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Asian Drama GMA’s Felipe Gozon ABS-CBN Turns 60: Charo Santos-Concio www.tvasia.ws
asia pacific THE MAGAZINE OF ASIA-PACIFIC MEDIA
APRIL 2013
MIPTV & APOS EDITION
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In This Issue
ABC Commercial
Golden Drama Asian dramas are finding new fans around the world
• Shark Girl • Bess of Both Worlds • The Flying Winemaker
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Interviews
The comedy Bess of Both Worlds chronicles a woman’s search for who she is and where she comes from. Shark Girl spotlights a young woman with a passion for one of the most feared creatures of the deep—sharks. The Flying Winemaker follows the Hong Kong–based master winemaker Eddie McDougall as he sets out to discover the best wine being made across Asia. All three of these titles are produced in HD and are being offered by ABC Commercial. “Each of these titles holds a very unique offering for the international market,” says Natalie Lawley, the company’s manager of content sales. “These titles are of a premium standard. With high budgets and superb production values, all three of the programs offer the marketplace something that hasn’t been seen before. Each program is a result of our new acquisition strategy that will see a succession of more blue-chip titles to come.”
“We have already concluded a number of presales for the titles being launched at the market, which gives us great confidence in sales to come.” —Natalie Lawley
GMA Network’s Felipe L. Gozon
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ABS-CBN’s Charo Santos-Concio
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Asia Wants Formats! Four buyers weigh in on their wish lists
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Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher Mansha Daswani Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Managing Editor Joanna Padovano Associate Editor Simon Weaver Online Director
Shark Girl
Victor L. Cuevas Production Director Phyllis Q. Busell Art Director
FINAS
Meredith Miller Production Associate Cesar Suero Sales & Marketing Director
• Feature films • Documentaries • Animation
Vanessa Brand Sales & Marketing Manager
The latest development for FINAS is the launching of the Film In Malaysia Incentive (FIMI), an effort from the Malaysian government by the secretary-general of the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture. “As of 2013, international and local movies filmed in Malaysia will be given a production rebate of 30 percent,” explains Raja Rozaimie Raja Dalnish Shah, the director-general of FINAS. “This move is to encourage the filming of international movies in Malaysia and to stimulate the local film industry.” He adds that FINAS is going to continue its efforts in promoting and marketing Malaysian productions—feature films, documentaries and animated content—to the global market, while also focusing on delivering the highest quality content. Engaging in more co-productions with international producers and attracting more productions to shoot in Malaysia are also on the list of priorities.
“We need to work together with the local industry players on enhancing our film quality, skills and creativity.”
Terry Acunzo Business Affairs Manager
—Raja Rozaimie Raja Dalnish Shah Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP & Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Asia Pacific © 2013 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tvasia.ws
Kuala Lumpur
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FOX International Channels Last year the focus for FOX International Channels in Asia was on building up its premium services.This included the launch of the FOX Movies Premium (FMP) and STAR Chinese Movies (SCM) Play services, the rebranding of STAR Chinese Movies 2 to SCM Legend and the debut of FOX Action Movies in Singapore. “We will continue our investment and efforts in providing premium content and innovative products that resonate with individual markets to our viewers,” says Joon Lee, the company’s senior VP of content and communication, of the goals for 2013. “We will take our sports business to the next level with major rebranding efforts and increased localization of content,” he adds. Other goals include ramping up local productions as well as introducing the company’s Chinese and Asian channels to the rest of the world.
“Our goal is to produce more than 100 hours of local documentaries, including productions like I Wouldn’t Go in There.” —Joon Lee I Wouldn’t Go in There
FremantleMedia International • Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club • Total Blackout • World’s Strangest
Sales for FremantleMedia International across the Asia Pacific have been hottest in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, China, India, the Philippines, Thailand and Japan. New opportunities have been opening up in Mongolia and Myanmar as well, notes Paul Ridley, the company’s senior executive VP of sales and distribution for the Asia Pacific. For MIPTV, Ridley highlights the extreme game show Total Blackout as well as the factual show World’s Strangest. There’s also a new series starring Jamie Oliver, Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club. “Jamie has a very high profile in the Asia-Pacific region, but generally broadcasters know that if FremantleMedia has produced a show, or we are representing a production from a third-party partner, they are being presented with a high-quality production,” says Ridley.
“Regardless of the genre, our reputation carries a hallmark of quality around the world.” Total Blackout
Mannam Media • Iris • The Man from Nowhere • Man from the Equator Mannam Media promises to offer the best of what’s available in premium Korean content, delivering it to broadcasters in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Its catalogue features more than 500,000 hours from such producers as KBS, SBS, EBS and CJ Entertainment, ranging from blockbuster movies to current dramas. Among the titles top lining Mannam’s slate are Iris, The Man from Nowhere and Man from the Equator. Iris is a drama from KBS that features espionage as a core theme. The Man from Nowhere, from CJ Entertainment, was Korea’s highest grossing film of 2010. Man from the Equator is a Korean drama that ran on KBS2. “There has been a strong demand for Korean dramas, both classics and current productions,” says Sebastian Choy, the company’s president.
