Double win for PCCW Global at World Communications Awards

HKT (SEHK:6823) – HONG KONG, December 6, 2016 – PCCW Global, the international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider, won the Users’ Choice Award and the Innovation Award : Operator for its excellence in customer service and innovation at the World Communications Awards held on November 29 in London.

The Users’ Choice Award, which recognizes excellence in customer care in business services, is particularly rewarding and is different to the other award categories as entries are not judged by a panel. Instead the winner is decided based on extensive end user research carried out among companies in over 30 countries and more than 1,000 respondents participated.

The winner is the service provider that received the highest customer satisfaction index (CSI) score, which is generated based on an assessment of the survey responses to questions regarding levels of satisfaction with the product, value for money, and the level of customer support they received from their service provider over a 12-month period.

Ms. Janet Watkin, Chief Executive Officer of Ocean82 who conducted the research, commented, “PCCW Global won the hearts and minds of users due to the high level of positive customer experience reported compared to rivals. It appears that the consistency of performance across continents, including Africa, gave it the competitive edge. PCCW Global goes the extra mile in managing and supporting relationships.”

‘GlobalView’, PCCW Global’s multi-award winning real-time, cloud-based, reporting tool for international roaming services, won the accolade of the Innovation Award: Operator for applying big data technology that allows mobile operators to better manage their understanding of roaming customers. The tools available in GlobalView allow operators to see different levels of data and can even assist in the design of targeted marketing plans, in addition to providing proactive support and improving the use of international services.

The judging panel were also impressed at how GlobalView demonstrated excellent, real-world examples of how mobile network operators can, and should, use big data to underpin innovative new services to provide a wealth of useful performance data associated with roaming subscribers.

A judge commented, “With GlobalView, PCCW Global goes beyond transporting traffic to delivering significant added value, ensuring roaming partnerships are optimised and subscribers benefit from a committed level of quality while travelling.”

Mr. Marc Halbfinger, Chief Executive Officer of PCCW Global, said of the two awards, “These awards recognize the breadth and depth of our offerings and highlight an outstanding year for growth and innovation in the ICT industry. Together with our customers and partners, we strive to create a global telecoms market that is more dynamic, diverse and ready to serve high-performance applications by delivering new services and technologies that help meet the needs of constantly new end user demand. The team is very proud to be recognized for their work.”

PCCW Global is particularly proud of the recognition that these latest innovations have received, as they form part of an ongoing programme of strategic development aimed at continuously enhancing its ability to deliver digital solutions globally whilst retaining all-out passion for service excellence. The integration of real time communication services is helping businesses of all sizes adapt quickly to the many changes taking place in what has become a very fast-paced and mobile-centric world.

Ms. Ronnie Klingner, PCCW Global’s President of Mobility, Security and Digital Solutions, said, “We are delighted that our efforts and innovation have been recognized. To receive such high profile recognition for GlobalView is testimony to excellent teamwork at PCCW Global. We are now able to offer MNOs the opportunity to look at international roaming transactions from a business awareness perspective, which delivers added value as operators are now able to ensure that service connectivity with their roaming counterparts is maintained with quality wherever a subscriber may be.”

About PCCW Global

PCCW Global is the international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider, which is majority-owned by PCCW Limited. Covering more than 3,000 cities and 150 countries, the PCCW Global network supports a portfolio of integrated global communications solutions which include Ethernet, IP, fiber and satellite transmission solutions, international voice and VoIPX services, managed network & security services and our expanding “as-a-service” solutions including OTT video and Unified Communications.

PCCW Global is headquartered in Hong Kong, and maintains regional centres in Belgium, China, France, Greece, Japan, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. To learn more about PCCW Global, please visit www.pccwglobal.com.

About HKT

HKT (SEHK: 6823) is Hong Kong’s premier telecommunications service provider and leading operator in fixed-line, broadband and mobile communication services. It meets the needs of the Hong Kong public and local and international businesses with a wide range of services including local telephony, local data and broadband, international telecommunications, mobile, and other telecommunications businesses such as customer premises equipment sales, outsourcing, consulting, and contact centers.

HKT offers a unique quadruple-play experience in Hong Kong delivering media content on its fixed-line, broadband Internet access and mobile platforms jointly with its parent company, PCCW Limited.

HKT also provides a range of innovative and smart living services beyond connectivity to make the daily lives of customers more convenient, whether they are at home, in the workplace, or on the go.

