This ATA, change was in the air as some of the region’s powerhouse channels lost out to smaller broadcasters. Another surprise was that a record number of 14 countries participated, contributing to an increase of entries from 981 in 2010 to 1039 in 2011.

Attended by more than 430 industry professionals, a total of 39 awards were given out to 22 companies that evening, ranging from fi rst time winners, such as China’s Win Sing Company Limited and Thailand-based MTV EXIT, to more familiar names like Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and Discovery Networks Asia Pacifi c (DNAP).

Hosting the two-hour event was husband and wife duo Oli Pettigrew and Linda Black along with a number of television celebrities and professionals including MediaCorp’s Tay Ping Hui and Pan Ling Ling, Astro’s Erra Fazira, and TVB actor Mak Cheung Ching.

This year the awards also saw the addition of four new award categories, which drew a sizeable number of strong entries from across the region from both traditional and new entrants. Best Documentary Series went to Tokyo Broadcasting System’s (TBS) The Soul of Reporting, made at the time of Japan’s Great Eastern Earthquake; Best Preschool Education Programme went to fi rst-time entrant Hunan Broadcasting System/ Aniworld TV from China with Doby & Disy, while highly commended went to another fi rst-time entrant KidsCo with Bommi and Friends. Qing Dynasty drama The Palace picked up Best Drama Screenplay; and Best Theme Song went to Ito Ang Buhay Ko (This is my Life) for the TV5 Philippines series Star Confessions.

Josefi na Annabel Banaga from ABC Development Corporation (TV5), who went on stage to receive the award for Best Theme Song, said it was a great new opportunity and platform for theme songs and music composers to be recognised and awarded for their work in television.

The fi nal awards of the evening also turned heads with CNN International bagging Cable and Satellite Channel of the Year and Network of the Year. The global news network is a fi rst time winner of these top honours, which DNAP has dominated for the past four years. CNN was also the biggest overall winner at this year’s ceremony, bagging fi ve awards in total, including those for Best Single News Story / Report (Bangladesh Begging Boy), Best Social Awareness Programme (Nepal’s Stolen Children) and Best News Presenter or Anchor (Anna Coren).

“To win these two coveted awards, along with three awards in other categories, is an extraordinary achievement and testament to the excellence, dedication and bravery of our people across the Asia Pacifi c region and beyond,” Ellana Lee, Vice President and Managing Editor for CNN International Asia Pacifi c, told TV ASIA Plus after the event.

Best Social Awareness Programme winner Nepal’s Stolen Children, along with Best Single News Story/ Report winner Bangladesh Begging Boy were a strong talking point that evening as both programmes were made as part of the CNN Freedom Project, an initiative that aims to raise more awareness to the plight of the suffering and oppressed. Leif Coorlim, Editorial Director, CNN Freedom Project, said, “Our primary focus is to call attention to massive human rights abuse taking place all across the globe, including Asia. It is a tremendous honour that we hope will encourage more people to join the fi ght against modern-day slavery.”

After a tumultuous year following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Japan’s NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) scored victory in the Terrestrial Network of the Year category, which Singapore’s

MediaCorp Channel 5 won in 2010. Additionally, NHK walked away with two other awards; Best Natural History or Wildlife Programme (Life Force: Madagascar) and Best Single Drama or Telemovie Programme (Threads of Our Hearts). MediaCorp, however, did not leave empty-handed. The State broadcaster took home the award for Terrestrial Broadcaster of the Year for the fourth time. The cast of news parody series The Noose also went on stage for a second time to receive the award for Best Comedy Programme, which it won the previous year, and again for Suhaimi Yusof (unable to attend the awards) for Best Comedy Performance, the category co-star Chua En Lai won in 2010 and which he humorously claimed in Suhaimi’s absence as he was away for last year’s Awards.

For the second year running, the Awards also comprised the ATA Showcase and Superpitch, both of which were held the same day as the gala ceremony, organised by Ten Alps’ TV and Entertainment Group. The Pan Pacifi c Hotel was once again a fl urry of activity, as both events saw a combined total of 397 attendees.

During the Showcase, Award nominees and a number of judges shared their thoughts and experiences on the necessary ingredients that make award winning content, with fellow industry professionals as well as participants from Singapore Polytechnic and Tisch Arts School (NYU) Singapore.

The event comprised of three sessions – Technical & Creative/ Formats, Children/Preschool programming and Documentary/ Factual. Among the programmes featured were; NDTV’s reality format The Calendar Girl, currently in its third season; Oak3 Films’ pre-school animated series Witz; Malaysiabased Red Communication’s science game show format Clever; and Fuji TV’s memorable natural disaster documentary Unforgettable, which won Best Current Affairs Programme on the night.

Keynote speakers included documentary producer Lara Ariffi n of Novista in Malaysia, Jacqueline Chan and Noel Price from Southern Star, Jocelyn Little of Beach House Pictures in Singapore and the team from Creative Indigo Production, which produce Jalan Sesama – Indonesia’s version of Sesame Street. Questions and topics ranged from producing 3D content, localization, the importance of developing programme bibles and how much fantasy should a children’s show have?

For Superpitch, new ideas were in abundance. This year’s competition drew more than 40 submissions across three genres – Formats, Documentary and Children’s Television. A total of 18 fi nalists were shortlisted to present their stories and ideas. As Graham Perkins, Co-CEO of Rune Entertainment, and guest host of the Superpitch Formats session, told TV ASIA Plus, “not only has the quantity of entries gone up from last year, but the quality has as well”.

Upping the ante on previous competitions, the judging panel this year consisted of industry heavyweights from the region and beyond, such as, Kevin Dickie, Senior Vice President, Content Group, Discovery Networks Asia Pacifi c, Tan Lek Hwa, VP, English Current Affairs, Channel News Asia, Layla Lewis, Director of Programming and Acquisitions at Turner Broadcasting, Myleeta Aga from BBC Worldwide Productions India and Paul Robinson, founder and former Global General Manager of KidsCo.

The pitchers, despite their nerves, delivered strong campaigns and tackled challenging questions from the various judges, replicating what goes on at an actual pitch meeting. Energy was high and the content engaging, with the crowds in all three conference rooms cheering on their favourite pitches.

Before the results were announced, palpable tension and nerves could be felt in all three rooms.

In the end, PT Borneo Productions International’s Jungle Racer Borneo won the best Formats pitch, Malaysia’s Story Me Studios’ Pajama Jump won the best Children’s pitch while K&Y Distribution from Japan won the best Documentary pitch for Samurai in Fukushima.

Since the event, all three winners have been in talks with some of the judges, who are keen in developing the winning programmes for audiences here. Dickie said he has spoken with Ken Okano producer of Samurai in Fukushima and recently Leslie Lee, Programming Director at Walt Disney Television (Southeast Asia), said the network is in discussion with Story Me Studios’ Pajama Jump team.

After the success of the day events this year, the team is looking to strengthen the programme further and aim to add more industryspecific workshops and conferences.