TV Asia Pacific MIPTV 2013

asia pacific MIPTV & APOS

EDITION

Asian Drama

GMA’s Felipe Gozon

ABS-CBN Turns 60:Charo Santos-Concio

THE MAGAZINE OF ASIA-PACIFIC MEDIA APRIL 2013www.tvasia.ws

AP_413_COVER_ASP_1008_COVER 3/19/13 7:06 PM Page 2

ASIA_0413__Layout 1 3/15/13 5:51 PM Page 1

The latest development for FINAS is thelaunching of the Film In Malaysia Incentive(FIMI), an effort from the Malaysian govern-ment by the secretary-general of the Ministry ofInformation, Communication and Culture. “Asof 2013, international and local movies filmedin Malaysia will be given a production rebate of30 percent,” explains Raja Rozaimie Raja Dal-nish Shah, the director-general of FINAS. “Thismove is to encourage the filming of interna-tional movies in Malaysia and to stimulate thelocal film industry.” He adds that FINAS isgoing to continue its efforts in promoting andmarketing Malaysian productions—feature films,documentaries and animated content—to theglobal market, while also focusing on deliveringthe highest quality content. Engaging in moreco-productions with international producers andattracting more productions to shoot in Malaysiaare also on the list of priorities.

FINAS• Feature films • Documentaries • Animation

The comedy Bess of Both Worlds chronicles awoman’s search for who she is and where shecomes from. Shark Girl spotlights a youngwoman with a passion for one of the mostfeared creatures of the deep—sharks. The FlyingWinemaker follows the Hong Kong –based mas-ter winemaker Eddie McDougall as he sets outto discover the best wine being made acrossAsia. All three of these titles are produced inHD and are being offered by ABC Commercial.“Each of these titles holds a very unique offer-ing for the international market,” says NatalieLawley, the company’s manager of content sales.“These titles are of a premium standard. Withhigh budgets and superb production values, allthree of the programs offer the marketplacesomething that hasn’t been seen before. Eachprogram is a result of our new acquisition strat-egy that will see a succession of more blue-chiptitles to come.”

ABC Commercial• Shark Girl • Bess of Both Worlds • The Flying Winemaker

In This IssueGolden DramaAsian dramas are finding new fans aroundthe world 10InterviewsGMA Network’sFelipe L. Gozon 16ABS-CBN’sCharo Santos-Concio 18Asia Wants Formats!Four buyers weigh in on their wish lists 22

Ricardo Seguin GuisePublisher

Mansha DaswaniEditor

Kristin BrzoznowskiManaging Editor

Joanna PadovanoAssociate Editor

Simon WeaverOnline Director

Victor L. CuevasProduction Director

Phyllis Q. BusellArt Director

Meredith MillerProduction Associate

Cesar SueroSales & Marketing Director

Vanessa BrandSales & Marketing Manager

Terry AcunzoBusiness Affairs Manager

Ricardo Seguin GuisePresident

Anna CarugatiExecutive VP &

Group Editorial Director

Mansha DaswaniAssociate Publisher & VP of

Strategic Development

TV Asia Pacific© 2013 WSN INC.

1123 Broadway, #1207New York, NY 10010

Phone: (212) 924-7620Fax: (212) 924-6940

Website:www.tvasia.ws

“We need to work together with thelocal industry players on enhancing ourfilm quality, skills and creativity.”

—Raja Rozaimie Raja Dalnish Shah

“We have already concluded a numberof presales for the titles being launchedat the market, which gives us great confidence in sales to come.”

—Natalie Lawley

Kuala Lumpur

Shark Girl

TV ASIA PACIFIC 3

AP_UPFRONT_Layout 1 3/20/13 1:43 PM Page 1

Sales for FremantleMedia International across the Asia Pacifichave been hottest in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, China,India, the Philippines, Thailand and Japan. New opportunitieshave been opening up in Mongolia and Myanmar as well, notesPaul Ridley, the company’s senior executive VP of sales anddistribution for the Asia Pacific. For MIPTV, Ridley highlightsthe extreme game show Total Blackout as well as the factualshow World’s Strangest. There’s also a new series starring JamieOliver, Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club. “Jamie has a very highprofile in the Asia-Pacific region, but generally broadcastersknow that if FremantleMedia has produced a show, or we arerepresenting a production from a third-party partner, they arebeing presented with a high-quality production,” says Ridley.

Last year the focus for FOX International Channels in Asia was onbuilding up its premium services. This included the launch of theFOX Movies Premium (FMP) and STAR Chinese Movies (SCM)Play services, the rebranding of STAR Chinese Movies 2 to SCMLegend and the debut of FOX Action Movies in Singapore. “Wewill continue our investment and efforts in providing premiumcontent and innovative products that resonate with individual mar-kets to our viewers,” says Joon Lee, the company’s senior VP ofcontent and communication, of the goals for 2013. “We will takeour sports business to the next level with major rebranding effortsand increased localization of content,” he adds. Other goals includeramping up local productions as well as introducing the company’sChinese and Asian channels to the rest of the world.

FOX International Channels

Total Blackout

FremantleMedia International

Mannam Media promises to offer the best of what’s availablein premium Korean content, delivering it to broadcasters inthe U.S., Canada and Latin America. Its catalogue features morethan 500,000 hours from such producers as KBS, SBS, EBS andCJ Entertainment, ranging from blockbuster movies to currentdramas. Among the titles top lining Mannam’s slate are Iris, TheMan from Nowhere and Man from the Equator. Iris is a drama fromKBS that features espionage as a core theme. The Man fromNowhere, from CJ Entertainment, was Korea’s highest grossingfilm of 2010. Man from the Equator is a Korean drama that ranon KBS2. “There has been a strong demand for Koreandramas, both classics and current productions,” says Sebas-tian Choy, the company’s president.

