ITV

Category: ASIA TV FORUM

  • ATF’s first Animation Pitch announces winners

    ATF’s first Animation Pitch announces winners

    MUMBAI: The Asia TV Forum (ATF) is drawing to a close amid much fanfare. The event saw several activities such as an exciting round of on-stage pitches wherein producers from all over Asia presented their ideas. The winners of the inaugural Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) Animation Pitch were also anounced and the unveiling of the second ATF Formats Pitch took place on 30 November 2017.

    Reed Exhibitions and global partner Green Gold Animation announced studio2 Animation Lab as the winner of the first-ever ATF Animation Pitch. The animation concept, titled “The Western Journey of Pigsy”, wowed the on-stage jury for its creativity and strong appeal to children. The line-up of judges, which comprises some of the biggest names in kids’ animation and entertainment, also saw strong potential for the concept to be exported and extended to a series.

    Targeted at creators and producers of innovative concepts for new and original kids’ animation, ATF Animation Pitch is aimed at facilitating the exchange of ideas and talent between leading international television, distribution and Asian-based producers. In total, 61 entries were received from all over Asia.

    “I am thrilled and excited to be named the winner of the inaugural ATF Animation Pitch. We had a unique concept and we felt that it allows viewers to experience the journey in the west story in a contemporary way. Moving forward, we will work towards developing the script for the concept,” said studio2 Animation Lab director Chiu Li Wei.

    Chiu Li Wei and Grace Chuang from studio2 Animation Lab received a $19,000 prize from GreenGold Animation. This includes a $2,500 cash award, and a consultancy package worth $16,500 that is tailor-made for them to further develop the winning animation, making it ready to pitch to broadcasters.

    After a closely contested fight between five finalists, leading independent distributor all3media International and ATF announced that Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy) from Indonesia, came out on top, winning $3,500 in cash and a $16,500 (both Singapore dollars) consultancy package tailor-made to develop the format, making it pitch-ready for broadcasters.

    ATF Formats Pitch is the premier Asian pitching competition designed to discover innovative concepts for new and original non-scripted entertainment formats from the pan-Asian region. This platform showcases the best of Asia, and exposes ideas for export and development within and even outside of the region.

    In its second year, the competition received more than 50 entries from 13 countries and only five finalists were selected to pitch their concept during the live on-stage judging session which concluded earlier today. Formats were evaluated based on creativity, originality and capacity to return for multiple series. The winning concept must also have the capability to resonate with audiences globally.

    Portraying all these qualities was the winning format, Ranking. It is a game show where participants have to guess the correct order of a ranking in return for prizes. Besides the excitement value that comes with game shows, it also serves to dish fun facts and information to viewers. The judges loved the simplicity of the idea and felt that it had great potential for further development.

    “As many people are familiar with rankings, I believe my format will appeal to any country. Also, I have not seen it in the form of a game show concept. As a producer myself, I understood that for a format to do well, it has to be simple. I am very thankful for the win, I didn’t expect it at all,” said Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy).

    To further develop the format and make it ready for pitching to broadcasters, Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy) will work closely with all3media International. This follows the success of “Hit It” from XTREME Media, which won at the inaugural ATF Formats Pitch last year, and has received its first local commission for a debut in February 2018.

    Aside from the ATF Animation Pitch and ATF Formats Pitch, ATF and ScreenSingapore is also home to another pitching competition, the Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market.

  • Indian OTTs to be in focus on day 2 of ATF

    Indian OTTs to be in focus on day 2 of ATF

    MUMBAI: Singapore-based Reed Exhibitions’ Asia TV Forum (ATF) will commence today with 60 countries taking part. The first day will see sessions based on content, advertising and the evolution of storytelling and digital traditions and innovation Ninety thought leaders will deliver fresh insights in over 24 sessions from 28 November to 1 December 2017, discussing present-day issues such as big data, movement in the over-the-top (OTT) scene, new monetisation strategies, unscripted entertainment formats and kids’ content.

