ASIA TV FORUM
Go Digital, Go Local is flavour of Asia TV Forum 2015
SINGAPORE: It seems the pre-market conference is looking to set the tone for the rest of the market as well. Everyone, who is either involved in the content creation or content aggregation end, is thinking digital and going local.
Post the keynotes earlier in the day, the sessions that followed include: ‘The Future of TV and Visual Entertainment,’ ‘Native Players, Digital Strategies,’ ‘View from Over The Top’ and ‘Digital Content: Cashing in or Cashing out?’
In the first one, UK-based Ovum’s practice leader Ed Barton took to stage and gave some valuable insights in terms of how the world’s leading broadcasters and pay-TV operators are rethinking their business models to adapt to the ever changing and evolving viewing habits of the consumers. And even more importantly how advertisers are now thinking outside the box to catch their next potential customer.
“Pay-TV growth in developing regions will be driven by finer market segmentation. While digital will continue to grow and rely heavily on what millennials choose to consume, with creators having to strategise better and cater to those needs,” said Barton.
According to Ovum’s study, India’s average revenue per user (ARPU) from Pay-TV subscribers would be around $7.24 by 2020, whereas that for APAC will be at $8.63. But, what was more interesting is the fact that according to the same study, China would be having a lower ARPU than the Indian sub-continent, which is somewhat hard to digest. “The growth for video on demand services and HD services will be directly proportional to the ARPUs drive they receive,” Barton added.
Next up the panel discussing ‘Native Players, Digital Strategies’ saw Endemol Asia MD Fotini Parakakis, MNC Sky Vision – Indonesia, VP director Yudha Wibawa and BBC Worldwide – SEA, SVP & GM Monty Ghai giving their views on what they believe is the future of digital content from the broadcaster’s perspective.
“Broadcasters and brands are more open than ever before to explore differentiated content offerings and break out of the old school, tried and tested formulas. It’s heartening to see independent content creators, who got their very own multi-channel networks (MCNs) now taking it a step ahead by working with broadcasters to create more engaging content,” said Parakakis.
Sharing similar views BBC’s Ghai shared, “We are exploring short format shows as well, but our main focus will continue to remain long form premium content since that’s in our DNA. That being said, what I believe will work for SEA and rest of Asia is if digital content can be used to drive audiences to consume more content on linear as well, rather than leading to cannibalise its presence.”
Indonesia is somewhat similar to how India is progressing in terms of its digitisation process, and people there too face similar hurdles like low broadband connectivity and penetration, along with infrastructure woes. But even in such a scenario MNC Sky Vision’s Wibawa sees a ray of hope. “Although only a few cities are in the position to look at heavy consumption of content on the mobile (given the low broadband penetration) it is still worth a shot and a fairly large population (read over 30 per cent) that is on the look out for such content,” Wibawa said.
Similar discussions were held during the other two sessions as well, which clearly shows that digital is here to stay and if creators embrace the idea of ‘Going Local, but for the world’ then there’s nothing that can stand in the way of how Asia transforms from being influenced by western content, to influence western content instead.
MUMBAI: The Asia TV Forum (ATF) is drawing to a close amid much fanfare. The event saw several activities such as an exciting round of on-stage pitches wherein producers from all over Asia presented their ideas. The winners of the inaugural Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) Animation Pitch were also anounced and the unveiling of the second ATF Formats Pitch took place on 30 November 2017.
Reed Exhibitions and global partner Green Gold Animation announced studio2 Animation Lab as the winner of the first-ever ATF Animation Pitch. The animation concept, titled “The Western Journey of Pigsy”, wowed the on-stage jury for its creativity and strong appeal to children. The line-up of judges, which comprises some of the biggest names in kids’ animation and entertainment, also saw strong potential for the concept to be exported and extended to a series.
Targeted at creators and producers of innovative concepts for new and original kids’ animation, ATF Animation Pitch is aimed at facilitating the exchange of ideas and talent between leading international television, distribution and Asian-based producers. In total, 61 entries were received from all over Asia.
“I am thrilled and excited to be named the winner of the inaugural ATF Animation Pitch. We had a unique concept and we felt that it allows viewers to experience the journey in the west story in a contemporary way. Moving forward, we will work towards developing the script for the concept,” said studio2 Animation Lab director Chiu Li Wei.
Chiu Li Wei and Grace Chuang from studio2 Animation Lab received a $19,000 prize from GreenGold Animation. This includes a $2,500 cash award, and a consultancy package worth $16,500 that is tailor-made for them to further develop the winning animation, making it ready to pitch to broadcasters.
After a closely contested fight between five finalists, leading independent distributor all3media International and ATF announced that Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy) from Indonesia, came out on top, winning $3,500 in cash and a $16,500 (both Singapore dollars) consultancy package tailor-made to develop the format, making it pitch-ready for broadcasters.
ATF Formats Pitch is the premier Asian pitching competition designed to discover innovative concepts for new and original non-scripted entertainment formats from the pan-Asian region. This platform showcases the best of Asia, and exposes ideas for export and development within and even outside of the region.
In its second year, the competition received more than 50 entries from 13 countries and only five finalists were selected to pitch their concept during the live on-stage judging session which concluded earlier today. Formats were evaluated based on creativity, originality and capacity to return for multiple series. The winning concept must also have the capability to resonate with audiences globally.
Portraying all these qualities was the winning format, Ranking. It is a game show where participants have to guess the correct order of a ranking in return for prizes. Besides the excitement value that comes with game shows, it also serves to dish fun facts and information to viewers. The judges loved the simplicity of the idea and felt that it had great potential for further development.
“As many people are familiar with rankings, I believe my format will appeal to any country. Also, I have not seen it in the form of a game show concept. As a producer myself, I understood that for a format to do well, it has to be simple. I am very thankful for the win, I didn’t expect it at all,” said Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy).
To further develop the format and make it ready for pitching to broadcasters, Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy) will work closely with all3media International. This follows the success of “Hit It” from XTREME Media, which won at the inaugural ATF Formats Pitch last year, and has received its first local commission for a debut in February 2018.
Aside from the ATF Animation Pitch and ATF Formats Pitch, ATF and ScreenSingapore is also home to another pitching competition, the Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market.