Mannam Media

• Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club • Total Blackout • World’s Strangest

• Iris • The Man from Nowhere • Man from the Equator

316 World Screen 4/13

TV ASIA PACIFIC4

Iris

“Regardless of thegenre, our reputationcarries a hallmark of quality around the world.”

—Paul Ridley

“Our goal is to producemore than 100hours of local documentaries,including productions

like I Wouldn’t Go in There.”

—Joon LeeI Wouldn’t Go in There


ASIA_0413_ABC CONTENT_Layout 1 3/13/13 10:41 AM Page 1

The top three titles with which Televisa Internacional istargeting the Asian market are all traditional telenovelas.First up is Wild at Heart, about Maricruz Olivares, who wasraised by her grandfather in a shack in the wilderness. Nowa young woman, Maricruz will have to deal with difficultlife situations, including losing her greatest love, the deathof her grandfather and meeting again with her estrangedfather. Another highlight that Televisa is presenting to Asianclients is Carousel, as well as Bandidas. Mario Castro, thecompany’s director for Asia and Africa, reports that eventhough there is more competition from local content inAsia, “Televisa productions continue to have a presence ondifferent platforms.”

Food Network Asia, part of the Scripps Networks Internationalportfolio, finished 2012 with four new affiliates—Biznet in Indone-sia, Univision in Mongolia, SkyCable in the Philippines and CNSin Taiwan. In Q2 2013, the channel will debut a newly acquiredseries, Mobile Chef, produced locally with the Media DevelopmentAuthority of Singapore. “Our new relationship with the MediaDevelopment Authority is extremely important in further demon-strating Food Network Asia’s commitment to the region, and itestablishes a stronger presence for Scripps Networks Internationalin Southeast Asia,” says Hud Woodle, the managing director ofFood Network Asia. “While Food Network Asia viewers loveU.S. favorites, it’s important for us to continue adding locally pro-duced content and regional talent to the programming mix.”

Scripps Networks International

Televisa Internacional

The Universal Networks International (UNI) bouquet includesE!, which delivers more than 500 hours of original programmingon the Asia feed. That includes Keeping Up with the Kardashians.DIVA Universal features drama and unscripted programming. Tosupplement acquired content, DIVA Universal created an Asianoriginal unscripted series, Hot Guys Who Cook, tailored for thefemale audience. Other channels overseen by UNI include Style,Syfy and Universal Channel. “We intend to create more buzz onour unique portfolio proposition in 2013 by launching the secondphase of the ‘High-Heeled Warriors’ consumer research that wecommissioned in 2011 that provided stakeholders with a greaterunderstanding of the female Asian television viewer,” says Chris-tine Fellowes, the managing director for the Asia Pacific at UNI.

Universal Networks International

• Farm Kings • Cupcake Wars • Toy Hunter

• Wild at Heart • Carousel • Bandidas

• Universal Channel • E! • DIVA Universal


Keeping Up with the Kardashians

TV ASIA PACIFIC6

“We’re seeing the global appetitefor food contentcontinuing to grow.”

—Hud WoodleFarm Kings

Wild at Heart

“We will beinvesting inmore original productions in 2013.”—Christine Fellowes

“ChannelsrecognizeTelevisa’sgreat storiesand high-quality productions.” —Mario Castro


ASIA_0413_SCRIPPS_Layout 1 3/7/13 10:58 AM Page 1

That highly developed economy, and second-largest ad mar-ket in the world “behaves differently enough from other marketsin Asia to be separated into its own bloc,” ZenithOptimediaobserves. In its latest forecasts for 2013, meanwhile, the market-research company created two additional classifications for itsAsian data: “Catch-up Asia” and “Advanced Asia.” And it’s the for-mer that ZenithOptimedia is the most bullish about.While the region as a whole is forecast to see a 5.5-percent

increase in ad revenue this year, with Japan up 1.4 percent and“Advanced Asia”—Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singa-pore and South Korea—up 4 percent, “Catch-up Asia” is pre-dicted to see double-digit percentage gains. As a bloc, China,India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thai-land and Vietnam are expected to boost ad revenues by between10 and 11 percent in 2013 to 2015. “These economies are grow-ing extremely rapidly as they adopt Western technology and prac-tices, often leap-frogging over superseded technology that hasbecome entrenched in more developed economies, while bene-fiting from the rapid inflow of funds from investors hoping totap into this growth,” ZenithOptimedia says.Certainly,“Advanced Asia” does generate most of the headlines

when it comes to technological advancements—Hong Kong iscurrently the only market in the region offering the multiplat-form service HBO GO to pay-TV customers, the hugely popu-lar line of Samsung Galaxy tablets and phones originated inKorea, Singapore is building a next-generation nationwide broad-band network—but the catch-up markets are showing that theytoo can set an example for new models of content deployment.We take a close look at one of those catch-up markets—thePhilippines—in this issue, with extensive interviews with theheads of the country’s two major free-to-air broadcasters. ABS-CBN Corporation, which marks its 60th anniversary this year, isseeing monthly growth on its content portal iWantv! “Our cus-tomers are looking for alternative ways of consuming our con-tent, especially on platforms that give them the flexibility to watchwhat they want, when they want and where they want,” CharoSantos-Concio, the new CEO of ABS-CBN, told me. GMANetwork, meanwhile, has developed YouScoop, a platform thatallows smartphone-owning Filipinos to become citizen journal-ists. Felipe L. Gozon, GMA’s chairman and CEO, revealed to methe importance of that service and other new-media extensions.

