Celestial Tiger Entertainment Acquires New Children’s Programs from China, Japan and Korea for Miao Mi

HONG KONG (April 20, 2016) Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), operator of the largest bouquet of pan-Asian channels dedicated to Asian entertainment, announced today that it has acquired first and exclusive pay TV and over-the-top (OTT) rights in Southeast Asia to three high-quality children’s programs: Domo from Japan (non-exclusive in Thailand and for OTT), Let’s Play with Boomchiki Boom from South Korea (non-exclusive in Malaysia and Brunei) and Our Friend Remy Bear from China. The programs will be shown on CTE’s Miao Mi, a Mandarin edutainment channel created specifically for preschool kids across Asia. All three shows will be offered on the channel in Mandarin and in local languages.

“We are very excited to be bringing Domo, Let’s Play with Boomchiki Boom, and Our Friend Remy Bear to Miao Mi. Each of these shows epitomizes the qualities we are looking for when programming Miao Mi. All three shows are ideal for preschool kids, they are both educational and entertaining, and they possess inherent Asian values and cultures,” said Ofanny Choi, Executive Vice President, TV Networks, Celestial Tiger Entertainment.

Domo, from Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, has been one of the country’s most beloved animated figures. The stop-motion animation series follows the everyday lives of the titular character, a mysterious brown creature with a pure heart and a love for television, as well as his adorable animal friends.

Let’s Play with Boomchiki Boom, produced and distributed by the award-winning Korean animation studio Grafizix, is a rhythmic dancing program designed to help preschoolers with their motor skills development. In the show, Boomki and his Do Re Mi friends show kids how to do stretches, baby yoga and other physical exercises.

Our Friend Remy Bear, produced by China’s Xiongxiaomi Media and distributed by Nanning Fengzhi Entertainment, follows the colorful adventures of Remy and his animal friends, Zhiping the Penguin, Ellie the Baby Elephant and Ray the Little Lion. The show teaches children important life lessons about kindness and camaraderie. Created in 2013, Our Friend Remy Bear has won multiple awards, including the Monkey King Award for the Best Character in an Animated Series at the China International Cartoon and Animation Festival.

Miao Mi is CTE’s Asian kids channel, designed for children between the ages of three to six, and featuring edutainment programs from leading producers of children’s content in China as well as the rest of Asia. The channel is fully dubbed in local languages, but parents have the option to switch to the Mandarin audio track to enhance their kids’ Mandarin learning experience. The only exception is the Miao Mi Classroom time belts, which only feature songs and simple storytelling in Mandarin to promote language-learning.

Miao Mi is currently available in Indonesia and exclusively carried on Indovision and Okevision.

– END –

Media Contact:

Pauline Poon

Celestial Tiger Entertainment

T: 852 2239 6131

E: pauline.poon@celestialtiger.com

About Celestial Tiger Entertainment

CELESTIAL TIGER ENTERTAINMENT (CTE) is a leading independent media company dedicated to entertaining audiences in Asia and beyond. The company creates and distributes branded pay television channels and services targeted at Asian consumers.

CTE operates a powerful bouquet of distinct pay television services including: CELESTIAL MOVIES, the premier 24-hour first-run Chinese movie channel in Asia and beyond; CELESTIAL CLASSIC MOVIES, the world’s most-widely distributed Chinese movie channel with an unparalleled array of Chinese movie masterpieces; cHK, a general entertainment channel offering cool, chic, and contemporary celebrity-powered Hong Kong entertainment; KIX, the ultimate destination for action entertainment; MIAO MI, the Mandarin edutainment channel created for preschool kids across Asia; and THRILL, Asia’s only regional horror, thriller and suspense movie channel. All of CTE’s channel brands are available as linear, on-demand and over-the-top services. CTE also produces original production for its bouquet of channels.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, CTE’s majority shareholders are Saban Capital Group, a leading private investment firm specializing in the media, entertainment and communications industries; Celestial Pictures, a diversified Asian entertainment company owned by Astro Overseas Limited; and Lionsgate, the world’s largest independent filmed entertainment studio.

For more information, please visit www.celestialtiger.com.

March 2016

CASBAA OTT Summit & Tech Showcase 2016 rocks Singapore

The third CASBAA OTT Summit was attended by 50% more guests than last year, making it another milestone thanks to an unrivalled group of speakers who attracted attendees and media from across the globe. Guests and speakers at the summit explored the top issues facing OTT, including cumbersome regulations and unfair advantages enjoyed by unlicensed content providers. The day after the Summit, select guests attended the OTT Tech Showcase, an exclusive event featuring product demos and Q&A sessions from Accedo, Diagnal, MPP and Vindicia. Click here for photos.

Get ready for Same Same but Different? Video Policies for Asian Pay-TV and OTT

CASBAA has unveiled Same Same but Different, a new publication about pay-TV and OTT video policies in the Asia-Pacific region. The report contains country-by-country regulatory analysis, and highlights the tilted playing field observed across 16 jurisdictions to reveal an unsustainable situation due to the industry’s ongoing transformation. Delegates to the OTT Summit received an advance copy while CASBAA Members can click here for exclusive access to this highly informative book.

