RTL CBS Asia Entertainment Network is sticking to magic to help drive penetration of the male-skewed RTL CBS Extreme HD channel.

A year on, the Singapore-based regional network’s programming executive vice president, Jennifer Batty, says “magic has been incredibly successful for us, our audience loves a great magician”.

The line-up includes Criss Angel, Cosentino, Troy and Dynamo, along with new series such as Killer Magic (five magicians competing against each other) and Close Up Kings (the adventures of three magicians Magick Balay, Loki and Johnny Blaze, who also happen to be best friends).

Extreme’s content philosophy hasn’t shifted much from the original concept – a male-focused mix of “action series, extreme sports, action reality programmes, extreme factual programming and masters of illusion”.

Titles leading this year’s line up include Kingdom, a mixed-martial arts family drama series starring Nick Jonas; season two premieres in Asia later this year within a week of the U.S. telecast.

Upcoming titles include Halo: Nightfall, a science-fiction series based on popular game franchise Halo, along with a new season of factual show Speed with Guy Martin; Bear Grylls: Mission Survive, featuring Bear Grylls and eight celebrities on a 12-day survival missison; MMA reality series Wimp 2 Warrior; and feature-length documentaries I am Evil Knievel and I am Steve McQueen.

First and exclusive rights continue to be a mainstay of the channel, Batty says.

About 31% (11 hours) of the 7pm-12am schedules for the first weeks of May (4-10 May) and June (1-7 June) were drama series.

The prime-time drama slot runs Mondays to Thursdays from 10pm to 11pm. Prime-time dramas are mainly mixed martial arts and police/crime shows – 2011’s Hawaii Five-O season two (Monday), Kingdom season one (Tuesday), NCIS Los Angeles season three (Wednesdays), and Ultimate Force (Thursday, season one in May, two in June).

Late 1990s Chuck Norris classic, Walker, Texas Ranger, is stripped at 7pm Mondays to Fridays.

Formats, which filled 23% (8 hours) of the two weekly schedules, are reality/competiton-based Fear Factor (season four in May and season five in June), Hole in the Wall U.S.A. and Killer Magic.

Extreme sports (The Xtreme CollXtion, Cliptomaniacs) and factual series (World’s Craziest Fools, Ghost Adventures) filed the rest of the May and June slots.

The 7pm to midnight band on weekends is mostly catch-ups of the weekdays’ programmes. All Extreme shows come with catch-up rights.

Like all regional channels, Batty’s challenges include balancing viewer tastes across the regional feed. “Shows that might not be perfect for Singapore, Philippines and Malaysia, may not be as suitable for other territories like Indonesia and Thailand,” she says.