For more information, please contact:

Ivan Ho

PCCW Group Tel: +852 2883 8747 Email: ivan.wy.ho@pccw.com

Issued by HKT Limited.

BBC Worldwide Giant Screen Movies to Debut in Museums Across China and Hong Kong

(Monday, 5 Dec 2016, Beijing, China)… BBC Worldwide today announced a series of deals that will see four BBC Earth Giant Screen films – Tiny Giants, Wild Africa, Earthflight and Incredible Predators debut in mainland China and Hong Kong in 2017.

New deals with clients including Orient International Holding Shanghai Foreign Trade Co. Ltd, and Wuhan DDMC Culture Co. Ltd, will see the four films debut in more than 20 science and technology museums, beginning in January.

Tiny Giants, is the story of a day in the life of two little heroes – a scorpion mouse and a chipmunk, both trying to survive in a sometimes hostile world; Earthflight takes a breathtaking flight on the wings of birds across six continents and experiences some of the world’s greatest natural spectacles from a bird’s-eye view; Wild Africa, narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, transports audiences on a thrilling journey through Africa to discover how water shapes all life; and Incredible Predators delves into the interactions between predators and their prey, revealing some of the most dramatic events in nature.

“BBC Earth exists to inspire people with the natural world; we constantly push boundaries to excite our audiences with amazing stories, characters and discoveries that we go to the ends of the earth to find,” said Kelvin Yau, GM, Greater China. “We are very pleased that visitors to science and technology museums all over China will have access to the four BBC Earth films that will allow viewers to envelope themselves in the larger than life, immersive experience of the 2D Dome and 3D giant screen formats.”

Each BBC Earth film is 40 minutes long and will run between six months and a year in cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenyang and Hefei, as well as Hong Kong

-Ends-

For more information, please contact: Jeanne Leong +65 6849 5292/+65 9679 1173

Jeanne.leong@bbc.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

About BBC Worldwide

BBC Worldwide is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Its vision is to build the BBC’s brands, audiences, commercial returns and reputation across the world. This is achieved through investing in, commercialising and showcasing content from the BBC around the world, in a way that is consistent with BBC standards and values. The business also champions British creativity globally.

In 2015/16 BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £133.8m and headline sales of £1,029.4m and returned £222.2m to the BBC.

For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review webpage: bbcworldwide.com/annual-review/.

bbcworldwide.com

twitter.com/bbcwpress

CASBAA Emerging Southeast Asian Markets conference with new CASBAA Report: Myanmar in View

Singapore, December 5th, 2016 – Asia Pacific multichannel TV association CASBAA today released its exclusive, members only “Myanmar in View” report on the fast-evolving multichannel market in Myanmar, one of the world’s most dynamic media and telecoms economies.

The “Myanmar in View 2017” report was released at the opening of CASBAA’s “Essential Building Blocks for Multichannel TV in Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos” spotlight conference in Singapore on 5 December.

“Even as Myanmar experiences roller coaster political events, the multichannel TV and digital video markets continue to grow exponentially,” said Christopher Slaughter, CASBAA CEO. “According to our analysis and that of many economists and infrastructure specialists, Myanmar continues to experience high economic growth with the continued liberalization of the economy, moving towards becoming a free market and welcoming foreign direct investment as well as foreign firms.” Nevertheless, the CASBAA Report also notes that “Myanmar continues to suffer from inadequate infrastructure such as the lack of electricity and proper roads, although it has begun upgrading its infrastructure.” “Although Myanmar’s TV market stats reflect continued under-development within the broader economy they only highlight great medium-term opportunity for our sector,” said Slaughter.

Just 12 months ago TV household penetration touched 5.8 million homes, or 55%. Nationally pay-TV connections amounted to 12% of total households. Within the traditional TV market there are signs of rapid expansion. In the free-to-air sector, the number of channels increased fivefold from four networks in 2009 to 20 channels at the end of 2015.
Meanwhile, multichannel-TV investment continues apace, including plans by several pay-TV providers to localize and improve and programming, expanding their reach through more extensive distribution investment supporting less complexity during the subscription and renewal processes.
According to CASBAA, competition in the pay-TV sector will intensify as existing operators improve their service propositions and new players enter the market. However, while TV adspend has grown rapidly (US$120 million in 2015, up 31% since 2009) widespread piracy from “overspill” satellite dishes may dampen growth in the pay-TV industry.
Through unregistered satellite services, viewers are able access more channels at significantly lower prices than that charged by Myanmar pay-TV players. Pirated DVDs of international movies and drama, which are widely available in urban areas, also dampen growth of the pay-TV market. “Unfortunately, there is a lack of concerted effort to tackle piracy issues in the country,” said Slaughter
CASBAA Members can access the exclusive “Myanmar in View 2017” via www.casbaa.com or request a hard copy from Tammy Choy (tammy@casbaa.com) at the CASBAA Executive Office.