Iris 316 World Screen 4/13
—Paul Ridley
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Scripps Networks International • Farm Kings • Cupcake Wars • Toy Hunter Food Network Asia, part of the Scripps Networks International portfolio, finished 2012 with four new affiliates—Biznet in Indonesia, Univision in Mongolia, SkyCable in the Philippines and CNS in Taiwan. In Q2 2013, the channel will debut a newly acquired series, Mobile Chef, produced locally with the Media Development Authority of Singapore. “Our new relationship with the Media Development Authority is extremely important in further demonstrating Food Network Asia’s commitment to the region, and it establishes a stronger presence for Scripps Networks International in Southeast Asia,” says Hud Woodle, the managing director of Food Network Asia. “While Food Network Asia viewers love U.S. favorites, it’s important for us to continue adding locally produced content and regional talent to the programming mix.”
“We’re seeing the global appetite for food content continuing to grow.” —Hud Woodle Farm Kings
Televisa Internacional • Wild at Heart • Carousel • Bandidas
The top three titles with which Televisa Internacional is targeting the Asian market are all traditional telenovelas. First up is Wild at Heart, about Maricruz Olivares, who was raised by her grandfather in a shack in the wilderness. Now a young woman, Maricruz will have to deal with difficult life situations, including losing her greatest love, the death of her grandfather and meeting again with her estranged father. Another highlight that Televisa is presenting to Asian clients is Carousel, as well as Bandidas. Mario Castro, the company’s director for Asia and Africa, reports that even though there is more competition from local content in Asia, “Televisa productions continue to have a presence on different platforms.”
“Channels recognize Televisa’s great stories and highquality productions.” —Mario Castro Wild at Heart
Universal Networks International • Universal Channel • E! • DIVA Universal The Universal Networks International (UNI) bouquet includes E!, which delivers more than 500 hours of original programming on the Asia feed. That includes Keeping Up with the Kardashians. DIVA Universal features drama and unscripted programming. To supplement acquired content, DIVA Universal created an Asian original unscripted series, Hot Guys Who Cook, tailored for the female audience. Other channels overseen by UNI include Style, Syfy and Universal Channel. “We intend to create more buzz on our unique portfolio proposition in 2013 by launching the second phase of the ‘High-Heeled Warriors’ consumer research that we commissioned in 2011 that provided stakeholders with a greater understanding of the female Asian television viewer,” says Christine Fellowes, the managing director for the Asia Pacific at UNI.
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
“We will be investing in more original productions in 2013.” —Christine Fellowes 318 World Screen 4/13
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P A N O R A M A By Mansha Daswani
Playing Catch Up For several years now, when issuing its projections for advertising revenue growth in the Asia Pacific, ZenithOptimedia has been offering up two different numbers: one for the region as a whole, and one excluding Japan. That highly developed economy, and second-largest ad market in the world “behaves differently enough from other markets in Asia to be separated into its own bloc,” ZenithOptimedia observes. In its latest forecasts for 2013, meanwhile, the marketresearch company created two additional classifications for its Asian data:“Catch-up Asia” and “Advanced Asia.”And it’s the former that ZenithOptimedia is the most bullish about. While the region as a whole is forecast to see a 5.5-percent increase in ad revenue this year, with Japan up 1.4 percent and “Advanced Asia”—Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea—up 4 percent, “Catch-up Asia” is predicted to see double-digit percentage gains. As a bloc, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines,Taiwan,Thailand and Vietnam are expected to boost ad revenues by between 10 and 11 percent in 2013 to 2015.“These economies are growing extremely rapidly as they adopt Western technology and practices, often leap-frogging over superseded technology that has become entrenched in more developed economies, while benefiting from the rapid inflow of funds from investors hoping to tap into this growth,” ZenithOptimedia says. Certainly,“Advanced Asia” does generate most of the headlines when it comes to technological advancements—Hong Kong is currently the only market in the region offering the multiplatform service HBO GO to pay-TV customers, the hugely popular line of Samsung Galaxy tablets and phones originated in Korea, Singapore is building a next-generation nationwide broadband network—but the catch-up markets are showing that they too can set an example for new models of content deployment. We take a close look at one of those catch-up markets—the Philippines—in this issue, with extensive interviews with the heads of the country’s two major free-to-air broadcasters. ABSCBN Corporation, which marks its 60th anniversary this year, is seeing monthly growth on its content portal iWantv! “Our customers are looking for alternative ways of consuming our content, especially on platforms that give them the flexibility to watch what they want, when they want and where they want,” Charo Santos-Concio, the new CEO of ABS-CBN, told me. GMA Network, meanwhile, has developed YouScoop, a platform that allows smartphone-owning Filipinos to become citizen journalists. Felipe L. Gozon, GMA’s chairman and CEO, revealed to me the importance of that service and other new-media extensions.
