World Screen December 2022

DECEMBER 2022

WORLD VIEW By Mansha Daswani.

UPFRONTS Spotlighting new content on the market.

BANIJAY’S MARCO BASSETTI Watch Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti’s MIPCOM Media Mastermind Keynote conversation with World Screen’s Anna Carugati.

THE ENGLISH ’S EMILY BLUNT & CHASKE SPENCER A conversation with the stars of the new Hugo Blick period drama for the BBC and Prime Video.

TOUCHING TALES GoQuest Media’s Vivek Lath highlights the Romanian drama Sacrificiul.

PLATED FOR ASIA All3Media International’s Sabrina Duguet on what’s resonating with buyers and audiences across AsiaPac.

TRENDING ON The most-viewed clips on our video portals for the last 30 days.

Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise

Group Editorial Director Anna Carugati

Editor Mansha Daswani Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Associate Editor Jamie Stalcup

Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari Production & Design Director David Diehl

POWERED UP As Singapore gears up to host the first in-person A sia TV Forum since 2019, several leading distributors discuss what’s driving their businesses in the region.

ASTRO’S EUAN SMITH The CEO-designate of the Malaysian platform discusses aggregation, content investments and upgrading the consumer experience.

SCREENINGS FESTIVAL Our second annual TV Asia Screenings Festival features a mix of dramas, docs and kids’ shows that will be available at Asia TV Forum.

Online Director Simon Weaver Sales & Marketing Director Dana Mattison Sales & Marketing Coordinator Genovick Acevedo

Business Affairs Manager Andrea Moreno Ricardo Seguin Guise President

Anna Carugati Executive VP

PROGRAM LISTINGS Highlights from several distributors.

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Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development

BY MANSHA DASWANI

Tuning in Live

World

Indeed, Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, has said he expects the football tournament to reach 5 billion people across all platforms in 219 markets, and S&P Analysis indicates the event will generate revenues of $6.5 billion, surpassing all previous tour naments and four times the figure seen in Korea and Japan in 2002. According to an S&P Global Market Intelligence Consumer Insights survey, soccer is the most popular sport for live TV view ing in eight of ten major global markets and in the top three for nine markets.

But as it turns out, it’s not just sports that is drawing audiences back to old-school appointment viewing. The latest edition of Hub Entertainment Research’s Conquering Content study found that live TV rebounded this year thanks to some high-profile, buzzworthy shows, even as streaming continues to dominate viewing habits. Among the favorite shows that drove live TV viewing this year were Yellowstone, House of the Dragon, Ghosts and NCIS. “It’s clear from these results that viewers will happily go to whatever platform has exclusive rights to the most popular TV shows and movies du jour,” said Peter Fondulas, principal at Hub. “Over the past few years, those shows have been increasingly offered by streaming services. But as franchises like Yellowstone and Game of Thrones demonstrate, streaming does not have a necessary monopoly on buzzworthy content.”

As debate continues to rage over Qatar’s controversial handling of the

Cup, there’s little doubt that the FIFA tournament is expected to deliver significant ad revenues—and viewership numbers—for broadcasters across the globe.

All3Media International

The Larkins / Rise of the Billionaires / Scripted Formats

On offer from All3Media International, The Larkins follows the adventures of Ma and Pop Larkin and their six children in the Kent countryside. The series Rise of the Billionaires traces how Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and Larry Page have shaped the modern world. “It’s from an awardwinning premium factual producer and presents a fascinating and timely real-life story with global appeal,” says Sabrina Duguet, executive VP for the Asia Pacific. A variety of scripted formats are also available, including Blood and Cheat.

Rise of the Billionaires

—Sabrina Duguet

Banijay Rights

The Banijay Rights highlight Marie Antoinette tells the story of the very modern and avantgarde young French queen. The drama slate also includes Rogue Heroes, which Rashmi Bajpai, executive VP of sales for Asia, says “is as visceral as Peaky Blinders and promises fast-paced storytelling.” The format catalog features Le Plus Grand Karaoké de France (The Nation’s Greatest Karaoke), in which 1,000 people battle to be the star of the show in front of a 6,000person audience. “All three of these outstanding titles have plenty of global appeal,” Bajpai notes.

“All3Media International has grown and diversified its content significantly over the last few years.”

Marie Antoinette

“Now standing at 146,000 hours of content, the depth of the Banijay Rights catalog is the biggest highlight.”

—Rashmi Bajpai

Marie Antoinette / Rogue Heroes / The Nation’s Greatest Karaoke

Stand-Up Warrior

Dori Media Group

The Salvadors / Mercy on Us / Stand-Up Warrior

Leading Dori Media Group’s slate, The Salvadors (Los Hermanos Salvador) centers on siblings who come together to save their family’s sorcery store. “The show’s fantasy and dramedy elements add a vibrant color palette to the series’ overall look and feel, giving viewers an aesthetically exciting visual experience,” says Haikal Jamari, sales manager for Asia and the Middle East. Mercy on Us (Ten Piedad de Nosotros) combines revenge drama with a murder mystery. The reality format StandUp Warrior sees stand-up comedians compete in a martial arts boot camp.

GMA Network

Maria Clara and Ibarra / Luv Is: Caught in His Arms

From GMA Network, Maria Clara and Ibarra is about a woman who wakes up one morning to find herself trapped inside the story of a novel. “The drama fantasy series not only topped the rating charts but is also creating a lot of buzz on social media with its trending episodes,” says Roxanne J. Barcelona, VP of GMA Network’s Worldwide Division. Luv Is: Caught in His Arms is an adaptation of the popular Wattpad romance novel of the same title. It centers on a young woman with a quirky personality and relentless optimism working as a cook.

“Non-English international content is an increasingly viable way for broadcasters and platforms to differentiate their content propositions.”

—Haikal Jamari

“These dramas have universal plots about family and love that are easily identifiable for international viewers.”

—Roxanne J. Barcelona

Luv Is: Caught in His Arms

Marco Bassetti Banijay

By Anna Carugati

Its first major international content market since the acquisition of Endemol Shine Group, Banijay made a splash at MIPCOM Cannes with its new two-story eco-friendly and sustainable stand, a slate of content available to international buyers that currently stands at more than 145,000 hours, plenty of deal news and a Media Mastermind Keynote delivered by CEO Marco Bassetti in a packed Grand Auditorium. Bas setti laid out his vision for the indie in his keynote conversation with Anna Carugati, the group editorial director of World Screen.

WS: What are the benefits of scale in today’s market?

BASSETTI: Scale is important. Scale is the real reason why we believe that production companies can be in front of the change and give value to the creative people—the producers. To have scale also means to have leverage. It means to have legacy IP. It means to connect that all together. It means having

opportunities in all the territories that we are working in, with all the new changes that the media landscape is offering us. To be a group like we are now, [we] are in the best position to offer the best content with new platforms, with the traditional broadcast ers, with the public broadcasters. You can give [producers] what they need in order to produce new pilots and retain talent. Another important part of having leverage is retaining IP.

WS: It’s often said that this is the golden age of content. Do you agree with that assessment?

BASSETTI: The financial market says that this is the golden age for content. For sure, content [production] is much more protected [than] the distribution business. There is no debate on this. It is the golden age of content, but it is not the golden age of rev enue sharing. SVODs gave us a fantastic opportunity. They challenged us. If you want to continue to create value, it will be smart if you leave part of the value creation to the talent and the producer. It is not fair to ask talent or creatives, Give me everything. When it’s a huge success, I don’t think they are happy. When you give a producer the opportunity to invest in order to retain part of the rights, or the opportunity to do the

“At our company, we are all producers. We speak the same language.”

best show—not just to maximize the production fee and the margin—they will do a better job. They can invest more. So, all the new platforms give us a fantastic opportunity to grow, launch new shows and explore new markets. But we try to defend, as much as possible when we can, the model that allowed us to grow. This, for us, is important in the medium and long term. Sometimes we prefer to give up some margins, but on the opposite side, we will like to retain some rights. That is crucial. We want to be ahead in this discussion.

I believe it would be good for everybody, not only for us, if we could stick more to the European model. To defend our IP as much as possible. The real value is in creating the capital and retaining your finished tape and formats. Look at our legacy formats. Today, each year, we are selling more MasterChef , more Big Brother , more Temptation Island . In the U.K., they will relaunch Survivor on BBC and Big Brother on ITV. Star Academy came back in France after ten years. Our industry tests content through pilots. MasterChef was not a big success with the first series. It became a big success after. So sometimes it would be good if these new platforms gave us more opportunity to test or to launch some shows. We try to focus on this when we make a deal with them. We used to be involved in the launch of the show—we know our content better than everybody else.

When you work with a traditional channel, it could be linear or non linear, you know the data so that you can drive [the rollout strategy] a little. Today, the SVODs are so [protec tive] about their data. I think that will change. They are sharing more data because they understand how important it is for creative people to understand which kind of audience and which type of sub scribers they can attract.

WS: Does your background as a producer help you manage these companies led by creatives?

BASSETTI: At our company, we are all producers. We speak the same language and know how difficult it is to pitch and con vince people in front of you to buy your show. We know to be flexible and understand their needs. The fact that we speak the same language in our group is pretty unique; we want that to continue because it’s part of our DNA.

WS: What does Banijay’s future look like through your eyes?

BASSETTI: There will be more opportunities in the future for B2C. I think that we need to maintain our flexibility and be as agile as possible. Also, in five or ten years, IP and talent will be the most important thing to create value, and it is exactly what we are doing now. Every day we try to make a place where people love to be and work.

Love Triangle is a new dating series from Banijay.

Emily Blunt & Chaske Spencer The English

Set against the harsh background of the late-1800s American West, BBC Two and Prime Video’s The English sees an aristocratic Englishwoman and a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout cross paths. While she is seeking revenge for the death of her son, he is looking to reclaim his land.

Written and directed by Hugo Blick, the All3Media International-represented series stars Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer in the lead roles. Central to the story are “the themes of loss, race, power, revenge and a restoration of justice,” Blunt says. “I think people [today] are all feeling those in their own way. There’s a lot to identify with. The Western gives you that in an elevated, cinematic sense.”