. # # #

About CASBAA – www.casbaa.com
CASBAA is the association for multichannel TV in Asia. Established in 1991 CASBAA has grown with the industry to include digital multichannel television, content, platforms, advertising and video delivery. Covering Asia and encompassing some 500 million connections within a footprint across the region, CASBAA works to be the authoritative voice for multichannel TV promoting even-handed and market-friendly regulation, IP protection and revenue growth for subscription and advertising, while promoting global best practices. To view the full list of CASBAA members please visit here.

Media contacts

Cynthia Wong
Member Relations & Marketing Director
CASBAA
Tel: +852 3929 1711
Email: cynthia@casbaa.com

2 December, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Dec 2nd. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

Brought to you by:

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

The Singapore Media Festival is in full swing and CASBAA is delighted to be hosting an associate one day event on Emerging Southeast Asian Markets on Monday 5th December at the Park Royal on Pickering. The event will feature analysis and discussion on the development of multichannel TV in Cambodia. Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam and has a slew of interesting speakers that will offer invaluable insight into these markets. Take a look at the programme –
there’s still time to register as a delegate.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

This is a rather long piece, but it’s important. It talks about an issue we all should think hard about….cyberhacking of broadcasters’ networks. Sony was the first of our members to get slammed by hackers, and after that TV5Monde’s broadcasting network was practically wiped out. Recovery took months. Interestingly, BBC now tells us that the so-called “Cyber Caliphate” behind the TV5Monde assault was in fact Russian in origin! TV5’s chief said recently that the attack was aimed at “destroying the company.” Well, the bottom line is that if your company hasn’t started taking precautions against these risks, you should.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

US telco giant AT&T has launched its long-anticipated streaming service DirecTV Now, featuring a range of skinny bundles at varying price points, from “Live A Little” ($35 a month for 60 channels) to “Just Right” ($50 for 80), “Go Big” ($60 for 100) and “Gotta Have It!” ($70 for 120). The service kicks off with a special offer of 100 channels for US$35 a month for a “limited time” (which hasn’t yet been defined); all of which is fine, except that AT&T seems certain to be losing money on the deal. Oh, and because AT&T won’t be counting DirecTV Now usage against mobile subcribers’ data plans on its networks (known as “zero-rating”), it might also be in violation of the FCC’s net neutrality rules. Predictably, that aspect of the service is being described by open Internet advocates as a “nightmare scenario” that’s “…finally happening at a scale that matters.” Well, they can rage all they want, but after Trump’s election, it’s not going to matter. Lots of nightmare scenarios are going to happen.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Last night at the Asian TV Awards (or as I fondly referred to it as “date night) it was great to see a number of CASBAA members being recognized for some of their exceptional work. Discovery, BBC, Disney, A+E, Fox, Turner, Astro, StarHub and HBO all took home some hardware. Tonight at the day-two star-studded event more awards will be given out with MTV, Scripps, Disney, A+E, Discovery, HBO, and Astro all in the running. Somehow I didn’t get any tickets to this, so I’ll be enjoying it at home via broadcast for “family night”.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

What’s a government to do? They refuse permission for a service operator to come into their market, and the company just thumbs its nose and says “we’ll sit offshore and serve your customers over the internet with our premium content.” This week’s example concerns the Taiwan government and China-based OTT operator iQiyi. And the Indian government says it is going to collect GST from offshore sales of videos as well as goods. How’s that going to work? I think I’ll start counting these cases; if you hear of any others let me know. The trend of governments trying to cope with offshore content supply, but not really succeeding, is going to be up……

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

UK-based TMT research firm Ovum is slamming Netflix, saying its spending on content is “not sustainable.” The streaming giant spent something like US$5 billion on content in 2016, and is reportedly planning to up that to US$6 billion in 2017; the report notes that Netflix shares currently trade at 300 times earnings, compared to an industry average of 25 times. “The exuberance surrounding Netflix has parallels with the dot-com boom, when tech companies with lots of users ‘eyeballs’ — and no profits — were reaching stratospheric valuations.”