    The Indian sessions will start from the second day. The first one will be ‘Bollywood & Beyond: Fresh content from India’. The speakers present for the session will be Epic TV network head content syndication Adita Jain, Greengold Animation VP content sales Bharath Laxmipati, One Life Studios founder Siddharth Kumar Tewary, Rajshri Entertainment MD Neha Barjatya, and Toonz Animation India senior manager- content syndication and distribution Viju Thomas. The session will be moderated by Indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

    Wanvari has been working on developing opportunities for India’s animation and live action sector – whether for TV or OTT – over the past three years at ATF as its representative for India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

    India’s OTT ecosystem has been exploding with newer apps popping up ever so quickly. At last count, close to 42 OTT services were operational in India. The second Indian session will be about the needs and wants of Indian OTT buyers. The panellists for the discussion will be Pittie Group/Epic TV CEO and MD Aditya Pittie, Viacom18 Digital ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi, producer, entrepreneur and storyteller Sidharth Jain, Spuul founder and global CEO Subin Subaiah, and GoQuest Media Ventures MD Vivek Lath. This panel discussion will also be moderated by Wanvari.

    ATF will also focus on virtual reality (VR) sessions, which will delve into the discourse that takes place among ecosystem partners, from content concept, creation and circulation. Real Vision VR filmmaker, speaker and published author Clyde Desouza will moderate the panel. Desouza is working with Times Now for its VR immersive journalism.

    On day three, listen to GreenGold Animation founder and CEO Rajiv Chilaka talk about how to provide 360-degree experience to kids. Chilaka has created and built one of the India’s largest animation brands Chhota Bheem, which currently has a viewership of over 40 million across platforms. He will also talk about nurturing localised IPs and stories and priming them to go global.

    The major Indian satellite TV networks Sony Pictures Networks India, Star India, Indiacast-Viacom18, and Zee Telefilms have their syndication and licensing teams exhibiting at the Marina Bay Sands venue. Other noteworthy exhibitors include: format and content syndication company GoQuest, Swastik Productions’ One Life Studios that is hawking its mega-budget Porus and homegrown formats, One Take Media, which is selling its kids animation and cookery shows, film and digital content creator and distributor Rajshri Entertainment, infotainment channel Epic TV, and kids’ content pioneer GreenGold.

  • ATF 2017 attracts Indian content studios, both big and small

    ATF 2017 attracts Indian content studios, both big and small

    MUMBAI: Singapore-based Reed Exhibitions’ Asia TV Forum (ATF) is round the corner and the buzz around the event only seems to be ramping up. This year, the forum will see around 60 countries from all over the globe. From 28 November to 1 December 2017, more than 90 thought leaders will deliver fresh insights at over 24 ATF conference sessions, discussing present-day issues such as big data, movement in the over-the-top (OTT) scene, new monetisation strategies, unscripted entertainment formats and kids content.

    Indiantelevision.com founder Anil Wanvari has been working on developing opportunities for India’s animation and live action sector – whether for TV or OTT – over the past three years at ATF as its representative for the regions of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

    “We have seen the presence from south Asia grow from a small 20-30 to around 140 this year since I was given the task of working closely with the region’s content creators, buyers and distributors,” says Wanvari. “I and the team which works with me have been happy to help catalyse their presence on Asian and global stages. ATF has a strong presence of smaller buyers, producers, distributors from the region apart from the big name players from Europe and the US. It has become a must visit event for the content executive.”

    The major Indian satellite TV networks Sony Pictures Networks India, Star India, Indiacast-Viacom18, and Zee Telefilms have their syndication and licensing teams exhibiting in the Marina Bay Sands venue. Other noteworthy exhibitors include: format and content syndication company GoQuest, Swastik Productions’ One Life Studios which is hawking its mega budget Porus and homegrown formats, One Take Media which is selling its kids animation and cookery shows, film and digital content creator and distributor Rajshri Entertainment, infotainment channel EPIC TV, kids content pioneer Green Gold.

    “This is probably the highest exhibitor strength India has managed at ATF ever,” says Wanvari. “The country’s content selling industry has come a long way despite the oft repeated statement that our TV shows are not good enough to cut the international grade.”

    Among the initiatives that Wanvari and Reed Exhibitions have supported is the building up of delegations from India and south Asia. The first of these has been the one which has been growing under the umbrella of the Media & Entertainment Association of India (MEAI). The association’s secretary Ankur Bhasin has cobbled together a delegation of 11 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) consisting of 13 delegates in the content creation and distribution spaces.