GET DAILY NEWS ON THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
Meanwhile, as a testament to how much untapped opportunity still exists in Asia, there are a number of other smaller territories looming in the background, looking to make their mark on the international media landscape. At the Asia TV Forum in Singapore in December, I sat down with Nomin Chinbat, the director of Mongol TV, who is working to revolutionize the television industry in a market where there are some 14 terrestrial channels and almost 50 cable channels servicing a population of 3 million. “All of the channels pirate [content]” Chinbat told me. “There’s no ratings system. There are no rules for the game.” On the air since 2009, Mongol TV has been licensing content from the international market in order to bring a sense of legitimacy to the local television business. “Now people talk about intellectual property,” she says. Mongol TV has been acquiring completed programming— dramas from the Hollywood studios, Korean series, documentaries—as well as formats, which are giving local crews a chance to learn production techniques from around the world. Myanmar is another emerging television market that is piquing international interest.Thailand’s True Corp, which operates the market-leading TrueVisions DTH platform, is eyeing expansion into Myanmar, pending the passage of a new media law that would allow foreign companies to receive broadcast licenses. There is still, however, much work to be done—the legislation under debate is being criticized by international watchdogs for creating new forms of censorship in a nation that is already not known for its press freedoms. Myanmar will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion for delegates heading to Bali for the Asia Pacific Operators Summit (APOS). The event, organized by Media Partners Asia, will touch on digital distribution, emerging markets, the economics of profitable pay-TV platforms, multiplatform rollouts and more, with a lineup that includes News Corporation’s Chase Carey and Zee’s Subhash Chandra, among others.“Both emerging growth markets and mature geographies in Asia Pacific are increasingly vital to the future of the strategic global majors,” says Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia. “This year’s APOS is a testament to this trend, while the lineup and themes are also a significant nod to the growing aspirations of leading local players with currency to expand in domestic and international markets.”
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GMA’s Amaya.
GOLDENDRAMA By Mansha Daswani
Asian dramas are finding a wealth of new fans across the region and around the world. Audiences in Germany are tuning in to RTL II for a dose of Bollywood glamour. Across the Middle East and Africa, Filipino fantasy series and Malaysian soaps are popping up on television schedules. Korean soaps are now making inroads in Latin America, a region that has its own prolific drama-production business. There’s even a Singaporean-Malaysian drama being considered for a U.S. adaptation. It’s safe to say that a part of the world that has historically been known solely for its documentary and animation exports is looking to be a major player in the increasingly international business of drama. 322 World Screen 4/13
“We continue to receive growing demand from all territories,” reports Roxanne Barcelona, the VP of GMA Worldwide, the acquisition and distribution arm of Filipino broadcaster GMA Network. “We see opportunities in Europe and Latin America,” notes Han-Sang Jo, the team leader at KBS Media, which represents the significant scripted output of the Korean public broadcaster, KBS, including the hit series Winter Sonata, Full House, Boys Over Flowers and Autumn in My Heart. “Korean dramas do not have a huge fanbase [in those markets] yet, but
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the fans are really enthusiastic and well-organized, so we expect the [demand for series] will grow gradually.” HOME RUN
Not surprisingly, Asian distributors of drama have seen their greatest successes on the home front with broadcasters within the region. Korean series, in particular, have enjoyed tremendous success among Asian channels, part of the so-called Korean Wave that has swept across the continent over the last few years. “Our strongest market is female viewers in Asia,” confirms Jo. Audiences have responded to the “strong and addictive romance that can be found commonly in most Korean series, even in thrillers and medical dramas,” Jo says. On offer at MIPTV will be Iris 2, the sequel to the bigbudget espionage drama that scored close to a 30-percent share when it aired in Korea in 2009, as well as the romantic comedy Ad Genius Lee Tae Baek. KBS also has a number of period dramas to offer broadcasters, including The Princess’ Man. With its slate of dramas, KBS Media has been able to take over slots that were previously home to Latin American telenovelas in a number of Asian markets, as well as make deep advances into neighboring Japan, despite the two countries’ historical differences. Indeed, Jo notes, “Our sales heavily depend on the Japanese market, so the politically fluctuating situation between Korea and Japan can affect sales.” Sales to other parts of Asia—Malaysia, Hong Kong and the Philippines—have been more stable. “People appreciate fundamental values like family, love and trust and they are reflected in [our] stories. Korean dramas appeal to viewers of almost all ages, from teenagers to seniors.” GMA, too, has seen its strongest sales within Asia, according to Barcelona, with viewers responding to the “universal themes of love, family, relationships, conflict [and] justice,” found in titles like Indio, Forever and Temptation of Wife, three
of the company’s highlighted titles at MIPTV. “Family sagas, fantasy stories and relationship dramas have particularly strong demand,” she says. Boosting GMA’s business outside of Asia, notably on the African continent, is one of Barcelona’s main priorities. “We have extended our reach into several territories in the past year,” she says. “As our reputation with our new clientele grows, so will our productivity within these new territories. Our ability to produce and maintain an extensive library of quality programming facilitates our success as well.” EXPANDING HORIZONS
