3 November 2014: Sony Pictures Television's networks business is making its biggest programming bets in Asia, with new general entertainment Sony Channel up and running from 15 October and lines around the block in cities all over Asia of would be stars queueing up to be part of the region's biggest and most expensive talent format, Asia's Got Talent, on flagship channel AXN in early 2015 (ContentAsia, October 2014).Sony Channel – SPT's biggest play yet for Asia's female audiences – went up with all the carriage of Sony Entertainment Television (SET), which went dark across Southeast Asia on the same day. SET was the regional network's first attempt to woo female audiences in Asia.Platforms include Cambodia's PPCTV; Hong Kong's now TV and TVB Network Vision; Indonesia's Indovision, BiG TV, Transvision and Innovate; Philippines' SkyCable, Destiny digital and analogue, Cignal Digital TV and Cablelink; and Thailand's TOTiPTV and Triple T Networks. The one hold out – Singapore's SingTel Mio TV – closed at the 11th hour, giving the new brand a platform in its home market.SPT's bosses have gone big on exclusive early release windows for Sony Channel. This will be followed by day-and-date releases or telecasts in the same week as the U.S. for series that premiere from now. Details of the costs involved in the massive programming upgrade have not been disclosed.Hui Keng Ang, Sony Pictures Television's Asia senior vice president and general manager, networks, talks about the focus on smart and edgy series driven by strong women.Tentpole titles are A-list Hollywood drama, ABS Studios' How to Get Away with Murder (Wednesdays, 8.50pm, double episode premiere), which premiered on ABC in the U.S. on 25 September. This was followed by CBS Studios' Madame Secretary, which premiered on CBS in the U.S. on 21 September, on Thursdays at 8.50pm, Jane the Virgin on Sunday nights at 8.50pm, and romantic comedy Manhattan Love Story (Sundays, 9.45pm).Other titles on the schedule include medical drama The Night Shift, Cupcake Wars, Top Chef Masters season four, Desperate Housewives season eight, Necessary Roughness season three and game show Minute to Win It (Tuesdays to Thursdays, 7.55pm). The regional channel had eight new titles on air by 28 October, including Manhattan Love Story (Sundays, 9.45pm), the new season of Nashville (Tuesdays, 8.50pm), Scandal and Ghost Whisperer.The new channel enables SPT to tick the box on platforms' insistence for releases closer to international airdates. It also give SPT its best shot yet at besting female focused rivals such as Fox International Channels’ Star World, A+E Networks Asia's Lifetime and NBC Universal Channels' Diva. Why the big push for women's attention now? Maybe the better question is what took so long?