The intense story required a lot from Blunt and Spencer as actors. “You have to go to places that aren’t always pleasant, and you have to embody experiences that you’ve never been through or you can’t imagine going through,” Blunt says.

She continues, “It was an all-consuming world for us both, and it required all of us. You wait for those roles. They are very rare. We’re both honored to get the chance.”

On being directed by Blick, Spencer says, “Working with Hugo was a Godsend. When you’re doing a film like this, you have to get very intimate. You have to go places where you sometimes don’t want to go. He’s an actor, so he knows where we’re going, how we’re doing this. He knows when to back off, when to come in.”

“For a writer-director, he doesn’t hold too tightly to the material,” Blunt adds. “He’s curious to see what you’ll do with it, and it’s wonderfully freeing working with him. He was so excited by what you might do. He doesn’t straightjacket you in any way.”

In addition to acting, Blunt has an executive producer credit. “I’m not just interested in the acting side of things,” she notes. “I adore it, and I love it, and that is in itself my responsibility when we’re shooting, but the preamble and the aftermath are also really exciting to me.”

“It was an all-consuming world for us both, and it required all of us.” —Emily Blunt

Touching Tales

GoQuest Media’s Vivek Lath highlights the Romanian drama Sacrificiul

.

By Kristin Brzoznowski

The story of three sisters who were separated as children and reunited years later by the fortuitous connection of their own kids plays out in Sacrificiul , a drama that GoQuest Media is bringing out to the international market. The show, from Romania, is but one example of the type of diverse global content that GoQuest has in its portfolio.

“We are always on the lookout to expand our catalog of longrunning series and keep a variety that will suit various platforms and networks’ audiences,” says Vivek Lath, managing director of

GoQuest. “Eastern Europe has been upping the ante in both pro duction and storytelling, and Sacrificiul from Romania came across as a series with a lot of potential—in terms of story and pro duction as well as the creative team and talent telling the story.”

Lath and the GoQuest team were keen to take Sacrificiul on for their sales slate for several reasons, he explains: “Sacrificiul has a wholesome, multigenerational appeal with enough sur prises and plot twists to keep the audience hooked. It is an easy

watch while telling a very emotional story and has great poten tial to attract drama-watching audiences across cultures.”

In the series, the sisters—married into the Oprea, Zamfir and Popescu families—have been raised with different upbringings and live disparate lives. After a secret affair that irreversibly brings their destinies together comes to light, they can’t think of a way to make a truce for the sake of their children.

Sacrificiul continues in the vein of GoQuest’s strategy to “bring the best of local content to the world,” Lath says. “It is a per fect title to sit well in the family/romantic genre. We believe stories of family, love and sacrifice tug firmly at the hearts of drama lovers worldwide. They will appreciate the novelty and variety that a title like Sacrificiul will add to their list of must-watch dramas.”

“Sacrificiul has a wholesome, multigenerational appeal.” —Vivek Lath

Gordon Ramsay ’s Future Food Stars.

Plated for Asia

By Kristin Brzoznowski

Basking in a post-MIPCOM glow and fresh off an outing at MIP Cancun, All3Media International is getting ready for what it believes will be a fruitful Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF).

“ We are looking forward to reconnecting with clients and friends at ATF,” says Sabrina Duguet, executive VP for the Asia Pacific. “A lot has changed in the past two to three years since the

last market, and All3Media International has also grown a lot and diversified our content even more.”

The company’s scripted formats have been successful in the AsiaPac region, Duguet notes. “We now have ten scripted formats

—Sabrina Duguet

adapted in Asia with another five in development. We have seen a significant rise in production budgets to compete with the con tent seen on the global streamers, and so format adaptation has presented a more creatively and economically efficient route to production for our clients, which has been extremely successful.”

Additionally, high-end international dramas from leading pro ducers are in demand across the Asia Pacific, according to Duguet. “Clients are looking for series with strong production values, excel lent storytelling and stellar casts, and we’re excited to offer this.”

She also notes a rising demand across the region for high-end factual content, “so we are delighted to offer a raft of tentpole titles from award-winning premium factual producers that present unmissable real-life stories with global appeal, engrossing narra tives and high-end production values.”

On the entertainment side, newcomers such as Future Food Stars Australia and the psychological adventure reality series The Traitors and The Unknown sit alongside established brands such as Kitchen Nightmares, Cash Cab and Undercover Boss.

“We are looking forward to reconnecting with clients and friends at ATF.”

TV Asia

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In the Stream

As Netflix, Disney+ and other global OTT ser vices face slowing subscriber gains in their most mature markets, all eyes are on where AsiaPac sits in the next wave of the streaming wars. By all accounts, the region is set to be a hub of activity in the years ahead.

“Investors are increasingly focused on enhanced scale, improved monetization and real profitability across global, local and regional online video platforms,” Vivek Couto, executive director and co-founder of Media Partners Asia (MPA), said as the research firm released its Asia Pacific Online Video & Broadband Distribution 2022 report earlier this year. “In this context, Asia Pacific continues to have a critical role in the future of the global online video industry. The region remains the largest growth contributor to global online video customers and users today and is emerging as a significant contributor to revenue growth. With the U.S. and Europe fast maturing and China inaccessible, AsiaPac’s large markets—India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Thailand—will be increasingly important to global plat forms. Each of these markets requires local content and distribution strategies with long-term investment.”

AsiaPac video industry revenues are expected to hit $169 billion by 2027, powered by strong gains in SVOD and AVOD revenues, per MPA. Subscription and ad rev enues from free, pay and online platforms across 14 AsiaPacific markets will hit $142.5 billion this year, MPA says, a 6.4 percent year-on-year gain. Through 2027, the sector is expected to have a 3.5 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), with online video growing by 8.2 percent and pay TV by 2.1 percent, while free TV will diminish by 2 percent.

By revenues, China, Japan and India will remain the largest video markets in AsiaPac, followed by South Korea and Australia. Taiwan, currently in sixth place, will be overtaken by Indonesia by 2027. AVOD and SVOD will each have a 22 percent share of video industry rev enues by 2027, MPA notes, up from 17 percent today. Free TV’s share will drop from 25 percent to 19 percent, with pay TV dropping from 40 percent to 37 percent.

My report in this edition surveys several distribu tors heading to Asia TV Forum—finally back in person in Singapore—about what the streaming wars have meant for their businesses in the region this year. We also hear from Astro’s Euan Smith—who takes on the role of CEO early next year—about the role that pow erful pay-TV incumbents can play as aggregators in this new ecosystem. —Mansha Daswani

CONTENTS

FE ATURES

POWERED UP

As Singapore gears up to host the first in-person Asia TV Forum since 2019, several leading distributors discuss what’s driving their businesses in the region.

SCREENINGS FESTIVAL

Our second annual TV Asia Screenings Festival features a mix of dramas, docs and kids’ shows that will be available at Asia TV Forum.

INTERVIEW

Astro’s Euan Smith

The CEO-designate of the Malaysian platform discusses aggregation, content investments and upgrading the consumer experience.

Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher

Anna Carugati Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Editor

Kristin Brzoznowski Executive Editor Jamie Stalcup Associate Editor David Diehl Production & Design Director Simon Weaver Online Director Dana Mattison Sales & Marketing Director Genovick Acevedo Sales & Marketing Coordinator Andrea Moreno Business Affairs Manager

Ricardo Seguin Guise President

Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development

ABS-CBN Corporation

2 Good 2 Be True / Darna / Flower of Evil

The ABS-CBN Corporation highlight 2 Good 2 Be True tells a story of trust, forgiveness and love. When mechanic Eloy inadvertently crosses paths with Ali, their lives are changed forever in this romance. In the fantasy adventure Darna, a young woman destined to protect a magical artifact has to find the courage within herself to face malevolent forces. Also on the slate is Flower of Evil , based on the original format created by Jeong-hui Ryu and produced by Studio Dragon and CJ ENM. The thriller sees a detective investigate her husband, who becomes a suspect in a serial killer case. “These dramas make the human spirit shine through tough situations people have been in to varying degrees,” says Wincess Lee Gonzalez, ABS-CBN’s sales head for Asia, Latin America and OTT.

All3Media International

The Larkins / Rise of the Billionaires / Scripted Formats

Leading All3Media International’s ATF highlights, The Larkins follows the adventures of the titular family, a loyal and hardworking unit living in the Kent countryside who share a disinterest in authority. Among All3Media International’s factual titles, Rise of the Billionaires examines how Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and Larry Page have shaped the modern world. Additional factual programs include Wild Oman: Wonder of Arabia, Stolen: Catching the Art Thieves and Saving Venice. Scripted formats are also part of the company’s offering. “Scripted formats offer a more creatively and economically efficient route for our buyers, who are currently seeing increased production budgets and competition with content on the global streamers,” says Sabrina Duguet, executive VP for the Asia Pacific.

ATV

A Little Sunshine

ATV’s slate for ATF features the brand-new drama series A Little Sunshine . The drama centers on Hakan and Elif, a happily married couple whose life is only missing a child. When Hakan gets in an accident, he is found dead with a little girl beside him, and Elif learns she is listed as the girl’s biological mother. As she takes the child under her care, Elif discovers more about her husband’s double life, including that he had a lot of debt. “The series is performing very well in its local market, and it has already attracted great attention from our key international markets,” says Müge Akar, head of sales for Europe, Asia and Africa at ATV. “As we are increasing our presence in Asia, A Little Sunshine will accelerate this trend.”

“Our dramas are always rooted in values we hold dear as people and as a company.”

—Wincess Lee Gonzalez

“A Little Sunshine is a perfect, tailormade show.”

—Müge Akar

A Little Sunshine

“We are looking forward to being back at the market to reconnect with clients and friends at ATF.”