Meanwhile, as a testament to how much untapped opportu-nity still exists in Asia, there are a number of other smaller terri-tories looming in the background, looking to make their mark onthe international media landscape. At the Asia TV Forum in Sin-gapore in December, I sat down with Nomin Chinbat, the direc-tor of Mongol TV, who is working to revolutionize the televi-sion industry in a market where there are some 14 terrestrialchannels and almost 50 cable channels servicing a popula-tion of 3 million. “All of the channels pirate [content]” Chin-bat told me. “There’s no ratings system. There are no rules forthe game.” On the air since 2009, Mongol TV has been licens-ing content from the international market in order to bring asense of legitimacy to the local television business. “Now peopletalk about intellectual property,” she says.Mongol TV has been acquiring completed programming—

dramas from the Hollywood studios, Korean series, documen-taries—as well as formats, which are giving local crews a chanceto learn production techniques from around the world. Myanmar is another emerging television market that is piquing

international interest. Thailand’s True Corp, which operates themarket-leading TrueVisions DTH platform, is eyeing expansioninto Myanmar, pending the passage of a new media law thatwould allow foreign companies to receive broadcast licenses.There is still, however, much work to be done—the legislationunder debate is being criticized by international watchdogs forcreating new forms of censorship in a nation that is already notknown for its press freedoms.Myanmar will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion for del-

egates heading to Bali for the Asia Pacific Operators Summit(APOS). The event, organized by Media Partners Asia, willtouch on digital distribution, emerging markets, the econom-ics of profitable pay-TV platforms, multiplatform rollouts andmore, with a lineup that includes News Corporation’s ChaseCarey and Zee’s Subhash Chandra, among others. “Both emerg-ing growth markets and mature geographies in Asia Pacific areincreasingly vital to the future of the strategic global majors,”says Vivek Couto, executive director of Media Partners Asia.“This year’s APOS is a testament to this trend, while the lineupand themes are also a significant nod to the growing aspira-tions of leading local players with currency to expand in domes-tic and international markets.”

For several years now, when issuing its projections for advertising revenue growth in the

Asia Pacific, ZenithOptimedia has been offering up two different numbers: one for the

region as a whole, and one excluding Japan.

Playing Catch Up

P A N O R A M ABy Mansha Daswani

8 TV ASIA PACIFIC

GET DAILY NEWS ON THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

AP_0413_PANORAMA_ASP_1206_MANSHA COLUMN 3/20/13 12:55 PM Page 2

ASIA_0413_GCMA_Layout 1 3/14/13 11:40 AM Page 1


TV ASIA PACIFIC10

Audiences in Germany are tuning in to RTL II for a dose of Bol-lywood glamour. Across the Middle East and Africa, Filipino fan-tasy series and Malaysian soaps are popping up on televisionschedules. Korean soaps are now making inroads in LatinAmerica, a region that has its own prolific drama-productionbusiness. There’s even a Singaporean-Malaysian drama beingconsidered for a U.S. adaptation. It’s safe to say that a part of theworld that has historically been known solely for its docu-mentary and animation exports is looking to be a major playerin the increasingly international business of drama.

“We continue to receive growing demand from all territo-ries,” reports Roxanne Barcelona, the VP of GMA Worldwide,the acquisition and distribution arm of Filipino broadcasterGMA Network. “We see opportunities in Europe and Latin America,” notes

Han-Sang Jo, the team leader at KBS Media, which repre-sents the significant scripted output of the Korean publicbroadcaster, KBS, including the hit series Winter Sonata, FullHouse, Boys Over Flowers and Autumn in My Heart. “Koreandramas do not have a huge fanbase [in those markets] yet, but

Asian dramas are finding a wealth of new fans across the region and around the world.

DRAMAGOLDENGMA’s Amaya.

By Mansha Daswani

AP_0413_DRAMA_AP_ 3/19/13 7:08 PM Page 2

TV ASIA PACIFIC 11

the fans are really enthusiastic and well-organized, so weexpect the [demand for series] will grow gradually.”

HOME RUNNot surprisingly, Asian distributors of drama have seen theirgreatest successes on the home front with broadcasters withinthe region. Korean series, in particular, have enjoyed tremendoussuccess among Asian channels, part of the so-called KoreanWave that has swept across the continent over the last few years.“Our strongest market is female viewers in Asia,” confirms Jo.Audiences have responded to the “strong and addictive romancethat can be found commonly in most Korean series, even inthrillers and medical dramas,” Jo says.

On offer at MIPTV will be Iris 2, the sequel to the big-budget espionage drama that scored close to a 30-percent sharewhen it aired in Korea in 2009, as well as the romantic comedyAd Genius Lee Tae Baek. KBS also has a number of perioddramas to offer broadcasters, including The Princess’ Man.

With its slate of dramas, KBS Media has been able to takeover slots that were previously home to Latin American tele -novelas in a number of Asian markets, as well as make deepadvances into neighboring Japan, despite the two countries’historical differences. Indeed, Jo notes, “Our sales heavilydepend on the Japanese market, so the politically fluctuatingsituation between Korea and Japan can affect sales.”

Sales to other parts of Asia—Malaysia, Hong Kong and thePhilippines—have been more stable. “People appreciate fun-damental values like family, love and trust and they are reflectedin [our] stories. Korean dramas appeal to viewers of almostall ages, from teenagers to seniors.”

GMA, too, has seen its strongest sales within Asia, accordingto Barcelona, with viewers responding to the “universalthemes of love, family, relationships, conflict [and] justice,”found in titles like Indio, Forever and Temptation of Wife, three

of the company’s highlighted titles at MIPTV. “Family sagas,fantasy stories and relationship dramas have particularly strongdemand,” she says.

