EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ASIAN TELEVISION BUSINESS. FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF TELEVISION ASIA, TELEVISION ASIA'S EXECUTIVE NEWS – DIRECT TO YOUR DESKTOP EVERY MONDAY MORNING.
Television Asia's Executive News
29 January 2007
ESPN STAR Sports loses hotel distribution in China
Beijing – China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) has limited the number of foreign TV channels in hotel rooms to just 31.
ESPN STAR Sports is among the channels to lose out.
"ESPN STAR Sports is still in the renewal process of its landing rights and is actively working to conclude the arrangements," says a company spokesman.
The 31 permitted channels are CNN, HBO, Cinemax, CNBC Asia Pacific, MTV Mandari, National Geographic Channel Asia, STAR Movies, Channel V, AXN, Discovery, Hallmark, BBC World, NHK World Premium, Phoenix Movies, Phoenix Chinese, TVB8, TVB Galaxy, NOW, MASTV Chinese, Phoenix Infonews Channel, Bloomberg, Xing Kong Wei Shi, Euro Sports News, CETV, Horizon Channel, SUNTV, Celestial Movies, Channel NewsAsia, TV5, East TV and Cuba Vision International.
AXN and Animax jump into Games-on-Demand
Singapore – SPE Networks – Asia and Dragonback Media have formed co-branded gamesites (http://axn.jumboplay.com & http://animax.jumboplay.com) with action and adventure channel AXN, and anime youth channel Animax.
While the AXN site has been live since 1 December 2006, Animax's new website is to to launch on February 1. SPE Networks – Asia says the move is to keep up to speed with the digital habits of tech-savvy and game-hungry AXN and Animax viewers.
Says Ricky Ow, General Manager of SPE Networks, "The Internet and PC entertainment has grown tremendously since its introduction into the consumer market. The tie-up with Dragonback Media shows that the channels are serious in connecting with our viewers beyond television."
The co-branded sites offer access to a large inventory of PC and console games from Eidos, PlayFirst, Atari, Ubisoft and Microsoft, with new games added every month. JumboPlay will be the first Asian-based Games on Demand service to carry PlayFirst titles and release the Diner Dash series. Another Asian first will be Atari's newest Never Winter Nights 2. Other titles include Microsoft's Age of Empires, and Age of Mythology, as well as Zoo Tycoon, Prince of Persia and Ghost Recon series, Tomb Raider: Legends, Championship Manager, Deus Ex, and the Hitman series.
CASBAA grows and sets 2007 program
Hong Kong – The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) has welcomed a new Patron Member and four Corporate Members on board. The new Patron Member is new pay-TV network Asia Broadcast Networks, while new Corporate Members are children's content provider HiT Entertainment, Singapore-based satellite services provider Globecast, conditional access supplier Viaccess, and broadcaster Television New Zealand. Satellite capacity supplier Intelsat also upgraded its CASBAA membership to Patron status.
The CASBAA members program for 2007 includes training schemes (the CASBAA Media College), CASBAA Market Reports (Indonesia and Taiwan, among others), IPR seminars and networking events, CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum (June 18), the CASBAA China Forum (late August) and the CASBAA Convention 2007 (Oct 30 – Nov 2).
Government to expand CAS to more Indian cities
India – Currently limited to Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, the January 1-enforced Conditional Access Bill is expected to be implemented across other major cities in India including Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Pune, and Indore, and satellite towns of Noida and Gurgaon.
BBC Worldwide receives kudos from Broadcast International
London – BBC Worldwide was awarded on January 24, 2007 the Broadcast International Programme Sales Award for the second consecutive year following its celebrity dance show format, Dancing with the Stars. The Emmy-nominated show has featured in 29 countries including USA, Russia, Australia, Japan, India and Chile.
BBC also won Channel of the year (BBC ONE), Best entertainment programme (How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?); Best comedy (Extras); Best sports programme (World Cup Final coverage) Best documentary series (Planet Earth: From Pole to Pole), Best children's programme (Charlie & Lola producedby Tiger Aspect); Best drama series or serial (Bleak House) and Best new programme (Life On Mars).
Irdeto, Alticast, LG-Nortel and Kaon Media collaborate to deliver IPTV solution
Seoul – Irdeto, provider of content security for digital TV, IPTV and mobile TV networks, is collaborating with Alticast, interactive middleware solution provider for digital broadcasting services, together with Korea-based set-top box manufacturers LG-Nortel and Kaon Media, to deliver an end-to-end IPTV solution worldwide.
Irdeto's IPTV SoftClient, software security client for protection of broadcast, on-demand and PVR content on IP networks will be integrated with set-top boxes, VOD servers and middleware solutions from its established partners to ease deployment for telcos and broadband operators.
