ASIA PACIFIC – CJ E&M HK has announced strategies to enhance the service offerings of tvN Asia, as well as to transform itself from a content curator into a creator in the region. Through producing various original contents, including Get It Beauty On The Road and One Night Food Trip – International Edition 2, this year’s advertising revenue generated is expected to triple that of last year’s. tvN Asia has also brought its original contents to multi-platforms, expanded beyond its own pay TV platforms by tapping local free-to-air TV and OTT operators, as well as the broadcasting networks from its Korean root.
tvN Asia is glocalizing CJ E&M’s own formats into its original productions. By combining global sensation, Hallyu, with local tastes, tvN Asia creates talk-of-the-town original productions that appeal to Asian audience while serving clients’ best interest at heart. By garnering rights for iconic show formats, tvN Asia adapts them into unique formats where Korean goes international. Through careful casting of Korean show hosts with a more diverse cultural background, and bringing shooting site to its service territories, tvN Asia is making the shows more relatable to Asian viewers and driving more opportunities for advertising sales.
Coming up to tvN Asia is original beauty shows – Get It Beauty On The Road which takes on the format from the best known K-beauty show Get It Beauty while blending in local spirits. The co-production between tvN Asia and StarHub TV will follow the main concept of the Korean show by exploring K-beauty products, but move the shooting outside a studio to different places in the Lion City. The Korean and local hosts will join forces to investigate latest beauty trends with the help from K-beauty experts and share secret tips in beauty, skincare, hair and wellness. Get It Beauty On The Road receives strong support from local clients and is set to air on tvN Asia and StarHub TV’s HUB E City in July. The show will be in Mandarin and English.
Riding on last year’s success, travel and food show One Night Food Trip – International Edition will return with a second season in 2018. A spin-off of the popular CJ E&M format of the same name, One Night Food Trip – International Edition adds local Asian celebrities into the mix to ramp up the competition. This season, the 16-episode travel show will cover 4 countries, including Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines and Korea. This unique format creates a rare opportunity for 4 governmental and tourism board partners to support a single project together. By leveraging CJ E&M’s travel show IP, tvN Asia is able to adapt and customize the format to local clients and drawing on stronger than ever synergies.
Since the launch of dedicated feed in Singapore and Malaysia in 2017, tvN Asia has been continuously providing 24-hour express dramas to viewers, as well as curating special thematic blocks that best fit their needs. In the first quarter of 2018, it presented audience with heartrending series Mother and emotionally-stirring drama My Mister. Following the strong suit is highly anticipated romance comedy, What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, starring heartthrob Park Seo-joon and Park Min-young. The drama is an adaptation of popular web comics of the eponymous novel. Audience will once again be charmed by Park Seo-joon after his critically acclaimed appearance in Na PD’s top-rated variety show, Youn’s Kitchen S2, which broke rating records in Korea.
Over to its Korean movie channel business, CJ E&M HK continues to work aggressively on expanding the coverage of tvN Movies. Celebrating the 1st anniversary of its launch, tvN Movies has brought on board 5 pay TV / OTT operators servicing 5 territories across the region. The world’s first and only Korean movie channel has truly outgrown itself to become the Home of Korean Blockbusters: among the Top 20 highest grossing Korean films1, it garnered the pay TV & OTT rights of 16 titles, including A Taxi Driver, Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds, Confidential Assignment, to name a few, specific territories apply. Its effort paid off as tvN Movies’ viewership ratings dominate all Asian movie channels during both whole day and primetime hours in Malaysia2.
To cope with its growing affiliate network, CJ E&M HK welcomes channel distribution veteran Tina Cai to join its Singapore Branch as Director, Affiliate Sales and Business Development. With 12 years of content distribution media experience embracing various cultures, from India’s Zee Network, to US’ Viacom International Media Networks Asia, to Europe’s Endemol Shine Southeast Asia, and now Korea’s CJ E&M, Tina’s expertise in program syndication, format adaptation sales, linear channel affiliate sales, and apps mobile partnership with telcos is expected to bring in more business opportunities for the company.