    Says Bhasin, “Fueled by improved connectivity and mobile explosion, Asia-Pacific is experiencing the fastest growth worldwide in terms of growth of time spent consuming media online – about 6.7 per cent consistently year on year compared to global average of 2.9 per cent. Although the average consumption of three plus hours per day for the Indian audience and about six hours per day for Chinese viewers is still relatively low compared to western countries, with over 60 per cent of the world population concentrated here, that is a substantial change on how media is being consumed. It is no surprise that this explosion is resulting in a growing demand for content in the APAC market.”

    Wanvari points out there are many commonalities in culture that India shares with east Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan, south Korea, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. “We all share Asian sensibilities and values,” he says. “Hence, we can relate to each other’s content.”

    Bhasin believes ATF is a very important market to target Asian buyers as well as to look for co-production opportunities. “Increasingly, there has been demand from MEAI members to focus on markets in the east and this has resulted in a growing delegation to ATF from MEAI. MEAI hopes this will materialize into a pavilion next year to give a fixed presence to the delegation being put together by the association with the support of Anil and his team,” Bhasin adds.

  • Singapore’s ATF 2017 promises more than ever

    Singapore’s ATF 2017 promises more than ever

    MUMBAI: Reed Exhibitions’ Asia Television Forum (ATF) is back. And Asia’s leading content market cum conference which brings together Asia’s broadcasters, digital platforms, distributors, studios, content creators to strike deals amongst each other and other international buyers and sellers from — countries, is buzzing like never before.

    Says Reed Exhibitions senior project director Yeow Hui Leng: “It is  the ultimate destination for infinite deals and partnerships and to discover the vibrant future of entertainment content. And we are happy to have a stellar line up of speakers and some of the leading cross platform content buyers, sellers and distributors  coming in a big way this year.”

    The four day ATF starts on 28 November and ends on 1 December 2017. The first day features a high end executive ATF leader’s summit.The market, conferences and networking events kick off on 29 November.And what’s noteworthy about the confab is the fact that it is the only Asian audiovisual content market where we can see all Hollywood studios and major brands under a single roof.

    Says Hui Leng: “ATF last year saw deals worth US$244 million with 5,383 executives, 923 content buyers, 738 seller companies, 92 speakers, 54 countries and 21 official pavilions. This year approximately 60 countries are expected for the event.”

    ATF 2017 has several conference tracks running concurrently, among which feature: The Content Connection  and The VR & SMF Ignite Conference on 29 November, Production Day on 30 November and finally the South east Asia Financing Forum on 1 December.

    A quality bunch of speakers – including Amazon’s James Farrell, PCCW’s Janice Lee, Iflix’s Mark Britt, Hooq’s Peter Bithos, MNC Vision’s Hary Tanoesoedibjo, HBO Drama Series Home Box Office Co-Head David Levine, YouTube’s Don Andersen, Viacom18’s Gaurav Gandhi, STUDIO LAMBERT’s Stephen Lambert, Spuul’s Subin Subiah, Green Gold’s Rajiv Chilaka – make the ATF conference, the leading Asian get together of content thought leaders.

    Additionally, a clutch of leading investors, VCs and financiers will also be present to discuss the prospects for content ROIs and perspectives.

    ATF 2017 is also putting its might behind discovering new content ideas through the All3Media’s Formats Pitch and Green Gold’s Animation Pitch, both of which have attracted a plethora of entries.

    It’s not as if the 6,000-plus attendees will only be at the stands striking deals or in conferences downloading wisdom from those on the stage. More than enough networking events and parties will ensure that they also let their hair down and have an informal fun time too.

    More coverage of the Indian presence at ATF 2017 will follow over the next few days on indiantelevision.com as well as live from Singapore during the market. So keep reading!

  • Green Gold backs first animation pitch at Asia Television Forum

    Green Gold backs first animation pitch at Asia Television Forum

    MUMBAI: Visitors to Asia’s leading entertainment content market and conference event – Reed Exhibitions’s Asia Television Forum in Singapore – will get to see Indian animation studio Green Gold Animation getting prominence. The Indian studio has become the first Indian company to get behind as the sponsor of the ATF Animation Pitch which is being introduced at the confab this year on 28 November-1 December.  