—Sabrina Duguet

The Larkins

Banijay Rights

Banijay Rights’ Marie Antoinette centers on the young French queen. “Growing from a stubborn young princess navigating the rules of the French court under pressure to continue the Bourbon line to a true fashion icon, she impressed with her natural charisma and recreated life in Versailles in her image: free, independent and a feminist ahead of her time,” says Rashmi Bajpai, executive VP of sales for Asia. Rogue Heroes, written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders), provides a dramatized account of how the special forces unit SAS was formed under extraordinary circumstances during World War II. In addition, the singing competition format Le Plus Grand Karaoké de France (The Nation’s Greatest Karaoke) sees 1,000 people perform in front of a 6,000-person audience as singing teachers, musicians and vocal coaches choose the best.

Cyber Group Studios

The dinosaur-led comedy adventure series Gigantosaurus tops Cyber Group Studios’ ATF highlights. Following four dinosaurs as they grow in the world of Cretacia, “Gigantosaurus is Cyber Group Studios’ biggest hit and has already proven to be successful in more than 194 territories around the world,” says Pauline Berard, international sales executive. Season two of the slapstick comedy series Taffy, targeted at 6- to 10-year-olds and families, sees the raccoon put in double the effort to keep his bow and protect his undercover identity from the inventive and crafty Bentley. Droners, meanwhile, “addresses the issues of ecology and climate change in a very smooth way,” Berard says. “It has a message of hope for the future, as just like the characters, we can always adapt and find solutions to protect nature.”

eOne Family Brands

Transformers: EarthSpark / PJ Masks Power Heroes / Baby Alive

eOne Family Brands’ Transformers: EarthSpark introduces a new generation of Transformers—the first to be born on Earth. Together with the humans who take them in, they redefine what it means to be a family. PJ Masks Power Heroes features the classic heroes alongside new faces with all-new powers. A second season of Baby Alive, which has garnered 851 million views and 81 million hours watched on YouTube, is also on offer. “Buyers at ATF are looking for content that will connect with today’s kids—a new generation that eagerly embraces diversity and celebrates individual expression,” says Monica Candiani, executive VP of content sales. “Our content reflects those priorities and explores other universal themes like friendship, self-expression and giving back while always putting fun first.”

“The Asian market is key for Cyber Group Studios, and we look forward to strengthening our position in the region.”

—Pauline Berard

Transformers: EarthSpark

Rogue Heroes Droners

Marie Antoinette / Rogue Heroes / The Nation’s Greatest Karaoke

Gigantosaurus / Taffy / Droners

“We’re looking forward to meeting more of our clients post-pandemic and in person, which is irreplaceable.”

—Rashmi Bajpai

“It’s an exciting time as we continue to delve into Hasbro’s rich catalog of IP to create world-class content.”

—Monica Candiani

Fremantle

On offer from Fremantle, the game show Password pairs celebrities and members of the public to attempt to convey mystery words to each other. “In Asia, we have seen a renaissance of our evergreen game shows like Family Feud and The Price is Right ,” says Ganesh Rajaram, general manager and executive VP of sales in Asia. “Password will be another great addition to this.” Made of Money with Brian Cox sees the Succession star explore what money “means and does to people of different social standing across the world,” Rajaram says. “Given the economic issues facing the world today, the relevance of this cannot be underestimated.” The Elon Musk Show gives viewers a glimpse at the billionaire through the eyes of his closest friends, family and colleagues.

GMA Network

Maria Clara and Ibarra / Luv Is: Caught in His Arms

GMA Network is showcasing two new titles at ATF this year: Maria Clara and Ibarra and Luv Is: Caught in His Arms Maria Clara and Ibarra marks the latest milestone prime-time drama of GMA Network. It tells the story of a young woman who finds herself in the world of Noli Me Tángere, a novel by José Rizal, a Philippine national hero. Luv Is: Caught in His Arms features a young woman who works as a cook for five notoriously mischievous grandsons—one of whom she falls in love with. “We believe that GMA dramas appeal to clients looking for themes that revolve around the values of family and country, which give hope and touch the hearts of viewers,” says Roxanne J. Barcelona, VP of GMA Network’s Worldwide Division.

Guang Dong Winsing Company

GG Bond: Kung Fu Pork Choppers / GG Bond: Ocean Mission / GOGOBUS

Leading Guang Dong Winsing Company’s highlights, GG Bond: Kung Fu Pork Choppers embraces elements of love, friendship, heroism, humor and adventure as it follows a team of five young superhero pigs and their super-powered pets. They use their Chinese kung-fu skills to defeat evil and keep the peace. GG Bond: Ocean Mission , the seventh film in the franchise, sees GG Bond encounter a friend named Noah, who is devoted to searching for his brother in the deep ocean. Featuring an AI rescue school bus capable of transforming into different vehicles, GOGOBUS encourages basic scientific thinking skills while teaching preschoolers about modern science technology, life science, natural history and more.

“Fremantle is a one-stop shop for all your programming needs.”

—Ganesh Rajaram

The Elon Musk Show

“GMA remains committed to providing premium Filipino content to its clients worldwide.”

—Roxanne J. Barcelona

Password / Made of Money with Brian Cox / The Elon Musk Show

Maria Clara and Ibarra

ITV Studios

Loaded in Paradise , a brand-new format from ITV Studios, sees party-loving pairs island hop around Greece in a race to take control of a gold card loaded with money. “In Loaded in Paradise , we see a show that is more than just a race or a game of tag, as it encapsulates aspects of ‘captive reality,’ along with travel and maybe a few elements of dating formats,” says Ayesha Surty, senior VP of licensing for Asia and India. Meanwhile, Bad Chefs addresses the trend of younger generations becoming overly reliant on food delivery apps during the pandemic. The contestants will compete to cook basic recipes. In The Voice Generations , a new spin-off of The Voice , groups of at least two people from different generations of any age compete.

Nippon TV

Old Enough! / Vocals Like Locals / First Kiss Boys/First Kiss Ladies

Old Enough!, in which young children run errands on their own for the first time, leads Nippon TV’s slate. “ Old Enough! follows in the tradition of lovable family programming that is original, unpredictable and the sweetest entertainment,” says Yuki Akehi, director of international business development. Vocals Like Locals brings together amateur singers from all over the world to sing hits from their countries. Also on offer, the First Kiss Boys drama series is paired with the mockumentary First Kiss Ladies . The former follows a schoolboy who has his first kiss with a beautiful young girl, only to find out later that she is part of a dating reality show, First Kiss Ladies. In First Kiss Ladies, six women live under the same roof and try to capture the heart of one man.

Passion Distribution

Dinosaur with Stephen Fry / Football Dreams: The Academy / Love in the Flesh

Passion Distribution has on offer Dinosaur with Stephen Fry, fronted by the eponymous British actor, comedian and writer. “Dinosaurs are a subject of endless interest and fascination in every country on the planet, and using cutting-edge technology, this groundbreaking series immerses audiences in a 360-degree dinosaur world,” says Robert Bassett, senior sales manager. Football Dreams: The Academy goes behind the scenes at Premier League team Crystal Palace, giving viewers a rare insight into what it takes to make it as a professional footballer. Love in the Flesh, available finished and as a format, sees couples who have only ever dated each other online meet in person for the first time. The series “puts a new and innovative twist on the traditional reality dating show,” Bassett says.

“We are looking forward to introducing our exciting new slate of unscripted content.”

—Robert Bassett

“We are hoping to find partners who will embark with us on the journey of expanding great Asian stories into fun and innovative entertainment.”

—Yuki Akehi

Football Dreams: The Academy

“The demand for quality content has exploded, and the appetite for something different and fresh is stronger than ever.”

—Ayesha Surty

Bad Chefs

First Kiss Boys/First Kiss Ladies

Loaded in Paradise / Bad Chefs / The Voice Generations

Rewind Networks

HITS / HITS MOVIES

Rewind Networks’ bouquet includes the channels HITS and HITS MOVIES, which are in 24 million households across 14 countries. HITS’ offering includes series such as Airwolf, I Dream of Jeannie, The Winds of War, Shogun, Cheers and more. The HITS MOVIES channel, meanwhile, “showcases everyone’s favorite blockbusters from the 1960s through the early 2000s,” says Sandie Lee, executive VP and channel head. Its catalog features classics such as Casablanca and Gone with the Wind, as well as a slew of box-office comedies, including 50 First Dates, Miss Congeniality and Mean Girls. It also includes a variety of Christmas classics such as Scrooged, It’s a Wonderful Life and Trading Places. “Our content offerings have consistently stayed true to the brand proposition of ‘the best TV and movies—all in one place,’ ” Lee notes.

Studio 100 Media

Vegesaurs / FriendZSpace / 100% Wolf

Studio 100 Media’s slate features Vegesaurs , a preschool series set in a prehistoric world populated by creatures such as Tricarrotops and Pea-Rexes. “ Vegesaurs is a fresh and unique take on the dinosaur genre with characters you can only find in this show,” says Vanessa Windhager, sales executive. She adds, “Vegetables and fruits were never so much fun!” In FriendZSpace, three human kids venture into deep space to locate planets, find alien kids and make friends. Also on offer, 100% Wolf follows the adventures of Freddy, a pink poodle who should have been a werewolf instead. “The overall concept of 100% Wolf underlines that heroes come in many forms, displaying diversity by strength in difference and self-confidence by choosing your own path and reaching your potential,” Windhager says.

Warner Bros. Discovery Asia Pacific

HBO / HBO GO / discovery+

This year, there have been strong hits from the Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio, including the HBO original House of the Dragon and shows made in AsiaPac. “In addition to local relevance, ‘travelability’ remains front of mind for our Asia productions, and we’re always looking for new ways to bring this content to more audiences,” says Jae Chang, senior VP, head of home entertainment and TV distribution for India, Southeast Asia and Korea at Warner Bros. Discovery. “For example, our local shows from India and Korea have aired across our networks portfolio, as well as on HBO GO and discovery+ in Southeast Asia.” Selectively premiering Discovery content on HBO GO has also proven valuable, Chang says, with titles such as Johnny vs Amber and House of Hammer growing viewership and engagement.

“Our selections of shows and movies are carefully curated and based mainly on the fact that the content resonates well with our viewers.”

