countryprofiles
Charmed, Hits, Rewind Networks
Gift horse Christmas came early this year for at least five indie linear channels operators, who are merrily stepping into the void left by the exit of Disney’s Fox Networks Groups’ channels at midnight on 30 September. But if some of the new deals are about replacing dead channels, the new pickups also signal confidence in the enduring ability of linear to service large swathes of audiences in Asia. For all the nostalgia of saying goodbye to a long-running bouquet of Fox
ence in its home market as well as its established relationships with sports
channels at the end of September, Disney’s decision to pretty much shut-
agencies and rights owners.
ter its linear business from 30 September meant Christmas came early for most indie regional channels operators in Southeast Asia. From 1 October, known local brands led by Rewind Networks, TechStorm and Rock Entertainment, along with new entrants such as Eclat Media’s
Eclat Media went live this month with eight carriage agreements for its two linear channels – SpoTV and SpoTV2 – in Malaysia (Astro, Telkom Malaysia), Singapore (Singtel, StarHub), Philippines (Skycable), Thailand (TrueVisions), Macau (Macau Cable TV) and Mongolia (Univision).
SpoTV and Moonbug Entertainment, revelled in the kind of capacity that
The linear channels kicked off with the MotoGP and WorldSBK motors-
hasn’t ever opened up all at once, at least not since the first legitimate
port championships, Wimbledon and U.S. Open tennis Grand Slams, and
pay-TV platforms launched in the region more than two decades ago.
the latest K-wave sports, including the Korean Baseball League (KBO), Ko-
In September, Avi Himatsinghani’s eight-year-old Rewind Networks an-
rean Basketball League (KBL), and the Korean V-League volleyball.
nounced at least seven new carriage agreements (IndiHome and Transvi-
The company said it would focus on local sports content for individu-
sion in Indonesia, Macau Cable, Singtel Singapore, Unifi TV Malaysia, Hong
al markets, much the same way as it has in Korea,where it operates six
Kong Cable, Medianet Maldives), for its two channels, Hits and Hits Movies.
channels, including three basic sports services and a sports streamer.
Debbie Lee’s TechStorm/Tech TV added GST DTH Philippines and Unifi
Eclat Media Group chief executive, Mitch Hong, said during the Con-
Malaysia); and Ward Platt’s Rock Entertainment Holdings, which distrib-
tentAsia Summit that the company’s other services – including fan-based
utes five channels, increased its footprint with existing clients and brought
and other digital content – would follow the linear channels into Southeast
new markets on board in deals that kick in from now to January 2022 with,
Asia, likely from 2022.
among others, Singapore (Singtel TV), Myanmar (Skynet, meTV), Thailand, Taiwan (Kbro, CNS) and Indonesia (Vidio).
Platforms too are using the opportunity to rework their bundles. In Malaysia, for instance, Astro doubled down on linear services at the same time
Encouraged by the exit of Fox Sports and taking advantage of what it
as upsizing its profile as a streaming apps aggregator. Astro’s vote of con-
now sees as the sports rights gap in Asia, Korea’s Eclat Media landed in
fidence in linear channels involves eight English-language entertainment
Southeast Asia for the first time this month, leveraging 17 years of experi-
services, three new sports channels, and two new on-demand destinations.
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contentasia october 2021