    The competition is being positioned as the premier Asian pitching competition for creators and producers of innovative concepts for new and original animation targeting kids, and is aimed at facilitating the exchange of ideas and talent between leading international television, distribution and Asia-based producers. 

    ATF has opened its call for entries from today for the live pitch which will take place on 30 November 2017 in conjunction with the annual trade event. This platform will showcase the best of Asian originality and expose ideas for export and development within and even outside the region. 

    Backed by Green Gold Animation, India’s largest animation production company that caters primarily to children, ATF Animation Pitch 2017 is set to become Asia’s top-flight pitching competition. With the tagline, “Think. Believe. Dream. And finally… Dare.”, ATF Animation Pitch 2017 is open to all creators and producers from around Asia (individuals, students and small-to-medium-sized companies), keen to present their new and original, animated shorts, series and feature films in the genres of Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy. 

    The winner will receive a US$ 19,000 prize from Green Gold Animation, comprising a $ 2,500 cash award, and a consultancy package worth $16,500 that is tailor-made for the winner to develop their animation, making it ready to pitch to broadcasters. 

    As part of the bespoke consultancy package, Green Gold Animation’s leading executives will also share their expertise in areas such as marketing, writing a pitch document, global format sales opportunities, trailer and sizzle preparation, production budgeting, talent payments, press publicity, the global sales process and editing. 

    The first round of judging will be led by Green Gold Animation  founder and CEO, Rajiv Chilaka, and Green Gold Animation (USA) vice-president and head of US operations Marc Lumer, with input from the company’s acquisitions and marketing teams led by vice-president, content sales Bharath Laxmipati. 

    Shortlisted participants will then progress to the live pitching event, where they have the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of some of the industry’s most experienced veterans, including senior executives from Green Gold Animation. Leading commissioning editors will also be on stage, offering advice and commentary on the ideas pitched. 

    “Being surrounded by passionate and ambitious people, who share a similar love for animation, is a great way to feel inspired and expand intellectual horizons. It’s also important to give back to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the animation industry, foster creativity and innovation. After all, animation is the craft of the soul,” says  Chilaka about the company’s rationale for supporting ATF Animation Pitch. 

    “We are extremely proud to launch the inaugural ATF Animation Pitch with one of Asia’s biggest players in the industry – this is a true reflection of the potential of a rising Asia. Just as our existing pitch competitions – ATF Formats Pitch and Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market – have nurtured Asia’s talent pool and created a culture of excellence in content, we are confident that ATF Animation Pitch will be another significant element within ATF that will allow us to be the enabler of so much merit across this vast and diverse continent,” says Reed Exhibitions   ATF senior project director Yeow Hui Leng.

  • ’17 to be year of survival for VR market

    ’17 to be year of survival for VR market

    SINGAPORE: Though forecasts on Virtual Reality or VR are optimistic — a study said it would be a $30 billion market by end of this decade — these statistics do seem a bit unrealistic as many area of concerns are yet to be addressed.

    When will we get to see 10 million VR units? When will an inflection point be witnessed? When will VR or related technology start monetising data flowing from VR usage? These are some of the many questions that come to mind. With not many analyst teams focused on VR, Clifton Dawson decided to venture into this area two years ago with his company Greenlight VR.

    “Due to the fragmented nature of the industry, people are still trying to crack the market and are not yet aware of the various business models. Having said that, I believe that 2017 would be the year of survival for the industry because the time horizon for this robust industry to place its foot firmly is much longer due to the few missing pieces that will eventually unfold with time,” Greenlight VR founder and CEO Clifton Dawson says.

    With a comprehensive research on the virtual and augmented reality industry, Greenlight Insights provides market intelligence to innovative companies through syndicated research, services and events. Having headquarters in San Francisco and a small set-up in Beijing, Greenlight VR has an employee strength of 20.

    Will 2020 be the year of inflection? Dawson clearly rubbishes this thought as he mentions that the focus on 2020 is short-sighted. “2025 is strategically a better year,” he explains, adding that so far there have been launches or expected launches like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and Samsung Gear VR.

    Dawson points out that presently the VR headsets are of first generation quality and it would improve when the fourth generations sets come in wherein issues relating to audio or (video) display would get resolved. “I truly believe that these headsets would look nothing like the current ones, he adds.”

