ABS-CBN president, chief executive officer and chief content officer, Charo Santos-Concio, will serve as Gala Chair for the 43rd International Emmy Awards, which takes place in New York City on 23 November 2015.

Santos-Concio – ContentAsia’s Asia Media Woman of the Year in 2014 – makes history as the first Philippines’ TV network executive invited to serve as Gala chair.

President and chief executive of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Bruce Paisner, said Santos-Concio “has spearheaded the growth of her organisation to a leading position in the Philippines and the region beyond”.

Santos-Concio was appointed ABS-CBN president and chief operating officer in 2008 and chief executive officer in 2013. Apart from being named
ContentAsia’s 2014 Asia Media Woman of the Year, she won Gold Stevie Awards at the 2014 Stevie Awards for Women in Business and Asia Pacific Stevie Awards.

This year’s International Emmy Awards will recognise programming in 10 categories. Special awards will be presented to Julian Fellowes, creator and writer of Downton Abbey (Founders Award) and Richard Plepler, chairman and chief executive of HBO (Directorate Award).

Japan and South Korea fly the flag for Asia programmes this year. Two Japanese shows were nominated and one from South Korea.

South Korea’s Trial of Chunhyyang – A Girl Prosecuted by Feudalism, from public broadcaster KBS, has been nominated in the Arts Programming category. The show, about the forbidden love between a nobleman and a courtesan in the late 18th century, won a Rockie Award at this year’s Banff World Media Festival.

Also among this year’s 40 nominees in 10 categories and 19 countries are Japanese drama series, Mozu season one – Night Cry of the Mozu (TBS Television/Wowow/Robot), and Storytelling of Hostages (Wowow/Twins Japan).

This article originally appeared in ContentAsia's eNewsletter issue 219 published on 19 October 2015.