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Back in September of last year, Neil Hunt, Netflix’s Chief Product Officer had great reasons why people wouldn’t want to download a video onto their phone to watch later. At the time he said, “We’ll see if it’s something lots of people will use….it adds considerable complexity to your life with Amazon Prime – you have to remember that you want to download this thing. One of the things I’ve learned is that every time you offer a choice, you paralyse some people who can’t decide if that’s what they want to do or not.” Netflix now thinks that their users will be able to make that choice as they are now offering a download feature on a selection of their titles. Maybe it’s not so complex after all.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

In piracy news:

• Give a cheer for the French gendarmes, who shut down two huge pirate download websites (Zone-Telechargement and DL-Protect ) which were 11th and 16th, respectively on the Alexa rankings for France. (Torrentfreak noted that the sites’ popularity soared after Megaupload was seized by the US authorities.)

• In Bangkok, officials say the Prime Minister has given them a stern order to deal with digital piracy issues. Hear, hear! A clampdown on Facebook piracy is specifically mentioned……
• Aha! Antigua says it is going to open the piracy floodgates, unless the US starts allowing Antigua’s gambling websites into the US market. It’ll be the first case of an insolent foreign power challenging H.E. The Donald. The loonies in Trump Tower are trying to figure out how to call out the gunboats…….

• Honor among thieves? Nah! Cyberlockers housing stolen content are complaining because people are using Kodi add-ons that allow viewing the content on the cyberlocker sites, without viewing their ads. Stealing their stolen goods, as it were……

• And in the UK, it was reported that the list of sites ordered blocked by judges for copyright reasons now numbers in the hundreds. The reason, of course, is that pirates keep hopping from one domain to another, trying to stay alive, and the court orders follow them around. Interesting that the issue of “who pays the cost” of implementing so many blocks, which is a HUGE issue in some other markets (e.g. Australia), isn’t even mentioned in the UK anymore. Maybe UK ISPs are just smarter?

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The Indian broadcasting industry united to ask for “infrastructure” status for investments in broadcasting and media distribution networks. Currently, investments in telecom networks benefit from favorable tax treatment, but investments in cable or DTH do not. Not logical.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

So remember last week, when we mentioned in passing that prolific video blogger Casey Neistat was quitting his vlog, despite having 5.8 million subscribers? Turns out he was also selling his social video startup Beme to CNN. The broadcaster will be using Beme to create a new venture “…aimed at reaching millennial viewers with the street cred of Neistat’s reporting and commentary.” Put another way, that could mean we can expect more user-generated news on CNN going forward.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Sad news from the UK that Andrew Sachs who played the hapless waiter Manuel in the BBC’s Fawlty Towers has died. He was 86 and had been suffering
from dementia since 2012. View some of the best bits that represent a unique
piece of 1970s British sitcom history here.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Ahh December and there is no denying that the Christmas season is upon us. Here’s a great Xmassy feel-good ad from H&M starring Adrien Brody and very stylishly directed by Wes Anderson. Anderson himself is no stranger to the world of commercial ads – check out the list of top ten Anderson commercials as complied by Adweek.

Member News

Additional News

Second edition of Dance Singapore Dance ends with a Bang!

Hunt for Singapore’s best dancing star comes to an end

The second season of Dance Singapore Dance comes to an end with a spectacular grand finale. Sheriden Newman, 29, danced her way to victory after emerging as the winner of Season 2. Sheriden, 29, a dance graduate from Queensland University of Technology outperformed over 200 contestants in the auditions and 11 others during the grueling 10 episode journey to take home the prize money of S$15000. Mohamad Sufri Juwahir and Mumtaz Angullia were the first and the second runner’s up and took home cash prizes of S$3000 and S$2000 respectively.

The runaway success of the first season set the stage for an even bigger canvas for the second season of Dance Singapore Dance. There were many breath-taking moments as the level of performances soared episode after episode. Each contestant left no stone unturned to keep the audiences and judges captivated with their exceptional performances. The season started with a new panel of judges with Bollywood ace Choreographer Master Mudassar Khan all the way from Mumbai and popular local classical and contemporary dancer Sreedevy Sivarajasingam. Guest judges on different episodes included Najip Ali (Host & Entertainer), Kavitha Krishnan (Artistic Director, Maya Dance Theatre), Daisy Irani (Creative Director & Actor, Hum Theatre), Shantha M Misra (Indian Classical Dancer and Choreographer) and Zaini Tahir, (Artistic Director and Dance Singapore Dance S1 judge) also provided their expert opinion as part of the judging panel.