Asif Ali knocked it out of the virtual ballpark with his session on eSports

Staying with the CASBAA OTT Summit, CASBAA 2020 member Asif Ali from ITV was joined by Johnson Yeh of Riot Games, the company behind the online game League of Legends, to present an overview of eSports. Many audience members were newcomers to this thriving industry, and were eager to learn about its huge potential for growth. You can watch for yourself on Youtube.

Getting ready for the future at the India Forum 2016

India Forum 2016, CASBAA’s annual look at the fast-evolving Indian broadcasting industry, examined the ripple effect of the country’s digitization initiative. The day-long event brought together major stakeholders, including multi-system operators (MSO), local cable operators (LCO), DTH players, satellite technology providers, and regulators for discussion on the theme Digital India: The Four Phases of Cable Enlightenment. Click here for the event photos.

Check out the new PwC report: Capacity Crunch Continues

PwC has issued Capacity Crunch Continues, an assessment of satellite transponders’ capacity for the Indian broadcast and broadband market. Presenting a positive growth outlook for the Indian television industry and a strong channel count, it predicts a rise in demand for Ku-band transponders. PwC urges reforms in ISRO’s management of transponder licensing, as India needs to rely on foreign satellite operators to keep its thriving DTH industry moving forward. Download the full report here.

CASBAA teams with local entertainment industry to fight piracy

CASBAA is partnering with the Motion Picture Association, TVB, and other power players in the Hong Kong TV and movie industries to form a new coalition seeking better regional IP protection. Called TAF-HK (Television and Film-Hong Kong), the group will work with the HK government, developing new measures to fight commercial-scale online piracy. At the same time, they will focus on innovative approaches free from the individual rights issues that stalled previous attempts at passing copyright reform legislation.

CASBAA heads to the Philippines for the PCTA Convention 2016

CASBAA will be represented by Mark Lay at the Philippine Cable Television Association (PCTA) Convention in Manila from April 12-15, 2016. The PCTA will usher in another thrilling year at its 24th annual convention at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City, Metro Manila. Based on the theme Shift! the convention aims to inspire cable operators as new technology arrives and changes the competitive landscape. Focus will be on improving the internet in the Philippines, the Fair Competition Act and the opening of over 100 Negosyo Centers across the country. Email Mark to meet him there.

CASBAA members early bird extension for asi Research Conference

CASBAA is pleased to announce that it is once again supporting the research-focused 2016 asi Asia Pacific Television Conference in Singapore. The event will be held on 12-13 May and asi has offered CASBAA members an extended Early Bird rate until the 8th April. View the conference programme and for delegate bookings please click here and mention CASBAA.

New Members – Rewind Network

Welcome to our first Associate Member:

Rewind Networks is a multimedia branded entertainment company that launched its maiden venture, HITS in Singapore at the end of 2013. The basic entertainment channel is now in 8 million homes across the region including Singapore (StarHub, Singtel TV), Malaysia (Astro), Indonesia (Indovision), Philippines (SKYcable), Hong Kong (nowTV, LeEco), Thailand (CTH) and Taiwan (CNS).

Switch on with CASBAA and our Members’ video: casbaa.com/video

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Diary Dates

13 Apr 2016
OTT & Connected Media Group Webinar

16 May 2016
CASBAA Asia Pacitic Lunch at the INTX in association with NCTA

30 May 2016
CASBAA Satellite Industry Forum 2016

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15 April, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Apr 15th. 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:

