3 September 2014: Finding great big characters and shouting loudly enough about new and fabulous ideas are the biggest challenges formats producers and distributors face in Asia at the moment. And then there's money, talent and local values... The feature has been adapted from ContentAsia's first Formats Outlook, published for the ContentAsia Summit. The Formats Outlook 2015 is part of ContentAsia's year-round focus on all aspects of content in Asia. In-depth analysis will be enhanced through 2015 with a dedicated formats' platform online, in print and face-to-face. Please contact [email protected] if you would like a copy of ContentAsia's Formats Outlook 2015.Shock of the newGlobal track records in acquiring domestic format rights are critical for local broadcasters. But that’s only a starting point. Domestic audiences need major amounts of marketing and cajoling and introducing new formats can be challenging, programmers say.As popular as they are elsewhere, dance formats – and particularly ballroom dancing – can be hard going because it’s all so unfamiliar in many parts of Asia. Broadcasters such as Cambodian Broadcasting Service’s CTN say this is exactly what makes Dancing with the Stars (Strictly Come Dancing) so appealing. The format is scheduled to air on CTN in November this year. Dance also plays second fiddle to singing in China, and making audiences fall in love with dancing is challenging, says So You Think You Can Dance China’s Star China/Starry Production.It’s no different in Korea, where CJ E&M is fighting the good fight for attention for new, home-grown dance competition show Dancing9. Ditto in Malaysia, where producers of dance reality show Asian Battleground 2014 say the country’s hip hop dance scene is less strong than in other countries such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore and judges, performance artists and DJs had to be flown in.If dance distributors gaze wistfully at singing properties, not all singing formats are created equal. The biggest challenge for Vietnam’s Cattiensa and ITV Studios Global Entertainment in producing Popstar to Operastar in Vietnam was that audiences were less familiar with opera than they were with other forms of music. The format, which challenges popstars to compete against each other to become opera singers, premiered on VTV3 at the end of December last year and ran through to early 2014 on Sundays at 9pm. Other genres are up against the same shock of the new. The biggest challenge – and the unique selling point – for the creators and producers of Gogglebox is that “it’s a very new concept and not a traditional studio entertainment programme”, says rights owner All3Media. Once that hurdle is crossed, the format is easily adaptable in any country as domestic TV content is at the heart of the format.The creators of science entertainment show, Ultimate Brain/Gokuno face the same challenges as creators and rights holders with less brainy ideas. Ultimate Brain/Gokuno involves university professors, geniuses with an IQ of over 148, junior high school students and celebrities competing in a brain twisting game show. The biggest challenge is that the format contains scientific experiments that are rare in some Asian countries. Conspicuous displays of wealth on television – even if it’s for a good cause – stand between the creators of factual entertainment show Secret Millionaire and their goal. Zodiak Rights says the biggest challenge was the embryonic environment for charity/volunteering organisations. Other challenges for producers of the show, which premiered on Shanghai Media Group’s Dragon TV in June this year, were sensitivity of the social issues tackled and the extensive travel required across different cities. Secret Millionaire also explores new models of audience interaction in China, with donations through social networks. The creators of Japanese factual-entertainment format Old Enough (produced in China as Daddy, Mommy, Look at Me) say The concept of factual entertainment (documentary with an entertainment touch) is new in Asia so it is important to convey “what it takes to depict reality and create a touching story from what you have filmed”.Issue Three 2014