Asia’s factual space has split and splintered across a wider entertainment landscape than ever, with rising competition on every level and then some. While National Geographic Channel (NGC) in Asia lists global mega-productions Mars, The Story of God with Morgan Freeman and He Named Me Malala as three of its brand-defining premieres in the region this year, Discovery is going big on digital and doubling down on localisation on multiple levels, including a Bear Grylls co-production for China. The 12x75-minute celebrity survival series, which aired in prime time on China’s Dragon TV and is going into a second season this year, catapulted Discovery Asia into the multi-million-dollar local production sphere for the first time. A+E Networks Asia’s History channel, meanwhile, is edging towards the Nat Geo end of the scale for its big-ticket titles. The Singapore-based regional network is counting down to the global premiere of drama Roots at the end of May, and is fresh off its highest premiere ratings since January last year for season four of Vikings, which aired in Asia on the same day as the U.S. BBC Earth, meanwhile, has been flying the flag for people-driven natural history since it replaced BBC Knowledge in Asia in October last year, and now says it is on the hunt for more Asian stories. BBC Earth is also expanding its on-ground attractions. Where does local production fit into all of this? Nat Geo, Discovery and History have various local production initiatives on their radar, much of it – but not all – shaped by sponsor-funding.

ContentAsia’s annual focus on factual channels takes an in-depth look at what’s on in Asia, how this compares to last year, and what programmers say is coming next.

BBC Earth
Six-month old BBC Earth is on the hunt for more Asian stories. The channel, which kickstarted 2016 with stellar results for Singapore, replaced BBC Knowledge in October last year, and is currently looking at increasing Asia’s content profile on its line-up.

So far this year, BBC Earth’s schedule has included natural history series Wild Japan, a co-production with Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The documentary premiered on 8 Feb.

BBC Earth is also planning on-ground events, such as the Planet Earth concerts, in the region. “Following Giant Screen movie Enchanted Kingdom’s success in Japan, we are also exploring how we can expand that experience to markets such as China, Korea and Hong Kong,” says Ryan Shiotani, BBC Worldwide Asia’s vice president of content.

In Japan, BBC is working with SEGA on ORBI, a BBC Earth-themed attraction. The first ORBI facility opened in Yokohama in August 2013 and the second, ORBI Osaka, opened in January this year.

BBC Earth topped factual pay-TV charts in Singapore in January this year, beating seven other channels in the factual set (source: Kantar Media Singapore/StarHub SmarTAM, among pay-TV 4+ audiences; ContentAsia Insider, 17 Feb 2016).

The strong performance in Singapore has been attributed to shows such as Life Story, narrated by David Attenborough;Lands of the Monsoon; Extreme Fishing with Robson Green; and Life Below Zero.

BBC Earth’s driver content is a broad mix of genres, ranging from landmark natural history series to documentaries that look at the planet from surprising perspectives, Shiotani says.

New titles for 2016 include Fishing Impossible (premieres 22 May), about a group of hard-core fishermen as they attempt to catch some of the world’s most elusive fish; Life Below Zero series four (premiere date/slot to be confirmed), about the lives of six people in the remote areas of Alaska and their daily struggles to survive in the below-zero environment; and Forces of Nature (premiere date/slot to be confirmed), which promises to explain what lies beneath Earth’s startling beauty and ultimately what makes our world work.

In the first quarter of 2016, BBC Earth aired Lands of the Monsoon, which explores how life around Southern Asia both endures and depends on the mighty monsoon that annually transforms the land; and a series of health/wellness/food programming, including The Truth About Calories (premiered 13 January, 10.45pm), about smart eating without taking the joy out of food; The Truth About Meat (premiered14 January, 10.45pm), which explores the damage livestock farming is causing to the planet; and Tomorrow’s Food (premiered 27-29 January, 10.45pm), about the cutting edge technologies that transform how we grow, buy and eat our food.

What’s on the prime time grid: Prime time on BBC Earth runs from 7pm to midnight (SG/HK). Animals/wildlife and nature programming dominate (weekly schedules, January and February).

The week of 4-10 January was made up of 32% (11.2 hours) nature documentary; 20.5% (7.2 hours) animal/wildlife factual; 15% (5.25 hours) health/wellness; 11.7% (4 hours) activities/sports; 8.8% (3 hours) people/lifestyle; 6.4% (2.25 hours) travel; 5.2% (1.8 hours) automobile; and 0.24% (0.08 hours) action/adventure series.

Nature documentary Earthfight kicked off the prime-time weekday slots in the first week of January. The series aired Mondays to Fridays from 7.05pm to 8.05pm.

