What’s next for content in 2021?

Television Asia Plus interviewed six media executives on the content trends for 2021 and the strategies they’re implementing in terms of local production and acquisitions. While 2020 may have been a challenging year for the industry, these interviews show that not only has the industry been able to adapt to the current circumstances brought on by the pandemic, but there is something to look forward to from these companies in 2021.

International Studio

BBC Studios

Ryan Shiotani, Senior Vice President and General Manager, South and Southeast Asia, BBC Studios

On content trends of 2020 vs. 2021

The COVID crisis resulted in an increase in television viewing all over the world.

On our branded services in Asia, the demand for our distinctive, world-class content remained strong overall and we did see increased viewership for certain genres that reflected the fact that we were home-bound.

On BBC Lifestyle, programs like The Great British Bake Off and Your Home Made Perfect performed well as more people took up activities like baking and home improvement during lockdown. As we are largely unable to travel, audiences watch more of our talent-led travel and adventure content on BBC Earth presented by Joanna Lumley, Ben Fogle, and Simon Reeve.

British drama continued to grow in appeal in Asia in 2020 and home-bound viewers avidly sought out the latest series to binge-watch. BBC First, our premium British drama SVOD service, saw record viewing figures for the edgy award-winning thriller Killing Eve S3 in April.

Audiences also sought out more comforting and familiar fare such as Grantchester and The Mallorca Files.

CBeebies, aimed at preschoolers aged six years and under, provides a consistently safe environment for children to learn through play.

The content mix includes new favourites such as Hey Duggee and classics like Thomas and Friends which educate and entertain young audiences.

We saw increased viewership for CBeebies on-demand content on our multigenre BBC Player Asia, particularly in the months of April, May, and June.

The COVID pandemic accelerated the trend of audiences wanting access to more content whenever and wherever they want it.

We’ve seen an increase in viewership in 2020 on our BBC Player which features ondemand content from all of our brands.

We expect that to continue in 2021, helped by the launch of new set-top boxes by our affiliate partners that provide a frictionless viewing experience.

Content strategy for 2021:

There is a demand for distinctive world-class content, that informs, educates, and entertains, which the BBC is known and love for.

In 2021, you will see new landmark natural history titles on BBC Earth such as A Perfect Planet, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

On BBC First, 2021 will see the launch of The Watch, a new high-concept drama series inspired by the characters of Sir Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” novels.

Taking bold British creativity to the region will continue to be at the heart of what we do.

Viewers can expect several new shows from BBC in 2021, such as A Perfect Planet (Top) narrated by Sir David Attenborough on BBC Earth; and The Watch (Bottom), which is based on Sir Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ novels on BBC First.

OTT Players

Viu

Virginia Lim, Chief Content Officer, Viu

On content trends of 2020 vs. 2021

Media Partners Asia trade report on online video streaming noted that the online average weekly viewing minutes across Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand increased by 60% from January to April in 2020. In this same report, it was reported that Viu recorded a 274% increase in average weekly viewership over a span of just four months.

When Viu first launched, we recognised that Korean content would resonate well with our markets. We worked with Korea’s top five producers: SBS, KBS, MBC, CJ E&M, and JTBC to secure Korean entertainment content. We made sure to make updated content available with local language subtitles, as soon as within four hours of broadcast in Korea. In a survey we conducted, we found that 80% of our users who stream TV series watch some Korean content. And so we make sure that we cater to their viewing needs by continuing with these partnerships to bring quality Korean content to them.

Our Viu Original series has also performed well for us. We found that more than 50% of the viewers that are consuming our content are watching or have watched our own Viu Original series, for example, Pretty Little Liars, which is an Indonesian adaptation of the popular American series. We also have other Asian content such as Chinese, Japanese, and Thai on Viu. We worked with various local content suppliers to offer local content in respective markets. In 2021, we expect to offer even more Asian premium content and Viu Originals and we are confident that we will continue to provide the best content to our Viu-ers.

Content strategy for 2021:

Our content strategy, investment, and decision making for our core audience are driven by a strong understanding and insight into consumers’ entertainment preferences in local markets, market knowledge of local and international content, long and stable relationships with content owners in the ecosystem, as well as data analytics of the usage and behavior of our users.

Looking ahead to 2021, we believe that a balance of acquiring content as well as producing original content is the key to continue providing our viewers with diversified and entertaining content. We firmly believe that operating locally with global expertise is key, helping us become a leading pan-regional OTT platform in Greater Southeast Asia.

We plan to continue investing in content whether it is in the form of acquisition or our Viu Original productions, as we believe in constantly bringing premium, unique content to our Viu-ers which is culturally relevant and caters to their interests.

Bilibili

Bilibili Spokesperson

On content trends of 2020 vs. 2021

The synergy between Bilibili’s Professional User-Generated Videos (PUGV) and Occupationally-Generated Videos (OGV) has been greatly enhanced in 2020. Bilibili, which is a leading online entertainment platform for young people in China, and unlike other streaming platforms, 92% of our views come for PUGV. The remaining 8% of total views are from OGV content (including but not limited to animation series, documentaries, variety shows, drama series, or classic films.) Another major difference between Bilibili and other platforms is that it has a highly engaged or interactive online community.

As a result, a new content consumption dynamic is increasingly visible where Bilibili content creators, otherwise known as “uploaders,” create derivative videos on popular OGVs. Viewers who are fans of a certain OGV content will often watch related videos from uploaders and interact with other fans as well as the uploaders themselves. This is a great way to expand the influence of OGV. On the other hand, our choices of OGV on Bilibili are largely informed and guided by our PUGV ecology. We select OGV content that has the potential to “grow” in our community.