    It is expected that as the industry and technology progress, VR would not just be restricted to the gaming world, but increasingly used by brands for promoting their products, medical college students being taught with the help of VR and property agents using it to sell properties. So, a question arises: which all markets this technology likely to flourish more?

    “It’s all about timing as it’s the only thing in question. For now, certain genres of gaming (not casual) would work. As for brand advertisement, it is not there yet. VR mechanism leads to behavioral changes and one needs to crack the code on how to monetise it,” Dawson says.

    Will the blend of augmented reality and virtual reality, that is mixed reality (MR), be future? Dismissing this idea outright, Dawson explains, “MR is totally a different ball game. It’s an entirely different technology and requires separate business model and ecosystem.”

    Dawson advises people that to succeed in the virtual reality field, one needs to have a 10-year view and not be short-sighted as the returns won’t come so easily. Be patient: is his final suggestion to players and the industry in general.

  • ’17 to be year of survival for VR market

    ’17 to be year of survival for VR market

    SINGAPORE: Though forecasts on Virtual Reality or VR are optimistic — a study said it would be a $30 billion market by end of this decade — these statistics do seem a bit unrealistic as many area of concerns are yet to be addressed.

    When will we get to see 10 million VR units? When will an inflection point be witnessed? When will VR or related technology start monetising data flowing from VR usage? These are some of the many questions that come to mind. With not many analyst teams focused on VR, Clifton Dawson decided to venture into this area two years ago with his company Greenlight VR.

    “Due to the fragmented nature of the industry, people are still trying to crack the market and are not yet aware of the various business models. Having said that, I believe that 2017 would be the year of survival for the industry because the time horizon for this robust industry to place its foot firmly is much longer due to the few missing pieces that will eventually unfold with time,” Greenlight VR founder and CEO Clifton Dawson says.

    With a comprehensive research on the virtual and augmented reality industry, Greenlight Insights provides market intelligence to innovative companies through syndicated research, services and events. Having headquarters in San Francisco and a small set-up in Beijing, Greenlight VR has an employee strength of 20.

    Will 2020 be the year of inflection? Dawson clearly rubbishes this thought as he mentions that the focus on 2020 is short-sighted. “2025 is strategically a better year,” he explains, adding that so far there have been launches or expected launches like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and Samsung Gear VR.

    Dawson points out that presently the VR headsets are of first generation quality and it would improve when the fourth generations sets come in wherein issues relating to audio or (video) display would get resolved. “I truly believe that these headsets would look nothing like the current ones, he adds.”

    It is expected that as the industry and technology progress, VR would not just be restricted to the gaming world, but increasingly used by brands for promoting their products, medical college students being taught with the help of VR and property agents using it to sell properties. So, a question arises: which all markets this technology likely to flourish more?

    “It’s all about timing as it’s the only thing in question. For now, certain genres of gaming (not casual) would work. As for brand advertisement, it is not there yet. VR mechanism leads to behavioral changes and one needs to crack the code on how to monetise it,” Dawson says.

    Will the blend of augmented reality and virtual reality, that is mixed reality (MR), be future? Dismissing this idea outright, Dawson explains, “MR is totally a different ball game. It’s an entirely different technology and requires separate business model and ecosystem.”

    Dawson advises people that to succeed in the virtual reality field, one needs to have a 10-year view and not be short-sighted as the returns won’t come so easily. Be patient: is his final suggestion to players and the industry in general.

  • ATF ’16: Singapore company Xtreme Media wins $20,000 prize

    ATF ’16: Singapore company Xtreme Media wins $20,000 prize

    SINGAPORE/MUMBAI: Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and all3media International, the distribution arm of the UK’s leading TV production group, yesterday announced that Singapore-based production company, Xtreme Media, has won the inaugural ATF Formats Pitch competition, walking away with a prize worth S$20,000 from all3media International. ATF is the region’s leading entertainment content event, is the platform of calibre to acquire knowledge, network, buy, sell, finance, distribute and co-produce across all platforms.

