REGIONAL

In December 2016 we asked: Is there life left in pay-regional formats? And the answer was: Yes of course there is. It’s not easy, the big ones aren’t cheap, and there’s a stronger focus as always on market-specific production. But, we predicted, the pressure on regional channels to produce defining originals would drive commissions and broadcasters would continue to tap regional advertising dollars from marketers with messages that span borders and want high-end video entertainment vehicles with which to help spread them.

How’s 2017 looking so far? Better than last year, although commissioning editors still draw sharp breaths at anything that comes in much over US$3 million, and nothing has matched the budget of the first Asia’s Got Talent in 2015.

At the same time, sponsor integration is becoming more sophisticated and promises are being made (and sometimes kept) that noxious efforts to hijack storylines with advertising messages are being parked as far away from the action as possible.

FOX Networks Group (FNG) kicks off the regional formats year on 5 April with Asia’s Next Top Model season five, produced out of Singapore by indie production house Refinery Media.

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks Asia is on fire, backing the return of Asia’s Got Talent for second and third seasons for flagship action channel AXN. We think there’s a very decent chance that, given the ratings of the most recent season, The Amazing Race will come back for a sixth season. In another move to boost original series, SPT Networks

Asia programming/production head, Virginia Lim, has consolidated three advertiser-driven/content marketing series from Imagine Entertainment. The first show under the new deal is The Apartment, which bounces back to Sony after three seasons on rival StarWorld. The new season, The Apartment: Rising Stars Edition, premieres on Sony Channel on 16 March, with an encore on flagship channel AXN on weekends.

Meanwhile, a few million dollars down the scale from Asia’s Next Top Model and Asia’s Got Talent but still with big punch, NBCUniversal has greenlit a third season of makeover show How Do I Look? Asia for Diva, and Discovery is going ahead with the first local version of Say Yes to the Dress for TLC. Endemol Shine Asia, is producing the wedding show for Discovery, and speculation is that Glenn Sims will take the helm of How Do I Look? Asia 3 under his new shingle, RedFlameTV. Sims produced season two for FremantleMedia Asia.

One of two formats on the regional watch list is MasterChef Asia, which debuted on A+E Networks’ Lifetime in 2015. The high-profile culinary show, which has local versions on air in three markets in Asia this year so far, isn’t off the regional table completely, although no one is over the line yet on a second season. There is also talk of a regional version of The Voice, probably at FNG, but again, nothing is being confirmed.

So, yes, for all the pain of trying to make magic happen on budgets that are lower than anyone would like, there is life left in pan-regional formats. As we said at the beginning of this year, it might not look the same as it used to, but it will draw breath, move around and contribute to original content creation across all platforms. And that’s a good thing.– Janine Stein

CAMBODIA

Cambodia ended Q1 2017 with 22 formats on air or commissioned. These are mostly ambitious high-profile productions, although the market has also been a happy landing ground for classic long-running formats such as The Price is Right and Minute to Win It on CTN, which has been running back to back seasons since January 2016. Cambodian programmers are also open to experimenting with new shows such as Endemol Shine game show, Don’t Lose Your Money (Hang Meas HDTV), which is scheduled to air in the fourth quarter of this year, and talent show Got to Dance season one, produced by Malaysia’s Juita Viden also for Hang Meas HDTV. Big-brand titles include Cambodia’s Next Top Model S2 (CTN), Cambodia’s Got Talent S2/S3/S4 (HMTV), MasterChef Cambodia S1/S2 (CTN), Cambodian Idol S3/S4 (HMTV) and The Voice Cambodia S3 (Hang Meas HDTV).

CHINA

Despite a difficult regulatory environment and constant uncertainty of where new lines will be drawn, China had 28 formats on air or commissioned in the first quarter of 2017 (including series that started in 2016 and are still running with new episodes).

The multi-genre slate include local adaptations of long-form drama (Fuji TV’s A Restaurant with Many Problems, Dating: What It’s Like to be in Love?, First Class China and Operation Love; Keshet International’s The A Word and MICE; Warner Bros’ Gossip Girl; Endemol Shine’s Humans) and comedy (Warner Bros’ 2 Broke Girls). Four of the 26 titles (15%) are singing and dancing formats.

State-controlled broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) brings back Sony Pictures Television’s Dancing Nation China in May this year for a fifth season. A second dance format, Dance Dance Dance China, is being planned for sometime this year as part of the US$110-million dollar alliance between Talpa and Zhejiang Tangde. The alliance kicked offmonths of high drama over The Voice of China season five, which has also shifted to Zhejiang Tangde. Star China, meanwhile, may bring back Sing! China, but there’s no confirmation. Other singing shows are Singer Takes It All China (Endemol Shine), and Still Standing China S7 (Armoza).

Given political tensions between Korea and China over the THAAD missile defence system, it’s not surprising that there’s a gaping hole where Korean formats might have been. Media insiders are praying that the ban, official or not, ends soon but no-one is putting any money on it for now.

INDIA

India had 32 formats on air or commissioned in 2016. In the first quarter of this year, the market weighed in with 17, including two seasons of a high-end drama, P.O.W. – Bandi Yuddh Ke, based on Keshet’s Prisoner of War (Homeland in the U.S.), for Star India’s Star Plus, and three versions of Big Brother in Hindi and regional languages for general entertainment channel Colors.

India’s appetite for big shiny shows remains high, including newest entrant Rising Star India, which debuted on Viacom joint venture channel Colors in February this year. Meanwhile, a second season of India’s Next Top Model is on its way to MTV India and Sony Entertainment Television remains committed to Indian Idol. Season nine of the search for a pop star runs on the flagship SET channel until early April.

The market also retains a strong appetite for old favourite Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Season three of the quiz show ran on regional service Colors Marathi from October 2016 to January 2017, a fourth season ran in Malayalam on Asianet in Southern India, and Maa TV brought the quiz back for a 60-episode season four in February this year.

Regional markets show up in a big way this year. In addition to Big Brother and Millionaire, India has Malayalam versions of Minute to Win It, Deal or No Deal and The Kids are All Right. Game show Minute to Win It has been sold to Colors Kannada.

THAILAND

Thailand had 30 formats on air or commissioned in the first three months of this year, giving the market a share of about 15% of the regional total. The dominant genre is fun game shows, competitions and trivia challenges, most of which are in second, third or fourth seasons. The longest running game show at the moment is Step Right Up, currently in its eighth season on MCOT/Channel 9. Real Housewives of Bangkok flies the flag for character-driven reality in this market of 22 million television households. Korean formats have made headway in Thailand; the two on air at the moment are I Can See Your Voice from CJ E&M and The Mask Singer from MBC. The Mask Singer was originally commis- sioned by Workpoint TV as a 13-episode series and was so successful it was extended to 27 episodes. New entrants this year are likely to be MasterChef Thailand, which has been commissioned by the Heliconia H Group; details to be confirmed.

Extracted from ContentAsia’s Formats Outlook 2017

Published on ContentAsia's Issue One 2017