The Middle East is also proving to be a lucrative new territory for many drama distributors from Asia, including Zee Entertainment Enterprises, which has seen an increase in demand for its Indian daily serials and movie output. Nitin Michael, the assistant VP of content sales for the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan at Zee, says that the company is re-versioning Indian programming for this part of the world, principally by speeding up the storytelling in extended-run Indian dramas. The company is also eyeing other emerging markets on the heels of licensing the historical drama Jhansi ki Rani (Queen of Jhansi) to Kazakhstan. At MIPTV, Zee will be touting Zee Bollywood, which it bills as a one-stop shop for platforms interested in Indian content. Zee Bollywood features more than 100,000 hours of programming across a number of genres. Scripted highlights include the family drama Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke and Phir Subah Hogi, as well as a number of Bollwood movies available in English, Hindi and Indian regional languages. At the forefront of the Asian drama-distribution business are the region’s biggest broadcasters, which are producing these shows for their own domestic markets.They are not, however, the only ones who see the potential of scripted stories
Presenting the past: KBS Media offers a portfolio of contemporary dramas and historical epics like The Princess’ Man. 4/13 World Screen 323
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With a slate that includes He’s Beautiful, My Girl, Secret Garden, Brilliant Legacy, My Husband’s Lover and Stairway to Heaven, “the response [from buyers] has been quite impressive,” Aristimuño says. “Customers are not only anticipating the next Korean title, but also successfully broadcasting reruns.” There are, however, challenges in selling these shows outside of Asia, given the dramatic stylistic differences between Korean soap operas and Latin American telenovelas. “The most obvious difference is the length of the [Korean] series, which average a total of 20 episodes,” Aristimuño says. “Also, the overall pace and development of the stories are more aligned with Asian cultures.” Mannam’s Choy backs up that perspective. “There are some cultural differences. Korean dramas are generally considered family programming and therefore lack the type of sex appeal that is prevalent in Latin telenovelas.” LOVE IS ALL AROUND
Food for thought: The Kitchen Musical, sold by Lightning International, received two International Emmy nominations in 2012.
Differences aside, Aristimuño has found many commonalities between the Latin American programming staple and Korea’s number one content export. “Korean series, as well as most of the Latin American telenovelas, have excellent photography, direction and locations. Even if [the series] are produced in opposite regions of the world, the formula remains the same: a complex love relationship between pure souls and a web of evil or friendly characters helping, or complicating, their love story.” Another novela distributor that sees huge potential with Asian scripted content is Latin Media Corporation, which represents the rights to a number of series from Malaysia. Its most successful series thus far have been Bola Cinta, Temptation of Love and Dr. Love. Like the Korean serials, Malaysian shows do tend to have shorter runs than similar products from Latin America or India, but the basic formula is often the same—love story, tragedy, happy ending. José Escalante, the CEO of Latin Media, notes that the biggest challenge in selling Malaysian scripted content has been a lack of awareness. “These dramas are fairly new to the
from this part of the world. U.S.-based Mannam Media, for example, has built its entire business on selling Korean programming to North America and Latin America. “I realized there was a demand but no one had yet really bridged the communication gap to fulfill that need, especially in Latin America,” says Sebastian Choy, the president of Mannam Media, on why he started representing Korean content. “With the increase in platforms for the general public to access and share content, awareness of Korean programming has definitely increased,” he observes. “Plus the recent worldwide Psy phenomenon”—the singer behind the viral video megahit “Gangnam Style”— “has also made an impact,” Choy says. Telemundo Internacional similarly sees the potential for Asian drama in Latin America, having taken on the rights to a number of properties from Korean broadcaster SBS. “A few years ago, when the Korean series boom was not yet a reality, we screened many leading Korean series and realized the quality of their scripts, production values and overall acting,” says Xavier Aristimuño, the senior VP of sales and business development for Asia at Telemundo Internacional. “Based on our long relationship with SBS, we started planting the Korean TV content seed all over Latin America and Spain, From Mumbai, with love: Zee offers broadcasters access to a broad range of Hindi-language building an interest for the product.” content, including big-budget feature films, through its Zee Bollywood catalogue. 324 World Screen 4/13
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daily dramas in Europe. Donna Wiffen, the head of worldwide drama at FremantleMedia, says that the company looked to its European successes when it first began developing its scripted business in Asia. “There are these scripted reality shows in Germany that run on RTL in the afternoons, from about 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day. We started looking at those about two and a half years ago and asked, Is there anywhere we could go with something like that?” CONFRONTING REALITY
Guns blazing: Among the Korean titles that Mannam is selling to the Americas is The Man from Nowhere.
