Singapore — Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks has announced that it will launch a brand new channel, GEM, which will feature popular general entertainment content from across Asia and is set to launch in Vietnam in January 2014. The launch of GEM marks SPT Networks’ second channel in Vietnam. It also operates AXN, which is currently available in SD and HD on all major Vietnamese TV platforms across the country.
SPT Networks’ ONE, which offers the latest in Korean dramas, K-pop variety and music programmes, is one of the top-rated pay-TV channels in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Vietnam is one of the fastest growing pay-TV markets in the region. According to a recent study by Media Partners Asia, pay-TV subscribers are projected to grow from 4.8 million in 2012 to 8.1 million by 2020, with both cable and DTH remaining critical growth platforms in Vietnam. Pay-TV advertising is also anticipated to grow during the same time period, from US$108 million to US$209 million (2013 Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets Report, Media Partners Asia).
“While there is an increasingly strong interest in Vietnam for scripted and non-scripted Asian general entertainment content, programming is available only intermittently on various platforms,” says Hui Keng (HK) Ang, senior vice president, Business Operations, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia. “With GEM we are bringing Vietnamese audiences the best and most popular shows from across Asia on one dedicated channel.”
GEM adds to SPT Networks’ presence in Asia, where it currently offers five wholly-owned pay-TV channels – AXN, Sony Entertainment Television, beTV, ONE, and Animax. In addition, SPT Networks has a joint-venture stake in the Indonesian telenovela channel Televiva, which it operates with Dori Media Group.
