Hong Kong – Animax announced its new slate of Korean live-action programming in Malaysia has achieved strong growth in ratings, average viewing time and reach among the channel’s target audience of youth and young adults. The network unveiled a new slate of Korean live-action youth entertainment programmes during the 8 – 9 pm primetime slot on weeknights that started broadcast from 3 May in Malaysia. Shows include Korean pop music variety show Live Power Music on Monday; talent search reality series Pretty Boys & Girls on Tuesday; with idol dramas My Girl, Princess Hours and Coffee Prince lined up from Wednesday to Friday respectively. With a deliberate effort to better engage Malaysian viewers, these shows are broadcast in Bahasa Malaysia dub or in original Korean audio with both Bahasa Malaysia and English subtitles. According to data from AGB Nielsen, in the week that the new Korean live-action hour made its debut, average ratings surged to 150% the average April 2010 ratings in the 8 – 9pm Mondays to Fridays timeslot among Astro 4+ audiences. More significantly, the launch struck the sweet spot with Animax’s target youth and young adult audiences driving a far more pronounced ratings growth with average ratings spiking up 950% of the average April 2010 ratings in the 8 – 9pm Monday to Friday timeslot among Astro 15 – 24 viewers. The repeat timeslot of Mondays – Fridays 12 – 1am also marked a 29% growth in average ratings up from the average April 2010 ratings in the same timeslot. Not only did ratings pick up, more time was spent by viewers watching Animax and more unique viewers watched the channel during the new Korean live-action programming hour. Average viewing time during the 8 – 9pm Monday – Friday was 14 times as high as the April 2010 average in the same timeslot among Astro 15 – 24 audiences. Viewing time in the Korean live-action hour peaked on 3 May, Monday, where Astro 15 – 24 viewers spent an average of 54 minutes on Live Power Music airing 8 – 9pm. In addition, Animax’s reach at 8 – 9pm registered a 114% jump during the week of 3 – 7 May up from the average weekly reach in April 2010 also among Astro 15 – 24 audiences. “While Animax continues to be committed to providing the best and latest anime and youth entertainment programs from Japan as its core programming offering, Korean live-action entertainment is the perfect complement to offer a wider breadth of choice to our youth and young adult viewers. Animax’s surge in ratings offers compelling evidence that the Korean wave continues to rage strong in Malaysia and we are pleased to offer what our viewers truly want with the all-new Korean live-action programming hour. The new initiative also represents Animax’s continued efforts to evolve with the rapidly changing tastes and preference of our young and dynamic viewers,” said Gregory Ho, Vice President and General Manager, Animax Asia.