Christopher Slaughter CEO	From the Department of Schadenfreude, this news: Comedian Louis C.K. is “millions of dollars in debt” after self-financing a new directly-distributed TV show. We started talking about Louis CK (real name Louis Székely) when he first distributed a live stand-up recording directly to his fans back in 2011 and did — at least by stand-up industry standards — extremely well out of it. Fast-forward four years, and his more ambitious four-camera undertaking, Horace and Pete (co-starring Steve Buscemi), has not gone quite as well. The first exercise was held up as an example for others to follow, the current imbroglio (although adored by critics all over) is being cited as a warning.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The music industry has been on the warpath in recent weeks against the internet industry. (Now WHY would that happen?) A couple of weeks ago, the British music association BPI noted that in the past five years it has sent 200 million take-down requests to Google. BPI said it was too easy for deleted music to be re-uploaded, and called for replacing “notice and take-down” with “notice and stay-down,” and for removing pirate services from search results. Meanwhile, similar notes were sounded by the RIAA in the USA. Katy Perry and other well-known recording artists asked for amendments in the DMCA copyright law, saying it “has become the all-purpose shield that tech companies hide behind while they threaten the livelihood of music creators.” And in an interview with Re/code, RIAA chief Cary Sherman was asked why the music industry doesn’t just accept the inevitability of music availability on YouTube, and in a memorable response said “We accept the inevitability of death. It doesn’t mean we have to like it.”
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Netflix-watchers (as distinct from Netflix subscribers, if you know what I mean) can gorge on a lengthy Wired piece that goes behind the scenes of the company’s global launch and looks at infrastructure, global licensing deals, VPNs, and perhaps most bafflingly, global data & recommendation algorithms. Algorithms, it must be said, that sometimes lead to conspiracy theories (a phenomenon that goes back at least to 2002, when TiVo was accused of “outing” its users).
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	The analytics we get back about how News Views is read, strongly indicates that you like stories about Netflix. So in the spirit of ‘give the customer what they want’, I have collected a few interesting ones this week. Apparently, Netflix Is King of Paid Streaming, but Bruce Tuchman feels that they need to tailor their local services. The Curse of cancelled shows the downside of not getting through a full series.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	“If you build it they will come” – Facebook have unveiled a design for a high-quality, production-ready 3D-360 hardware and software video camera system. By building it, the company hopes to encourage content producers and to create more 360-degree videos for the, as yet, niche virtual reality sector. The camera can capture videos in 360 degrees and can broadcast in 8K. Camera shots are automatically rendered through stitching and rendering software which drastically lessens production time. This means that content producers will no longer need to do the job manually, which can take several weeks. Videos can be streamed not only via Gear VR and Oculus Rift but also on the Facebook app. It is described as the best camera of its kind…by Facebook, naturally.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	In Indonesia, the Kominfo ministry issued a circular letter, giving advance warning to OTT providers that they would have to obey the country’s laws, which means they’ll have to open in-country offices, pay taxes, etc. The Minister told the press that Blackberry, Twitter, Spotify and Google had all “expressed willingness to comply with the rules.” The rules they are supposed to comply with include those on content filtering, censorship, and national payment gateway usage. It’ll be interesting to see how that works out…….
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Dim the lights… and here we go. American Idol was a massive winner for Fox, but the final finale has aired. There are so many good stories with so many takes on the show, heck, phenomenon. Click on the piece that grabs you. Fox Chief Talks Road Ahead After ‘American Idol’. American Idol and the Evolution of Criticism. ‘American Idol’ Finale Reminds Viewers Why the Show Mattered. Why American Idol Was Never the Same After Simon Cowell Left. I’ll close off with… (in my best Ryan Seacrest voice) “….and THAT…was American Idol.” Or maybe not, Why Fox Might Want to Rethink Ending ‘American Idol’. Lay….out.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	In a surprise move, Sling TV, the US streaming TV service has announced a new “multi-channel” starter package offering costing US$20 per month with optional “extra” premium content channels. Essentially the service has dropped ESPN and Disney in favour of Fox and the YES Sports Network. No word on why they didn’t just add FOX, FX, Fox Sports, and the YES Network to the existing package, which was only launched last year, or used the new channels as an add on package. The new offering includes the YES Network used for Yankees Major League Baseball games. As a side note Comcast stopped offering YES to the Eastern seaboard customer base at the start of the year so this seems more a realignment of the Sling TV package than any unbundling of channels.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Even though a school of thought within TRAI, the broadcast carriage regulator of India, feels that the regulatory body should start dropping archaic regulations creating ground for light-touch regulations, status quo-ists want more regulations. Interoperability of STBs is one such area where TRAI has waded into causing heartburns in the industry. What’s more, it is using selectively data given by industry, some industry insiders point out, to drum up public support in a country where socialism in various form still exists.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

SCRIPPS NETWORKS INTERACTIVE ASIA-PACIFIC STRENGTHENS PROGRAMMING TEAM WITH PROMOTIONS IN KEY POSITIONS

SINGAPORE (April 11, 2016) – Scripps Networks Interactive, Asia-Pacific (SNI), the region’s leading lifestyle media network, announced the following promotions of key positions in the programming team to bring sharper focus and improved integration for the region’s expanding lifestyle channel portfolio.

•   Carl Zuzarte, Senior Vice President of Programming and Production
•   Raphael Phang, Head of Programming
•   Elise Ching, Programme Acquisitions Director

“Priority for the Asia-Pacific region this year is the global integration of our unit within the greater Scripps Networks family, focused on creating tighter relationships between programming and other functions of the business, particularly marketing and sales,” said Derek Chang, Managing Director, Scripps Networks Interactive, Asia-Pacific. “The promotions we are making today are proven executives whose abilities have propelled the success of the Scripps brand. They will be instrumental as we continue to further position our brands to connect key programming priorities with consumers across Asia.”

Carl Zuzarte, who currently leads the programming and production functions, has been appointed to Senior Vice President, Programming and Production. Zuzarte will now assume overall responsibility for all four of Scripps Networks’ brands, including Asian Food Channel, Food Network, Travel Channel and HGTV, with the programming and production team reporting to him. In his new role, Zuzarte will be working across all four brands to leverage programming content, on-air talent and digital programming extensions to develop compelling and relevant content.