—Sandie Lee

“Warner Bros. Discovery is home to many of the most iconic brands and franchises.”

—Jae Chang

House of

the

Dragon on

HBO GO

100% Wolf

I Dream of Jeannie on HITS

“Our mission in the kids’ entertainment world is to bring brands to life that are content-driven and entertain kids and families on every platform.”

—Vanessa Windhager

POWEREDUP

As Singapore gears up to host the first in-person Asia TV Forum since 2019, Mansha Daswani checks in with several leading distributors about

It’s been a long three years since the content com munity convened in Singapore for the Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF). And according to RX Singa pore, there’s plenty of pent-up demand for a market focused on this still-growing region. While the recessionary fears plaguing the rest of the world certainly have media execs in Asia concerned, the top-line news is that the streaming sector is still expanding, pay TV isn’t dead, and free-to-air broadcasters are winning audiences with top-notch, locally resonant content.

The most significant evolution since the last in-person ATF is, of course, the dramatic ramp-up in the streaming wars, with Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video, among others, looking to grow their Asian subscriber bases as they hit maturity in most other parts of the world. At the same time, local and regional players continue to see usage gains.

“In Asia, where local content is the key driver for all chan nels and platforms, competition means that buyers will be more creative and open to finding new content to resonate with their audiences,” says Augustus Dulgaro, executive VP of distribution for the Asia Pacific at ITV Studios. “It’s worth remembering that almost every partner is, in effect, a streamer, as they pivot to a content anytime, anywhere strategy to meet the demands of audiences with their own catch-up, SVOD and AVOD offerings. Given the depth and breadth of ITV’s slate and business, we have the privilege of working with most clients in the region and are well-placed to respond to the needs of the marketplace as it has changed and morphed over the last few years—and will in the future.”

Ganesh Rajaram, general manager and executive VP for Asia at Fremantle, reports that the gains in the streaming sector have boosted the company’s business in the region, partic ular ly for its scripted slate. “A few years ago, before the big streamers landed in Asia, the scripted market was primarily dominated by English scripted content. The global streamers brought multi-language, multicultural offerings from many

different countries to Asia. This helped create a voracious appetite for high-quality scripted content, regardless of where it came from.”

STREAM ON

The rapid proliferation of OTT platforms “has become a big opportunity for us to expand our distribution, and we have changed our strategy accordingly,” observes Keisuke Miyata, head of sales in the international business development unit at Japanese media giant Nippon TV. “Some of our popular shows have sold as finished content to major streamers over the last 12-plus months, such as Old Enough! and multiple hit drama series to Netflix, as well as our hit anime series The Files of Young Kindaichi to Disney+. The anime genre is also a huge driving force in the streaming business. We have many deals with Southeast Asian platforms to license/sublicense and dis tribute our ever-popular anime series such as HUNTER X HUNTER and DEATH NOTE.”

The intensely competitive OTT sector in India has turned that market into one of All3Media International’s best territo ries for scripted-format adaptations, reports Sabrina Duguet, the company’s executive VP for the region. And the company’s drama business is growing fast across AsiaPac, Duguet notes, powered in part by the emergence of new players.

“They’re setting up in Asia, they need local content, and then they say, now we can diversify,” Duguet explains. “On the scripted side, Japan is still one of our strongest territories. They love crime, detective, investigation and British—as you know, most of the catalog is that! It’s a very reliable market. We probably had our best year last year in Korea in scripted. The All3Media International slate becoming broader and bigger budget, and VOD platforms needing to compete, diversify and do something a little different have given us great results.”

And it’s not just British and European drama resonating across AsiaPac, distributors note.

what’s driving their businesses in the region.

Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, India and Malaysia are among the best markets for Turkish series, according to Müge Akar, the head of sales for Europe, Asia and Africa at ATV. “We are also targeting certain new regions due to the popularity of Turkish dramas. We are

willing to include more territories with the new markets we are heading to.”

Akar continues, “We have licensed our most-watched dra mas—The Ottoman, For My Family, Destan, Maria and Mustafa and Between Us—to Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and we are continuously adding more series to our catalog overseas. We also aim to reach out to Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam.”

Akar observes that audiences are responding to Turkish dra ma themes that are “unique, universal and can demon strate the world’s sincerity of life. We became thrilled when we noticed Turkish dramas’ immense popularity and fan base throughout Asia.”

ASIAN STORIES

Drama produced across the region is also traveling well. “With the battle for eyeballs in Asia, we have started receiving inter est for simulcast releases from regional OTT players,” com ments Wincess Lee Gonzalez, sales head for Asia, Latin America and OTT at ABS-CBN Corporation in the Philippines. “We already actively do this with our OTT clients for their Philippines feed, offering simulcast or even up to 72 hours before TV airing. We hope this would be a natural progression for the efforts we have been putting into promoting Filipino content to the region and the world.”

Drama is driving ABS-CBN’s AsiaPac business, notably romance and family series. “Interestingly, even traditional lin ear clients are now looking for shorter dramas—20 episodes to about a max of 60 episodes—whereas before, the longer, the better it was for them,” she continues. “Global, especially regional players, continue to need local content to capture the market, aside from originals that are being commissioned more and more now. We sell a lot to the local players too, with movies also a special focus for them. Our film library is big—we offer commercial films, restored classics and even indies that have made their mark in international film festivals.”

At GMA Network, “family and romance dramas travel well within the region as cultures in Asia have many similarities,” agrees Roxanne J. Barcelona, VP of the Worldwide Division. Barcelona adds that India, Thailand, China and Japan present the greatest new opportunities for GMA Network content across AsiaPac.

Nippon TV’s Miyata explains that Japanese scripted content is also traveling well, thanks partly to the proliferating OTT landscape. “The strategy by the streamers to exclusively acquire new, competitive and subscription-driving content will continue. An example would be our latest series Love with a Case , by the scriptwriter Yuji Sakamoto ( Mother , Woman –My Life for My Children— ). Before the show started airing on Nippon TV, the streaming rights were sold widely across Asia, including South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and it ranked number one in Taiwan.”

Thanks to its successful scripted-formats business, All3Media International is steadily building a slate of Asian dramas to distribute, including Masoom, the Indian version of the Irish drama Blood produced for Disney+ Hotstar. “We’re thrilled to see this premium adaptation proving a ratings and award-winning success in India,” Duguet explains. “We’ve started having some offers on this Indian remake of our for mat. It’s great that the format and the local version travel.”

All3Media International has also clinched its first scriptedformat deal in Malaysia, with Double Vision adapting the hit U.K. series Liar

The non-scripted format business across AsiaPac is also far ing well for a raft of distributors, All3Media International

Passion Distribution’s lineup for ATF includes a new season of Help! My House is Haunted

ATV is looking to conquer new markets with its Turkish drama series, including The Father

Masoom is the Indian version of All3Media International’s acclaimed Irish drama Blood

included, with Duguet highlighting India as a key new territory in this space.

“For formats, we’ve seen a renaissance of our evergreen game-show titles like Family Feud and The Price is Right across Asia,” adds Rajaram at Fremantle. “Clients across the region are

renewing hundreds of episodes almost quarterly because of the tremendous success they are having with these titles.”

Rajaram adds, “With more markets opening up post-Covid, we’d like to see even more format productions sprout across the region. Another area is scripted formats—we are beginning to see a lot of interest in markets like China and Korea to make local versions of some of our hit dramas, and we hope to make a few of these versions in 2023.”

Dulgaro at ITV Studios is also bullish on the prospects of driving more scripted-format deals in Asia, particularly from India and South Korea. “ITV Studios has recently partnered with JTBC/Studio LuluLala on a South Korean version of Cleaning Up as well as with BBC Studios [and] Applause Entertainment on an Indian version of 35 Days.”

Nippon TV is also focusing on both non-scripted and scripted format sales, Miyata says. “Having the IP to shows leads to for mat sales for local adaptations. One recent example of this would be Old Enough!, which has been a hit show on Nippon TV for over 30 years. The series has also sold well as a finished program and has been adapted as an unscripted format in many international countries such as Italy, the U.K., Vietnam, China and Singapore.”

Other sectors of the content business are also receiving a boost thanks to the streaming wars, including high-quality fac tual fare. “Streamers certainly are an ever-growing part of our sales strategy in the region, and last year was a very positive one in this respect,” says Robert Bassett, senior sales manager at Passion Distribution. “Several of our shows found a local home, such as Drag Race Philippines landing on discovery+/HBO GO locally while the show launched on global streamer WOW Presents Plus.”

Specialist factual, including science, engineering and history, is doing particularly well, Bassett says, highlighting the ATF launch of Dinosaur with Stephen Fry. As far as key territories, meanwhile, “India is a market where we have been very suc cessful in the past, including bringing the format Idiotest to StarPlus; however, it was an area that struggled during the pan demic, so we are keen to work on some new projects,” Bassett continues. “We are already in a number of exciting discussions and expect 2023 to be a very productive one in this territory.”

YOUNG ONES

Kids’ content also continues to be sought after by both legacy and new players alike.

“With global players expanding their presence in the region and local players emerging, there have been more opportuni ties to expand the distribution of our franchise shows like Peppa Pig, Transformers: EarthSpark and the My Little Pony brand to much wider audiences,” says Monica Candiani, executive VP of content sales at Entertainment One (eOne) Family Brands.

Per Candiani, eOne Family Brands is focusing on new and returning opportunities across the region. Still, markets like India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand “are top of mind for our sales team” at present.

According to Pauline Berard, international sales executive at Cyber Group Studios, the French animation production and distribution outfit has been steadily building its AsiaPac busi ness across both distribution and co-production.

“In February 2022, we announced our partnership with Scrawl Animation. Our first common project is Alex Player —a co-production between Cyber Group Studios, Scrawl Animation and the Italian-based studio Graphilm Entertain ment—that will take you into the world of esports competition,” Berard explains.

Alex Player is Cyber Group Studios’ first project with Scrawl Animation in Singapore.

