Afgan
Michael Bolton
productioninterview
David Foster
Anggun
tremendous headwinds. There are obviously a lot of linear channels go-
The expansion of ONE in Indonesia two months after the sale closed
ing away, but there’s definitely a marketplace for this. We saw a brilliant
was a happy opportunity rather than part of the original strategy. ONE, a
opportunity with the strong brands. It wasn’t an oversized portfolio. We
part of Sony’s original bundle in Indonesia, rolled out a separate Indone-
didn’t feel like we had a lot of fat that was sitting there,” Chien says.
sia feed a few years ago when Korean broadcaster SBS pulled its rights
That was before Covid-19. “Externally and internally, there were going
back so that it could launch its own Indonesia channel. A change of
to be challenges when we took this business over, but with Covid, every-
heart at SBS meant rights became available again and KC Global Me-
body’s dealing with the same thing... it made it that much easier to have
dia was able to step back in. The new era kicked off with first-run rights
the various conversations. We had to be innovative, smart, efficient.”
to Backstreet Rookie, an SBS title sold by A+E Networks outside of Korea.
“If anything, Covid accelerated the mindset changes that were re-
Today, ONE in Indonesia is again part of ONE’s regional play, with,
quired for us to be successful,” Chien adds. “I think... we’re getting to the
of course, its own language feed. “We’re going to do what’s right and
place we wanted to be in maybe three to six months earlier than we had
what’s necessary for ONE to continue to be a powerful linear channel,”
initially anticipated.”
Chien says.
At the same time, he acknowledges the challenges. “Do we still see
While the output deal with SBS remains in place, Chien says Korea’s
there are tremendous headwinds? Do we still have adjustments that
production environment today is “very different” to what it was when
need to be made? Absolutely,” he says.
the original ONE agreement was sealed. “We need to pause and under-
KC Global Media sees the linear/live channels environment playing out differently market by market in Asia. “Some markets are going to fade a lot faster and face a lot stronger headwinds,” he says. Like, for instance, Singapore, and others with high
stand the dynamics,” he adds. “The output deal is still the same, but the dynamic behind the output deal has differed. So that’s what makes it a little bit more challenging, but we’re still going to deliver.” What about content supply from Sony? “Some of our best-rated shows
broadband penetration and a taste for VOD/SVOD services. Advertising
come from Sony,” Chien says, mentioning Lincoln Rhyme, Black List, LA’s
support for linear services in Taiwan, however, remains “pretty strong”.
Finest and acknowledging, along with everyone else, content and price
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contentasia november 2020