What has been the strategy for RTL CBS Asia’s growth?

Jonas: We are creating strong content destinations for Asian audiences with our two channels, RTL CBS Entertainment HD and RTL CBS Extreme HD by using a 360-degree content delivery strategy – making our first and exclusive content available on any device at any time express from the U.S. or U.K. We focus on quality over quantity and from the beginning, we focused 100% on a 360-degree content approach, making all our content available via all access including traditional linear through the set-top-box, catch-up VOD, mobile and internet simulcast / catch up VOD. Another way of looking at our strategy is, to deliver the best content and ensure that we match the requirements of today’s savvy consumers’ viewing habits.

We have entered a very crowded market place and well aware that we have to endeavour to do better than the competition. Today, I’m happy to announce that we have been noticed by the industry and audiences alike. We are laser-focused on being creative and to think out-of-the box. One of our greatest achievements was the concurrent launch of House of Cards season 3 in the United States and Asia on the same day/date with all episodes back-to-back and fully subtitled in all our key market languages. This was the first time in the world, outside the U.S. such a massive workflow was accomplished on a linear channel which quickly became the talk-of-thetown and very much appreciated by operators and partners.

As a network, we are proud to have extended our footprint in a record short time – 18 territories in 18 months.

What titles have you been highlighting this year and why these hits?

Jonas: House of Cards is one of our tent poles. It has become a hit series around the world and we’re very proud to have brought it first and exclusive to audiences in Asia. We launched season 3 on the same day/ date of U.S. release with a marathon viewing of all 13 episodes. The series was also aired through the traditional weekly episodes to satisfy audience appetite.

RTL CBS Entertainment HD is now the home to the top awards shows. We have a full line-up beginning in November with the American Music Awards and it goes into the New Year with the Golden Globe Awards, the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, the People’s Choice Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Billboard Music Awards and the Critics’ Choice TV Awards. All the awards shows are ‘live’ with a prime time encore on the same day!

We have also brought in the biggest summer hits, Under The Dome and Extant, express from the U.S. In September, we launched the highlyanticipated new action-drama series, Limitless which Academy Award nominee, Bradley Cooper is executive producer and guest star.

RTL CBS Entertainment HD is also the destination for late night talk shows. We just launched The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show with the hilarious James Corden. On RTL CBS Extreme HD, we have the MMA-themed action series Kingdom starring Nick Jonas. Season 2 is coming to viewers in Asia in October express from the US. We also brought Halo: Nightfall, the TV movie based on the popular game. We’re very excited about the Wesley Snipes series, The Player, coming to the Channel in November.

During New Year, we will have the new Bear Grylls series Mission Survive where he takes eight celebrities into the depths of the most unforgiving Central American rainforest and see how they fair on a 12-day survival mission.

Have products like HD help drive subscription of your channels?

Jonas: Absolutely. We have to deliver products that are in tune with market developments including advances in technology. It isn’t just only about HD. From day one, we have focused 100% on a 360-degree content approach and made all our content available via all access methods.

We are still one of the few international channels that offer all content on all platforms. Additionally, we have been in the forefront of offering content directly after its U.S. launch date, including ‘live’, same day and date release as the U.S. In September 2013 when we launched our first channel, RTL CBS Entertainment HD, very few shows were offered close to the U.S. broadcast in the regional Asian pay-TV universe.

We take pride in bringing shows that have immediately or just launched after the U.S. premiere to our audiences. This puts us way ahead with competitors. This year, almost all our key content on RTL CBS Entertainment HD were/will be ‘live’ – Golden Globes, Billboard Music Awards and other award shows. Most of these programmes are either telecasted ‘live’ directly from the satellite (The X Factor UK, Britain’s Got Talent) or Xpress from the U.S. (House of Cards S3, Scorpion S2, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Under The Dome S3, Extant S2, Elementary S4, Kingdom S2, The Affair S2, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Late Late Show with James Corden).

Looking ahead 12 to 24 months, what growth opportunities do you see for RTL CBS Asia?

Jonas: As we are now widely distributed, we’ll look into the other markets where we do not yet have a footprint for example Laos and Myanmar. But this list is getting very short. With our extremely strong and advertiser-friendly content, we have more and more brands wanting to affiliate their products with our shows and we believe this trend will blossom even further.