ITV Studios is showcasing a mix of finished shows and formats such as The Voice Generations

Love with a Case leads off Nippon TV’s Japanese drama slate in Singapore.

At Annecy last year, Cyber Group Studios unveiled a pact with Nippon Animation to release the feature-length title Nanami and the Quest for Atlantis, which will be followed by a brand-new animated series based on the classic 1994 anime Tico and Friends

Looking ahead, Indonesia is an important market for Cyber Group Studios, Berard explains. “In June, Cyber Group Studios organized an off-site trip reuniting all the teams from France, the U.S., Italy, the U.K. and Singapore. That’s when, following a conversation with Choon Meng Seng, CEO of Scrawl Ani mation, our Singapore-based sister company, the idea came up to focus on the strategy for one particular territory every six months. We decided to start with Indonesia. So, we come to ATF to meet as many Indonesian companies as possi ble and explore our opportunities with them.”

CRYSTAL BALL-GAZING

While the consensus among the distributors surveyed here is that ATF will be a busy, thriving market, macroeconomic issues are a concern as broadcasters and platforms alike pre pare for a squeeze on advertising and subscription revenues. Are buyers becoming more risk-averse in this climate?

“Yes and no,” says Dulgaro at ITV Studios. “Our buyers have always been discerning. Of course, buyers are looking for IP that will work for their existing audiences, but they’re always looking for something left-field that will expand their audience and grow their reach. It’s worth remembering that buyers are now buying across many routes to market, and not all of them have the same demographic. ITV Studios has seen this with Love Island, a brand that works perfectly well in a linear envi ronment but explodes in key demos in the on-demand space. Audiences also need to be surprised, and buyers are looking for new and different content that will pop in the schedule and on an on-demand carousel.”

Rajaram at Fremantle observes that “clients are being more cautious because of fiscal concerns, but at the same time, com ing out of Covid lockdowns after almost three years is also fueling cautious optimism. And for us, given our tried and trusted brands, we are still seeing healthy demand for favorites like Got Talent and Idol and the newer titles.”

Rajaram adds, “Locally, the local linear players are beginning to be more aggressive because quite a few of the pan-regional pay-TV giants have either been absorbed by the new global streaming entities or have gone into a standstill period while determining launch plans. This has allowed local linear players to get first-run titles, and they are going for it.”

Barcelona says clients have primarily been “consistent in their acquisition of GMA content despite worldwide economic concerns. Although some complain about reduced budgets, corporate shakeups and changes in their programming, con tent is still king. Our clients are now more conservative when they buy, and they make sure that whatever is acquired is con sumed quickly.”

Some markets are being harder hit than others, ABS-CBN’s Lee Gonzalez notes. “Some have picked up their acquisitions for this year and next, while a few have pushed back their launches due to a slowdown in advertising.”

“With broadcasters and platforms keeping a close eye on their acquisitions budgets, buyers have tended to lean on wellestablished shows,” says Candiani at eOne. “We’re proud we can offer iconic franchises like Peppa and Transformers that already have great market visibility and can help attract and retain viewers.”

Passion’s Bassett reports that the global cost of living crisis is on the minds of everyone in the media business; “however, I think clients realize that viewers’ access to quality content could be more important than ever. With this in mind, we are not seeing a significant change in buyers’ appetites, and I think their attendance at ATF would attest to this.”

GMA Network is offering Filipino rom-coms such as Luv Is: Caught in His Arms

Fremantle is touting a game-show format slate that includes Password

Known IP, such as eOne Family Brands’ My Little Pony franchise, is resonating across the region.

Euan Smith Astro

SMITH: It feels like the region is tracking about three years behind what’s been happening in the U.S. and Europe. There’s a surge in OTT players. We are quickly getting to the point of saturation in Southeast Asia. People increasingly see it as fertile ground, with significantly more of a mobilefirst viewership population. As markets reach maturity, you’re starting to see the first OTT disruptors get disrupted. It’s going to happen in Southeast Asia as well. I read that for every dollar that Netflix makes from its customer base, Disney makes about $0.14. Assuming that’s true, the price of the product is under a lot of threat. There’s only so much great content that can get made, and over time, the shift in the power base will be toward the guys who have the best content. That’s why many of the major OTT players are keen on keeping their content locked in and being cautious on distribution deals. They’re not interested in sharing con tent among themselves, which brings me to pay-TV land. As services proliferate and inflation increases, the OTT players all realize that the growth of their machines will come, in significant part, from distributors like Astro. We’ve got 71 percent of Malaysian eyeballs. If [an OTT platform] wants to keep telling a growth story, it has to either start raising prices—and the market is not letting it do that—or get growth in volume. For a pay-TV operator, this is good news. Our game hasn’t changed. Astro is 26 years young, and we’ve always been about three things: Make great local content that resonates. Build a home of sports offers that is compelling. And then aggregate the best of the rest. Fifteen years ago, that aggregation used to be channels. Today, aggregating the best content is increasingly the apps. That’s where the play is for a pay-TV operator. We used to put lots of channels together. Now we put lots of apps together. The OTT players will find it hard to aggregate all their services among themselves. Someone has to be agnostic. Someone has to create a compelling, simple UI and a search and dis covery function that cuts through that. When you add Astro’s own local content and sports offer to the mix, we feel pretty bullish about our role in the environment.

TV ASIA: Disney has pulled the plug on most of its linear channels. Do you expect to see more of that happening?

By Mansha Daswani

The next battleground in the global streaming wars is Asia, and for those OTT players eyeing fast-growing markets like Indonesia and India, the role to be played by incumbent pay-TV operators should not be dis counted. That’s the philosophy guiding the growth strategy at Malaysia’s Astro, Euan Smith, the CEO of TV and group COO and soon-to-be CEO (he succeeds Henry Tan in February), tells TV Asia. With a focus on aggregation, tech innovation and high-quality local content, the Foxtel and Sky veteran is bullish about Astro’s prospects in a fastchanging media landscape.

SMITH: I think over time you will see more linear channels dropping away. But there is an inherent inertia in the busi ness model, as transitions take time. Some people are look ing at Disney’s move and thinking that perhaps that was a bridge too far. But I think you’ll see a reduction of linear channels over time and a move to assets. For Astro, it’s not really different. As an aggregator, if we’re aggregating con tent on a home screen, effectively we’re making channels; they just look like rails on the screen rather than a traditional EPG. The other interesting thing is, two, three years ago, most of the OTT players were saying, We’re a subscription play; ads are not our thing. And suddenly, with the

TV ASIA: Where do you see Asia in the global streaming wars today?

Astro is continuing to expand its original content slate, which includes Polis Evo 3

squeeze on growth, everyone now wants to have two rev enue streams: one from advertising, one from subscription. For a pay-TV operator, we’ve been running that same model for 26 years. It’s almost like the industry is heading back to square one.

TV ASIA: Tell us about the consumer proposition and how you differentiate the offerings across Astro, sooka and NJOI.

SMITH: Astro used to be a traditional satellite single play. You had one box, there were a bunch of packages, and you bought into them. The first thing we had to do was become transmis sion-agnostic and put the content that people are buying wherever they want it to happen. And then, we need to make it easier for them to find and surface what they want in this increasingly complex world. That’s why our Ultra and Ulti Boxes exist. First, you can get the premium 4K experience on the Ultra Box, but if you’re not in that market segment, our Ulti HD Box sells at a lower price with just the same UI look and feel. Second thing, the boxes can’t just be satellite these days, so they’re not. Both boxes are hybrid and work just as well over the internet. We’re no longer a “dish” company; we’re a streaming company. Third is that you need to give people value for their subscription when they are not in the home, which is why we’re spending a lot of money on improving the functionality and features of Astro GO so that a customer can carry all 65,000 titles in their pocket.

Similarly, Astro used to be a one-size-fits-all product. That’s not how the market works these days. So we’ve divided ourselves into three tents. Customers may want the full-fat experience, which is family first, big screen, all the sparkling content you possibly could want, available in various pack ages with bundled apps. That is Astro. But there are two groups of customers who don’t want that. One wants a very laid-back experience; it wants the big screen, a pick-and-mix experience. We have NJOI for those people. NJOI is a free sat service, and we make it super simple so that when you do want extra content, you can buy up. It’s a prepaid model for customers who wish to dip in and out. Then there are those who don’t choose Astro because they tend to be more mobile. For them, we have sooka. It’s single-use first and skewed to a younger demographic. It allows us to target a different audi ence in a slightly different way. Whereas Astro is sleek and premium, sooka is more fun and quirky. We’re building con tent that is exclusive to sooka. It’s an app. It’s a cool way to monetize our content in a different space, which is very differ ent from the main pay-TV engine, and we are seeing some

really good engagement in terms of stats. We built sooka such that even if you don’t subscribe, there’s an ad layer. So even if you’re just a casual user, we can serve you some ads and get value from the platform even if you’re not ready to have a fullblown relationship with Astro.

Going back three decades, we rein vent ed Malaysian TV in the pay-TV space. The journey now is to reinvent ourselves around these three products.

TV ASIA: Tell us about the introduction of Astro Fibre.

SMITH: If you buy all the [OTT subscrip tions] separately, the price you pay is at a premium to buying them all through Astro, and you don’t get Astro’s great content. In our model, you have just a single bill and an all-in-one experience. The obvious step from that is, well, our world is increasingly about streaming, about con nectivity, about the connected home. That’s why we launched Astro Fibre. We have built our own network. Now, we can take the broadband and TV bundle and cre ate really compelling offers in the marketplace. Most of the broadband providers will be selling on reliability, speed and price. We can also engage consumers around the content, which is significantly sexier than talking about reliability, speed and price! We see Fibre as being the fourth pillar of our portfolio. It’s Astro pay TV, sooka or NJOI, and Fibre across the three.

TV ASIA: How are your teams working to ensure that you’re improving the overall experience for the consumer?