Boosting GMA’s business outside of Asia, notably on theAfrican continent, is one of Barcelona’s main priorities. “Wehave extended our reach into several territories in the pastyear,” she says. “As our reputation with our new clientelegrows, so will our productivity within these new territories.Our ability to produce and maintain an extensive library ofquality programming facilitates our success as well.”

EXPANDING HORIZONSThe Middle East is also proving to be a lucrative new territoryfor many drama distributors from Asia, including Zee Enter-tainment Enterprises, which has seen an increase in demandfor its Indian daily serials and movie output. Nitin Michael, theassistant VP of content sales for the Middle East, North Africaand Pakistan at Zee, says that the company is re-versioningIndian programming for this part of the world, principally byspeeding up the storytelling in extended-run Indian dramas.The company is also eyeing other emerging markets on the heelsof licensing the historical drama Jhansi ki Rani (Queen of Jhansi)to Kazakhstan.

At MIPTV, Zee will be touting Zee Bollywood, which itbills as a one-stop shop for platforms interested in Indiancontent. Zee Bollywood features more than 100,000 hours ofprogramming across a number of genres. Scripted highlightsinclude the family drama Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke and PhirSubah Hogi, as well as a number of Bollwood movies avail-able in English, Hindi and Indian regional languages.

At the forefront of the Asian drama-distribution businessare the region’s biggest broadcasters, which are producingthese shows for their own domestic markets. They are not, how-ever, the only ones who see the potential of scripted stories

Presenting the past:KBS Media offers

a portfolio of contemporary dramas

and historical epics likeThe Princess’ Man.

4/13 World Screen 323


from this part of the world. U.S.-based Mannam Media, forexample, has built its entire business on selling Korean pro-gramming to North America and Latin America.

“I realized there was a demand but no one had yet reallybridged the communication gap to fulfill that need, especiallyin Latin America,” says Sebastian Choy, the president of Man-nam Media, on why he started representing Korean content.“With the increase in platforms for the general public toaccess and share content, awareness ofKorean programming has definitelyincreased,” he observes. “Plus therecent worldwide Psy phenome-non”—the singer behind the viralvideo megahit “Gangnam Style”—“has also made an impact,” Choy says.

Telemundo Internacional similarlysees the potential for Asian drama inLatin America, having taken on therights to a number of properties fromKorean broadcaster SBS. “A few yearsago, when the Korean series boom wasnot yet a reality, we screened manyleading Korean series and realized thequality of their scripts, production val-ues and overall acting,” says XavierAristimuño, the senior VP of sales andbusiness development for Asia at Tele-mundo Internacional. “Based on ourlong relationship with SBS, we startedplanting the Korean TV content seedall over Latin America and Spain,building an interest for the product.”

With a slate that includes He’s Beautiful, My Girl, Secret Gar-den, Brilliant Legacy, My Husband’s Lover and Stairway to Heaven,“the response [from buyers] has been quite impressive,” Aris-timuño says. “Customers are not only anticipating the nextKorean title, but also successfully broadcasting reruns.”

There are, however, challenges in selling these shows out-side of Asia, given the dramatic stylistic differences betweenKorean soap operas and Latin American telenovelas. “Themost obvious difference is the length of the [Korean] series,which average a total of 20 episodes,” Aristimuño says. “Also,the overall pace and development of the stories are morealigned with Asian cultures.”

Mannam’s Choy backs up that perspective. “There aresome cultural differences. Korean dramas are generally con-sidered family programming and therefore lack the type ofsex appeal that is prevalent in Latin telenovelas.”

LOVE IS ALL AROUNDDifferences aside, Aristimuño has found many commonalitiesbetween the Latin American programming staple and Korea’snumber one content export. “Korean series, as well as most ofthe Latin American telenovelas, have excellent photography,direction and locations. Even if [the series] are produced inopposite regions of the world, the formula remains the same: acomplex love relationship between pure souls and a web of evilor friendly characters helping, or complicating, their love story.”

Another novela distributor that sees huge potential withAsian scripted content is Latin Media Corporation, whichrepresents the rights to a number of series from Malaysia. Itsmost successful series thus far have been Bola Cinta, Tempta-tion of Love and Dr. Love. Like the Korean serials, Malaysianshows do tend to have shorter runs than similar products fromLatin America or India, but the basic formula is often thesame—love story, tragedy, happy ending.

José Escalante, the CEO of Latin Media, notes that thebiggest challenge in selling Malaysian scripted content hasbeen a lack of awareness. “These dramas are fairly new to the


TV ASIA PACIFIC12

Food for thought: The Kitchen Musical,sold by LightningInternational, receivedtwo InternationalEmmy nominations in 2012.

From Mumbai, with love: Zee offers broadcasters access to a broad range of Hindi-languagecontent, including big-budget feature films, through its Zee Bollywood catalogue.


ASIA_0413_FOX INT CH_Layout 1 3/15/13 11:21 AM Page 1

international market,” he says. “There is that uncertainty byinternational clients about whether they will do well. How-ever, once they realize that our stories are universal, they willstart to gain trust in the product.”Escalante sees the greatest opportunities in the Middle

East, which shares an Islamic culture with Malaysia. He isalso optimistic about driving sales into China, Singapore,Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.

