MCOT, APPLETOOL AND VIACOM INTERNATIONAL MEDIA NETWORKS ASIA ENTER INTO A GROUND-BREAKING STRATEGIC ALLIANCE IN THAILAND

MTV THAILAND IS BACK

MODERNINE CLINCHES NICKELODEON BRANDED BLOCK DEAL

THAILAND, 26 April 2013 – MCOT Public Company Limited today announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Asia, a division of Viacom Inc., a leading provider of entertainment content, and appleTool Co. Ltd, a local general entertainment content provider and subsidiary of VR1 Media Group, to collaborate on production, licensing, distribution and live events for MTV Thailand. This follows an announcement just last week on an exclusive licensing agreement between VIMN and appleTool to bring back MTV Thailand to its Thai fans. At a signing ceremony in front of Thai media and trade partners today, MCOT also announced a licensing agreement with VR1 Media Group to offer a Nickelodeon branded block on MCOT’s Modernine that will launch on June 22nd.

The MTV Thailand channel will officially launch on May 1st and reach over 10 million households (approximately fifty percent of total TV households in the country). The channel will be distributed on C-band satellite and on Ku-band satellite, which provides access to True Visions’ 2 million Pay-TV subscriber base through its Freeview Pack on Channel 59, and on C-band satellite. Plans for MTV Thailand include local productions, on-ground events and an enhanced range of programs specially catered for the Thai youth market, including the “MTV VJ Hunt” for Thailand. The selected MTV VJs will become the extension of the brand’s personality in Thailand, present MTV Thailand’s original productions, and introduce viewers to the hottest local and international talents. The plan is to fully localize MTV Thailand – made in Thailand for Thai viewers.

“I am delighted we are joining hands with appleTool, a strong local content producer, who will be responsible for the localization of MTV Thailand. This is a ground-breaking alliance that has not been done in the Thai media industry and will really bring us to the forefront of local content production. Look out for more to come, including a move towards digitization. VIMN brings expertise in creating youth-oriented programming, brand strength and production expertise into the mix. Furthermore, we will be bringing Nickelodeon to Modernine. I am confident of the success of this strategic alliance that really strengthens our channels’ line-up for our audiences,” said Dr. Anek Permvongseni, President of MCOT Public Company Limited.

“This strategic alliance will give our content a presence that no other non-Thai channel has today. We will be the widest distributed international channel in Thailand as we will be across all major platforms, including True Visions, PSI C-band, and DTV. MCOT’s over 60-year history and dominance in the Thai media market makes them a logical and strong partner and we have certainly fulfilled our on-going strategy to extend the coverage of both MTV and Nickelodeon brands across Asia, especially in a fast-growing market like Thailand,” said VIMN Asia’s executive vice president and managing director, Indra Suharjono. “We are just as thrilled that we can bring the Nickelodeon experience onto Modernine, where Thai kids can now undoubtedly connect with their beloved characters on Nickelodeon.”

“We look to build an exceptional platform for the creation and delivery of great music and entertainment for the Thai youth. Our collaboration with such an iconic youth entertainment brand like MTV represents an opportunity for local talents and youths to engage each other as we create a channel that features some of the very best of MTV for Thai millennials,” said Byrd Kulpong Bunnag, chief executive officer, VR1 Media Group.

The launch of MTV Thailand and the Nickelodeon branded block represent a significant opportunity for the three parties’ business partners, including advertisers, record labels, the talent community and multiplatform distributors.

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About MCOT
The core businesses operated by MCOT Public Company Limited include Modernine TV Station, MCOT radio stations, and The Thai News Agency. MCOT Plc. has 2 subsidiaries; namely, Panorama Worldwide Company Limited and SeedMCOT Company Limited. MCOT Plc. has also carried out the business with other private companies under joint operation agreements such as Bangkok Entertainment Company Limited, operator of TV Channel 3, and TrueVisions Public Company Limited, operator of the subscription TV.

About MTV
MTV is the world’s premier youth entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its award-winning content built around compelling storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile. Outside of the United States, MTV is part of Viacom International Media Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. For information about MTV in Southeast Asia, visit www.mtvasia.com.

About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 34th year globally and 15th year in Asia, is one of the most globally recognized and widely distributed multimedia entertainment brands for kids and family. The company has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does with a portfolio that extends across television, music, publishing, digital media, mobile and consumer products. Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. are seen in more than 60 million households throughout North and Southeast Asia region with 24-hour programming services including Nickelodeon Southeast Asia, Nickelodeon Korea, as well as Nickelodeon branded programme blocks and syndications. For information about Nickelodeon in Asia, visit www.nick-asia.com.