Other prime-time nature shows included Atlantic: The Wildest Ocean on Earth (aired Wednesday, 8.05pm-9pm), a three-part series exploring the natural history of the Atlantic Ocean; and Life Below Zero season three (Tuesday, 10.45pm-11.35pm), about people who live in the remote areas of the Alaska.

The animals/wildlife slate for the first week of January consisted of Life Story (aired Mondays, 8pm-9.05pm), about the lives of animals; and The Supervet season two (aired Mondays, 10.40pm-11.30pm), about some of the hardest-to-cure pets.

For the week of 1-7 February, the schedule was 26.4% (9.25 hours) animal/wildlife factual; 21% (7.3 hours) nature documentary; 15.7% (5.5 hours) action/adventure; 15.2% (5.3 hours) health/wellness; 11% (3.9 hours) activities/sports; 5.2% (1.8 hours) travel; 2.4% (0.8 hours) science/educational; and 2.4% (0.8 hours) people.

Prime time in February started with Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan season two (aired Mondays to Thursdays, 7.10pm-8.10pm), about some of the planet’s rare creatures.

The rest of the animals/wildlife series in the first week of February were Life Story (Mondays, 8pm-9.05pm); Animal Super Senses season two (Tuesday, 8.10pm-9pm), about the extraordinary sense of sight in the animal world; Orang-utans: The Great Ape Escape (Wednesday, 8.05pm-9pm), about the orangutans returned to their natural habitat in the Bukit Batikap Conservation Forest after years in a rescue centre; and Tarsier Tails (Friday, 7.20pm-8.10pm), which looks at humankind’s smallest living relatives.

Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel headed into the Year of the Monkey with a mandate to rethink and re-imagine everything – tone, content, reach....

Expanding beyond linear is a key goal, as is re-positioning the content offering for millennial audiences. “There is a need for us to refresh the channel – from its tone of voice to content as we position ourselves to millennials,” says veteran Discovery programmer, Charmaine Kwan, who has been given the position of head of products for Southeast Asia in the network’s January 2016 reorg.

Kwan, like everyone else, is on the hunt for max brand engagement across all touch points. “Our content should not always have to premiere on the linear platform. There may be instances where it is better suited for an online audience,” she says.

Other than that, it’s not yet clear how the strong digital mandate ordered by Discovery Networks Asia Pacific’s new president/MD, Arthur Bastings, will be translated for the flagship channel. “There will be greater investment and focus on digital but we are not rushing into anything just yet,” Kwan says, adding that “consumer insight is key in shaping our product palette in the digital space”. This is “well underway across all our key markets,” she adds, highlighting a heavy reliance on digital analytics to curate content and track the level of Discovery’s brand resonance with millennials.

She is eager to dispel the “misconception” that Discovery’s local original production slate in Asia has been hijacked by sponsor-funded content. “From Abalone Wars to Taiwan’s Military Elite to Sabah Earthquake Decoded, more than half of our original productions in 2015 were not advertiser led,” she adds. This year so far, the channel has greenlita series on Borneo and has several other projects in development.

The new Discovery under Bastings is also promising to boost local acquisitions in Asia rather than drawing so heavily from the Discovery U.S. pipeline, Kwan says.

“With greater emphasis on the international markets and the expansion of Discovery’s production teams outside of U.S., the majority of our content whether commissioned or acquired now comes from producers and vendors from around the world,” she says. The priority is to ensure “a robust offering, with a mix of global, regional and local content to fulfill the network’s international promise”. The biggest programming challenge remains serving a wide pan-regional audience, Kwan says.

Discovery Channel had 10 new series and specials in February and March, including survival series, Kings of The Wild; Discovery’s big return to forensics, Killing Fields; a special to commemorate the people’s revolution in the Philippines, Marcos: 30 Years On; and The Great Wall of China: The Hidden Story.

New titles for February-June 2016 are survival series Men, Women, Wild (March) and blue-chip historical documentary The Great Wall of China: The Hidden Story. Returning titles for the first half of this year include a new season of extreme job series Gold Rush (premiered March) and Bering Sea Gold (premieres in May); the final season of science series Mythbusters (April); and a new season of The Island with Bear Grylls (June).

What’s on the prime-time grid: Prime time on Discovery Channel differs from market to market but in general, starts at 6pm and ends at midnight, with core prime of 9pm-11pm for the Southeast Asia feed. Prime time is also dominated by action/adventure, survival and science (weekly schedules, January and February) programming.