SINGAPORE SWINGA new player in the business of Asia drama production is Singa-pore, which churns out both Mandarin- and English-languageproperties for the domestic and regional market. One of the mosthigh profile has been The Kitchen Musical, which racked up twonominations at the International Emmy Awards last year and hasbeen praised for being dramatically different from most of thescripted shows coming out of Asia. Billed as Glee meets Hell’sKitchen, the series is distributed by Hong Kong–based LightningInternational. It was shot in English in Singapore and Malaysiaand aired across Southeast Asia on AXN, among other broad-casters. In addition, the format has been optioned in the U.S. andItaly, and sold into Vietnam and India.Formats in general are an emerging area of exploitation for

Asian drama distributors. Korean series in particular have trans-lated well within the continent; GMA’s Temptation of Wife, forexample, is based on an SBS title of the same name. KBS notes thatit is selling the scripts to most of its titles, as is GMA Worldwide.International distributors, too, are looking to Asia as a new

region for scripted format deals. Telemundo has already experi-enced some success on this front, with novela adaptations in theworks in India, Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam. FremantleMedia is eyeing the chance to step up its scripted-

production business in Asia, after having built a strong portfolio of

daily dramas in Europe. DonnaWiffen, the head of worldwidedrama at FremantleMedia, saysthat the company looked to itsEuropean successes when it firstbegan developing its scriptedbusiness in Asia.“There are these scripted reality

shows in Germany that run onRTL in the afternoons, fromabout 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day.We started looking at those abouttwo and a half years ago and asked,Is there anywhere we could gowith something like that?”

CONFRONTING REALITYWiffen and her team held a jointworkshop for FremantleMedia’slocal production teams in India,Indonesia and Singapore to try tocome up with scripted-realityconcepts that would appeal toregional audiences. “For us[scripted reality] was a really goodway to get into markets whereFremantleMedia isn’t known forits drama,” Wiffen explains.

The concept that came out of that initial workshop was Con-frontation. It has since been produced in Indonesia and, morerecently, India, where it has been a hit for Colors. The series isset up like a talk show, with two people engaged in some kindof conflict, airing out their differences while two counselorsmediate to determine who is the wronged party. “We havethose types of shows in the U.S. and U.K.—we have JeremyKyle and Jerry Springer, where real people will expose themselvesand some of the social issues they are facing. People wouldn’tvolunteer to do that in India. [Confrontation is] a way of access-ing that material, which is interesting and dramatic and tellssome great stories, and has a bit of a moral message as well.”Developing the concept in Asia, with local production

teams, was crucial, Wiffen says. She notes that importingEuropean scripted concepts to the region has proven to be achallenge, “especially when the cultural references are so dif-ferent. We would rather just take the learnings from those[European] shows, take the processes if you like, but not actu-ally take the editorial content. We’ve found that [daily dramaseries] are so culturally specific and localized in their tonality,adaptations very rarely work.”Indonesia, India and Singapore, where FremantleMedia has

production hubs, are the company’s current priority markets forscripted content, Wiffen say.The company also has an eye onthe Philippines and, eventually, China. Also on the horizon for a number of companies is pan-

regional co-productions. One already in the works is SerangoonRoad, set in 1960s Singapore, which is a partnership betweenHBO Asia and the Australian public broadcaster ABC TV. Giventhe cultural similarities across the region and the ability of Asiandramas to travel seamlessly across the continent, co-productionsare likely to become as important in the Asian drama business asthey are in U.S. and Europe.


Guns blazing: Amongthe Korean titles thatMannam is selling to the Americas is The Man fromNowhere.

TV ASIA PACIFIC14


ASIA_0413_UNIVERSAL NET INT_Layout 1 3/14/13 11:47 AM Page 1

Innovative original content is at the heart of GMA Network’s suc-cess in the Philippines’ fiercely competitive television landscape,where free-to-air television still remains the dominant platform.Much like the rest of the world, though, content consumption onalternative platforms is beginning to pick up, prompting GMA toexpand its digital offerings and eye opportunities in cable TV,according to Felipe L. Gozon, the company’s chairman and CEO. Hereveals to TV Asia Pacific what his main priorities are for main-taining GMA’s ratings highs, driving increases in ad revenues andexpanding onto new platforms, all while delivering high-quality con-tent that will resonate with audiences, both at home and abroad.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What’s driving GMA’s ratings gains?GOZON: I think it is our innovative and quality content. If the pro-grams are not worth watching, viewers will simply change channelsor turn the TV off. As we are faced with more and more mediaoptions, it is imperative that we are able to provide our viewers withstrong, refreshing and differentiated program offerings. This is thereason why GMA continues to invest heavily in original program-

ming that is relevant to all Fil-ipino viewers whenever and

wherever they are. We arefortunate that our after-noon soaps continue todominate the national

ratings and our newsand public-affairs pro-

grams [are seen as highlycredible among viewers].

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What’sthe strategy for serving view-

ers in the morning, afternoonand in prime?

GOZON: We place great value on innovation. We must be ableto keep the audience interested by offering something freshevery time—whether it is an innovation to a format or a storynot yet tackled in a soap opera or a fresh casting combination.GMA has always been known for trailblazing formats and con-cepts—from the highly-successful telefantasies Mulawin andEncantadia to the first superhero soaps Darna and Captain Bar-bell to the first Mexican novela adaptation, the phenomenalhit MariMar, to the most recent historical-fiction epic dramasAmaya and Indio. GMA’s hit comedy program Pepito Manalotois the first to infuse reality elements in a situation comedy. Eventhe longest-running Philippine gag show, Bubble Gang, con-tinues to evolve and creates characters who [have] becomewell-loved among the Filipino audience and moved on tobecome famous film characters. But more importantly, wemake sure that in every program that we create, we are able toconnect with the hearts of our viewers, i.e., that our viewers areable to empathize with our stories and our characters and thatwe [establish] an emotional bond with them.