international market,” he says. “There is that uncertainty by international clients about whether they will do well. However, once they realize that our stories are universal, they will start to gain trust in the product.” Escalante sees the greatest opportunities in the Middle East, which shares an Islamic culture with Malaysia. He is also optimistic about driving sales into China, Singapore, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. SINGAPORE SWING
A new player in the business of Asia drama production is Singapore, which churns out both Mandarin- and English-language properties for the domestic and regional market. One of the most high profile has been The Kitchen Musical, which racked up two nominations at the International Emmy Awards last year and has been praised for being dramatically different from most of the scripted shows coming out of Asia. Billed as Glee meets Hell’s Kitchen, the series is distributed by Hong Kong–based Lightning International. It was shot in English in Singapore and Malaysia and aired across Southeast Asia on AXN, among other broadcasters. In addition, the format has been optioned in the U.S. and Italy, and sold into Vietnam and India. Formats in general are an emerging area of exploitation for Asian drama distributors. Korean series in particular have translated well within the continent; GMA’s Temptation of Wife, for example, is based on an SBS title of the same name. KBS notes that it is selling the scripts to most of its titles, as is GMA Worldwide. International distributors, too, are looking to Asia as a new region for scripted format deals.Telemundo has already experienced some success on this front, with novela adaptations in the works in India, Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam. FremantleMedia is eyeing the chance to step up its scriptedproduction business in Asia, after having built a strong portfolio of 326 World Screen 4/13
Wiffen and her team held a joint workshop for FremantleMedia’s local production teams in India, Indonesia and Singapore to try to come up with scripted-reality concepts that would appeal to regional audiences. “For us [scripted reality] was a really good way to get into markets where FremantleMedia isn’t known for its drama,” Wiffen explains. The concept that came out of that initial workshop was Confrontation. It has since been produced in Indonesia and, more recently, India, where it has been a hit for Colors. The series is set up like a talk show, with two people engaged in some kind of conflict, airing out their differences while two counselors mediate to determine who is the wronged party. “We have those types of shows in the U.S. and U.K.—we have Jeremy Kyle and Jerry Springer, where real people will expose themselves and some of the social issues they are facing. People wouldn’t volunteer to do that in India. [Confrontation is] a way of accessing that material, which is interesting and dramatic and tells some great stories, and has a bit of a moral message as well.” Developing the concept in Asia, with local production teams, was crucial, Wiffen says. She notes that importing European scripted concepts to the region has proven to be a challenge, “especially when the cultural references are so different. We would rather just take the learnings from those [European] shows, take the processes if you like, but not actually take the editorial content. We’ve found that [daily drama series] are so culturally specific and localized in their tonality, adaptations very rarely work.” Indonesia, India and Singapore, where FremantleMedia has production hubs, are the company’s current priority markets for scripted content, Wiffen say. The company also has an eye on the Philippines and, eventually, China. Also on the horizon for a number of companies is panregional co-productions. One already in the works is Serangoon Road, set in 1960s Singapore, which is a partnership between HBO Asia and the Australian public broadcaster ABC TV. Given the cultural similarities across the region and the ability of Asian dramas to travel seamlessly across the continent, co-productions are likely to become as important in the Asian drama business as they are in U.S. and Europe.
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GMA Network’s
Felipe L.Gozon By Mansha Daswani
Innovative original content is at the heart of GMA Network’s success in the Philippines’ fiercely competitive television landscape, where free-to-air television still remains the dominant platform. Much like the rest of the world, though, content consumption on alternative platforms is beginning to pick up, prompting GMA to expand its digital offerings and eye opportunities in cable TV, according to Felipe L. Gozon, the company’s chairman and CEO. He reveals to TV Asia Pacific what his main priorities are for maintaining GMA’s ratings highs, driving increases in ad revenues and expanding onto new platforms, all while delivering high-quality content that will resonate with audiences, both at home and abroad.
TV ASIA PACIFIC: What’s driving GMA’s ratings gains? GOZON: I think it is our innovative and quality content. If the pro-
grams are not worth watching, viewers will simply change channels or turn the TV off. As we are faced with more and more media options, it is imperative that we are able to provide our viewers with strong, refreshing and differentiated program offerings.This is the reason why GMA continues to invest heavily in original programming that is relevant to all Filipino viewers whenever and wherever they are.We are fortunate that our afternoon soaps continue to dominate the national ratings and our news and public-affairs programs [are seen as highly credible among viewers].
GOZON: We place great value on innovation.We must be able to keep the audience interested by offering something fresh every time—whether it is an innovation to a format or a story not yet tackled in a soap opera or a fresh casting combination. GMA has always been known for trailblazing formats and concepts—from the highly-successful telefantasies Mulawin and Encantadia to the first superhero soaps Darna and Captain Barbell to the first Mexican novela adaptation, the phenomenal hit MariMar, to the most recent historical-fiction epic dramas Amaya and Indio. GMA’s hit comedy program Pepito Manaloto is the first to infuse reality elements in a situation comedy. Even the longest-running Philippine gag show, Bubble Gang, continues to evolve and creates characters who [have] become well-loved among the Filipino audience and moved on to become famous film characters. But more importantly, we make sure that in every program that we create, we are able to connect with the hearts of our viewers, i.e., that our viewers are able to empathize with our stories and our characters and that we [establish] an emotional bond with them. Our programming strategy is simply this: that we know who is watching at all time blocks of the day, and that we listen to, and address these viewers’ needs. Kids will get to see their favorite cartoons in the morning, housewives will get to watch dramas in the afternoon and evening, and those who work will be able to catch the late-night news when they get home. We think that this is most concisely put in one of our network’s core values: “The viewer is boss.” TV ASIA PACIFIC: How are you fostering an environment
to create innovative content? TV ASIA PACIFIC: What’s
GOZON: GMA News TV serves as a laboratory for fresh pro-
the strategy for serving viewers in the morning, afternoon and in prime?