SMITH: We moved to the plug-and-play set-top box and have strong lower-cost products in the marketplace to serve the lower ARPU segment. We’re constantly working on how we better the hardware, such as a new remote con trol that is simpler and more intuitive. But our main thing is obviously the content. It’s all about search and discovery and personalization. And in the background, we are enhancing the data we’re capturing so that we can make each experience better. Who is watching, what, for how long, and where are they dropping in and out? As well as being used for personalization, that data informs the addressable advertising engine we have built. Addressable advertising is now launched across almost all of our prod ucts. Clearly, that is of huge value to both consumers (they get relevant ads) and the clients we work with (their ads get to the right audience).

TV ASIA: Tell us about your investments in original content.

SMITH: We’re making sure we’re creating content for each demographic—Malay, Chinese and Indian—that is premium. We’re pushing harder on the concept of Astro and sooka originals. We’re increasingly about generating strong “appointment to view” content. Our Astro Originals brand means great, high-quality, edgy drama. We’re trying to create more of these “wow” tentpoles in local content. Astro does so much great local content; we need to shout more about it than we have in the past. It’s what makes us different from the other players in the market—70 to 75 percent of all our viewing is on our local content.

TV Asia Screenings Festival

annual

Asia Screenings Festival. Visit TVAsiaScreeningsFestival.com

It’s been a long three years since the content community convened in Singapore for the Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF). And per organizer RX Singapore, there’s plenty of pent-up demand for a market focused on this growing region.

All3Media International arrives in Singapore with an extensive slate of dram a, factual and formats. On the drama front, the company is showcasing Marriage with Sean Bean and Nicola Walker, which Kit Yow, VP for AsiaPac, says “delivers a tender and truthful look at the insecurities, ambiguities, hopes and fears that are part of the risks and gifts of a long-term partnership.” On the scripted-formats front, a key offering is the Irish drama Blood, recently adapted in India as Masoom. In unscripted, Yow and her team will be talking to clients

We put the spotlight on hot properties for Asia TV Forum in our second

TV

to screen this mix of dramas, docs and kids’ shows.

ABS-CBN Corporation’s Love in 40 Days

ATV’s For My Family

about the fact-ent series The Dog House, which is “feel-good television at its best,” she says, and Hauntings: “True crime meets paranormal in this premium anthology series,” Yow notes.

ABS-CBN Corporation from the Philippines is putting the spotlight on its extensive slate of dramas and romantic comedies, among them A Family Affair, which Wincess Lee, sales head for Asia, LatAm and OTT, bills as a “story of family and forgiveness.” A Viu original, Flower of Evil is based on a Korean show created by Jeong-hui Ryu and produced by Studio Dragon and CJ ENM. ABS-CBN is also showcasing 2 Good 2 Be True , a light romance series; the fantasy/romance series Love in 40 Days; and the buzzy fantasy adventure Darna.

All3Media International’s Blood India (Masoom

Cyber Group Studios’ Gigantosaurus

ATV is seeing solid gains in its Turkish drama business across AsiaPac, according to Müge Akar, the head of sales for Europe, Asia and Africa, led by titles such as The Ottoman, For My Family, Destan and Maria and Mustafa. Several kids’ content distributors will be on-site in Singapore, including Studio 100 Media, which is highlighting Vegesaurs, “a fresh and unique take on the dinosaur genre with characters you can only find in this show,” says Vanes sa Windhager, sales executive. “Targeting kids 4 to 7 years old, the show is the perfect edutainment for preschoolers.”

Cyber Group Studios arrives at ATF with an extensive slate of animated series. “At this market, we’re highlighting our preschool series Gigantosaurus,

Studio 100 Media’s Vegesaurs

which is already broadcast in China on CCTV, Japan on NHK and Singapore on Mediacorp services, to name a few,” says Pauline Berard, international sales executive.

The array of channel and platform representatives attending the market in Singapore includes Rewind Networks’ Sandie Lee, execu tive VP and channel head, who acquires for the HITS and HITS MOVIES pay-TV networks, which are in 24 million households across 14 countries. “Our content offerings have consistently stayed true to the brand proposition of ‘the best TV and movies—all in one place,’” Lee notes.

Rewind Networks’ HITS & HITS MOVIES

THE LEADING SOURCE FOR PROGRAM INFORMATION

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

2 Good 2 Be True (Light romance, 50x45 min.) Strangers to each other, a mechanic and a nurse are brought together by lies and deceit as they enter the world of a real estate magnate who is secretly battling an incurable disease.

A Family Affair

Flower of Evil (Family drama, 32x45 min.) A top detective and her team reopen the unsolved case of mysterious serial killings that now involve some one very dear to her.

A Family Affair (Family drama, 40x45 min.) A beautiful woman gets involved in the lives of the richest family in her town and unravels deepburied secrets from their past.

Darna (Fantasy adventure, 70x45 min.) A young woman needs to protect a magical artifact and find the courage to be a superhero who is ready to face malevolent forces.

Love in 40 Days (Fantasy romance, 40x45 min.)

Life begins in the afterlife for Jane, a spunky insurance

agent who meets her untimely death in a vehicular accident. She leaves behind her dear brother.

Marry Me, Marry You (Family drama, 38x45 min.) A couple navigates the traditional expecta tions attached to marriage that extend beyond one’s partner to include their family and friends. Viral (Family drama, 64x45 min.) A family’s reallife nightmare begins when Rica gets involved in a video that goes viral. When Love Burns (Family drama, 42x45 min.) In an effort to save his marriage, which has been strained due to his impotence and his wife Rita’s busy schedule as a congresswoman, Peterson searches for a good sperm donor. He ends up choosing a doc tor named Tupe—who was Rita’s first love. Irreplaceable (Drama) Emman and Celine, an estranged couple, are brought together by the dis appearance of their son, Robbie, only to find the love they lost in the past.

The Law of Revenge (Family drama, 64x45 min.) Years after taking the fall for her best friend’s accidental crime, Marissa leaves prison with a thirst for revenge.

The English

The Gymnasts (Drama, 6x60 min.) Tracks the most important week in the lives of an elite team of teenage athletes. When it is revealed that a com petitor has died, the police suspect murder.

Marriage (Drama, 4x60 min.) Led by the star power of Sean Bean and Nicola Walker, reveals a close-up portrait of a 30-year marriage.

The Real Crown (w.t.) (History, 5x60 min.)

Through exhaustive research, unseen footage and new revelations, reveals a modern and forensic exploration of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. Hauntings (Doc., 6x60 min.) Story Films’ bold anthology series will explore paranormal stories through a premium, true-crime lens.

Saving Venice (Doc., 1x90 min./1x60 min.) Firstperson stories at the heart of the battle to save this spectacular and unique city from rising seas and over-commercialization.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

The English (Drama, 6x60 min.) Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer lead a stellar cast in this highoctane Western, created by Emmy-nominated writer and director Hugo Blick.

Wild Oman: Wonder of Arabia (Doc., 2x60 min.) Offers a visually spectacular journey of Oman’s natural world using the latest camera tech nology and shot in 4K.

This is Your Life (Fact-ent., 1x60 min.) The format recently returned to ratings-winning figures on

Aus tralia’s Channel 7 with Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe joining a legacy of famous faces.

Kitchen Nightmares (Fact-ent. format, 60 min. eps.) A famous chef is tasked with an emergency restaurant rescue mission to transform a failing restaurant through tough love and hard truths.

Black Widows (Scripted format, 60 min. eps.) A dark comedy that follows three women who plan to get rid of their husbands. But even when their plan appears to work, things are never that straightforward. Adapted for ZEE5 in India. (24 scripts available)

ATV O (90-212) 354-3701 m info@atvdistribution.com w www.atvdistribution.com

Stand: K10

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

A Little Sunshine (Drama, 45 min. eps.) Hakan and Elif were a happy couple until Hakan’s accident shows all the lies. Fırat, Güneş’s uncle, is responsi ble for the accident. Güneş brings Elif’s dark life a bright light and Elif takes Güneş under her wings with the support of Fırat. The Father (Drama, 45 min. eps.) A former secret service assassin fakes his own death after avenging the murder of his brother. He starts over in Tashkent with a new family but everything starts to fall apart when he is discovered and forced to return to Istanbul. For My Family (Drama, 200+x45 min.) After the sudden death of his parents, Kadir takes responsi bility for his little siblings. Despite poverty and homelessness, they always stick together.

The Ottoman (Drama, 321+x45 min.) The young and brave Osman will fight both internally and externally to defeat his enemies and empower the Kayı tribe in Anatolia. Destan (Drama, 91x45 min.) The story of Akkız, who swore to take revenge on Alpagu Khan, the killer of her father. Batuga is the oldest son of Alpagu Khan. When Akkız shoots Alpagu with an arrow from his heart, her tribe becomes the main suspect, which makes them slaves to Gok Palace.

BANIJAY

RIGHTS

m sales@banijayrights.com w www.banijayrights.com

Stand: K14

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Rogue Heroes (Drama, 6x60 min.) Based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book of the same name, a dramatized account of how the world’s greatest

A Little Sunshine

special forces unit, the SAS, was formed in the darkest days of WWII.

Marie Antoinette (Drama, 8x60 min.) Tells the story of the young queen. Through a 21st-century lens, the series will explore the dark, manipulative and misogynistic world of Versailles.

Serial Lover (Drama, 4x60 min.) The story of a man with a gift for manipulating everyone in his entourage—especially the women he targets and steals from.

their perfect partner should look like, and instead choose someone, sight unseen, based on a deeper connection. The Singles Table (Format) Emotional, romantic and compelling, this program is a heartwarming and entertaining snapshot of what it’s like to be sin gle and looking for love in 2022.

Niall Horan’s Homecoming: The Road to Mullingar with Lewis Capaldi (Factual, 1x60 min.) Two global superstars embark on an epic Irish road trip before they wrap up their travels with a once-in-a-lifetime gig in Mullingar. Ice Cold Catch (Factual, 13x60 min.) Two new recruits leave their thankless jobs behind to pursue highly-paid fishing jobs in Iceland and discover a whole new realm of larger-than-life characters and unanticipated stakes.

The Block (Ent., S16: 37x60 min. & 14x90 min.)