Gang Won-Chul, vice president of Alticast, hopes for more collaborations in future between the partners, including for simulcrypt solutions for the cable market.
MTV China and Huiyuan Juice form year-long alliance
Beijing / Hong Kong – MTV Networks China and Chinese fruit juice maker, Huiyuan Juice, have formed sponsorship alliance for on air and on-the-ground partnership. Huiyuan is also the first sponsor of 2007 MTV Style Gala in Shanghai, an awards show for the music, movie and fashion industries in China.
2007 MTV Style Gala will be telecast on MTV China and MTV's syndicated programmes as well as Shanghai's OTV and movie channel CCTV6.
MTV China 24-hour Channel is available to 13.1 million TV households in China. In addition, MTV locally produces and syndicates programming in 459 cities across the nation to reach over 181 million households.
Discovery Networks Asia and Samsung to co-promote HD
Singapore – Discovery Networks Asia will partner Samsung to promote adoption of HD technology and content, following the launch of Discovery's HD channel in Singapore on StarHub cable.
The partners will organize roadshows in key cities and develop an online microsite to provide information to consumers. Discovery will provide Samsung with HD content on Blu-ray discs as starter kits at retail outlets and pamphlets to be distributed with Samsung HD LCD TV sets. Discovery will also create four Samsung-branded educational vignettes for HDTV in April. The partnership includes an eight-week sponsorship of content on Discovery Channel and Discovery Travel & Living, including Discovery Atlas on the former.
Celestial Pictures and Jaman to distribute Shaw Brothers titles online in North America
Hong Kong – Silicon Valley-based online movie distributor and online community Jaman Inc. has acquired online distribution rights to 50 titles from Celestial's Shaw Brothers library in the US and Canada. It will distribute Shaw Brothers classics including martial-arts, horror, period dramas and action movies. Key titles include martial-arts classics such as Chang Cheh's The Duel and The Legend of the Fox, and Chu Yuan's The Sentimental Swordsman.
Celestial's Shaw Brothers library archives 760 Chinese-language films including blockbusters starring Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, Gordon Liu, Andy Lau, and directed by pioneers of the Hong Kong film industry such as Chang Cheh, Chu Yuan, and Li Han-hsiang.
Jupiter Telecommunications sees subs growth in 2006
Tokyo – Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd. announced December 2006 subscriber figures for the year commencing December 31, 2005. Total households served by J:COM's 24 managed franchises reached 2.62 million, up 485,700, or 22.7%. The increase has been attributed to growth of subscribing households in existing service areas and addition of newly consolidated franchises.
Combined revenue generating units (RGUs) for cable television, high-speed Internet access and telephony services reached over 4.52 million, up 840,100 or 22.8%. The bundle ratio (average number of services received per subscribing household) was unchanged at 1.72 due to the inclusion of Cable West Inc. The ratio excluding Cable West Inc. increased to 1.77 from 1.72.
Digital upswing in Japan
Tokyo – Consumers in Japan are embracing digital television. An NHK survey reveals there were 21.45 million TV sets capable of receiving digital satellite signals as of December 2006. Of those, 17.25 million were watching digital terrestrial channels, up 1.5 million on 2005. The survey estimates 19.77 million households were viewing digital via satellite, and 1.68 million via cable.
Separately, Nomura Research Institute has forecast that digital satellite broadcasting will be viewed by 31.67 million households and digital terrestrial by 37.91 million households by the end of fiscal 2011. Nomura says that will make the digital broadcasting market worth Yen 2.2 trillion (US$18.3 billion), a nearly 3-fold increase over 2006. Nomura also predicts the Internet advertising market will double between 2006 and 2011, accounting for about 10% of the total ad expenditure.
Sat merger deal progresses
Tokyo – Sky Perfect Communications Inc., Japan's leading satellite platform, and JSAT Corporation, one of the two Japanese satellite operators, have finalized their share transfer agreement to effect their merger. Announced last October, the merger will be effective in April. The new holding company will be called Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation. The share exchange rate is one SKY Perfect share for four JSAT shares.
Kansai Telecasting Corp. suffers consequences of bogus claims
Osaka – Fuji TV ditched its popular Sunday night infotainment show, Hakkutsu! Aruaru Daijiten II (Encyclopedia of Living II) amidst controversy over bogus scientific data used in the programme to indicate dietary benefits of natto (fermented) soybeans.