Our programming strategy is simply this: that we know whois watching at all time blocks of the day, and that we listen to,and address these viewers’ needs. Kids will get to see theirfavorite cartoons in the morning, housewives will get to watchdramas in the afternoon and evening, and those who workwill be able to catch the late-night news when they get home.

We think that this is most concisely put in one of our net-work’s core values: “The viewer is boss.”

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How are you fostering an environmentto create innovative content?GOZON: GMA News TV serves as a laboratory for fresh pro-gramming for the network. GMA News TV has begun produc-ing original mini-series featuring political issues, history and socialrealism. This year the channel launches Bayan Ko, a drama seriesabout an idealistic town mayor fighting corruption and a politi-cal dynasty. The channel will also be producing the historicaldocudrama Katipunan on the revolutionary hero Andres Bonifa-cio, among other projects. GMA News TV hopes to lead theway to new television—raising the level of Philippine TV pro-gramming to match the better informed and better educatedlocal audience that we now have compared to decades past.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How has the ad market in the Philippinesbeen, and how are you looking to increase your share of the pie?GOZON: The Philippines is considered one of the key mar-kets not just for multinationals but also for local advertisers. Itcould be because of our young population profile—they arethe early adopters and comprise one of the largest consumerbases, especially for fast-moving consumer goods. Industryadspend in the market ranges from moderate growth to highgrowth, depending on certain categories, and we expect a morerobust industry this year with national elections in the offing.

Our strategy here is pretty straightforward. Beyond cost effi-ciency and effectiveness, we offer our clients tailor-made results-

By Mansha Daswani

GMA Network’sFelipeL.Gozon

16 TV ASIA PACIFIC


AP_0413_GOZON_DOC_0407_NIGHT 3/18/13 6:10 PM Page 2

TV ASIA PACIFIC 17

oriented solutions that work. We leverage the various mediaplatforms of GMA Network (broadcast TV and radio, regional,events and digital, etc.) to meet clients’ increasing requirements.It is not just about having the cheapest spot buys.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What opportunities do you see forGMA’s role in the pay-TV business in the Philippines?GOZON: As a producer of informative and entertainmentcontent, GMA can leverage its vast and rich programlibrary and provide/sell content to cable channel program-mers like FOX Filipino, broadband [platforms], etc. Theproliferation of video-streaming gadgets will only continueto get better, faster, cheaper, thus GMA will have moreoptions to distribute content. While ABS-CBN has invested in pay TV through SkyCable

and has further consolidated its cable and broadband reach withthe acquisition of [the pay-TV platform] Destiny Cable, thisdoes not preclude GMA from acquiring a cable operator—there still are independent cable and broadband opera-tors—should it be economically viable [and] profitable to do so.However, once digitization happens, it will enable the companyto program additional SD channels on a singular frequency, so[we could] engage in the pay-TV business without having toinvest in laying out the expensive cable/fiber-optic infrastruc-ture that traditional cable operators had to do.Pay TV or VOD via the Internet remains an option, though

it seems that the Philippine market isn’t ready yet to pay forcontent that they can see for free [even if it means sacrific-ing] the convenience of watching on one’s own time.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your plans for your interna-tional channel business?GOZON: In 2005, we launched our flagship international pre-mium linear TV channel, GMA Pinoy TV. It is a subscription-based service aimed at the estimated 11 million expatriateFilipinos spread all over the world. Since its launch, it hasgained widespread distribution in the U.S., Canada, HongKong, Singapore, Japan, the Middle East, Europe and Australia.Its global viewership base is now estimated at 2.2 million.Following the success of GMA Pinoy TV, a lifestyle chan-

nel, GMA Life TV, has been launched and is now also widelydistributed globally. Last year, our third linear service, a 24/7news and public-affairs channel, GMA News TV, waslaunched. Soon, we will also offer content via video-on-demand services.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are the greatest opportunities forexpansion going forward?GOZON: We need to be consistently best-in-class in what wedo to be able to remain dominant and relevant to our market.The challenges (aggressive competition, slow economy, etc.) weare faced with now will not go away and we anticipate them—they keep us on our toes and make us raise the bar higher.If print media is said to be a sunset industry worldwide,

we believe television is still at high noon. But sunset mayalso be down the line. That is why we are thinking seriouslyabout new media, and planning for the future. New mediaand the Internet offer a wide variety of opportunities andpossible directions for our core business, TV content.Since 2006, GMA has gone full blast in extending its brand

online through GMANews.tv. In less than two years it

became the country’s leading news website. Before this, therewas iGMA.tv (since 2001), which was GMA’s main onlinebrand for its shows and stars. These two sites came togethervia a portal in 2011 called GMANetwork.com.We recognize that PCs are no longer the main (or at least

the only) device through which our audience access content.Since the advent of portable IP gadgets, such as smartphonesand tablets, people prefer to consume news and entertain-ment anytime, anywhere and anyhow. We have thus re-launched GMANews.tv for mobile and for YouScoop—[our]service that allows anybody with a smartphone to submitnewsworthy photos and videos to GMA for later broadcast—of course, once these have gone through the necessary edito-rial checks. Very soon, we will be launching perhaps the coun-try’s first mobile-web application for GMANetwork.com. This is just the beginning. We acknowledge that there is

more work to be done to improve our social-media stand-ing. This is in the works.We are ensuring that we will be at the top of our game

for the 2013 [general mid-term] elections, when the demandfor fast online information will be at its highest.We have also expanded our online presence so that our

professional journalists are active in a wide array of social plat-forms, including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram,Tumblr and YouTube.

4/13 World Screen 329

Fists of fury: GMA’s large output of

Filipino dramasincludes the historical

epic Indio.