One of 2021’s most-watched reality shows swaps the city for the countryside this year—on a scale never attempted before anywhere in the world.

Inside Detroit with Ben Fogle (Factual, 1x90 min.) Ben Fogle explores the all too evident underbelly of Detroit as he tries to discover what caused the econ omy to collapse and communities to fall apart.

Inside Cyprus with Ben Fogle (Factual, 1x90 min.) Ben Fogle visits Cyprus, a jewel in the Mediterranean. However, just a few miles behind the five-star hotels stands an island divided.

Love Triangle (Ent., 8x60 min.) A group of sin gles relinquish their grasp on what they think

CYBER GROUP STUDIOS O (33-1) 5556-3232 m sales@cybergroupstudios.com w www.cybergroupstudios.com

Stand: D02 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Gigantosaurus (4-6 CGI/2D comedy/adventure, S1-3: 156x11 min./78x26 min.) Tiny, Rocky, Bill and Mazu are four dinosaurs growing up in the world of Cretacia, where every day is a new adven ture, under the watchful eye of Gigantosaurus.

Alex Player (6-10 CGI action/comedy/esports, 26x22 min.) Alex, a brilliant 12-year-old video gamer, juggles friends, school and training to win the Land of Titans championship.

Inside Detroit with Ben Fogle

Droners

Taffy (6-10/family 2D comedy, S1-2: 156x7 min.)

In season two, the raccoon will have to make twice the effort to keep his bow and protect his undercover identity from a very inventive and crafty Bentley.

Droners (6-10 CGI/2D adventure/comedy, S1-2: 52x22 min.) Young droners Corto, Mouse and Enki put their unique skills together in order to save their island. But help from scientist and genius Wyatt Whale might be more than needed.

Zak Jinks (6-10 2D adventure/comedy, S1-2: 104x13 min.) The hilarious day in the life of a mis chievous and lovable 8-year-old boy. Nefertine on the Nile (4-7 2D/CGI comedy, 52x11 min.) Nefertine aspires to be the first female scribe in the history of Egypt so she can describe the wonderful world that surrounds her.

Giganto Club (4-6 CGI/real-time animation comedy/ adventure, 26x11 min.) Welcome to Giganto Club, the perfect place for Gigantosaurus fans like Lito.

50/50 Heroes (6-10 2D comedy/adventure, 52x11 min.) Mo and Sam are half-siblings and have powers—well, half-powers. Managing their abilities isn’t easy when they need to do everything together. And living their daily lives is a challenge.

The Case (La Custodia) (Family 2D, 1x40 min.) In an unknown time and place, a young boy escapes war with nothing but a dream and a violin case. Squared Zebra (3-5 2D comedy/edutainment, 78x7 min.) Follows the daily adventures of Checkery the squared zebra and her friends. Together they learn to appreciate the beauty of the world and to value individual traits in both others and themselves.

DORI MEDIA GROUP

O (972-3) 647-8185 m sales@dorimedia.com w www.dorimedia.com

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Los Hermanos Salvador (The Salvadors) (Comedy, 10x30 min.) Five eccentric siblings who inherit an antiques and magic shop embark on a series of wacky supernatural adventures as they battle the forces of evil and band together as a fam ily to protect their legacy.

Ten Piedad de Nosotros (Mercy on Us) (Psy chological crime drama, 6x30 min.) Two cops go after a serial killer who will make them pay for the sins of their pasts.

Stand-Up Warrior (Reality competition) Fourteen stand-up comedians go through a ten-week martial arts boot camp. They will have to put in a mouth piece, shut the f**k up and use their fists in order to stay in the game.

Hammam (Drama, 6x45 min.) This modern adapta tion of the Biblical tale of Saul and David takes place in an abandoned military base named Hammam.

Milan High (Teen drama, 54x30 min.) A presti gious fashion design major from a private art high school reluctantly lands in a rough voca tional high school.

Little Mom (Comedy, 51x30 min.) An internation ally successful comedy that reveals the harsh truth of life after having kids.

In Treatment (Drama, 45x30 min.) Takes viewers on a journey through the intriguing and fascinating world of psychotherapy, following the ongoing treatments of five different patients.

Power Couple (Reality format) Puts love to the test like you’ve never seen before as eight couples face extreme challenges that will test how well they really know each other.

The Selfie Challenge (Game-show format) A game show filmed around the world that draws its inspiration from the cross-culture selfie phenome non through a competition between two groups of three friends taking selfies.

Win the Crowd (Game-show format) A game show where the street is the talent stage and all a contestant has to do is “win the crowd.”

ECCHO RIGHTS

O (46-8) 5560-9380 m felicia@ecchorights.com w ecchorights.com

Stand: M16 PROGRAM

HIGHLIGHTS

Golden Boy (Yali Capkini) (Drama, 120x45 min.) This classic family drama tells the story of two sis ters whose paths have crossed with golden boy Ferit and his family, full of betrayal, lies and secrets.

Forever Together (Güzel Güner) (Drama, 100x45 min.) Will Selma and Mihran, destined to be together but separated after a devastating accident, fall in love again when their paths cross seven years later?

Redemption (Esaret) (Drama, 255x45 min.) After finding out his sister has been murdered while volun teering abroad, Oğuz seeks revenge. But his mission becomes complicated when he meets the culprit. Chrysalis (Camdaki kız) (Drama, S3: 115x45 min.) The story of a young woman, Nalan, making her way in the world and the transformative experi ences she must go through to find her true self.

Legacy (Emanet) (Drama, S3: 255x45 min.) An innocent little boy’s future is at the heart of a bitter struggle between two families. Can love save him and his family’s legacy?

Hear

Me

(Duy Beni) (Romance drama, 95x45 min.)

A YA drama set in a prestigious high school that explores the endless teenage struggle of living with bullying, social injustice and high school romance. Desperate Measures (Drama, 4x60 min.) A bank clerk must use her inside knowledge to pull off the ultimate heist and save her innocent son.

THE LEADING ONLINE DESTINATION FOR THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA BUSINESS.

Los Hermanos Salvador (The Salvadors)

Granite Harbour (Crime drama, 3x60 min.) Former soldier Davis Lindo has always dreamed of joining the U.K. police, but when he arrives from Jamaica in Aberdeen, he gets a harsh dose of reality. Everyone But Us (Alla Utom Vi) (Drama/comedy, 10x22 min.) Hilma and Ola are desperately trying to get pregnant. They struggle to start a family, while those in their surroundings give advice on how best to succeed.

Honour (Crime drama, S3: 6x45 min.) Four part ners at a law firm called Heder gain notoriety by helping victims of sex crimes and speaking out against the patriarchy.

EONE FAMILY BRANDS O (44-20) 3691-8600 m tseagers@entonegroup.com w entertainmentone.com

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Peppa Pig (Preschool 2D, 429x5 min. & 4 spe cials) Peppa is a lovable, cheeky little piggy who lives with her younger brother George, Mummy Pig

and Daddy Pig. Peppa’s adventures always end happily with loud snorts of laughter.

PJ Masks (Preschool CGI, 260x11 min.) Follows the night-time exploits of three young friends who trans form into their dynamic superhero alter egos, Catboy, Owlette and Gekko, when they put their pajamas on at night and activate their animal amulets.

My Little Pony: A New Generation (Adventure/comedy/musical, 1x90 min.) Equestria has lost its magic and Earth Ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi are no longer friends. Idealistic Earth Pony Sunny is determined to find a way to bring enchant ment and unity back to their world.

Transformers: EarthSpark (Action comedy, 26x22 min.) Introduces a new generation of Trans formers robots—the first to be born on Earth, taken in by a human family. This animated series centers on two human kids as they forge a connec tion with Transformers robots and work alongside fan favorites like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.

Power Rangers Dino Fury (Action/CGI, 44x22 min.) When an army of powerful alien beings is unleashed on Earth, a brand-new team of Power Rangers, fueled by the prehistoric power of the dinosaurs, is recruited to deal with the threat.

Ricky Zoom (Preschool CGI, 104x11 min.) Ricky, a rescue bike, lives in Wheelford, where he shares his experiences with his enthusiastic bike buddies Loop, Scootio and DJ.

Alien TV (Live-action/animated slapstick comedy, 78x7 min.) Follows the adventures of an intrepid extraterrestrial news crew as they investigate the strange, unusual and downright weird on a baffling planet called Earth.

Golden Boy (Yali Capkini)

Ninja Express (Animated comedy, 52x11 min.) Imagine a delivery service that delivers anything, anywhere and anytime. Now imagine it being run by three ninja brothers with incredible powers.

Baby Alive (3D preschool, 46x4 min. & 6x2 min.) The adventures of Charlie and her three silly and adorable babies: Lulu, Tilly and Teo. When Charlie needs some help along the way, she calls on the Glo Pixies.

The Play Doh Show (Stop-motion preschool, 142x2 min.) Join the Doh-Dohs and their friends in a play-dohmation world where they find creative solu tions to all kinds of colorful and hilarious situations.

The Elon Musk Show (Factual, 3x60 min.) This documentary series, featuring insights from friends, family, business associates turned rivals, advisors and more, takes us inside the life of Elon Musk.

The Murdochs: Empire of Influence (Factual, 7x60 min.) Behind-the-scenes docuseries tells the inside story of how Rupert Murdoch became one of the most powerful people in the world.

Wreck (Drama, 6x60 min.) Welcome aboard the Sacramentum, a luxury cruise liner on which a diverse group of disillusioned, nihilistic Gen Z work ers embark on an odyssey of hedonistic partying as they try to escape their slave-like routines.

Password (Format) Hilarious word association is the name of the game as celebrities team up with contestants to win huge cash prizes.

Family Feud (Format) One of television’s longestrunning, highest-rated and most-loved game shows reveals that the simplest question can gen erate the most outrageous answers.

The Price is Right (Format) The most successful, most-famous and most-loved game show in the history of television, now attracting its sixth genera tion of fans.

