Chen Hu Senior Consultant, Beijing TV Media We will be at MIPTV 2009. Last year, magazines and documentaries were the best-sellers for us in China. This year, I will be at MIPTV as the senior consultant in international market of Beijing TV Media (BTVM) – which means we are not only interested in buying but also selling and co-producing. We are providing more services and looking for more opportunities for all media sorts, such as new media, IPTV, etc. This time round, I will be interested in education (training), short programs and documentaries, not only for BTV but also for the whole market in China. Seolmi Shannon Cho Senior Manager, Programming & Acquisitions, O’live/ CJ Media Attending MIPTV is important on a number of levels; it gives you a global perspective on content trends, offers opportunities and the juicy networking. Our company participates in MIPTV every year; as far as international programming is concerned, we will be looking to tie up a number of pending agreements with distributors, intended for our programming schedules, at the event. We believe in providing programmes to enlighten, empower and entertain the viewers. In 2008, the content that viewers enjoyed most including Tyra Banks Show, Ugly Betty, Kitchen Nightmares as well as reruns of Grey’s Anatomy worked well for us. The programmes we are looking for range from reality, beauty, style, design, career, travel, entertainment as well as cookery. O’live is targeting the young female, a niche but growing demographic, in Korea; and since we also have our branded content, we have a great deal of flexibility in terms of programming. As for 2009, O’live is underway to close deals for the returning series and under consideration in reality and specials that talk to women. We are in a recession. The advertising industry is catching cold, and the competition is getting severe in the market. In 2009, especially with our weak currency, we expect to adjust the market price to reasonable level; and for this, we will work closely with our distributors. The Korean broadcast industry has to cope with the international depression. The first budget in consideration to cut back would be non-revenue generated, such as acquisition. However our tendency when times are tough is to focus on sourcing more unique, creative, relevant shows for our viewers. One of our biggest challenges will be to optimize the budget; to source ‘quality’ programmes over a quantity of programming hours. Rupi Sagoo Director of Programming, Fox International Channels Asia We were very satisfied with the acquired product on FX and FOXCRIME in 2008 most notably, shows that won international awards and were critically acclaimed by the media. Among them, Mad Men, Californication and Burn Notice have really captured our viewers. FX shows recently took the top three spots in the Best of 2008 Awards in Time Out Hong Kong Magazine – The Riches won Best TV Series, Mad Men claiming the runner-up prize, and Californication named second runner-up. Mad Men, which staged the 60s advertising industry on Madison Avenue, won the Golden Globe Television Series in the drama category for the second year running. This is testament that new edgy shows are well received by audiences in Asia. On FOXCRIME, Burn Notice is gaining much applause among viewers and is a huge ratings winner in the US. As the launch of Underbelly approaches we are pleased to learn that the second season is one of the top performing shows in its native Australia. These results have generated lots of interest from local press. With all the awards and buzz from the past year, we believe both channels have great potential to develop further in 2009. Content defines the FX and FOXCRIME brands and we choose not to settle for less sophisticated shows; rather to be more innovative with our acquisition strategies. Besides acquiring the internationally acclaimed shows such as the C.S.I and NCIS series, we make our programming a little more unique and diversified. We introduce dramas with controversial new-to-Asia storylines to add a little spice. Free Radio and Peep Show are two recent examples. Free Radio is a comedy that chronicles a radio show intern who suddenly becomes the host of the popular morning show called Moron in the Morning. Peep Show is a well-known UK show that depicts the distorted worlds of its two leads. These shows enthuse our viewers which make them addicted to the channels. No doubt all channels in Asia have to think differently with regards to allocating resources at times like this. As one of the industry leaders, FOX International Channels Asia is resourceful and flexible in acquiring shows with different unique selling propositions. The key is to know our positioning and to be very close to our target. FX and FOXCRIME are two channels with a mélange of exciting characters. FX brings you ‘the Edge of Entertainment’ whilst Fox Crime brings the very best of crime to Asia. The clear positioning of both channels allows us to obtain content that fits perfectly for each. Audiences know what FX and FOXCRIME can offer which makes them very willing to tune in. Daisy Irani Vice President, MediaCorp Okto In 2008, animation continued to be a star performer for oktoDay’s acquired content with titles like Pokemon and Avatar attracting good viewership figures. For oktoNite, our documentary belt continued to pull in the viewers. The team will be heading to MIPTV to look for similar content that have worked for us and also to explore possible new genres that may be suited for our target demographic. The recession has made it challenging for the team to re-strategize the grid and to prioritize content with a budget that will be increasingly limited. It will have to be a balance between more expensive, though tried and tested, content which appeals to more viewers and introducing new untested content to make it more economically viable while yet sustaining viewership. Our relationship with our distributors will be even more crucial at this time as we have to overcome the recession together. Angus Ross Head of Scheduling and Acquisitions, Seven Network Yes, we will be going to MIPTV this year. Content from Seven’s output deals that worked well included Criminal Minds, Bones, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Ghost Whisperer, How I Met Your Mother and The Amazing Race. Successful new shows of 2008 included: Packed to the Rafters (produced by Seven), Find My Family (co-pro), Crash Investigation Unit (co-pro), The One and The Zoo (produced by Seven). Acquisitions that worked well included Life After People, My Shocking Story, Inside the Queen Mary 2, Air Crash Investigations, Crash Scene Investigators and ABBA: The Mamma Mia Story. At MIPTV, content on our shopping list include formats and programs that appeal to our target audience of people 25 – 54, as well as programs that have cut through and will generate buzz in the marketplace. Our content acquisition strategy is this: If the right show comes along we will always go for it. Jin Chae Lim Vice President, Head of New Media Business HQ, SK Broadband 2008 saw Broadband Media reach new heights in subscriber numbers and VOD contents purchases. VOD downloads have been high not just in one category but across the board. As expected, the biggest revenue streams for us were features and Korean drama series. A surprising hit with our customers was Taiwanese drama series and cooking reality shows. Lingerie fashion is another popular category that has always performed well for us in the past. This year at MIPTV we will be price conscious and invest in programs with high ROI. The downturn in economy is affecting everyone in the industry and budget is something we all have to worry about while selecting new programming. One genre we will try to focus on is environmental documentaries, with HD as a priority. As for acquiring other genres, we will have to carefully weigh in the fact that we will launch at least 50 live channels this year. With careful planning we hope to see great returns from the synergy created between the live channel service and our VOD service. Maggie, Jie Zhou Assistant General Manager, WingsMedia, Shanghai Media Group Wings Media, as the licensing arm of Shanghai Media Group, actually takes double responsibilities – content distribution through syndication and/or other potential channels and content seeking/management for the company and other sections of the group if needed. Both serve one strategic goal of the group, that is, to be an internationally first-class Chinese content platform/hub in terms of quantity and quality. Here the content covers more than just a completed program or simple co-production projects. Original formats, creative ideas, good stories, established or potential brands/images, merchandising products and even funding opportunities are all in our consideration as long as they bring in more innovative properties and business models. For the last few years, we have been exploring efficient and effective ways to really participate in the global market. From a simple ‘sell-and-buyer’ deal to a multi-leveled cooperation, we have been fully aware of the significance of a win-win situation with our overseas partners who are also very interested in Chinese culture as well as the markets. With abundant resources, MIP is absolutely a perfect market for us to explore and find good content and partners.