gramming for the network. GMA News TV has begun producing original mini-series featuring political issues, history and social realism.This year the channel launches Bayan Ko, a drama series about an idealistic town mayor fighting corruption and a political dynasty. The channel will also be producing the historical docudrama Katipunan on the revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio, among other projects. GMA News TV hopes to lead the way to new television—raising the level of Philippine TV programming to match the better informed and better educated local audience that we now have compared to decades past. TV ASIA PACIFIC: How has the ad market in the Philippines been, and how are you looking to increase your share of the pie? GOZON: The Philippines is considered one of the key markets not just for multinationals but also for local advertisers. It could be because of our young population profile—they are the early adopters and comprise one of the largest consumer bases, especially for fast-moving consumer goods. Industry adspend in the market ranges from moderate growth to high growth, depending on certain categories, and we expect a more robust industry this year with national elections in the offing. Our strategy here is pretty straightforward. Beyond cost efficiency and effectiveness, we offer our clients tailor-made results-
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oriented solutions that work. We leverage the various media platforms of GMA Network (broadcast TV and radio, regional, events and digital, etc.) to meet clients’ increasing requirements. It is not just about having the cheapest spot buys. TV ASIA PACIFIC: What opportunities do you see for
GMA’s role in the pay-TV business in the Philippines? GOZON: As a producer of informative and entertainment
content, GMA can leverage its vast and rich program library and provide/sell content to cable channel programmers like FOX Filipino, broadband [platforms], etc. The proliferation of video-streaming gadgets will only continue to get better, faster, cheaper, thus GMA will have more options to distribute content. While ABS-CBN has invested in pay TV through SkyCable and has further consolidated its cable and broadband reach with the acquisition of [the pay-TV platform] Destiny Cable, this does not preclude GMA from acquiring a cable operator— there still are independent cable and broadband operators—should it be economically viable [and] profitable to do so. However, once digitization happens, it will enable the company to program additional SD channels on a singular frequency, so [we could] engage in the pay-TV business without having to invest in laying out the expensive cable/fiber-optic infrastructure that traditional cable operators had to do. Pay TV or VOD via the Internet remains an option, though it seems that the Philippine market isn’t ready yet to pay for content that they can see for free [even if it means sacrificing] the convenience of watching on one’s own time. TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your plans for your interna-
tional channel business? GOZON: In 2005, we launched our flagship international pre-
mium linear TV channel, GMA Pinoy TV. It is a subscriptionbased service aimed at the estimated 11 million expatriate Filipinos spread all over the world. Since its launch, it has gained widespread distribution in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, the Middle East, Europe and Australia. Its global viewership base is now estimated at 2.2 million. Following the success of GMA Pinoy TV, a lifestyle channel, GMA Life TV, has been launched and is now also widely distributed globally. Last year, our third linear service, a 24/7 news and public-affairs channel, GMA News TV, was launched. Soon, we will also offer content via video-ondemand services. TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are the greatest opportunities for
expansion going forward? GOZON: We need to be consistently best-in-class in what we do to be able to remain dominant and relevant to our market. The challenges (aggressive competition, slow economy, etc.) we are faced with now will not go away and we anticipate them— they keep us on our toes and make us raise the bar higher. If print media is said to be a sunset industry worldwide, we believe television is still at high noon. But sunset may also be down the line. That is why we are thinking seriously about new media, and planning for the future. New media and the Internet offer a wide variety of opportunities and possible directions for our core business, TV content. Since 2006, GMA has gone full blast in extending its brand online through GMANews.tv. In less than two years it
became the country’s leading news website. Before this, there was iGMA.tv (since 2001), which was GMA’s main online brand for its shows and stars. These two sites came together via a portal in 2011 called GMANetwork.com. We recognize that PCs are no longer the main (or at least the only) device through which our audience access content. Since the advent of portable IP gadgets, such as smartphones and tablets, people prefer to consume news and entertainment anytime, anywhere and anyhow. We have thus relaunched GMANews.tv for mobile and for YouScoop—[our] service that allows anybody with a smartphone to submit newsworthy photos and videos to GMA for later broadcast— of course, once these have gone through the necessary editorial checks.Very soon, we will be launching perhaps the country’s first mobile-web application for GMANetwork.com. This is just the beginning. We acknowledge that there is more work to be done to improve our social-media standing. This is in the works. We are ensuring that we will be at the top of our game for the 2013 [general mid-term] elections, when the demand for fast online information will be at its highest. We have also expanded our online presence so that our professional journalists are active in a wide array of social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube. 4/13 World Screen 329
Fists of fury: GMA’s large output of Filipino dramas includes the historical epic Indio.