Zuzarte has played a key role in establishing original production strategy, initiating digital content strategy as well as greatly improving the quality of local productions with shows such as Food Wars Asia, Wonderful Indonesia Flavours, Cooking For Love and The Amazing Food Challenge: Fun In The Philippines. He has also been instrumental in streamlining the production and creative process.

Raphael Phang, who currently leads programming for HGTV and Travel Channel, has been promoted to Head of Programming across all of Scripps Networks Interactive brands in Asia-Pacific. As Head of Programming, Phang will be tasked to drive the strategic direction across all four channels, spearheading the planning and execution within the programming function to improve integration and efficiency.

Phang played an integral role in the launch of HGTV, establishing its position as the number one lifestyle channel in Singapore from January 2015 to December 2015 among female cable viewers between 25 to 54 years old. In addition, he consolidated the operations of Travel Channel across the region, bringing an analytical and strategic approach to programming and scheduling efforts.

In a newly created role, Elise Ching has been appointed to Program Acquisitions Director, operating across all of Scripps Networks’ brand in Asia-Pacific. Ching currently leads programming for Asian Food Channel and Food Network. She will report to Head of Programming, Raphael Phang, and will work closely to enhance the current content as well as identify new programming and commissioning opportunities in the region.

Ching was instrumental in the successful transition of Asian Food Channel after Scripps Networks Interactive’s acquisition in 2013 and her stewardship of Food Network and Asian Food Channel has been integral to ratings success, establishing AFC as the number one lifestyle channel in Malaysia from January 2015 to December 2015, with an increase in average time spent per day.

###

For further information, contact:
Evonne Baath: Evonne.Baath@scrippsnetworks.com | +65 9459 3123

About Scripps Network Interactive

Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) is one of the leading developers of engaging lifestyle content in the home, food and travel categories for television, the Internet and emerging platforms. The company's lifestyle media portfolio comprises popular television and Internet brands HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country, which collectively engage more than 190 million U.S. consumers each month. International operations also include TVN, Poland’s premier multi-platform media company; UKTV, an independent commercial joint venture with BBC Worldwide; Asian Food Channel, the first pan-regional TV food network in Asia; and lifestyle channel Fine Living Network. The company’s extensive networks and websites reach millions of consumers globally. Scripps Networks Interactive is headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. For more information on Scripps Networks Interactive, please visit www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com

GAME OF THRONES returns for sixth season April 25 on HBO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EMMY^®– AND GOLDEN GLOBE-WINNING HBO ORIGINAL SERIES

GAME OF THRONES RETURNS FOR SIXTH SEASON APRIL 25 ON HBO

AFTER THE THRONES – a weekly show that takes a humorous look at HBO’s hit series

debuts every Sunday after the encore of GAME OF THRONES on HBO Signature

HBO and Bill Simmons team up for AFTER THE THRONES:

A weekly show that takes a humorous look at HBO’s hit series debuting every Sunday after the encore of GAME OF THRONES on HBO Signature

GAME OF THRONES returns for sixth season April 25 on HBO

Game of Thrones S6 – March Madness trailer

High res pictures for download:

New production stills and behind-the-scenes pictures /more production stills

Game of Thrones S6 LA red carpet pictures – for editorial use only

After the Thrones

SINGAPORE, APRIL 11, 2016 – Following the shocking developments at the conclusion of season five, including Jon Snow’s bloody fate at the hands of Castle Black mutineers, Daenerys’ near-demise at the fighting pits of Meereen, and Cersei’s public humiliation in the streets of King’s Landing, survivors from all parts of Westeros and Essos regroup to press forward, inexorably, towards their uncertain individual fates. Familiar faces will forge new alliances to bolster their strategic chances at survival, while new characters will emerge to challenge the balance of power in the east, west, north and south.

The Emmy^®– and Golden Globe-winning GAME OF THRONES returns for its ten-episode sixth season in Asia the same time as the US – exclusively on HBO this April 25 at 9am, with a same day encore at 9pm, with new episodes every Monday at the same time. The series will also be available on HBO On Demand and HBO GO in selected territories where available.

Based on the bestselling fantasy book series by George R.R. Martin, the hit fantasy series chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent kingdom.

Returning series regulars on GAME OF THRONES this season include: Emmy^® and Golden Globe winner Peter Dinklage(Tyrion Lannister), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Aidan Gillen (Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish), Diana Rigg (Lady Olenna Tyrell), Sophie Turner(Sansa Stark), Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) and Jonathan Pryce (the High Sparrow).

Additional returning series regulars this season include: Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen), Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Isaac Hempstead-Wright (Bran Stark), Conleth Hill (Varys), Kristofer Hivju (Tormund Giantsbane), Michiel Huisman (Daario Naharis), Michael McElhatton (Roose Bolton), Hannah Murray (Gilly), Iwan Rheon (Ramsay Bolton),Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Indira Varma (Ellaria Sand) and Tom Wlaschiha (Jaqen H’ghar).

New cast members for the sixth season include: Pilou Asbaek, Essie Davis, Souad Faress, James Faulkner, Richard E. Grant, Ian McShane, Joe Naufau, Freddie Stroma and Max von Sydow.