About Viacom International Media Networks
Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), is comprised of many of the world’s most popular multimedia entertainment brands, including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, Paramount Channel, VH1, VIVA, COLORS, Game One and Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más. Viacom brands are seen globally in more than 600 million households in 170 territories and 37 languages via more than 200 locally programmed and operated TV channels and more than 550 digital media and mobile TV properties. For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com. Keep up with Viacom news by following Viacom’s blog at blog.viacom.com and Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/Viacom.

About VR1 Media Group
VR1 Media Group has been influential in teens music movement in Thailand through its Fat Radio station and Fat Festival event. The Group also operates 101 FM, a leading news radio station in Bangkok. VR1 has recently launched Apple One, a satellite TV station, offering a variety of unique and entertaining programs.

Media Contacts:
MCOT Public Company Limited
Patsarocha Charoenpruksachart (Janny)
t: 089 011 5785/ 088 902 6294
e: jannypikky@hotmail.com/ patsarocha@gmail.com

Viacom International Media Networks
Adeline Ong, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, Asia
t: (65) 6420 7240 m: (65) 9366 7323
e: adeline.ong@vimn.com
Twitter: @VIMNAsia_PR

VR1 Media Group
Watson Homsangpradit
m: (66) 81 901 7228
e: watsonhomeboy@gmail.com

April 25, 2013 – CNBC has announced the appointment of KC Sullivan as its new president and managing director following Satpal Brainch’s move to become EVP & managing director, Universal Networks International.

Read more at Broadband TV News

SINGAPORE, APRIL 25 2013 – Monica Tata has been appointed the Managing Director of HBO India. Ms. Tata joins the leading home entertainment network with immediate effect and will be based in Mumbai and report to Jonathan Spink, CEO, HBO Asia.

Ms. Tata will be responsible for introducing and developing various initiatives to enhance the company’s offerings in India and its subcontinent, including providing strategic direction and managing partner relationships.

“We are pleased to have Monica join the HBO Asia family. With Monica’s experience in the industry and her familiarity with our brand and channels, she is the ideal candidate to develop and grow HBO’s brand and market share in South Asia,” said Jonathan Spink, CEO, HBO Asia.

Ms. Tata has over 23 years of media experience and was most recently the General Manager, Entertainment Networks, South Asia for Turner International India Pvt Ltd where she was responsible for steering and overseeing all network initiatives across Turner’s entertainment brand portfolio in South Asia. Prior to that, she served at Star Television, Midday Publications and Sunday Mail.

“I am excited to join the HBO Asia family as I love the brand and this is an exciting opportunity for me,” said Monica Tata, Managing Director, HBO India.

There are three 24-hour HBO movie channels available to viewers in India – HBO, the blockbuster movie channel which was launched in 2000, and two premium advertising free movie channels, HBO DEFINED and HBO HITS, launched earlier this year that showcase the best of Hollywood and Bollywood content in high-definition and standard-definition.

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About HBO Asia

HBO Asia is able to bring the best of Hollywood to Asia first because of its exclusive licensing deals with major Hollywood studios. In addition to the proprietary and award-winning HBO Original programs that are produced exclusively for HBO viewers, HBO Asia works with a large number of major independent production companies to secure exclusive rights to a host of quality movies. In Asia, HBO Asia offers five subscription movie channels with uninterrupted programming in SD and HD formats – HBO, HBO SIGNATURE, HBO FAMILY, HBO HITS and CINEMAX – as well as a subscription video-on-demand service, HBO ON DEMAND. In India, there are three movie channels – HBO, HBO DEFINED and HBO HITS in SD and HD formats. HBO Asia is a joint venture of HBO (a Time Warner company) and Paramount. For more information, please visit: www.hboasia.com or www.hbosouthasia.com

(24 April 2013) By Sanjay Gupta, Star India chief operating officer

(Excerpts from a keynote address delievered at APOS Bali, Indonesia on the dynamics of sports broadcasting in India)

By the end of 2011, Star had clearly established itself as the premier entertainment network in India and for Indians worldwide, with 400 million people watching our drama and movie channels in seven languages every day. In one of the most competitive markets in the world, we had established substantial leadership in every genre and in most geographies.And while Star and Fox had built an attractive franchise in entertainment, in sports, very unlike our traditional approach, we had tucked the business away in a joint venture with ESPN that was not managed or controlled by us.

Read more at Indiantelevision.com

Joyce Yeung, EVP and GM Asia, names her Senior Team

(Wednesday, April 24 2013, Singapore) … Newly appointed Executive Vice President and General Manager for Asia, Joyce Yeung, has named her leadership team who will be responsible for the running of BBC Worldwide’s business in Asia.

The appointments follow the reorganisation of BBC Worldwide to further increase its focus on international markets, enabling it to capture future growth opportunities around the world.

