Mark Hollinger was a fitting choice to keynote at the CASBAA 2009 Convention given that, back in 1994 as Hong Kong-based Acting General Manager for Discovery Channel Asia, he was responsible for overseeing and coordinating all activities related to the launch and operation of Discovery Channel Asia.

Soon after that CASBAA keynote, Hollinger left his role as Discovery Communications Chief Operating Officer to replace Greg Ricca as President and CEO of Discovery Networks International.

In 1995, shortly after his return from Asia, Hollinger was appointed Vice President, International Business Development, in addition to his role as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel. He became Discovery’s General Counsel and also was given responsibility for Discovery’s Business Affairs group in 1996. He assumed responsibility for the Production Management department in 1999 and was named Executive Vice President, Corporate Operations in 2001. From 2003 to 2007, Hollinger was Senior Executive Vice President, Corporate Operations and General Counsel. Prior to being named COO in January 2008, he served as President, Global Businesses and Operations, and General Counsel.

Asked how much, or how little, Asia has changed since his tenure in the region, Hollinger said there was some little sense of deja vu when it came to discussing Indonesia’s growth potential – now as in 1994.

“Much of our vision for Discovery International has been realized because we have a genre that travels across borders better than any other. It has played out really well, we are widely distributed across the region,” he said. Indeed, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific’s (DNAP) seven Discovery brands reach 462 million cumulative subscribers in 32 countries with programming customized in 11 languages.

Continues Hollinger, “Australia is great market for us in this region with a very strong ad sales business. Taiwan’s an interesting market, we got in there very early, back in 1994, which has paid dividends. And in India, a market with a certain element of chaos and a large number of distributors, we are happy to be the number 1 English-language channel there.”

And DNAP’s most recent announcement pertains to India, as Discovery HD launched on the Sun Direct DTH platform. Regarding ad sales, Television Asia Plus pointed out to Hollinger that while Discovery’s annual results mentioned Asia Pacific for its growth in distribution, the region was conspicuous by its absence in the section on ad sales growth.

“We’re taking a long-term perspective to advertising sales, look at the US where cable took time to gain traction. We took the MCN (Australia) model to Japan for example, and have been involved in the promotion of pay-TV in Latin America, as well as the realisation of a common currency there.”

He says that one also has to consider the quality of Discovery’s audiences, not just the quantity.

“In the US in the past three years we’ve been looking closely at our portfolio, for example Discovery Health, The Oprah Winfrey Network, ID – looking at portfolio optimization. Now we’re looking at that internationally, so that we’ve got an optimized portfolio,” as well as working towards a common currency when it comes to audience measurement in the region. Asked about the hazards of dumbing down or straying too far from one’s core brand and strengths, Hollinger talks about the importance of getting the balance right – or at least constantly re-evaluating that balance.

“It’s a question that’s asked constantly, achieving that balance between brand and mass audiences. It’s hard to find that balance – are we remaining true to the brand? We are constantly swinging back and forth, for example the popularity of Monster Garage versus brand-defining content. Anybody with a brand they care about will be asking themselves that self same question on a regular basis.”

He continues, “We spend $800 million per year on programming. All the producers come to Discovery, and we need to work out how often we can aggregate content on a global basis versus how much has to be localized. These decisions go back and forth, we have people on the ground everywhere to help make those decisions.”

And the impact of the economic downturn on programming output and quality? “I don’t feel like we have had to make sacrifices due to the downturn,” Hollinger responds.

On the subject of another balancing act that many networks have to manage, between their channels and content licensing businesses, Hollinger says that Discovery started as a channel business, not as a content sales business. “That’s not to say we don’t sell content,” he says, “and we do have first-run deals with FTA, eg Channel 4 in the UK, occasional first-run deals with terrestrial and other ancillary businesses.”

Television Asia Plus also asked about Discovery’s newer channel brands such as Planet Green which, Hollinger admits, “is still proving itself in the US as a future-oriented environmentally friendly channel.”

So do people care less about the environment in the downturn? “I can’t speak for our viewers but I do know that ‘green-conscious’ ad budgets have disappeared,” he says.

“Q1 2011 we’ll be launching the Oprah Winfrey Network. Originally slated for mid-2010, it wasn’t necessarily the plan from day one for Oprah to have ended her (ABC) show, but we will now be able to optimize the launch of that channel. Also in Q1 2011 we plan to launch a 3D channel ; our CES-announced partnership sees us teamed with IMAX’s library of movies and Sony as the technology provider through its newest Bravia range. Due to the fact that 3D needs a new TV and the glasses, rollout will be slower than HDTV,” Hollinger explains, “Costs of 3D production will be at least 30 percent higher than 2D TV – due to scarce availability of cameras and personnel.”

Hollinger concedes that much of the hype surrounding 3DTV is just that. “Look at how much publicity Sky have generated, when they’ve screened just one 3D soccer match in six months. (But) internationally a number of markets have expressed an interest in 3D content for VOD – and J:COM is planning a 3D channel this Spring.”