Episode S601: “The Red Woman”

Premieres Monday April 25 at 9am on HBO

Other HBO playdates: April 25 (9pm), April 27 (11.10pm)

On HBO Signature: May 1 (10am) and (8.30pm)

Jon Snow is dead. Daenerys meets a strong man. Cersei sees her daughter again.

Written by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss; directed by Jeremy Podeswa

In Sept. 2015, GAME OF THRONES received 12 Emmys^®, a record for a series in one year, garnering awards for Outstanding Drama Series; Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Peter Dinklage’s second win in the category); Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (David Nutter); Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (David Benioff and D.B. Weiss); Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary or Fantasy Program (One Hour or More); Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series; Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series; Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic); Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series; Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour); Outstanding Special Visual Effects; and Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie.

The show also received four Emmys^® in Aug. 2014; two Emmys^® in Sept. 2013; six Emmys^® in Sept. 2012, tied for the most of any programme; and two Emmys^® in Sept. 2011. In addition, Peter Dinklage received a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in Jan. 2012.

The executive producers of GAME OF THRONES are David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Carolyn Strauss, Frank Doelger and Bernadette Caulfield; co-executive producers, Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis and George R.R. Martin; supervising producer, Bryan Cogman; producers, Chris Newman, Greg Spence and Lisa McAtackney.

ABOUT AFTER THE THRONES

A weekly show that takes a lively, humorous and sophisticated look at the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, will debut this month – every Sunday after the encore of Game of Thrones on HBO Signature. Also available on HBO On Demand and HBO GOin selected territories where available, AFTER THE THRONES is the first show to spring from HBO’s new partnership with Bill Simmons.

Hosted by Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan, AFTER THE THRONES will recap the latest episode of Game of Thrones each week, explaining the who, what, when and where, exploring the complicated politics and history of “Thrones,” and offering absurd and not-so-absurd theories about future episodes. Greenwald and Ryan will discuss the show as only they can.

Greenwald and Ryan previously hosted Grantland’s hit Watch the Thrones podcast, and currently host The Watch on Channel 33’s podcast feed for The Ringer. Greenwald has established himself as one of America’s premier television critics, and is currently working on the book “How To Watch TV” (Ecco Press). Ryan is the executive editor of The Ringer. The Watch was hailed as one of the best pop-culture podcasts on the Internet by Vulture and Entertainment Weekly.

The executive producers of AFTER THE THRONES are Bill Simmons and BSMG President Eric Weinberger, with Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald serving as co-executive producers.

About HBO ASIA

Singapore-based HBO Asia brings the best of Hollywood to Asia first through its exclusive licensing deals with major Hollywood and independent studios, including Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate. HBO Asia has proprietary and award-winning HBO and HBO Asia Original programmes that are produced exclusively for HBO viewers. Wholly owned by HBO (a Time Warner company), HBO Asia reaches 23 territories across Asia and offers a bouquet of channels and services including 24-hour commercial-free subscription movie channels in standard-definition and high-definition – HBO, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY, HBO HITS, CINEMAX and RED by HBO – as well as HBO GO and HBO ON DEMAND. HBO Asia is also the exclusive distributor of BabyFirst and the DreamWorks channel in Asia. Log on to www.hboasia.com for more information.

HBO socials

GAME OF THRONES, HBO and Home Box Office are trademarks of Home Box Office, Inc. Used with permission

For more information or images, please contact HBO Asia:

Karen Lai

Director, Communications

Tel: (65) 6381 1796

Email: karen.lai@hboasia.com

Angela Poh

Manager, Communications

Tel: (65) 6381 1838

Email: angela.poh@hboasia.com

Pooq secures rights to carry BBC content for OTT Services in South Korea

6 April 2016: Pooq secures rights to carry BBC content for OTT Services in South Korea

BBC Worldwide today announced a deal with South Korean OTT service Pooq that will not only allow viewers to live stream, catch up and watch BBC World News and CBeebies, but also watch top-rated BBC dramas and natural history programmes on demand. The announcement was made on the third day of MipTV.

The deal will give access to preschoolers and their carers as well as news enthusiasts real time access to CBeebies and BBC World News. They will also, via Pooq’s SVOD and TVOD services, be able to watch more than 400 hours of BBC natural history and drama content. Some of these titles include all three series of the award-winning BBC crime drama, Sherlock, seven series of Doctor Who, the longest running sci-fi TV, War and Peace,the critically acclaimed new adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s timeless novel, Doctor Foster, the highly rated drama about a GP who discovers her husband Simon is cheating on her and plots her calculated revenge; and The Hunt, a natural history landmark series narrated by Sir David Attenborough which takes an intimate and detailed look at the remarkable strategies employed by hunters to catch their prey and the hunted to escape.

“I am very excited to be working with Pooq. We are always looking for new ways to reach our audiences. With Pooq, our fans will now have greater flexibility in how they watch CBeebies and BBC World News. They will be able to take their favourite TV channels with them to watch anytime, anyplace. They will also be able to watch their favourite BBC shows anytime, at their own convenience,” said Soojin Chung, GM of North Asia for BBC Worldwide.