FREMANTLE O (65) 6307-7227 m joanne.ning@fremantle.com w fremantle.com

Stand: L17

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Made of Money with Brian Cox (Factual, 2x60 min.) Brian Cox (Succession) explores the extremes of wealth and poverty in the U.S. and U.K., shining a light on inequality.

Video interviews with leading

in

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Peppa Pig

Made of Money with Brian Cox

GMA NETWORK

O (632) 8982-7777 m gwi@gmanetwork.com w www.gmaworldwide.tv

Stand: K03 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Maria Clara and Ibarra (Fantasy drama, 50x45 min.) Klay finds herself in the world of José Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere but can only return to the present after she learns her lesson.

Crocodile Whisperer (Fantasy action, 33x45 min.) Lolong and his crocodile friend, Dakila, battle an evil system to bring justice and peace to himself and the townspeople.

I Left My Heart in Sorsogon (Romance drama, 30x45 min.) A woman who reinvented herself to become a top fashion designer and socialite reluc tantly returns to her hometown to confront the life she left behind.

Widow’s Web (Crime/suspense, 23x45 min.) Because of deceit, three women are suspected of being involved in the twisted murder case of a man with whom they are all connected.

Article 247 (Crime drama, 30x45 min.) Portrays a woman’s journey as she tries to move on from the consequences of her past entanglement with her boss and his psychopath wife.

Break Shot (Drama, 33x45 min.) A young woman learns that winning at pool and life are filled with challenges, especially in the male-dominated world of billiards.

Luv Is: Caught in His Arms (Romance, 20x45 min.) Florence works as a cook for Don Ferrel’s five notoriously mischievous grandsons. Soon after, she unexpectedly falls in love with one of them.

I Can See You: AlterNate (Drama/thriller, 10x45 min.) Nate asks his long-lost twin, Michael, to pose as him and deal with his troubles. Unknown to Nate, Michael wants to steal his life.

Return to Paradise (Drama, 35x45 min.) Eden and Red get stranded on an island following a plane crash. While surviving the perils in the wild, they fall deeply in love.

Broken Faith (Drama, 80x45 min.) Seeking revenge against her husband’s other woman, a wife becomes the person she hates the most—a mistress.

Maria Clara and Ibarra

who each use a different STEM-based area of expertise to solve the problems they face.

GOGOBUS (Edutainment/family, 260x13 min.) The story happens in the school. When trouble strikes the kids, GOGOBUS is there to solve the problem and save the day.

GG Bond: Ocean Mission (Family/ent./comedy/ adventure, 1x85 min.) GG Bond encounters

ITV STUDIOS

O (31) 8824-83111 m ayesha.surty@itv.com w www.itvstudios.com

Stand: J12 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Loaded in Paradise (Format, 15x60 min.) Partyloving pairs island hop around Greece in a race to take control of, and spend, €50,000. Only one pair can control the gold card loaded with cash at any one time. This lucky pair get to live it up on the run, while the penniless pairs hunt them down.

Bad Chefs (Format, 10 eps.) YouTube sensation Chunkz welcomes ten culinary-challenged take away addicts to the Bad Chefs Cooking School in this chaotic new reality cooking competition.

Noah when executing a task in the ocean. Together, they go through difficulties and con quer their fears.

GG Bond: Dino Diary (Ent./adventure, 156x13 min.) GG Bond and his partner Woody need to get out of the dinosaur world and return to their own through all difficulties and adventures.

GG Bond: Kung Fu Pork Choppers (Family/ent./adventure/action, 104x15 min.) A rescue- and adventure-themed story that happens in the sky city, with protagonists who are pigs with Chinese kung fu skills and superpowers.

GG Bond: Racing (Family/ent./adventure/action, S5: 104x13 min.) You may not want to miss one game in the car racing competition. GG Bond and his new friend Star Navi will conquer all difficulties to get to the final round.

The Voice Generations (Format) This new take on the world’s number one singing competition invites groups of talented singers and musicians from different generations to perform together.

Rat in the Kitchen (Format, 10 eps.) A whodunit cooking format and a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where viewers get to play detective.

GG Bond: Racing

PASSION DISTRIBUTION

m sales@passiondistribution.com w www.passiondistribution.com

Stand: M19

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Dinosaur with Stephen Fry (Doc., 4x60 min.) The landmark event that chronologically tells the definitive story of 165 million years on Earth—from the dawn of the dinosaurs to their extinction.

The Architecture the Railways Built (Doc., 30x60 min.) Showcases stunning railway architec ture from across the U.K. and Europe.

Big Ben: Saving the World’s Most Famous Clock (Doc., 3x60 min.) A series of documentaries that delves into the rich history of the Elizabeth Tower and the work to bring an iconic structure expertly into the 21st century.

Lap of Luxury: Ultimate Escapes Down Under (Lifestyle, 20x30 min.) Reveals the luxury lodges of New Zealand and Australia. Steeped in history, nat ural beauty and architectural magnificence, each lodge has a story of its own.

World’s Most Expensive Cruise (Doc., 10x60 min.) Offers exclusive access and behind-the-scenes insight aboard the most luxurious ship ever built.

Tool Club (Fact-ent., 15x60 min.) An ensemble cast of expert DIY-ers give the nation the tools, equipment and confidence to do it for themselves. Engineering Reborn (Doc., 8x60 min.) Explores the mind-blowing challenges behind the transfor mation of engineering marvels of the past into icons of the future.

Freddie Flintof f ’s Field of Dreams (Fact-ent., 3x60 min.) Freddie Flintoff returns to his hometown for the sporting challenge of a lifetime. Can he inspire some unlikely teens to give cricket a chance?

Football Dreams: The Academy (Doc., 6x60 min.) Series documenting an extraordinary group of boys who are trying to achieve their dreams at one of the most prestigious football academies. Secrets of the Superfactories (Doc., 16x60 min.) Fast-paced and fact-filled series that lifts the lid on the production of superfactories around the world.

into relatable themes for upper preschoolers like mealtimes, sharing or friendship.

FriendZSpace (Comedy/adventure, 52x11 min.) A new animated comedy about three human kids com mitted to making friends with alien kids all across the supercluster of stars—and sharing cool selfies.

Heidi (CGI adventure, S1-2: 65x22 min.) Heidi lives with her grandfather in the scenic idyll of the Swiss Alps. Tip the Mouse (CGI preschool comedy, S1-3: 104x7 min.) The stories about the little mouse Tip appeal to the youngest kids, since Tip must go through all the adventures that each child faces while walking the extraordinary path to growing up. Wissper (CGI preschool adventure/comedy, S1-2: 104x7 min.) Wissper is a curious little girl who can talk to animals.

Maya the Bee (CGI preschool adventure, S1-2: 130x13 min.) A young bee named Maya has left her hive to discover the beauty and mysteries of nature.

ZDF STUDIOS

O (49) 6131-9910 m info@zdf-studios.com w www.zdf-studios.com

100% Wolf (CGI comedy adventure, S1-2: 52x22 min.) Freddy, a poodle with a pink mane in a world of werewolves, wants to prove that despite his appearance, he still has the heart of a werewolf. Season two is currently in production, available in Q3 2023.

Mia and me (Fantasy/adventure, S1-4: 104x23 min.) The fantastic adventures of Mia and her friends in the magic land of Centopia, where they must pro tect unicorns from villains of all kinds. Season four available in fall 2022.

Game Keepers (Live-action, 10x25 min.) Mats and Sari have to enter an unknown digital gaming world, play a game and defeat the mysterious GameMaster. Losing is not an option.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Surviving Hothouse Earth (Science/knowledge, 3x50 min.) Investigates our planet’s past to understand its present and unravel our future. Each episode covers a separate topic: oceans, land, civilization.

Africa from Above (Wildlife/nature, 10x50 min.) Each episode takes viewers on a spectacular aerial adven ture, soaring over natural wonders and diverse habitats. War Gamers (History/bio., 6x50 min.) Members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (Wrens) unpick how the German U-boats are sinking so many British and American ships during WWII. Quiz Hunt (Quiz format, 45/60 min. eps.) An excit ing duel with entertaining questions, ingenious strategies and a cash prize of €5,000 per round.

REACHING 22,000 EXECUTIVES EVERY FRIDAY SUBSCRIBE HERE: SUBSCRIPTIONS.WS

100% Wolf

Grisù (Animation, 52x12 min.) Grisù is a little dragon who dreams of becoming a firefighter. Törtle (Animation, 26x24 min.) Törtle, a tortoise who grew up in a pet shop, gets caught up in the culture clash between humans and animals in Muddlemere, a tranquil little town right on Muddle Lake, but always emerges as the unexpected hero.

Mimo & Leva—Back to the Bronze Age (Anima tion, 26x7 min.) Brave and enthusiastic about bronze casting, Leva wants to become chief. And Mimo prefers to think up visions of how to make life easier for all the villagers.

Boundless (Crime/suspense, 6x45 min.) The voy age of Juan Sebastián Elcano and Ferdinand Magellan would prove to be a critical juncture in man’s per ceptions of the world.

The Swarm (Crime/suspense, 8x45 min.) Based on Frank Schätzing’s bestseller of the same title, a series from Emmy-winning showrunner Frank Doelger.

Clean Sweep (Crime/suspense, 6x52 min.)

Shelly Mohan, a housewife, mother of three, mar ried to a Garda detective, kills her former partner in crime when he threatens to expose her dark past.

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Surviving Hothouse Earth

The series investigates our planet’s distant past to understand its present and unravel our future. Distributor: ZDF Studios

Storytime with Ms. Booksy

A magical and whimsical storyteller jumps into classic fairy tales, bringing the well-known stories and characters to life with her own unique twist. Distributor: Monster Entertainment

Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!

Thomas and his loc-amigos will embrace unexpected surprises and discover more about each other on the Island of Sodor. Distributor: Mattel Television

Love at the Christmas Contest

A young woman enters a Christmas tree decorating con test to honor the memory of her mother. Distributor: Nicely Entertainment

Taffy

In season two, the raccoon will have to make twice the effort to keep his bow and protect his undercover identity from a very inventive and crafty Bentley. Distributor: Cyber Group Studios