Ms Tripta Singh, Senior Vice President, International Business, Zee TV APAC, said, “In the second season of Dance Singapore Dance the expectations were very high from all the stakeholders including the contestants, our partners and viewers and the show surpassed all of them. We believe that Dance Singapore Dance provides a great platform for both budding and seasoned dancers across nationalities and races. We wish Sheriden good luck and hope to be back with Season 3 soon.”

Leslie Thng, Chief Commercial Officer of Scoot and Tigerair, powered by sponsor on Season 2 said: “Dance Singapore Dance has proven successful in grooming new, young talent in Singapore. Beyond providing a stage for the participants to present their creativity, it has also encouraged them to follow their artistic dreams and enabled them to experience fun and joy along the way. This strongly resonates with Scoot and Tigerair’s mission to enable the young and young-at-heart to pursue their dreams through enriching travel experiences, and we are delighted to support this meaningful endeavor.”

Sheriden Newman, 29, winner of Dance Singapore Dance Season 2, said “I would like to thank everyone who supported me throughout this journey, especially Sahil, my mentor for constantly pushing my boundaries and helping me excel. With the prize money, I plan to establish my new dance company Soul Signature with my dancing partner, Sufri Juwahir.”

The finale night saw all the five finalists put their best foot forward but Sheriden managed to edge out other contestants with an enthralling contemporary performance.

Best of Dance Singapore Dance

The season finale of Dance Singapore Dance, airing on Sunday, 11^th December 2016 will showcase the best of Season 2, all the way from the audition rounds to the finals. Tune in to Zee TV APAC (StarHub TV Ch 125 and SingTel TV Ch 646).

For the latest news on Dance Singapore Dance, please visit

http://facebook.com/dancesingaporedance

About Dance Singapore Dance

Dance Singapore Dance is a localised version of the popular Dance India Dance series. Returning for its second season, the show will bring together aspiring dancers from different backgrounds and cultures from across Singapore. The open category dance competition aims to provide a platform for amateur and experienced dancers to showcase their talent. The winner of Dance Singapore Dance S2 will take home SG $15000 and the first and second runners-up will also be awarded prizes. StarHub is the presenting sponsor for Dance Singapore Dance S2 and the show is powered by Tiger Air and Scoot.

Murder and Honour: BBC Urdu puts a spotlight on women’s killings

2 December 2016. BBC Urdu brings the so-called honour killing of women in the spotlight as the new series, Qatal o Ghairat (Murder and Honour), rolls out on TV, radio, online at bbcurdu.com and social media. For three weeks, from Tuesday 6 December, BBC Urdu will deliver a comprehensive look at these killings – through special reports, animation, infographics and other digital tools as well as discussions at universities and colleges across Pakistan.

BBC Urdu Editor, Mehvish Hussain, says: “BBC Urdu has reported on so-called honour killings extensively – just as we do other issues that matter to our audience. With Qatal o Ghairat, we decided to bring together our journalistic and reporting strength to ask why these murders continue to be a widely accepted fact of life in the region. We hope very much that as many of our audience as possible will engage with us to answer this question.”

BBC Urdu reports, with insights from Pakistan’s leading legal and media experts, legislators and activists, from various locations in Pakistan:

Khairpur, Sindh, where violence against women is endemic, to see if these murders are rooted in the rural culture
Landi Kotal, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, where the local Jirga system of government is believed to be protecting and justifying such killings
Nasirabad, Baluchistan, where a murder over a property dispute is being presented as a so-called honour killing so it can go unreported to the police
Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where these murders are labelled as suicides
Lahore, Punjab, where a man, who was involved in the murder of his daughter for an alleged affair with her cousin, was set free by the local High Court as he pardoned himself invoking the forgiveness clause of the law on ‘honour killing’ – an old clause which was left unchanged in Pakistan’s reformed law on these killings
Shikarpur, Sindh, where the BBC gets exclusive access to a man who killed his wife who he ‘thought’ had a relationship with another man
Mazar Jo, Sindh, where the local Jirga is demanding that a girl be married into a family as ‘compensation’ following false accusations against them.