AP_0413_GOZON_DOC_0407_NIGHT 3/18/13 6:11 PM Page 3

Marking its 60th anniversary this year, ABS-CBN Corpora-tion has emerged as one of Asia’s largest integrated mediacompanies, with assets that span free-to-air and cable chan-nels, a pay-TV platform, print publications, radio stationsand more. Its early history is marked by instability—includ-ing the martial-law years, when it was pulled off the air from1972 to 1986, followed by a period of low ratings and finan-cial concerns. By the early ’90s, however, ABS-CBN’s turn-around had begun, thanks largely to its large slate of originalscripted productions. At the helm of the company today isCharo Santos-Concio, who recently succeeded Eugenio Lopez IIIas CEO. A former actress, Santos-Concio has risen throughthe ranks at ABS-CBN and is widely seen as the creativeforce behind the company’s original productions. She speaksto TV Asia Pacific about ABS-CBN’s milestone anniversaryand articulates her strategy for taking the company into thenew-media age.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: To what do you attribute ABS-CBN’scontinued success?SANTOS-CONCIO: We’ve remained relevant all these yearsbecause of our commitment to being in the service of Fil-ipinos worldwide. We dialogue with our [viewers], we listento what they say, and we plan, strategize and deliver our prod-ucts and services with a clear understanding of what theywant and need from us.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: Coming into the CEO position, whatare your main priorities for ABS-CBN?SANTOS-CONCIO: At one of our shareholders’ meetings lastyear, I spoke of investing in the future while keeping an eyeon the present. That remains our main priority. This trans-lates into content supremacy, understanding the changingaudience and landscape, managing across an ever-growingportfolio of businesses, channels and platforms, driving syner-gies across the organization and developing, identifying andretaining our greatest asset—people.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: ABS-CBN faced some major challengesin the ’70s and ’80s. Do you think those experiences madethe group more capable of withstanding the major shifts tak-ing place in the media business today?SANTOS-CONCIO: Experience is a great teacher—we’velearned as much from our failures as we have from our successes.We remember how ABS-CBN’s voice was muted over themartial-law period and how a single-minded and determinedteam was able to reboot ABS-CBN from almost nothing in themid-’80s to being the industry leader and tastemaker in two years.We’ve been able to not only evolve and grow with our audi-

ence and with the changes in technology, but more importantlyto stay relevant as an organization and a business by being ourharshest critic and by demanding nothing but the best from our-selves. Our secret sauce lies in our people: we truly are “kapa -milya”—family. Media, now more than ever, is in a state of flux.Our commitment to excellence in content, service, globalizationand talent will continue to be critical in the years to come.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: In what demographics, day parts andmarkets are you experiencing the greatest ratings successes atyour free-to-air channels?SANTOS-CONCIO:ABS-CBN is the dominant leader in soaps,reality and game shows. Our creators’ ability to bring significantdepth to our characters in soaps, to show the internal conflicts andjourney of participants in our reality shows and to highlight theperson behind the contestant in our game shows make us aformidable player in the free-TV space. We have also been verysuccessful in delivering child-friendly soaps that not only havecompelling story lines but are imbued with a lot of important val-ues. We make sure that we showcase the great talent of Filipinosin our musical variety shows. We are also the leading newsprovider in the free-TV space. These genres make us very pop-ular among children, females (teens and up) and adult males. ABS-CBN is the leading free-TV player in the morning and evening.

TV ASIA PACIFIC:There are large populations of Filipinoresidents around the world—how are you helping them keepin touch with the country?SANTOS-CONCIO: ABS-CBN Global reaches Filipinoswherever they are in the world. We currently have TFC (The

By Mansha Daswani

18 TV ASIA PACIFIC


ABS-CBNTurns60CharoSantos-Concio

AP_0413_SANTOS-CONCIO_DOC_0407_NIGHT 3/20/13 1:45 PM Page 2

ASIA_0413__Layout 1 3/20/13 10:25 AM Page 1

Filipino Channel), ANC (our global news channel), CinemaOne Global (our Filipino movie channel), Bro and variousVOD, SVOD, IPTV and DTH services as well as our newlylaunched TFC.tv online viewing portal. Apart from our TVcontent, we regularly mount live events, bring our Star Cin-ema movies to local theaters as well as offer our Star Recordsand home-video releases online and through local retail out-lets. Our subsidiaries also offer remittance and cargo services.Finally, we partner with government and non-governmentalorganizations to mount programs that encourage the overseasFilipinos to stay connected with their roots and empowerthem to participate in nation building.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What skills do you think you bring tothe CEO role given your significant production background?SANTOS-CONCIO: I came from a creative background, butas CEO, I have to constantly confront the issue of how to bal-ance creative excellence, strategic, disciplined work and busi-ness and financial viability. When I am in a meeting, forexample, I let people know when I am wearing my creativehat or my CEO hat. Stretching and complementing these“left brain” and “right brain” roles to make things really workfor the company are my daily challenges. The instinct is gener-ally to spread the ideas around the table and hope one of themis another May Bukas Pa or Walang Hanggan, two of our mostsuccessful soap operas in recent years. As a company our strat-egy has been to launch something that we feel is differenti-ating and can provide impact on the lives of the Filipinos.

