Hong Kong– Laureen Ong will join STAR as Chief Operating Officer in June 2007 to replace Steve Askew, who resigned for personal reasons. Ong reports to Paul Aiello, Chief Executive Officer of STAR, and will support STAR's expansion of its content portfolio across all platforms in its key Asian markets.Previously Ong was founding President of Fox International's National Geographic Channel network. She launched NGC in 2001 which became one of the fastest growing networks in the US … [Read more...] about Laureen Ong succeeds Steve Askew as STAR’s Chief Operating Officer
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China to launch High Def broadcasts in October
Beijing- China Central TV, the national broadcaster, will start broadcasting high-definition programs in October, and the Chinese standard on terrestrial digital broadcasting will be implemented in August, according to Zhang Haitao, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT). At the opening of the 15th China Content Broadcasting Network exhibition, Zhang said SARFT had formed six working groups in cooperation with several other … [Read more...] about China to launch High Def broadcasts in October
M&A’s predicted for Hong Kong media industry
In Hong Kong’s thriving media industry, everything seems to be going up. Broadcast TV and on-line advertising revenues are showing healthy gains. So are pay-TV subscriptions. And mobile TV is tipped to start generating significant coin in 2008. Moreover, some experts expect there will be more mergers and acquisitions in the next two years, driven by convergence and by private equity’s growing appetite for the media sector. These deals, probably strategic alliances and partnerships … [Read more...] about M&A’s predicted for Hong Kong media industry
MIP AHOY!
Monica Veiga Director, Sales Asia & Latin America CCI Entertainment has continued to achieve considerable success with animated properties. Korea stood out as our strongest market in 2006, amidst much activity in other countries in Asia Pacific. In terms of children’s content, comedies, edutainment for pre-schoolers, and families’ co-viewing titles are in strong demand for 2007. We expect sales to go up this year with a number of new products available. India, Malaysia and Japan are … [Read more...] about MIP AHOY!
Local content still in its prime
Local productions and Korean and Chinese dramas continue to monopolize eyeballs during prime-time on the major free-to-air broadcasters across much of the Asia-Pacific. But Big Brother is still going strong, Idols are popular and game shows are hot in many markets. Most US series are still relegated to late night or daytime slots on the leading networks. But if Steve Macallister, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Buena Vista International Television (Asia Pacific) has his way, that … [Read more...] about Local content still in its prime
Taboo TV
Whether you agree with it or not, the importance of adult content simply can’t be ignored. Just ask Sony, whose refusal to let its Betamax video-cassette be used by the adult entertainment industry is seen as the largest contributory factor to their loss of that particular format war. As for the TV content industry, the old adage that ‘wherever adult content goes, TV content will follow’ still rings true. From VHS to VCD, from DVD to downloads; now VoD and mobile offer … [Read more...] about Taboo TV