At universities in Karachi, Khairpur, Peshawar, Lahore and other cities, BBC Urdu will discuss with students all these issues – as well as how Pakistani media portray women. BBC Urdu will also report from the village of Haryana, India, on the legislative and social aspects of the issue in India. The BBC Urdu social-media platforms – Facebook and YouTube – will feature the films shot by the students involved in the debates while, across BBC Urdu platforms, audiences will be able to share their stories, in text or video.

BBC Urdu is part of BBC World Service.

Ends/

For more information please contact:

BBC World Service Group Communications – Lala Najafova lala.najafova@bbc.co.uk

Notes to editors:

BBC Urdu TV programme, Sairbeen, is broadcast live from London by Aaj News TV channel in Pakistan and streamed on bbcurdu.com at 19.30 PST (14.30 GMT) Monday to Friday. Each edition of Sairbeen is repeated on Aaj News at 11.00 PST on the following day and is available on bbcurdu.com on demand. The programme is also available via the BBC Urdu channel on YouTube. The radio programme, Sairbeen, is broadcast on shortwave at 20.00 PST (15.00 GMT) every day and is available via bbcurdu.com. BBC Urdu engages with its audience on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

BBC World Service delivers news content around the world, on radio, TV and digital, reaching a weekly audience of 246 million. As part of BBC World Service, BBC Learning English teaches English to global audiences. The BBC World Service Group operates around the world in 30 languages, on radio, TV and digital. The BBC attracts a weekly global news audience of 320 million people to its international news services including BBC World Service, BBC World News television channel and bbc.com/news.

Guizhou unveils the hidden beauty of China through content partnership with great big story

Everyone has an image of China – about its people, landscapes and cuisine. To bring those images to life, Great Big Story has traversed the Yelang Valley, attempted single bamboo drifting in northern Guizhou, and even sampled the delights of national liquor of Maotai.

Great Big Story – the distributed video storytelling network launched by CNN and Turner in 2015 – parachutes viewers through its digital channel Take Me There to extraordinary places, subcultures and events in some of the most breath-taking places on Earth. Since November, Great Big Story has been telling extraordinary, untold and incredible stories about the Chinese province Guizhou to over 10 million multi-platform followers through its mobile apps and website, streaming media devices (Apple TV and Roku) and across social media, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Take Me There Guizhou is accompanied by a three-month branded content partnership established by CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) and Guizhou. This is part of an exclusive integrated campaign on CNN TV and digital as Guizhou aims to reach international travellers by unveiling the surprising parts and the hidden beauty of China.

The Take Me There Guizhou four-part editorial video series is produced by the Great Big Story team, accompanied by one branded video from Guizhou about national liquor of Maotai produced by CNNIC’s branded content studio Create. Together, Great Big Story, CNNIC and Create worked side by side with Guizhou to deliver an authentic storytelling campaign that aligns with the destination’s perception of the rich Chinese culture.

“This is a truly unique partnership – the first time a Chinese province is partnering with Great Big Story,” said Sunita Rajan, Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, Asia Pacific, CNN International Commercial. “We are honoured that Guizhou partnered with CNN and Great Big Story for such a bold and modern campaign, which aims to attract both the younger, curious audiences on Great Big Story and the established affluent business travellers via CNN.”

Videos:
Guizhou Sport of Single-Bamboo Drifting: http://greatbig.is/2fJk1qW
Miao Embroidery: http://greatbig.is/2fIcXy4

– Ends-

About CNN International Commercial
CNNI Commercial (CNNIC) is responsible for CNN’s intercontinental commercial operations, spanning a diverse linear and digital news and information portfolio across five continents. This includes platforms such as CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Arabic, Great Big Story, CNN Style and CNNMoney, and a number of other verticals and local properties. CNNI Commercial delivers best-in-class, award-winning cross-platform ad sales, brand and marketing solutions combined with advanced digital trading and data capabilities. It operates a Content Sales and Licensing business, which offers a suite of consultancy, content and CNN-branded initiatives around the globe. It also has a business development unit that establishes strategic partnerships to serve new audiences. The organisation’s branded content studio, Create, has been producing award winning content for clients for over ten years. CNNI Commercial is part of Turner, a TimeWarner company. For more information, visit http://commercial.cnn.com

About Great Big Story
Founded in 2015, Great Big Story is a distributed video network dedicated to telling awesome, untold and inspiring stories. Its goal: to reach the “intellectually curious” with non-fiction stories spanning four main categories: human condition, planet earth, frontiers and flavors. In just one year, Great Big Story has developed a multiplatform audience following of more than 10 million people by beaming its stories across Facebook, YouTube, an iOS and Android app, Apple TV and Roku. Get the latest social media updates from Great Big Story on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo.

