Asia and Australasia – New possibilities
Since the launch of TV5MONDE Asia-Pacific in 1996, the channel’s two regional feeds (TV5MONDE covers India to Singapore while TV5MONDE Pacific covers Australia, Japan, New Zealand and all the pacific islands) have reached 28.4 million households – and there is room for more growth.

In Cambodia, TV5MONDE has recently added DTT delivery on top of its cable delivery. In Mongolia, Muller says it’s business as usual but observed that people have gained interest in the country lately because of increased U.S. investments. “We’ve been there since 16 years ago and we have good relations with our operators there, so we renew most of our deals.”

Muller eyes Myanmar with a great deal of interest. Though preliminary, he says some exchanges have taken place between the European commission and Myanmar to secure carriage deals, with plans for Burmese broadcasters to train alongside European TV stations.

On why TV5MONDE does not enjoy carriage in Malaysia, Muller explains that the country’s content regulatory controls do not favour TV5MONDE’s content which is considered to be for a more mature audience. Malaysian censorship rules also conflict with the French regulation where broadcasters are not allowed to compromise on content without permission from producers. Singapore, on the other hand, while operating on similar restrictions, gives TV5MONDE the option to be distributed as an ala carte channel.

A Mixed Bag
Moving forward, TV5MONDE’s main target is to distribute widely in Australia and New Zealand. While New Zealand’s small market size of four million and high entry costs might be a deterrent, Muller sees opportunities with IPTV in Australia knowing that the country is looking for packaging of content; the challenge for him lies in creating a bouquet containing at least four to five channels. To create a bundle attractive enough for Australia, Muller plans to include the French TV5MONDE’s kids’ channel launched earlier last year in the U.S., a 24/7 news feed, and is additionally working with Canal Plus (New Caledonia) to introduce two to three French channels.

“We had exactly the same discussion many years ago in the U.S. when TV5 launched. Our assessor thought we’re not going to break even. Today, TV5MONDE USA is the most profitable channel of TV5MONDE. It’s sold as a premium ala carte channel and they have not only reached global equilibrium have brought back money year-on-year. They’ve launched a general entertainment channel, a kids’ channel, SVOD cinema package, and this is actually working very well. TV5MONDE had been the first non-English and Spanish channel to succeed in the United States. I think there’s a similar potential in Australia,” says Muller.

Thematic channels
To add more value to the TV5MONDE brand, Muller is planning new channels with thematic content on top of general entertainment ones which Muller hopes will be more favourable to operators.

“We do have exclusive movies, five new documentaries a week, exclusive kids content, plus sports – we have all these, but we’re never ticking the right boxes. So I think it’s time to add thematic channels.” Muller envisions a thematic lifestyle channel within the next 12 to 18 months that covers a broad range of topics from fashion, food, health and fine living – topics he feels, are synonymous with France.

TV5MONDE on-the-go
Muller explains that the channel now uses a hybrid solution combining OTT and the internet. Thanks to a hybrid peerto- peer technology, TV5MONDE will be able to reach one or 10 million people at a fixed cost. It’s almost similar to using a satellite except with the internet; there is no limited feed unless specified. This hybrid application can also collate data which relays back demographic or psychographic information without having to spend extra money on research and development. With that, the channel is able to improve on its programming and scheduling to maximise the number of viewers. The ability to “geo block” also makes this app advertiser-friendly.

“You can go to Singapore Airlines and say, ‘You have 300 unsold tickets to Paris to sell. Do you want to advertise?’ You will advertise only for the people in Singapore.”

Much to the convenience of viewers who spend more time on their computers, TV5MONDE will also be launching a new website in the first quarter of 2013. This social network integrated website will be available in English, French, Japanese and Korean. Other planned features include VOD, catch-up TV, and subtitles in the above four languages. Muller says the website will be offered to operators like StarHub in Singapore as an added value service to TV5MONDE subscribers who will not only be able to receive traditional distribution from the operator but can also tune in on-the-go.

In the year ahead, Muller’s goals are to break barriers in new markets, gain more subscribers and be open to paying for more content.

“The real challenge will be entering the markets where I’m not well distributed today. The challenge is to continue this way and keep on growing and prepare the next generation for us which would mean all those new channels mentioned. If there is a demand in the market, we need to find a way to address that demand.”

For the full interview with Alexandre Muller, go to www.onscreenasia.com this March!