An example of this is the online reality show Rap for Youth, which has amassed over 380 million views since its launch on 22 August. Rappers in the show focus on social issues such as school and online bullying, sexual harassment, juvenile detention, and aging.

Rap for Youth inspired Bilibili content creators to join the discourse, creating rap videos, although few of them rarely dab in the music genre. Popular Bilibili uploaders, OldTOMATO) and Mou Huan Jun released the rap video “The Exam King” on the last day of China’s National College Entrance Examination. The video celebrated the completion of the once-in-a-lifetime experience and painful rite of passage for Chinese students, garnering over 8.6 million views.

Content strategy for 2021:

We plan to invite more professional teams to join Bilibili as we continue to produce original content. In addition, Bilibili will also be more open to collaborating with suitable partners in our production efforts.

Online reality show Rap for Youth (Top) has inspired Bilibili content creators to join the discourse on China’s social issues. The Exam King (Bottom) celebrated the rite of passage for Chinese students who completed the National College Entrance Examination.

Broadcasters

BBTV

Yaowalak Poolthong, Ph.D., Managing Director, Bangkok Broadcasting & T.V. Co., Ltd.

On content trends of 2020 vs. 2021

Content will still be the most important part of the entertainment business.

Viewers nowadays rarely limit themselves to any particular TV channels or OTT platforms but rather enjoy the power to choose content that suits their interests, instead of having any specific trend.

In 2021, we will continue to see more variety of content whether it is new formats or new types of stories as well as improvements in existing ones.

It will certainly be another exciting year as broadcasters and platforms need to provide content that attracts and keeps viewers glued to their service in an environment of rapidly changing consumer behavior.

Content strategy for 2021:

BBTV will continue its mission to maintain Channel 7HD as Thailand’s No.1 TV station despite the rapidly changing market and audience behavior.

Not only keeping our existing audiences but we also aim to reach a wider range of viewers both urban and rural areas.

One of our key focuses is to keep rolling out our own high-quality in-house content including news, entertainment programs, and drama series.

Our selection of drama series has been particularly strong.

We’ve had many titles that were successful both offline and online this year such as The Forester and Enemy Chains, which reached the highest ratings of 10.73 and 8.12, respectively.

We are keen to continue this phenomenon and create an even stronger impact in 2021. At the same time, acquisitions of foreign content will add variety to our program offerings.

With carefully selected content, we believe we can convince our viewers to stay tuned to CH7HD.

BBTV was success for shows such as The Forester (Top) and Enemy Chains (Bottom) which achieved high ratings.

GMA

Felipe L. Gozon, Chairman and CEO, GMA Network Inc.

On content trends of 2020 vs. 2021

This year, the primary trend we observed was the rise of consumption of News such as newscasts, televised broadcast of radio news, and public affairs content like Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho. Our flagship newscast, 24 Oras, stretched to two hours to address the needs of viewers in search of information about the COVID-19 pandemic. The very high ratings of our newscasts and news magazine shows were likewise matched by very strong advertising support.

In the temporary absence of production due to the pandemic, we have also observed that there is a clamor for the classics: past titles that already made their mark. These reruns are more fitting as people tend to look back to life before the pandemic.

As for our entertainment programs, the limitations on production brought about by the COVID-19 safety protocols have given rise to more intimate dramas with fewer cast and condensed stories with shorter telecast runs. This was seen in GMA Drama’s recent I Can See You series offerings, which were well-received by the Filipino audience. Some themes were more varied or experimental and were a welcome change from the usual soap opera fare, based on the audience reaction. We foresee this to continue, moving forward.

The Network is also gearing up for more varied entertainment formats in 2021, from comedy to game shows to musicals and talent searches. The audience can also expect new technologies applied to the way content is delivered on television and online, as will be seen in Alden Richards’ concert, Alden’s Reality, which will be the firstever virtual reality concert in the country.

Content strategy for 2021:

For 2021, local production continues to be our focus with several new local contents lined up.

These, however, are not only intended for the local market as we also continue to aim to distribute our content to different platforms and countries as well as to have co-production deals with different partners outside the Philippines.

In addition, our Public Affairs group will be producing a slew of shorter run (eight-week long) dramatic series for a younger viewership. These shorter series will be aired on GMA News TV – which is targeting audiences that can be complementary and supplementary to our flagship channel GMA. New, young teams of creatives have been set up to produce these short series, which include titles such as The Lost Recipe, Love You Stranger, and Heartful Cafe.

As for acquisition, we are actively widening our horizon for various foreign content.

CJ ENM

Michael Jung, Managing Director, CJ ENM HK

On content trends of 2020 vs. 2021

With more (and expanding) Directto-Consumers streaming platforms in 2021, we will see increased investment in Korean content which has proven to resonate with audiences worldwide.

This increased investment will boost the quality and production value, and we see it as a very positive sign that the Hallyu Wave will be more robust than before.

Content strategy for 2021:

We will continue to acquire and create compelling stories and be innovative in content strategy.

For example, apart from a more competitive streaming landscape, the world is moving towards 5G uptake, hence, digital content that is differentiated for mobile users will stand out for us.

At the same time, we will invest in creating local premium content such as drama series and lifestyle, which will be made primarily for streaming or online consumption.

High-quality local language content will make a big difference, especially in countries with a big population and appetite for local content.