CNN to Launch Media Company with Casey Neistat, Matt Hackett and Beme

What is CNN doing with Casey Neistat, Matt Hackett and Beme?

We’re launching a new media brand – a standalone company, funded by CNN. We’ve engaged Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett, co-founders of Beme, to build it with us. A perfect marriage of storytelling and technology, Casey will provide the editorial vision and Matt will lead digital innovation. What we’re doing is twofold:

Led by Matt Hackett, the development team from Beme will become a nimble technology group. They will build technology to enable the new company and also develop mobile video capabilities for CNN’s portfolio of digital properties.

A wholly unique content creator, Casey Neistat has a proven ability to engage an entire generation in a way that no one else can. As Executive Producer, we’ll pair his editorial vision and voice with mobile video technology and CNN’s global strength and resources to create a new media brand for a new audience.

What is the new media company and target audience?

The new company will be devoted to filling the world with excellent, timely and topical video and

empowering content creators to use technology to find their voice. It won’t be what most people think of as “news,” but it will be relevant to the daily conversations that dominate our lives. Casey has tapped into a highly engaged audience – they’re curious, hungry and young and they’re eager to learn more about the world. We’ll start there. And then we’ll find ways to connect with millions more. Stay tuned for more.

When will the new company launch?

By summer 2017.

Who are the new company’s competitors?

There are other brands trying to focus on similar content areas. We admire their business models but not their voice. We believe you can engage audiences through authenticity, curiosity and meaningful conversation rather than cynicism, anger and outrage.

How is this different than Great Big Story?

Great Big Story is dedicated to discovering and telling amazing untold stories with no apparent tie to the 24-hour news cycle. While the new venture will not be a traditional news network, it will be purposebuilt for engagement around the news. Through voice and technology, it will engage with audiences around timely and topical content.

How many staff are you hiring for the new company?

Dozens of producers, builders, developers, designers and content creators of every mold.

So CNN acquired Beme?

In simple terms, yes. But the arrangement goes well beyond that. The Beme team is the digital

innovation piece of a multiyear development deal that will result in the formation of a new media

company bringing together technology and storytelling.

How much did CNN pay for Beme?

We’re not disclosing the financial details of the arrangement but the deal was not a simple acquisition. It’s more about “what will be” than “what has been.”

How will this new company/entity fit within CNN?

We’re approaching this as a startup. Andrew Morse (EVP U.S. Editorial and GM CNN Digital Worldwide & Co-founder of Great Big Story), Chris Berend (SVP Digital Video and Co-founder of Great Big Story), Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett are the new brand’s founders. And just like Great Big Story, it will operate as a separate, stand-alone business as part of the CNN Digital portfolio.

What happens to Beme?

The app will cease to exist but the passion for mobile video will live on. The innovation team will focus all of its attention on launching the new company and building premium and transformative technology-driven experiences for CNN’s portfolio of businesses. Users will be notified today and will have ample time to download their videos.

How many Beme employees will join CNN Digital?

All 11 Beme employees will join CNN as a distinct technology group, dedicated to charting the future of CNN through innovative mobile video products–some as stand alones, others as enhancements to the vast array of existing products in the CNN portfolio. We’ll continue to invest and grow the team in the coming months.

Will the Beme team move to the Time Warner Center?

No. The artists formerly known as Beme will remain in their existing workspace. That space will also house the new media brand.

Does CNN now own Casey’s channels and accounts?

Casey still maintains his own YouTube channel and everything on it. He makes all the editorial calls about his personal channels. CNN respects his raw voice and the authentic relationship he shares with this audience. It will continue to be one of the most compelling offerings on YouTube.

Will Casey appear on CNN TV?

This isn’t a TV talent deal but we’re exploring every possible way for Casey and our media venture to connect with new audiences. Stay tuned.

About Casey Neistat, Matt Hackett and Beme

*Any use of this content must credit CNN*

Casey Neistat is one of the most compelling voices on the web. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and content creator, Casey’s YouTube channel has nearly six million passionate subscribers. A wholly original storyteller, Casey will serve as executive producer of the new company and will work with CNN’s Chris Berend and Andrew Morse to establish its editorial vision.

