Linfield Ng Senior TV Manager, BBC Worldwide Asia KBS, BBCW’s biggest client in Korea, has added Mistresses, series three of Doctor Who and Diana – Last Days of a Princess, to previous buys Primeval and Robin Hood. OBS will air Bodies, while The Office and Extras have been sold to Fox Life in Korea. Drama shows, including Miss Austen Regrets, Sense and Sensibility, Frankenstein, and factual fare like Michael Palin’s New Europe, A Year in Tibet and India with Sanjeev Bhaskar have been sold to EBS. More IPTV deals have been signed with both MegaPass TV and HANA TV, amounting to over 80 hours of content. There are limited slots in Korea for drama and so there is a great deal of competition. However, BBC Worldwide’s drama catalogue is very strong and both drama and natural History titles have had a huge success globally. We’re very keen to look at format and co-production opportunities more, as BBC Worldwide has done in other countries such as China and Japan. We’re also focusing more on local cable channels who are more open to foreign content, for example British drama series. On BBC Worldwide’s slate at BCWW this year include dramas Spooks, Code 9, Wallander; children’s In The Night Garden, Squiggling It; natural history – Wild China, Expedition Guyana; science – Oceans, Earth: The Power of the Planet; history – Dan Cruickshank’s Adventure in Architecture and lifestyle titles Top Gear and Rhodes Across China. Christine Fellowes Managing Director Asia Pacific, Comcast International Media Group CIMG license programming from E!, The Style Network and G4 in Korea. Our clients are the major pay tv programmers including On Style, Catch On, Olive, Q Channel and OCN. Our celebrity and lifestyle programming has consistently performed so well in the market that current demand is almost as much as we can fulfill. Recently, On Style has licensed Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane and several E! Entertainment TV Specials and True Hollywood Story episodes. Korean cable and satellite channels are scrutinizing their budgets and rationalizing program acquisition more than ever lately. We’ve built relationships with the major channel programmers and the Korean audience over the last five or so years and our brands, particularly E! are well respected and sought after. The market has grown for us so dynamically in the past few years that the greatest challenge is balancing the upward pressure on pricing with a realistic view of the business opportunity. The indications are positive for the next phase. Regulatory change is setting the stage for increased digital investment in Korea and we’re seeing quality channel brands develop new opportunities in digital cable and IPTV. CIMG has also had success with VOD and expect to increase our presence in “on demand” in Korea. Broadband and demand for high definition programming will be new sources of growth for us. We’re producing in HD across all of our brands now and we continue to be one of the major suppliers of short format programming for online and mobile. James Ross Regional Director, Granada International We have clients in every genre in Korea, ranging through the terrestrials, major cable channels and the telcos. Recent sakes have include The Murdoch Mysteries to EBS, Hell’s Kitchen (US season 4) to On Media; the likes of Trinny & Susannah, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Headcases, Bonekickers. One thing we’ve really noticed is the demand for a wide variety of genres, and the popularity of niche content amongst audiences. The growing number of viewing platforms in Korea means that operators are looking to differentiate themselves – and we’ve been pleasantly surprised at the success of niche content, our catalogue of movies from the 1940’s and 1950’s for example, that audiences simply can’t find anywhere else. While the allowing of linear channels via IPTV are good news, the regulations preventing it meant that VOD was given a proper run for its money in the region. The results of VOD have been very interesting – particularly with regard to the popularity and consumption of niche content. On ITV Worldwide’s slate for BCWW 2008 include formats The Colour of Money, Who Dares Sings and The Chopping Block. Drama includes Bonekickers, while factual entertainment programming includes Celebrity Fit Club USA. Children’s shows available at BCWW are headlined by The Pinky & Perky Show; factual series include Warship and Tour Of Duty; wildlife series Zoo Days; and CGI satirical comedy Headcases. Soojin Chung Executive Director, Licensing, South Korea, Sony Pictures Television International We have licensed our movies and TV series to most major platforms in South Korea. From free-to-air broadcasters, cable and satellite channels, IPTV and even mobile VOD platforms, we aim to maximize the value of our content across all television and digital platforms. In South Korea, you face regulatory restrictions on content and channel ownership as you do in many other markets. There is also the enormous strength of local Korean content. But rather than just being an importer of Hollywood content into Korea, we are also helping distribute Korean content to the rest of the world. We believe in creating a two-way flow of products and ideas that will benefit both Hollywood and Korean content. Now that the regulatory hurdles to carrying linear channels on IPTV platforms have been resolved, there will be even more opportunities for content providers and channel operators. South Korea has its challenges, but as a country with a highly developed media industry and the highest broadband penetration in the world, there are tremendous growth opportunities in the future.