Pooq, a mobile on-demand service which has over 400,000 subscribers in Korea, is a joint venture of three of Korea’s top broadcasters – free to air broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS– that allows viewers to watch TV programmes on their devices.

– Ends –

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 2014/15, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £138.6m and headline sales of £1,001.8m and returned a record £226.5m to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website:
http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview
bbcworldwide.com
twitter.com/bbcwpress

For more information, please contact:

Jeanne Leong
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Jeanne.Leong@bbc.com

Gladys Sim
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Gladys.Sim@bbc.com

8 April, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Apr 8th. 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:

John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	CASBAA’s appearances last week in India got noticed. We were in Mumbai and then Delhi, alongside police and industry officials from the UK, pointing out the advantages of the UK’s energetic approach to online piracy, including an official list of Infringing Websites that advertisers use to shun placing ads on pirate sites. (We covered this ground in last year’s CASBAA Convention as well.) India, with good official support for its increasingly active content industry, seems a likely Asian partner in suppressing ad malpractices.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Act like responsible grownups. This was the overall message that the government seems to be giving to the Indian media sector. Speaking at Frames 2016 in Mumbai late March, MIB Secretary Sunil Arora was categorical that the industry has to deal with issues like questionable ownership of news channels as the industry has been propagating self-regulation. Telecoms and IT Minister RS Prasad went a step further — and beyond his jurisdiction — to raise question marks on BARC’s measurement data — criticism that was countered by the ratings agency in all earnest.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Twitter just did an end-run on Amazon and Verizon to stream 10 NFL Thursday night games to the world. They apparently paid a mere $10 million for these rights, while CBS and NBC collectively paid $450 million to broadcast the same games. Though, Twitter will be streaming the CBS and NBC feeds of the games and will only have the rights to sell a small portion of the ads. And get this, Verizon already owns the mobile rights to NFL games for their customers. Nice work, NFL. The choice for viewers is amazing: free on Twitter, paid on Verizon and broadcast on CBS and NBC. The NFL is right, these games "will actually be hard to miss".
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	As we saw above, "Twitter is basically a cable company now" and then days later Facebook launches Facebook Live to everyone. Well not EVERYONE, just their 1.6 billion monthly active users. So if it wasn’t enough that Meerkat and Periscope were grabbing video viewers to watch live on their platforms, self-broadcasting is now just a button away on the Facebook app. The article states, "And it seems clear where Facebook will eventually go with this: right at traditional broadcast.” “We’re entering this new golden age of video,” says Zuckerberg. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you fast-forward five years and most of the content that people see on Facebook and are sharing on a day-to-day basis is video.” This “golden age" could mean there will be more folks sharing the same amount of gold.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	Verizon has announced it has agreed to buy a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV. In addition to its equity investment, Verizon and AwesomenessTV will create a first-of-its-kind premium short-form mobile video service featuring leading talent in front of and behind the camera. The new service will operate as a new and independent brand, and feature premium transactional content for a variety of audiences. The new premium content service will initially be exclusive to Verizon platforms in the United States, while AwesomenessTV will retain the right to sell content in the rest of the world.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Policy wonks will recall that three years ago the Taiwan NCC announced an intention to restructure its rate regulation for analogue cable TV packages. (Analogue? Still?) Well, the changes in the analogue era rules still haven’t been implemented yet; in theory it’s supposed to happen this year. NCC has tweaked the proposal from its original form; they eliminated a proposed cap on monthly subscription fees. But cable operators remain unhappy with too-heavy requirements for a la carte offers. That could kill lots of channels, they said. And some legislators don’t like that idea either.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	A new report from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) says a quarter of EU citizens aged between 15 and 24 have admitted to intentionally using illegal sources to access online content in the past 12 months. According to the report most say they do this because it is free, or cheaper than accessing content from legal sources. The research surveyed young people in each of the 28 EU Member States, seeking to understand how young EU citizens behave online, and to explore the main drivers and barriers for them in acquiring online content and physical goods both legally and illegally.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	And in Indonesia, the censorship wars continue. This time, the action is all focused on the free-to-air TV channels, with content censors at KPI seeking legislative teeth for their blasts at the channels. Separately, KPI’s plan to review the operations of the FTA channels was supported by leading Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, which says TV shows shouldn’t be allowed if they don’t “benefit society.”
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	The research firm GlobalWebIndex, says that over 40% of internet users in Indonesia are using a VPN, which is a markedly higher rate than in some European countries, such as the UK (16%) or The Netherlands (14%). Other Asian countries also have relatively high rates, including Thailand (39%), Vietnam (35%), India (33%), Taiwan (33%), Malaysia (32%) and China (29%). The global average is 25%. Looking at the survey results for Asia, it would appear that internet users in the region are using VPNs to access entertainment and news sites that the authorities would prefer to block. Examples of this are Indonesia's state-owned telecoms operator blocking access to Netflix and Vietnam blocking Facebook. It is also clear that some countries in the region are keen to restrict access to certain news sites, but there are less authoritarian motives at play in other nations, such as Singapore, which seeks to block access to file-sharing sites like The Pirate Bay.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Ooh! Ooh! What is it about oo names for OTT services? In SE Asia, we have Hooq. (No alternate meanings, it seems.) In South Korea, it’s Pooq. (Guess nobody in Seoul cares about the alternate meaning of that word.) And last week in India, Viacom18 launched its “Voot” OTT service. Well, at least they did a good job of choosing a happy name. Toot!
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Carat’s latest global forecasts highlights that advertising spend will reach US$538 billion in 2016, accounting for a +4.5% year-on-year increase. Fueled by high-interest media events taking place during the year – including the US presidential elections, Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics and the UEFA EURO 2016 championship the positive outlook for 2016 is predicted to continue into 2017, with Carat’s forecast highlighting a consistently strong year-on-year global advertising growth of +4.5%.