The vision of marrying Casey Neistat’s voice with innovative technology brings in Beme, a video

messaging application founded by Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett in 2015. Prior to launching Beme, Hackett was the former VP of Engineering and Head of Brand Strategy at Tumblr. His technical expertise has established him as one of the most respected innovators in the digital media industry. The Beme engineering team will join Matt in building mobile video products to power the new company, and they will work closely with CNN and Turner’s technology teams to supercharge the mobile video experience across all of our digital properties.

A note from Andrew Morse

CNN Digital is in the midst of the most successful year in its history. We’ve shattered records for video views, unique users and page views, across all platforms. We are now reaching more people in more places than we ever have before.

But, the digital landscape continues to change, and we must continue to evolve as well, to maintain our position as the worldwide leader in mobile and video news and information.

It is with that in mind that I am thrilled to announce an exciting new venture that will allow us to continue to future-proof CNN.

Casey Neistat, Matt Hackett, and the team behind the mobile video company, Beme, have joined CNN Worldwide. Together we are launching a new media company dedicated to timely and topical video content powered by bleeding edge mobile technology.

Casey is one of the most compelling voices on the web. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and content creator, Casey’s YouTube channel has nearly six million passionate subscribers. His unique view of the world has enabled him to engage an entire generation. A wholly original storyteller, Casey will serve as executive producer of the new company and will work with Chris Berend and me to establish its editorial vision.

As we launch this new media brand, it’s essential for it to be powered by truly innovative technology. That’s where Beme comes in. We’ll marry Casey’s voice with a nimble technology group led by Matt Hackett, CTO of Beme, the video messaging application he founded with Casey in 2015. A star in his own right, Matt was the former VP of Engineering and Head of Brand Strategy at Tumblr, prior tolaunching Beme. His technical expertise has established him as one of the most respected innovators in the digital media industry. The Beme engineering team will join Matt in building mobile video products to power our new company, and they will work closely with CNN and Turner’s technology teams to supercharge the mobile video experience across all of our digital properties.

Like Great Big Story, the new media brand will operate as a standalone company – another startup with its own staff, space and culture. And while we’re still in the process of narrowing down our ideas (including a name!) for the new brand, I can tell you this: it will speak with an authentic and thoughtful voice, it will be relevant to conversations happening across the country and around the world, and it will tap into the natural sense of curiosity that drives us all.

We intend to launch the new company by summer of 2017.

Please join me in celebrating this exciting new venture with Casey, Matt, and their team, and the opportunities this will bring to CNN at a time when we continue to innovate, experiment and create. We look forward to sharing more information with you as the new company comes to life.

The new Lifestyle channel TV5MONDE Style HD will be launched on StarHub TV Channel 150 starting on November 30th.

Hong Kong, November 29^th, 2016 – Singapore’s leading pay TV operator StarHub TV will add a new TV5MONDE channel to its network by introducing the channel TV5MONDE Style HD as part of the Connoisseur Pack. Featuring seven high definition channels including TV5MONDE Asie HD, the Pack will give customers an inside look at everything from classical music to arthouse films to travel, fashion and lifestyle. Both TV5MONDE Style HD & TV5MONDE Asie HD are available for a free preview on Starhub TV from November 30^th to December 14^th, 2016.

TV5MONDE Style HD is the newest channel featured by TV5MONDE and was initially launched in 2015. The channel offers 100% Lifestyle programmes ranging over a variety of topics among which design & gardening, fashion & trends, gastronomy & lifestyle, travel & heritage. All the programmes are in French subtitled in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese.

“We are very happy and thankful to see our programmes included in StarHub’s new Connoisseur Pack. We believe TV5MONDE ASIE HD & TV5MONDE Style HD will answer growing interest on culture and lifestyle content and shows that our package strategy matches the ones of our partnered operators. StarHub’s new channel pack will enable demanding and exclusive audiences to discover the unique programming of TV5MONDE’s network” says Alexandre Muller, Managing Director of TV5MONDE Asia-Pacific.

About TV5MONDE

Launched in January 1984, TV5MONDE is one of the first and largest 24/7 cable TV cultural networks worldwide. With a total of 11 channels reaching 318 million homes worldwide on all platforms and over-the-top, TV5MONDE offers localized programming subtitled in 15 languages to the world’s business and cultural elite as well as the vast global community of Francophiles.

Besides TV5MONDE Style HD, TV5MONDE Asie HD (Channel 152 on StarHub) provides general entertainment programmes with cinema, TV series, documentaries, sport, news & current affairs, entertainment, lifestyle & youth programs.

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