Executives of Kansai Telecasting Corp. (KTV), the Osaka affiliate responsible for producing the show since 1996, took pay cuts and demotions. Naoyoshi Furuya, president of production house Japan Telework resigned as more than 10,000 calls and e-mails of complaints were received by Fuji TV. Sponsor of the show, Kao, Japanese counterpart of Procter & Gamble, immediately pulled out. Hachiro Mori, a senior spokesperson of KTV, apologized to viewers for the "unforgivable incident."
The hour-long show on January 7 depicted eight men and women taking two packs of natto soybeans every day for two weeks and as a result lost several pounds. The programme quoted several Japanese and American scientists and physicians testifying to the bogus weight-loss effects.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is expected to investigate the case to determine whether there had been any violation of broadcasting laws.
Millionaire runs out of answers in Japan
Tokyo – Fuji TV is canning Who Wants To Be A Millionaire at the end of March due to declining ratings after a seven-year run on Thursdays at 7 pm. At its peak, the quiz posted double digit ratings, riding on the popularity of Japanese host, Monta Mino, who appears in three daily talks shows on different networks. The top prize was Yen 10 million (US$83,000). Fuji TV will air the show as irregular specials from April.
Digital theme for Japanese cable show
Tokyo – The annual cable show will take place at Tokyo Big Site in Daiba, Tokyo June 14 and 16, themed as "Cable TV Supports Your Digital Life." Shunjiro Karasawa, president of Japan Cable and Telecommunications Association, said the destiny of cable industry will be determined by how the industry copes with the digital revolution in Japan and the mandatory termination of analogue broadcasting set for July 24, 2011. Cable operators should play their role as regional public broadcasters for further growth, he added.
Hyena takes the spoils in Korea
Seoul – Sony Pictures Television International's Korean drama series Hyena ended its run on Korean channel TVN after tripling the network's primetime average in its timeslot. Described as a male version of Sex and the City, Hyena focuses on four childhood friends who grow up to be very different men. Unlucky Chul-Soo (singer/ actor Min-Jon Kim), heartbroken Suk-Jin (model Sung-Rok Shin), perfectionist Jin-Bum (Man-Seok Oh) and womanizing Jin-Sang (comedian Da Hoon Yoon) were only looking for casual relationships, but they found love – in one form or another.
No censorship of BBC web site in Thailand
Contrary to an item in the January 22 edition of Executive News on the black-out in Thailand of CNN's interview with the country's former Prime Minister, a BBC spokesperson says: "There has been absolutely no filtering or censoring of BBC News editorial on our website at the request of the Thai government, in fact on Tuesday 16th January we reported on the interviews Thaksin Shinawatra conducted in Singapore. The BBC remains dedicated to accurate and impartial journalism."
Crime and Justice on Australian TV
Sydney – Hailed as a first for Australian TV, a new Nine Network series, The Code: Crime and Justice, will show Victorian police on the beat as well as the rulings of a Melbourne Magistrates Court. Producers of the half-hour series, which launches on February 5 at 7.30 pm, say they secured unprecedented access to everyone involved in the judicial process, from perpetrators and frontline cops to the magistrates, prosecutors and lawyers. Nine's Director of Programming, Michael Healy, said: "This is an Australian first. We get to see the whole picture of crime and justice as it unfolds in real time."
People in the News
Bobby Yuan promoted as GM of MTV China
Beijing / Guangzhou / Hong Kong – MTV Networks China has promoted Bobby Yuan as General Manager of MTV China as of January 26, 2007. Reporting to Li Yifei, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, MTV Networks China, Yuan oversees business operations and growth of the 24-hour channel across the Pearl River Delta Region.
Yuan has relocated to Guangzhou from Taipei, where he was General Manager of MTV Taiwan. He was responsible for expanding MTV's business in Taiwan and boosting advertising revenues up 82% from 2005 to 2006. Yuan also led the Taiwan team in staging the MTV Mandarin Awards @ Taiwan.
Nair quits STAR India – joins NDTV
Mumbai – As anticipated, Peter Mukerjea, Chief Executive Officer, STAR Group, India and Sameer Nair, Chief Executive Officer, STAR Entertainment, India, have tendered their resignations. Mukerjea will leave the company at the end of January while Nair will leave at the end of March. Paul Aiello, STAR CEO designate, will be acting Chief Executive Officer of STAR India.
Nair is reported to have joined NDTV and is expected to head up the news operation's new general entertainment channel.
Rick Maier assumes senior development role in dSPBeyond
dSPBeyond, the Australian joint venture between veteran producer Denis Spencer and Beyond International, has hired Rick Maier for a senior development role. Based in Sydney, Maier reports to Director of Production and Development Stuart Clark. Most recently he spent three years in creative development at Screentime.