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Member News

Zee Media announces new leadership at DNA

Mr. Rohit Gandhi appointed as Editor-in-Chief of DNA

Mrs. Shreyasi Goenka takes the responsibility of Content Advisor

Mumbai, April 07, 2016: Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) today announced that Mr. Rohit Gandhi who is heading ZMCL’s English News Channel – WION as Editor-in-chief, will additionally take over the role of Editor-in-Chief of DNA, its leading English mainline daily. Additionally, Mrs. Shreyasi Goenka, who has been mentoring the content at DNA for a while, will now take the responsibility of Content Advisor and will guide all functions of DNA. Mr. Uday Nirgudkar who has been heading DNA along with Zee 24 Taas, will now continue to lead Zee 24 Taas as its Business Head.

Commenting on the new leadership, Dr. Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Essel Group & Zee Media Corporation Limited (ZMCL) (@_SubhashChandra) said, “One of our Vision 2020 goals is to become a leading global media conglomerate which is hugely dependent on our ability to create an organization that has the capacity to achieve its desired aspirations. We believe that the convergence of our media businesses i.e. television news and print platforms is an opportunity that will help us to achieve this organizational aspiration. With Zee Media’s ambition to get into English News broadcasting, both the brands put together give the organization an opportunity to serve our audiences better.”

Speaking on her association with DNA, Mrs. Shreyasi Goenka, Content Advisor, DNA (@anvivud) said: “Since its launch in 2005, DNA has become the preferred choice for India’s young and dynamic readers. We have been continuously innovating with offerings like ‘I Am IN – dna of India’, a technology enabled initiative, that promises to enlighten, engage and empower citizens of India in getting involved in the cause for better governance. We are confident that this new seamless organizational structure will bring in fresh insights and views, thus helping us to leverage resources more effectively and in maximizing our market potential.”

Speaking on his new appointment, Rohit Gandhi, Editor-in-Chief, DNA and WION (@rohitgandhi_) said, “We are moving to expand our coverage and the editions of DNA. It is a great opportunity for us to bring more textured content from all parts of India to give our readers a far deeper understanding of India and the world. I look forward to working with Shreyasi in building an insightful newspaper.”

The new appointments will come into effect from April 7, 2016. All editorial functions will henceforth report into Mr. Rohit Gandhi.

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Notes to Editors:

About Zee Media Corporation Ltd:

Zee Media Corporation Limited (formerly Zee News Ltd.) is India’s one of the Largest News Network with 10 channels, Mumbai edition of DNA newspaper and digital properties like zeenews.com and dnaindia.com. The network comprises of national channels – Zee News (Hindi News), Zee Business (Hindi Business News) and India 24×7 (Hindi News). In addition it has regional news channels, Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh (Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh), Zee 24 Taas (Marathi), Zee Rajasthan News (Rajasthan), Zee Punjab Haryana Himachal and Zee Kalinga News (Odisha). Additionally the company operates 2 regional news channels through its subsidiaries viz. 24 Ghanta (Bengali) through Zee Akaash News Pvt Ltd and Maurya TV (Bihar & Jharkhand) through Maurya TV Private Limited.

================================

Media Contact:

Jayshree Kumar / Arantxa Gonsalves

Mobile: +91 9769286661 / +91 9820336890

Landline: +91-22-7106 1367 / 7108 5464

Email: jayshree.kumar@zee.esselgroup.com / arantxa.gonsalves@zee.esselgroup.com

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CNN International Commercial Appoints new Apac Head of Content Sales & Partnerships

CNN International Commercial has appointed David Collet to Senior Director of Content Sales and Partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region.

Based in Singapore, Collet is responsible for increasing content and services available for CNN’s international affiliates and partners. He will work with existing and new TV and digital publishers across the region to license CNN’s award-winning content, reporting, consultancy and training, as well as launch CNN-branded linear and digital channels.

