Happy New Year! Hope 2011 kicked off well for you, the break was well spent and the sunburn (if you’re from my neck of the woods) has eased. Since the last issue, there has been a flurry of activity – all good signs for this new year in TV. The Asia Television Forum, which the TVAPlus team was actively involved in, reported not only a 15 per cent increase in participants from 2009, but also a total of US$149.23 million worth of deals was made over the three-day event. This is the highest amount recorded since ATF launched in 2000. The Animation SuperPitch also drew a great response and the diversity of the finalists’ pitchers showed that world class original content is being developed right on our doorstep. Other examples of this were seen when I attended the Kre8tif! conference in Kuala Lumpur in mid- December, creativity is blossoming. Congratulations must also go out to the finalists and winners of the 15th Asian Television Awards. It was a great night and the range of programmes awarded is testament to the quality and originality of stories being told in Asia. We feature the winners’ responses in this issue and a clear message from a number of them is that for television to strengthen further here, there needs to be more risk taking and less managing. Producers, directors and writers here have shown what they can do; now let’s take it to the next level. Gong Xi Fa Cai to all our Chinese readers.