The week of 4-10 January was made up of 31% (13 hours) action/adventure; 23.8% (10 hours) survival reality; 9.5% (4 hours) science; 7% (3 hours) medical; 7% (3 hours) building/engineering; 2.4% (1 hour) people; 2.4% (1 hour) technology; 2.4% (1 hour) character-led; 2.4% (1 hour) travel; 2.4% (1 hour) military-based reality; 2.4% (1 hour) faith/spiritual; 2.4% (1 hour) nature; 2.4% (1 hour) investigative; and 2.4% (1 hour) culture/tradition. For the week of 1-7 February, the schedule is 38% (16 hours) survival reality; 16.7% (7 hours) action/adventure; 7% (3 hours) science; 7% (3 hours) building/engineering; 4.8% (2 hours) history; 4.8% (2 hours) medical; 4.8% (2 hours) military; 2.4% (1 hour) technology; 2.4% (1 hour) character-led; 2.4% (1 hour) animals/wildlife; 2.4% (1 hour) mythological/supernatural; 2.4% (1 hour) investigative; and 1.2% (0.5 hour) nature documentary.

History
A+E Networks’ History channel adds 50 hours of original content on its local production slate in Asia this year – about level with last year. Originals include one-offs such as Blade Runners: Codename Operation Gonzales, Life of Deception, Kidnapped in Sabah, Programmed to Kill: Dengue Fever and Programmed to Kill: Melioidosis. A third series of ad-funded photography competition show, Photo Face-Off, is also in production with Singapore-based Beach House Pictures.

In line with global trends, the Asia team has shifted its digital focus to the beginning stages of production, says Joyce Lim, senior director, content – factual channels. “We are also seeing more short-form programming specially created for digital platforms to complement the long forms on linear,” she adds.

The 2016 slate follows last year’s success with Photo Face-Off season two, Ride n’ Seek Philippines with Jaime Dempsey and My Mosque, which were the top three History Asia originals for the 12 months. The top production location was Malaysia.

Production houses involved in the originals initiatives are Beach House Pictures, Infocus Asia, Celebrate TV, Culture Shock Productions and TheMustard Collective.

A+E Networks says local productions are syndicated in the region. Photo Face-Off, for instance, was syndicated in Thailand (Voice TV, free-TV), Indonesia (Kompas TV, free-TV), Malaysia (ntv7, free-TV and Go Asean, non-standard TV/exclusive) and Vietnam (Qnet, all media rights). 10 Things You Don’t Know About Singapore was syndicated in Singapore on Mediacorp Channel 5/HD5 (free-TV) and Ride n’ Seek aired on Go Asean (non-standard TV/exclusive) in Malaysia.

Local originals will continue to air in History’s two-hour Sunday block (8pm-10pm), which launched in July last year with History’s first original series, Secrets of the Otherworld. The block this year will include Programmed to Kill: Dengue Fever (Q2 2016), Programmed to Kill: Melioidosis (Q2 2016), Life of Deception (date/slot to be confirmed) and Kidnapped in Sabah (June 2016).

The bulk of History’s Asia schedule is from A+E Networks’ U.S. pipeline. These include premium productions such as historical miniseries, Roots. The drama premieres in Asia on the same day as the U.S., beginning 31 May.

History Asia Originals series, along with third-party acquired content makes up about 20% of History Asia’s schedule. “Currently, we have not acquired any content from Asia but we invest in local production so that it serves as first run in all markets,” Lim says.

Asia co-produces international shows, such as The World Wars and Barbarians Rising, with A+E Networks in the U.S., and cherry picks from the rest of the catalogue to maximise relevance across the region, Lim says.

For 2016, History is planning to up day-and-date releases with the U.S., including Vikings season four, which premiered on 19 Feb. Vikings has been airing in Asia on the same day as the U.S. since season two (2014). Returning scripted titles include season two of Gangland Undercover, (Q3 2016). Other premium scripted series for 2016 include Barbarians Rising and Knightfall. These may air in Asia simultaneously with the U.S.

Lim says the network will continue working on shorter windows for non-scripted series. This year, season two of Forged in Fire aired in Asia in March, a month after the U.S. Last year, season one premiered within five months of the U.S. Last year’s express non-scripted series included Alone season one, which premiered in Asia in the same week as the U.S. In some cases, Asia runs ahead of the U.S. Hunting Hitler, for example, premiered in Asia on 28 Oct 2015, ahead of the U.S. premiere on 10 Nov 2015.

A+E Networks’ Asia digital strategy centres around Historyplus.sg, which launched in May 2015 with Brand New Media. The platform offers short-form programming mostly based on A+E brands’ original content.

History also supplies affiliates with a minimum of 20 fresh hours a month of catch-up shows aired on the linear channel in the past 30 days, and five fresh hours of VOD content a month. VOD titles have aired on the linear service but are not currently part of the schedule. Affiliate platforms for on-demand and catch up so far are Astro On The Go (Malaysia), Sky On Demand (Philippines), Sky Mobi (Philippines) and First Media Go (Indonesia).