The appointment comes at an important time for CNN International Commercial as it offers partners unprecedented access to exclusive CNN content around the U.S. elections. CNN is also embarking on a major digital expansion which will see the creation of an additional 200 jobs globally plus a major enhancement of products and technologies. New mobile and off-platform programming units will be created and the global footprint is expanding. Other recent digital investments include the global expansion of CNNMoney, the extraordinary growth of CNN Politics, the launch of CNN Style, and the creation of the socially distributed video network Great Big Story.

Collet and his team in Asia-Pacific work with more than 60 affiliates and partners. He reports to Greg Beitchman, Vice President of Content Sales and Partnerships for CNN International. “David is a genuine media expert who can capitalize on CNN’s exponential growth, innovation and investment in digital platforms and content for the benefit of our content partners across the region. As well as continuing to work with traditional affiliates and growing successful ventures such as CNN Philippines and CNN Indonesia, he will be instrumental in identifying ways to share our wealth of expertise and unique content in the digital space,” Beitchman said.

Prior to CNN International, Collet was head of content distribution for Perform Group, Singapore. He begins his new role with CNN this week.

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About David Collet:

David has 15 years of experience and a proven track record working across digital, content, media, data, sponsorship and communications. He joins CNN International from Perform Group, Singapore, where he was responsible for building ITS Asia business through marketing and business development strategies. He led the company to double digit revenue growth across multiple sectors, including broadcasters, digital, agencies and governing bodies. He moved to Asia after forging a successful career in Europe, based in London and Paris. David is fluent in English and French and holds a Master’s Degree in Sports Management.

About CNN International

CNN’s portfolio of news and information services is available in seven different languages across all major TV, digital and mobile platforms reaching more than 420 million households around the globe, including over 72 million across the Asia Pacific region. CNN International is the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific region and Latin America and recently expanded its US presence with its launch on CNNgo. CNN Digital is a leading network for online news, mobile news and social media. CNN is at the forefront of digital innovation and continues to invest heavily in expanding its digital global footprint, with a suite of award-winning digital properties and a range of strategic content partnerships, commercialised through a strong data-driven understanding of audience behaviours. Over the years CNN has won multiple prestigious awards around the world for its journalism. CNN has 41 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newsource. CNN International is part of Turner, a Time Warner company.

BBC Worldwide secures new digital deals in India

BBC Worldwide announced today, on the second day of MipTV, two new licensing deals with India’s leading digital services providers, Hungama and Vuclip. With these SVOD deals, India viewers will have access to award-winning and popular BBC drama series never before seen in India.

From end April 2016, viewers of Hungama will be able to watch BBC programmes premiering in India for the first time including crime drama Prey (Series 1) – in which John Simm (Life on Mars, State of Play) stars as a man on the run, desperate to clear his name for the sake of his family; Not Safe For Work – a comedy drama which follows Katherine (played by Zawe Ashton) who is reluctantly relocated from London to Northampton as part of public spending cuts and she meets a disparate yet similarly disillusioned group of workmates; and sci-fi, comedy and horror drama Save Our Skins – in which protagonists Ben and Stephen wake up one morning to realise the human race has disappeared and they are the only two humans left on Earth. These programmes, and more will be available on demand for viewers to watch at their own convenience.

Subscribers of Vuclip’s OTT service, Viu, can now catch blockbusting BBC dramas including the modern reworking of Tolstoy’s epic masterpiece, War and Peace, starring Paul Dano, Lily James and James Norton; and BAFTA-nominated Doctor Foster in which Doctor Gemma Foster, a loving wife and trusted doctor’s seemingly perfect world is shattered when she suspects her husband of having an affair.

“Over the last few months, we have seen an upward trend where BBC’s dramas are being increasingly snapped up by Indian clients for their linear TV and digital TV platforms. A study commissioned by BBC Worldwide last year showed that international audiences, including India, love original British drama,” said Myleeta Aga, SVP & GM of BBC Worldwide (India). “With more and more Indians going online to watch their favourite dramas, we are excited to work with Hungama and Viu to satisfy viewers’ demands by bring critically acclaimed and highly rated BBC programmes to their subscribers.”

Hungama is the largest aggregator, developer, publisher and distributor of Bollywood and South-Asian entertainment content in the world with over 4 million pieces of content across genres and languages distributed through Hungama Play, Hungama Music and Hungama.com.

Vuclip, a PCCW Media Company, is a leading premium video on-demand service for emerging markets with nine million subscribers per quarter. The company’s OTT service, Viu, is currently enjoyed by consumers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and India.

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̶ Ends ̶

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 2014/15, BBC Worldwide generated headline profits of £138.6m and headline sales of £1,001.8m and returned a record £226.5m to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see our Annual Review website:

www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview
www.bbcworldwide.com
www.twitter.com/bbcwpress

For more information, please contact:

BBC Worldwide:

Jeanne Leong
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Jeanne.Leong@bbc.com

Gladys Sim
BBC Worldwide
Tel: +65 6849 5295
Email: Gladys.Sim@bbc.com

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Christopher Slaughter

CEO

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme