Vietnam ends 2016 with more formats on air or commissioned during the year than any other market in Asia. In dollar terms, China, despite restrictions, more restrictions, other restrictions and expectations of added restrictions, tops the list for amounts being spent on everything from drama to talent shows.

The top five markets by number of titles are Vietnam (65), China (54), Thailand (47) and India (31). The Philippines and Cambodia, with 25 formats each, tie for fifth place.

These top six markets have a combined 251 formats – 76% share – of the total 329 on air in Asia (or commissioned for 2017) from January to 15 November 2016. The balance is shared by Korea (16), Myanmar and Mongolia, which have 10 each, Japan (6), Singapore and Malaysia (3 each), and Taiwan and Pakistan (1 each).

The seven regional formats on our list are led by the two shows that topped the US$3-million mark – The Amazing Race Asia season 5 on Sony Pictures Television Networks Asia’s AXN (see page 44); Asia’s NextTop Model season four, which aired on FOX Networks Group’s (FNG) StarWorld early in 2016; and Asia’s Next Top Model season five, which is in production for StarWorld (no airdate confirmed but likely in early 2017, see page 44).

Whatever budgets the big regional shows closed at in 2016, none topped the US$8 million/US$10 million that Asia’s Got Talent is said to have cost. The pan-regional talent show, which aired on AXN in early 2015, was seen as a ground breaker for Asia in scope and scale.

FremantleMedia and Endemol Shine Group are the biggest players in Asia with 147 – 45% share – of the total 329 formats on air/commissioned (as of 15 November 2016. See page 42).

FremantleMedia listed 78 shows, including 12 versions of Got Talent, 10 versions of talent show Idol, nine versions of long-running favourite Family Feud, and six versions of The Price is Right.

Endemol Shine Group listed 69, including eight versions of Big Brother (five of these in India and one in Pakistan), six versions of MasterChef, andfour versions of long-running game show classic Deal or No Deal. Not included on the list (for now) is The Society Game, co-developed by Endemol Shine’s JV with Korea’s CJ E&M. The show aired in Korea on CJ E&M’s tvN and debuted as part of Endemol Shine’s slate at MIPCOM 2016. Format negotiations with broadcasters around the world are ongoing, potentially putting the reality series on the list of made-in-Asia titlesbeing produced around the world. In addition to a lively trade in formats between Asian countries, thelist of made-in-Asia formats picked up by broadcasters from outside the region is small but growing slowly.

Asia is also moving beyond past trends that saw international distributors/producers going after whacky Japanese variety segments and turning them into full shows such as Hole in the Wall, which still airs in Vietnam and Cambodia.

This year’s list includes Better Late Than Never, the U.S. remake of South Korea’s Grandpas Over Flowers, which premiered on NBC in August; NBC has already renewed for a second season. Philippines’ scripted formats are starting to make inroads in Mexico (see page 64).

An ongoing trend, driven most recently by Korea’s CJ E&M and Japan’s Fuji TV, is cross-border adaptations within Asia. In what looks likethe region’s most significant scripted formats output deal, Japan’s Fuji TV and the Shanghai Media Group (SMG) are in production on the second of a five-series agreement to adapt Fuji dramas for mainland Chinese audiences. Japan could benefit most from China’s current freeze on all things Korean.

The dominant formats genres in Asia at the moment are game shows, talent contests and light entertainment. Drama is progressing slowly but surely, particularly in developed markets able to support high production values that drive licensing and syndication businesses.

The total number of formats in Asia for 2016 will rise beyond 329 as companies use the Asia TV Forum (ATF) in Singapore to close or announce the last deals of the year.

As we went to press, Talpa said it had signed a deal for new format The Next Boy/Girl Band with Global TV in Indonesia, taking the number of formats in Indonesia for this year to 22.

There’s also a TV series adaptation of Peter Chan’s Comrades: Almost A Love Story being made by Joon Lee’s LYD Studios in Korea (see page 32). The two take Korea’s total to 18 – or just under 6% of the region’s formats market – and bump up even further the country’s profile on the scripted adaptation stage.

Published on ContentAsia's Issue Six 2016