6 October 2014: NBCUniversal’s Diva pushed its day-and-date agenda even further in Asia with the premiere of Downton Abbey season five at the end of September. Why include the U.K. series in its new window-squeezing campaign? Badge value, among other things in a broad strategy to keep relevant.When season five of Downton Abbey premiered on Diva in Asia within 24 hours of its U.K. telecast in late September, the NBCUniversal channel did more than re-open the Grantham home to fans of the series.The day-and-date release, along with 24/48hour releases of returning shows such as Suits, The Good Wife, Rookie Blue, Atlantis and Brooklyn 99, pushed the entertainment network into the express delivery realm that is fast becoming a hygiene factor for regional entertainment channels on major pay-TV platforms.It’s been a big leap. The previous season of Downton Abbey, for instance, aired in Asia in February this year, almost five months after its U.K. premiere in September 2013. The season five release comes more than three months before the U.S. telecast in January 2015.The radically squeezed windows are part of a broader upgrade rolled out in August this year across the Universal channel bouquet in Asia. 90% of new series will be available between one and seven days from the U.S. premiere, says Universal Networks International’s Asia-Pacific managing director Christine Fellowes.Diva’s prime-time viewership in the first six months of this year was up 76% in Singapore (women, 20-44 years old) and 64% in the Philippines (women, 16+, 6pm-11pm), according to Kantar Media Research data provided by NBCUniversal. Diva was also the top English-language pay-TV channel in Malaysia during prime time (7pm-11pm)out of nine female-skewing channels, according to viewership data from Nielsen Media Research.Fellowes says this “proves that we are on the right track – not only when it comes to building a robust content strategy but also in terms of offering a value proposition that engages and resonates with our viewers in the region”.At the launch event for the new season of Downton Abbey, executive producer Gareth Neame, admits that the series “has been successful beyond my wildest dreams”. So far, Downton Abbey has won multiple Emmy/Golden Globes/Bafta awards and is widely considered the most successful British period drama of all time."We’re building a robust content strategy and offering a value proposition that engages and resonates with our viewers in the re- gion... we will continue to consolidate our efforts and further invest in fast-tracked series, original productions and programming that is first and exclusive” Christine Fellowes Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Universal Networks InternationalIt is a story that has taken everybody – from the makers to industry insiders to audiences themselves – by surprise. Downton, written by Julian Fellowes of Gosford Park fame, did not have obvious mainstream appeal, and Neame himself says Downton is “not the type of show that you see made a lot these days”. But somehow, the post-Edwardian setting gave the programme a certain allure.Neame, who heads production company Carnival Films, has a few notions as to why so many people have tuned in over the past four years.“Downton has some unique relationships,” he says, “the type that are not the norm in television drama, which audiences relate to. A good example is Lady Mary and Anna Bates. They enjoy intimate moments and on the face of it they are friends, but they are still master and servant. The idea of hierarchies is one that we can all recognise, we all work in hierarchical environments, at work or in your own family. That is how human beings order things. But it is heightened in this instance.”There is also something in the fluctuating fortunes of the Grantham family that Neame believes we can all identify with. Everybody knows somebody like the tragic Lady Edith, who has endured an unfair share of testing events. “Most people have good and bad luck, so there is that element,” he says. “But there are a very few who are constantly dealt the wrong card, whereas everybody knows people who have amazing luck. Downton represents both sides of that coin.”The fact so many people care about what happens to the Crawleys and their staff, and are able to connect with them even if our lives could not be further removed from that of the aristocrats, is thanks to some amazing writing.For that, Neame is thankful to Fellowes and the continuity he brings. “His is an extraordinary feat. You can tell it is the same writer and the characters have a consistency that is recognisable; they can go from tragedy to drama to laughter, and it is a remarkable thing.”In reality, Neame and Fellowes are the creative force behind Downton Abbey. The pair “always brainstorm, discuss and float ideas for storylines, often with pictures of the cast to jog our memories”, searching for the obstacles that will take the story in “unexpected twists and turns”.“In terms of feedback, I am the only one who has that relationship with Julian, and we have a very specific way of working,” Neame explains. “After we brainstorm, he will hit me with a first draft and the normal development process for the two of us will go from there. It’s key to the show that we don’t get pulled in different directions. We were the two that came up with the idea and we are still the two guys writing it, with no other interference. Good or bad, that is how it is.”But that close trust has been tested during the course of the show’s life, not least when they were forced to deal with the departure of Dan Stevens, who played Matthew Crawley, at the end of season three.“I was concerned and disappointed as Mary and Matthew were at the heart of the show,” Neame says. “On a family show, there are two ways out: either death or divorce. Divorce wasn’t an option, the audience wouldn’t have accepted that, and he and Mary becoming estranged so quickly wouldn’t have rung true. So we had to kill him off,” he adds.An insurmountable problem soon became a new opportunity. “When a door is closed to you, you immediately have to come up with a plan B. So with new guys hitting on Mary, we had a new impetus, and romance is at the heart of the show anyway. Ironically, it was the best thing that could have happened,” Neame says.There was also the controversy surrounding the storyline where Anna,who Neame admits is “one of the most beloved characters”, was raped. “It wasn’t something we did lightly, we thought it was an acceptable place to take the story. There were some complaints, but it was a storm in a teacup, not to be dismissive. The shock came out of love for the character, and we don’t underestimate or take for granted that feeling”."Downton has some unique relationships, the type that are not the norm in television drama, which audiences relate to.” Gareth Neame, Executive Producer, Downton AbbeyEven that controversy couldn’t halt the Downton juggernaut, and Neame says that season five will, while being “more light-hearted and humorous” than its bleaker predecessor, will still “surprise people with right-angle turns”.How much longer Downton will be startling people has been the subject of much speculation, but while Neame envisages an end to the show, it certainly won’t be after season five.“Within a few hours of somebody saying something about the show, all of a sudden it is fact and in all the papers. I’ve cheekily said all shows come to an end, but we are probably looking at five to 10 years. It’s been talked about making a film, but that is not imminent, and we have more episodes to make. I wouldn’t rule it out. But we have to get the ending right first, and we have to know when the right time to end the show is. We don’t want to keep it going past its prime”. – Shaun Curran with additional reporting from ContentAsiaContentAsia Issue Four