    With the tagline “New Ideas. New Talent. New Formats.”, ATF Formats Pitch is the premier Asian pitching competition for creators and producers of innovative concepts for new and original, non-scripted entertainment formats. This platform showcases the best of Asia, and exposes ideas for export and development within and even outside of the region.

    all3media International CEO Louise Pedersen, and Reed Exhibitions managing director (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) Michelle Lim, presened the cash prize for ATF Formats Pitch 2016, to Xtreme Media executive producer William Lim.

    Introduced for the first time this year, ATF Formats Pitch 2016 received entries representing nine countries – Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Ukraine and USA. Earlier today, five finalists from China, Malaysia, Singapore and Ukraine pitched their concepts at a live judging session, to a panel of illustrious television format experts.

    The winning format, “HIT IT”, stood out amongst competitors for its originality, creativity, innovation and ability to be adapted across the world. Planned as a weekly series, each episode will feature two teams. Produced by competing against each other in a series of comedic challenges that put a spin on sports. With many hilarious high-pressure moments, the game show hopes to entertain viewers with non-stop action of amusing, yet astonishing feats.

    William Lim said, “Participating in the inaugural ATF Formats Pitch has been an eye-opener, with many participants sharing new format ideas that we have never explored before. We are honoured to have won the first-ever ATF Formats Pitch as we now have the opportunity to work with a well-established format distributor, all3media International, to further develop our concept.”

    With the S$20,000 prize – comprising a $3,500 cash award and $16,500 customised consultancy package – Xtreme Media will be working with all3media in the coming months to develop “HIT IT”, readying it for pitching to broadcasters.

  • ATF ’16: Singapore company Xtreme Media wins $20,000 prize

    ATF ’16: Singapore company Xtreme Media wins $20,000 prize

    SINGAPORE/MUMBAI: Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and all3media International, the distribution arm of the UK’s leading TV production group, yesterday announced that Singapore-based production company, Xtreme Media, has won the inaugural ATF Formats Pitch competition, walking away with a prize worth S$20,000 from all3media International. ATF is the region’s leading entertainment content event, is the platform of calibre to acquire knowledge, network, buy, sell, finance, distribute and co-produce across all platforms.

    With the tagline “New Ideas. New Talent. New Formats.”, ATF Formats Pitch is the premier Asian pitching competition for creators and producers of innovative concepts for new and original, non-scripted entertainment formats. This platform showcases the best of Asia, and exposes ideas for export and development within and even outside of the region.

    all3media International CEO Louise Pedersen, and Reed Exhibitions managing director (Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia) Michelle Lim, presened the cash prize for ATF Formats Pitch 2016, to Xtreme Media executive producer William Lim.

    Introduced for the first time this year, ATF Formats Pitch 2016 received entries representing nine countries – Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Ukraine and USA. Earlier today, five finalists from China, Malaysia, Singapore and Ukraine pitched their concepts at a live judging session, to a panel of illustrious television format experts.

    The winning format, “HIT IT”, stood out amongst competitors for its originality, creativity, innovation and ability to be adapted across the world. Planned as a weekly series, each episode will feature two teams. Produced by competing against each other in a series of comedic challenges that put a spin on sports. With many hilarious high-pressure moments, the game show hopes to entertain viewers with non-stop action of amusing, yet astonishing feats.

    William Lim said, “Participating in the inaugural ATF Formats Pitch has been an eye-opener, with many participants sharing new format ideas that we have never explored before. We are honoured to have won the first-ever ATF Formats Pitch as we now have the opportunity to work with a well-established format distributor, all3media International, to further develop our concept.”

    With the S$20,000 prize – comprising a $3,500 cash award and $16,500 customised consultancy package – Xtreme Media will be working with all3media in the coming months to develop “HIT IT”, readying it for pitching to broadcasters.

  • ATF 2016 discusses secret sauce for Asian OTT’s successes

    ATF 2016 discusses secret sauce for Asian OTT’s successes

    SINGAPORE: The media and entertainment industry is known for its dynamic and unpredictable nature. With digital media taking an upward turn, over the top services are slowly making a mark and challenging traditional viewing methods. To address how effective are the various OTT models, the pre-ATF market conference on 6 December witnessed the session ‘View From Over The Top.’

    The discussion was led by IndianTelevision.com group founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, and covered the scope of the new content buyers in the online evolution and the success in re-aligning company strategies to meet new demands.