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ABS-CBN Turns 60 Charo Santos-Concio By Mansha Daswani
Marking its 60th anniversary this year, ABS-CBN Corporation has emerged as one of Asia’s largest integrated media companies, with assets that span free-to-air and cable channels, a pay-TV platform, print publications, radio stations and more. Its early history is marked by instability—including the martial-law years, when it was pulled off the air from 1972 to 1986, followed by a period of low ratings and financial concerns. By the early ’90s, however, ABS-CBN’s turnaround had begun, thanks largely to its large slate of original scripted productions. At the helm of the company today is Charo Santos-Concio, who recently succeeded Eugenio Lopez III as CEO. A former actress, Santos-Concio has risen through the ranks at ABS-CBN and is widely seen as the creative force behind the company’s original productions. She speaks to TV Asia Pacific about ABS-CBN’s milestone anniversary and articulates her strategy for taking the company into the new-media age.
TV ASIA PACIFIC: To what do you attribute ABS-CBN’s
continued success? SANTOS-CONCIO: We’ve remained relevant all these years because of our commitment to being in the service of Filipinos worldwide. We dialogue with our [viewers], we listen to what they say, and we plan, strategize and deliver our products and services with a clear understanding of what they want and need from us. TV ASIA PACIFIC: Coming into the CEO position, what are your main priorities for ABS-CBN? SANTOS-CONCIO: At one of our shareholders’ meetings last year, I spoke of investing in the future while keeping an eye on the present. That remains our main priority. This translates into content supremacy, understanding the changing audience and landscape, managing across an ever-growing portfolio of businesses, channels and platforms, driving synergies across the organization and developing, identifying and retaining our greatest asset—people. TV ASIA PACIFIC: ABS-CBN faced some major challenges
in the ’70s and ’80s. Do you think those experiences made the group more capable of withstanding the major shifts taking place in the media business today? SANTOS-CONCIO: Experience is a great teacher—we’ve learned as much from our failures as we have from our successes. We remember how ABS-CBN’s voice was muted over the martial-law period and how a single-minded and determined team was able to reboot ABS-CBN from almost nothing in the mid-’80s to being the industry leader and tastemaker in two years. We’ve been able to not only evolve and grow with our audience and with the changes in technology, but more importantly to stay relevant as an organization and a business by being our harshest critic and by demanding nothing but the best from ourselves. Our secret sauce lies in our people: we truly are “kapamilya”—family. Media, now more than ever, is in a state of flux. Our commitment to excellence in content, service, globalization and talent will continue to be critical in the years to come. TV ASIA PACIFIC: In what demographics, day parts and markets are you experiencing the greatest ratings successes at your free-to-air channels? SANTOS-CONCIO: ABS-CBN is the dominant leader in soaps, reality and game shows. Our creators’ ability to bring significant depth to our characters in soaps, to show the internal conflicts and journey of participants in our reality shows and to highlight the person behind the contestant in our game shows make us a formidable player in the free-TV space.We have also been very successful in delivering child-friendly soaps that not only have compelling story lines but are imbued with a lot of important values.We make sure that we showcase the great talent of Filipinos in our musical variety shows. We are also the leading news provider in the free-TV space. These genres make us very popular among children, females (teens and up) and adult males.ABSCBN is the leading free-TV player in the morning and evening. TV ASIA PACIFIC: There are large populations of Filipino
residents around the world—how are you helping them keep in touch with the country? SANTOS-CONCIO: ABS-CBN Global reaches Filipinos wherever they are in the world. We currently have TFC (The 330 World Screen 4/13
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TV ASIA PACIFIC: How important is the pay-TV business for ABS-CBN? SANTOS-CONCIO: We have pay-TV investments domestically and internationally both as a platform operator and as a pay-TV channel provider. Internationally, ABS-CBN Global has various IPTV, DTH and online platforms, aside from our pay-TV channel brands and VOD/SVOD offerings. Locally, we have a significant stake in SkyCable. SkyCable recently acquired the assets of one of the biggest local cable operators, making it the dominant cable platform in the Philippines. The domestic cable side is growing by about 12 percent per year, which is outpacing the growth in the advertising sector. Strategically, it is also important that we are developing direct relationships with our customers, which, over time, leverages our ability to cross-sell and upsell other products and services from ABS. Having a subscription business also evens out potential volatility on the advertising side, creating some stability on overall revenue volumes. Twice as nice: For its flagship terrestrial channel, ABS-CBN produces a host of scripted content, including soap operas like Mara Clara.