What’s on the prime-time grid: Prime time on History in Asia runs from 6pm to midnight and is dominated by drama, character-led and survival programming (weekly schedules, Jan & Feb). The week of 4-10 Jan was made up of 16.7% (7 hours) drama; 16.7% (7 hours) character-led; 16.7% (7 hours) survival series; 14.3% (6 hours) competition; 11.9% (5 hours) history; 7% (3 hours) investigative; 7% (3 hours) automobiles; 4.7% (2 hours) food/chefs; and 4.7% (2 hours) mythological/supernatural.

For the week of 1-7 Feb, the schedule is 16.7% (7 hours) drama; 16.7% (7 hours) character-led; 16.7% (7 hours) survival series; 9.5% (4 hours) competition; 7.1% (3 hours) automobiles; 7.1% (3 hours) investigative; 7.1% (3 hours) business/jobs; 4.7% (2 hours) food/chefs; 4.7% (2 hours) mythological/supernatural; 4.7% (2 hours) biography/people; and 4.7% (2 hours) history.

National Geographic Channel
Global Hollywood-style mega-event series will define Nat Geo in Asia this year, part of a strategic programming shift that has the region’s factual networks spread across genres more broadly than ever and following increasingly divergent paths.

National Geographic’s bet on big, bold and global moved forward this year with international production centralised in the U.S. under new global head, Courteney Monroe. Monroe, who became CEO of National Geographic Global Networks in November 2015, oversees programming, marketing and operations for all Nat Geo-branded channels around the world. She also heads up production unit, National Geographic Studios. Fox Networks Group (FNG) says the channel in Asia will benefit from big, bold, top-flight programming, driven centrally, and backed by Hollywood talent in front and behind the camera.

NGC will continue to back regional and/or local programming across Asia where it makes sense, “in particular productions produced together with brands and other partners,” says Keertan Adyanthaya, FNG’s executive vice president, content and communications, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Nat Geo’s global titles are being supported across all branded assets, including the magazine, digital assets and live events. Company execs describe the result as “truly global, cross-platform ‘event-ised’ campaigns”.

Flagship titles on the February schedule were the return of Brain Games for a fifth season and new show Supercar Megabuild with entrepreneur Afzal Kahn and a couple of expert mechanics on high-end modification quests. This followed January’s eight-part Primal Survivor, which tracks adventurer Hazen Audel.

A March tentpole was high-profile doc, He Named Me Malala, featuring Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai attacked for speaking out on girls education. Other March titles included season three of Cesar to the Rescue, which deals with communities struggling with problem dogs; and Mine Kings, which tracks gem hunter Guy Clutterbuck and a team he assembled in Sri Lanka to make a killing in the gem trade. The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, Nazi Megastructures season three and Wicked Tuna season five follow in April, Science of Stupid season three in June, World War Weird in August, Mars in November and Deep Freeze in December.

National Geographic’s core slate, created with an international audience in mind, is supplemented on the ground in Asia with shows such as Route Awakening (8 Oct 2015), which follows adventure/traveller Harry Yuan on a 10,000km off-road journey in search of China’s cultural/natural heritage; and BSF: India’s First Line of Defense (Jan 2016), which sheds light on India’s Border Security Force and “highlights its distinct identity as saviours of peace”.

What’s on the prime-time grid: Prime time on National Geographic Channel is defined as 6pm to 1am, differing slightly from country to country across Hong Kong/Southeast Asia.

The typical NGC Asia grid continues to offer a wide mix of more than 13 factual genres ranging from buildings/engineering and survival to people/biography and action/adventure.

The week of 1-7 February is made up of 16.7% (7 hours) buildings/engineering; 11.9% (5 hours) survival; 11.9% (5 hours) animal; 11.9% (5 hours) science; 9.5% (4 hours) business/jobs; 7.1% (3 hours) activities/sports; 7.1% (3 hours) investigative; 4.7% (2 hours) mythological/supernatural; 4.7% (2 hours) travel; 4.7% (2 hours) automobile; 2.4% (1 hour) action/adventure; 2.4% (1 hour) nature; 2.4% (1 hour) history; and 2.4% (1 hour) people programming.

For the week of 7-13 March, the schedule is 15.5% (6.5 hours) people/biography series; 13% (5.5 hours) action/adventure; 13% (5.5 hours) investigative; 8.3% (3.5 hours) travel; 14.3% (6 hours) animal/pets; 7% (3 hours) automobiles; 4.8% (2 hours) culture/tradition; 4.8% (2 hours) nature; 4.8% (2 hours) science; 4.8% (2 hours) business/jobs; 2.4% (1 hour) buildings/engineering; 2.4% (1 hour) history; 2.4% (1 hour) activities/sports; and 2.4% (1 hour) mythological/supernatural series.

Published on ContentAsia's Issue One 2016, 23 March 2016