the regional advertising market to expand at 5.7%. Between 2014 and 2019, MPA forecasts indicate that Asia’s net advertising will climb at an average annual growth rate of 4.5%. Commenting on the findings, MPA executive director, Vivek Couto, said the “macro landscape is uneven and there are headwinds to economic growth across Asia Pacific”.

Malaysian broadcaster Media Prima plans to cut 10% of its workforce by the end of 2014 via a voluntary exit plan. The move follows a sharp drop in third quarter revenue and profit and a challenging market environment “where advertisers are more cautious and holding back advertising spending”. The company also cited “the tragic incidents involving flights MH370 and MH17” as contributing factors to softer sentiment in 2014. issue six, december 2014

The Voice Kids Philippines coaches Sarah Geronimo, Bamboo, and Lea Salonga, ABS-CBN Philippines

US$177m Philippines broadcaster ABS-CBN spent Ps7,939 million/US$177 million on production in the first nine months of 2014. Company financials show that this is down 3.6% on the same period in 2013. Rival GMA said production costs from January to September 2014 were Ps4,034 million/US$90 million, down by Ps223 million/US$5 million – 5% – compared to the same period the previous year. The top show in the third quarter was The Voice Kids Sunday (34.9), followed in second place by The Voice Kids Saturday (34).

25 million

US$49m

Baidu-backed Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi.com is said to have app installs at the end of September 2014 set aside something like – up from 13 million at the same time RMB300 million/ US$49 million to in 2013 – with more than 50% of spend on its own video views a month viewed content – includon mobile and connected deing movies. vices. Mobile video starts were iQiyi’s content development up 136.19% and minutes viewed Ma Dong, Chief efforts involve were up 125.76%. Five of Viki’s top 10 Content Officer, smartphone maker iQiyi mobile countries are from Asia, inXiaomi, which said in November that cluding Indonesia (second), Malayit was investing US$300 sia (third), Philippines (fourth), Singapore million (along with (sixth) and Thailand (seventh). Indonesia, Shunwi China Internet Fund) in the platform. Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand are the iQiyi’s U.S. titles include fastest growing markets. Three of Viki’s Gotham, The Blacklist top 10 languages are Asian – Indonesia season two, and Mod(fourth), Korean (sixth) and Thai (10th). ern Family season six. Online TV platform Viki hit 25 million mobile

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