    The panelists consisted of an interesting bunch of execs whose services are as different as chalk and cheese: Hulu Japan (Japan), chief content officer, Kazufumi Nagasawa; Singapore-based Hooq co-founder and chief content officer, Krishnan Rajagopalan; LeTV (China), chief executive producer, Hao Fang; and US-based AwesomnessTV head of worldwide distribution, Rebecca Glashow.

    Wanvari set the ball rolling by questioning whether OTT as a business concept is a pipe dream or a reality. “OTT services have not really made a dent on viewing habits for a large part in Asian markets where television viewing is still rating high with consumers,” he stated. “Yet close to 100 or so OTT/VOD services have launched in various Asian nations. No one knows what the right business model is — Is it AVOD? Is it TVOD? Or, is it SVOD? Or is it a freemium model? Or is it a telco-bundled/TV set-bundled service? What is the pricing sweet spot? How much time will it take to build them into viable businesses? It looks like the OTT industry looks like what the cable and satellite TV industry did in the early nineties across Asia. The broadcasters were making losses and kept on bleeding for a decade or so. Will the same happen to OTT? And, what could help accelerate its fortunes better? Is it data costs? Or consumer education?”

    The panelists then went to on to talk about how they were each dealing with the market’s challenges. With China being the largest market in terms of mobile subscribers, LeTV took a strategic decision to bundle its streaming service platform with ‘Le’ mobile phones and in Hong Kong with its TVs. Consumers got LeTV free for varying periods as it was built into the price of the hardware.

    On the other hand, Hooq, being a comparatively young player in the market, Rajagopalan mentioned that the Asian audience is slowly getting used to the idea of paid services. Hooq has strong partnerships with telcos such as Singtel, Airtel, Vodafone, Globe Telecom, Telkomsel in different regions as it rolls out. Partnering with other companies has enabled Hooq to reach out to consumers who might be unaware of Hooq or don’t want to shell out money as it’s a SVOD service. Hooq launched in Singapore in end-November adding to Indonesia, Philippines, India and Thailand – countries in which it has been investing.

    AwesomnessTV follows a completely different approach; it perceives itself as a content creator for all the screens – TV, theatre, mobile, tablet – and its MCN strategy is totally a separate kettle of fish. Its advantage is that it has a strong millennial content focus on account of it strong digital talent. This has landed it deals with various platforms: Verizon for its Go90 mobile service; with ITV2 in the UK for which it is developing a millennial targeted commissioned programme block. A slate of feature films is also in the offing.

    And because its productions have a slew of digital stars it uses their online social media following to tease their fans and lure them to watch the content it creates for the other screens. Glashow said that she was in Asia to explore and evaluate opportunities and build partnerships to help it with its Asian foray. With enough money from its varied parents right from Verizon to Dreamworks Animation and Hearst Entertainment, it can afford to be ambitious for the continent as well.

    Hulu Japan – which is owned wholly by the broadcaster Nippon TV after Hulu exited a few years ago — follows the SVOD model, and has partnered with the Japanese major telco DoCoMo. As far as content is concerned, Nagasawa said that the OTT service has an international to domestic content ratio of 50:50. The service offers its users a smorgasbord of international top series as well as domestically produced content. Production budgets vary from 10,000 dollars to as much as a million dollars.

    Nagasawa said he has plans to make Hulu a one-stop-destination for consumers as the company plans to expand its linear streaming service to include transactional video on demand (TVoD) and electronic sell-through.

    Speaking about original content production, Hooq which recently released the trailer of its first original co-produced show ‘On The Job’ at ATF, Rajagopalan commented: “We have converted a movie into a TV series and are paying more than what goes into the production of a TV show as with multiple business models existing, content differentiation is the key to success. And that’s where the focus should be.”

    Stressing the same fact, Fang added, “While creating our content, we almost feel as if we are buying a building as it costs us around RMB four to five billion! We want to produce more original content but it is difficult.”

    When asked by Wanvari what kind of content and partners are the panelists looking for, Ramagopalan said that it all depends on how differentiated the content is. Glashow advised, “Before producing anything, know your audience and then reach out to them. For us, our client is the audience and so we take feedback from them and listen to what they want.” And, Fang revealed that LeTV is keeping an open mindset and is willing to participate with everyone.