The best thing that I learned in my creative work is to reallylook at ideas from the perspective of the consumer, consis-tently asking the questions, “What’s in it for our audience?”and “What’s in it for the fans of our talent and the loyal view-ers of our programs?” If there’s nothing there for them, theidea should be junked. Being consumer-centric is one of thebest things I can bring to my CEO functions.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: How important isthe pay-TV business for ABS-CBN?SANTOS-CONCIO: We have pay-TVinvestments domestically and interna-tionally both as a platform operator andas a pay-TV channel provider. Interna-tionally, ABS-CBN Global has variousIPTV, DTH and online platforms, asidefrom our pay-TV channel brands andVOD/SVOD offerings. Locally, wehave a significant stake in SkyCable.SkyCable recently acquired the assets ofone of the biggest local cable operators,making it the dominant cable platformin the Philippines. The domestic cableside is growing by about 12 percent peryear, which is outpacing the growth inthe advertising sector. Strategically, it isalso important that we are developingdirect relationships with our customers,which, over time, leverages our ability tocross-sell and upsell other products andser vices from ABS. Having a subscriptionbusiness also evens out potential volatilityon the advertising side, creating somestability on overall revenue volumes.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your key initiatives for mak-ing content available on multiple platforms? SANTOS-CONCIO: Our primary vehicle for deliveringonline video, iWantv!, is now among the most viewed localsites. It continues to grow significantly in terms of users andminutes viewed per month. This is an indication that our cus-tomers are looking for alternative ways of consuming ourcontent, especially on platforms that give them the flexibility towatch what they want, when they want and where they want.Our global division has also introduced a similar product foroverseas viewers called TFC.tv.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your main priorities for thecompany this year and next?SANTOS-CONCIO: Foremost is the need to maintain leader-ship in content across our platforms. We need to keep teamsmotivated while keeping an eye out for fresh talent—both infront and behind the cameras. We continue to look to produc-tion efficiencies and monetizing content across our platforms.

We’re very focused on our new business initiatives—makingsure that they’re given the best opportunity for growth. Thisrequires new skills and thinking as we prepare for an inevitablefuture of more fragmented audiences and even more platforms.

We’ve grown to be a very diverse company that has operationsacross multiple locations locally and internationally. This kind ofgrowth has its challenges and we are working to ensure that wecontinue to think and act as one cohesive unit and that we con-tinue to move as quickly as if we were a start-up. Cross-divisioncommunication becomes even more important at this time.

Finally, as ABS-CBN celebrates its 60th anniversary, weneed to ensure that we remain grounded through the valuesand principles that got us here…and in the mission that con-tinues to be our guidepost—that of being in the service ofthe Filipino worldwide.


TV ASIA PACIFIC20

Twice as nice: For its flagship terrestrial channel,ABS-CBN produces ahost of scripted content, including soapoperas like Mara Clara.

AP_0413_SANTOS-CONCIO_DOC_0407_NIGHT 3/18/13 6:07 PM Page 3

ASIA_0413_FMASIA_Layout 1 3/19/13 3:40 PM Page 1


TV ASIA PACIFIC22

n the last year or so, Korea has emerged as a key new buyer offormats, which is a boon to content distributors who havestruggled to crack this insular market. CJ E&M, which oper-

ates 16 channels, is a major client for many format sellers. Jin H.Park, the head of format acquisitions, is on the lookout for con-cepts for tvN, Mnet, XTM, OnStyle and Olive, among others.Across the portfolio it has had a number of format hits, includingMasterChef, The Voice, Top Gear, Got Talent and Take Me Out. Whenconsidering a property, Park notes, a track record is important. “Weprefer formats that have been successful in several countries. Apaper treatment is irrelevant—we will not make a final decisionbefore viewing several complete episodes.” On what he’s on thelookout for, Park says, “we always look to acquire formats withgood name value, and with content that can be consideredunique, certainly original. The genre is not really the issue.”

In South Asia, Colors is home to some of the world’s biggestformats, including Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars and Got Tal-ent. Manisha Sharma, the head of nonfiction and weekend contentat the channel, reveals that the most important factor consideredis the format’s ability to be adapted to meet the sensibilities of anIndian audience. The broadcaster also takes into account the track

record of a concept’s producer and distributor. It is keen to lookat scripted format concepts, as well as game-show pitches.

In the Philippines, ABS-CBN has Deal or No Deal, Got Tal-ent,The X Factor,The Biggest Loser, MasterChef and Minute toWin It. Launching this year is The Voice. “The most importantfactor in our decision whether or not to acquire a format is theconcept,” says Leng Raymundo, VP of acquisitions and distri-bution. “The next most important consideration is cost. Weinvest heavily in the production values of each format weacquire and so we cannot pay too much for the rights. We alsotake a look at the track record and it is also important to us topreview several episodes of the format.”

MediaCorp in Singapore acquires formats for its English-language Channel 5, and counted the Japanese game show Sasukeamong its biggest successes last year. “The Singapore edition com-prises 13 episodes of 60 minutes,” says Kim Wong-Nathan, VP ofnetwork commissioning. “It replicates portions of the Japaneseobstacle course and the winner progresses to Japan to compete inTBS’s competition at Mount Midoriyama. Our adaptationsinclude episodic themes, a celebrity segment and a special wherethe Singapore team [competes against] the Malaysian team.”

A look at the schedules of broadcasters across Asia shows that formats are a very hot commodityin the region, from Korea to Singapore, the Philippines to India. TV Asia Pacific surveyed four channels about their wish lists.

Shine’s MasterChefon Olive inKorea.

By Bob Jenkins &Mansha Daswani

ASIA WANTS!FORMATS

AP_0413_FORMATS_AP_ 3/20/13 2:20 PM Page 2

WS_0413_GMA_Layout 1 3/20/13 2:12 PM Page 1

ASIA_0413_TELEVISA_Layout 1 3/12/13 5:59 PM Page 1

TV Asia Pacific MIPTV 2013

Documents

Transcript of TV Asia Pacific MIPTV 2013