Filipino Channel), ANC (our global news channel), Cinema One Global (our Filipino movie channel), Bro and various VOD, SVOD, IPTV and DTH services as well as our newly launched TFC.tv online viewing portal. Apart from our TV content, we regularly mount live events, bring our Star Cinema movies to local theaters as well as offer our Star Records and home-video releases online and through local retail outlets. Our subsidiaries also offer remittance and cargo services. Finally, we partner with government and non-governmental organizations to mount programs that encourage the overseas Filipinos to stay connected with their roots and empower them to participate in nation building. TV ASIA PACIFIC: What skills do you think you bring to
the CEO role given your significant production background? SANTOS-CONCIO: I came from a creative background, but as CEO, I have to constantly confront the issue of how to balance creative excellence, strategic, disciplined work and business and financial viability. When I am in a meeting, for example, I let people know when I am wearing my creative hat or my CEO hat. Stretching and complementing these “left brain” and “right brain” roles to make things really work for the company are my daily challenges.The instinct is generally to spread the ideas around the table and hope one of them is another May Bukas Pa or Walang Hanggan, two of our most successful soap operas in recent years. As a company our strategy has been to launch something that we feel is differentiating and can provide impact on the lives of the Filipinos. The best thing that I learned in my creative work is to really look at ideas from the perspective of the consumer, consistently asking the questions, “What’s in it for our audience?” and “What’s in it for the fans of our talent and the loyal viewers of our programs?” If there’s nothing there for them, the idea should be junked. Being consumer-centric is one of the best things I can bring to my CEO functions. 332 World Screen 4/13
TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your key initiatives for making content available on multiple platforms? SANTOS-CONCIO: Our primary vehicle for delivering online video, iWantv!, is now among the most viewed local sites. It continues to grow significantly in terms of users and minutes viewed per month.This is an indication that our customers are looking for alternative ways of consuming our content, especially on platforms that give them the flexibility to watch what they want, when they want and where they want. Our global division has also introduced a similar product for overseas viewers called TFC.tv. TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your main priorities for the company this year and next? SANTOS-CONCIO: Foremost is the need to maintain leadership in content across our platforms. We need to keep teams motivated while keeping an eye out for fresh talent—both in front and behind the cameras. We continue to look to production efficiencies and monetizing content across our platforms. We’re very focused on our new business initiatives—making sure that they’re given the best opportunity for growth. This requires new skills and thinking as we prepare for an inevitable future of more fragmented audiences and even more platforms. We’ve grown to be a very diverse company that has operations across multiple locations locally and internationally.This kind of growth has its challenges and we are working to ensure that we continue to think and act as one cohesive unit and that we continue to move as quickly as if we were a start-up. Cross-division communication becomes even more important at this time. Finally, as ABS-CBN celebrates its 60th anniversary, we need to ensure that we remain grounded through the values and principles that got us here…and in the mission that continues to be our guidepost—that of being in the service of the Filipino worldwide.
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Shine’s MasterChef on Olive in Korea.
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ASIA WANTS FORMATS By Bob Jenkins & Mansha Daswani
A look at the schedules of broadcasters across Asia shows that formats are a very hot commodity in the region, from Korea to Singapore, the Philippines to India. TV Asia Pacific surveyed four channels about their wish lists. n the last year or so, Korea has emerged as a key new buyer of formats, which is a boon to content distributors who have struggled to crack this insular market. CJ E&M, which operates 16 channels, is a major client for many format sellers. Jin H. Park, the head of format acquisitions, is on the lookout for concepts for tvN, Mnet, XTM, OnStyle and Olive, among others. Across the portfolio it has had a number of format hits, including MasterChef, The Voice, Top Gear, Got Talent and Take Me Out.When considering a property, Park notes, a track record is important.“We prefer formats that have been successful in several countries. A paper treatment is irrelevant—we will not make a final decision before viewing several complete episodes.” On what he’s on the lookout for, Park says, “we always look to acquire formats with good name value, and with content that can be considered unique, certainly original.The genre is not really the issue.” In South Asia, Colors is home to some of the world’s biggest formats, including Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars and Got Talent. Manisha Sharma, the head of nonfiction and weekend content at the channel, reveals that the most important factor considered is the format’s ability to be adapted to meet the sensibilities of an Indian audience.The broadcaster also takes into account the track 334 World Screen 4/13
record of a concept’s producer and distributor. It is keen to look at scripted format concepts, as well as game-show pitches. In the Philippines, ABS-CBN has Deal or No Deal, Got Talent, The X Factor, The Biggest Loser, MasterChef and Minute to Win It. Launching this year is The Voice. “The most important factor in our decision whether or not to acquire a format is the concept,” says Leng Raymundo,VP of acquisitions and distribution. “The next most important consideration is cost. We invest heavily in the production values of each format we acquire and so we cannot pay too much for the rights.We also take a look at the track record and it is also important to us to preview several episodes of the format.” MediaCorp in Singapore acquires formats for its Englishlanguage Channel 5, and counted the Japanese game show Sasuke among its biggest successes last year.“The Singapore edition comprises 13 episodes of 60 minutes,” says Kim Wong-Nathan,VP of network commissioning. “It replicates portions of the Japanese obstacle course and the winner progresses to Japan to compete in TBS’s competition at Mount Midoriyama. Our adaptations include episodic themes, a celebrity segment and a special where the Singapore team [competes against] the Malaysian team.”
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