The reorganisation sees the business reconfigured from divisional to geographic lines of management. BBC Worldwide’s structure, primarily based around five global divisions ceased to exist on 31st March. Starting April 1 2013, P&L ownership and primary commercial accountability has moved closer to its customers (further information here http://bbc.in/LnCZ3S).

Joyce reports to Paul Dempsey, President, Global Markets.

Reporting into Joyce will be:
Mark Whitehead – Senior Vice President & General Manager South East Asia and Channels Lead Asia. In addition to the SEA remit, Mark is also the channels lead for all of Asia overseeing the regional Channels strategy in conjunction with other territory leads.

Myleeta Aga – Senior Vice President & General Manager India and Content Lead Asia. In additional to the India remit, Myleeta is also the creative lead overseeing the Asia content strategy working with other territory leads.

Ken Munekata – President Japan

Pierre Cheung – Vice President & General Manager Greater China

Soojin Chung – Head of Korea

Ken Cheung – Head of Digital Asia

Each territory head is responsible for the P&L; business development and delivering revenue and profit growth across all businesses which will include channels; TV sales; consumer products and production in their respective country/ regional remits.

Sunita Rajan, Executive Vice President, BBC Advertising Asia and Australasia, continues to head the ad sales business for Asia and Australasia with the added responsibility for BBC.com and Lonely Planet advertising sales activities in Australia. Reporting into Carolyn Gibson, Executive Vice President, International Advertising Sales, she will be working with Joyce Yeung on the ad sales business for Asia.

Commenting on the appointments, Joyce said: “I am looking forward to working with this very strong group of leaders in the region. With Mark, Myleeta, Ken Munekata, Pierre, Soojin, and Ken Cheung helming the business with me, I am confident that we will enjoy even more successes in taking BBC Worldwide’s Asia business to greater heights.”

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For more information, please contact:
Jeanne Leong
BBC Worldwide Asia
Tel: +65 6849 5292
Email: Jeanne.Leong@bbc.com

The Bigfoot Ventures Subsidiary Expands in Asia with 3.5 Million Thai Households

Hong Kong, April 24, 2013 – Fashion One, the international channel for fashion, entertainment and lifestyle television, and Cable Thai Holding, Plc. (CTH), the leading service provider that brings 300 cable operators together in Thailand, jointly announced the launch of the channel during APOS 2013. The channel will be available to 3.5 million TV households in Thailand.

The international television network caters to the country’s fashionable and stylish female audience with content covering the very latest fashion, entertainment, lifestyle news, profiles of A-list celebrities, luxury brands, holiday destinations and red carpet events. Fashion One also delivers a strong lineup of original programmes, from reality shows to documentaries, beauty tips, and street styling.

Fashion One’s CEO, Ashley Jordan, said, “We are extremely pleased to partner with CTH to offer the channel to their broad base of subscribers. With Thailand being one of the leading Asian countries in the luxury, fashion and travel sector, the region has a lot to offer to the programme line-up of Fashion One. In addition to revealing fashion in all aspects of life to our audiences in Thailand, Fashion One will also showcase the incredible fashion, entertainment and lifestyle programmes created within the country.”

Kittsanan Ngampatipong, CTH’s Chief Executive, said “CTH welcomes Fashion One to our platform with delight. Our viewers will be able to enjoy top-notch programmes in high-definition which will help add more entertaining experience to them.”

Fashion One also announces its expansion in Europe with the launch on Splius’ pay TV platform in Lithuania. The channel will be available in both the basic and high definition packages servicing the audience in Siauliai region of Northern Lithuania.

The channel will debut with Eco Fashion Season 2 and Kick Up Your Heels. Eco Fashion is a groundbreaking docu-series that will take you on a mind-opening journey into the realm of environmentally sustainable fashion. Kick Up Your Heels is a sexy, fun lifestyle series that brings the high-heeled workout phenomenon direct to the living room. Viewers will also enjoy an on-going fashion news series Fashion Frontline and lifestyle series Yoga, Health and Well-being.

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About Fashion One
FASHION ONE is a global lifestyle and entertainment TV network for women focused on glamorous and inspirational fashion in all aspect of life. With the latest updates and in-depth interviews with designers and celebrities, female audiences will be entertained with Fashion One’s original programmes including reality shows, documentary, travelogue, entertainment news and lifestyle magazine. The Fashion One Network is a subsidiary of Bigfoot Entertainment launched in 2010. For more information, please visit www.fashionone.com.

About Cable Thai
Cable Thai Holding Plc was founded in August 2009 by over 100 cable TV operators nationwide with a mission to serve as an organization to gather a wide range of high quality copyrighted content in order for it to be made available to member companies via a single unified platform. At present, CTH consists of about 200 local cable TV operators which cover over 3 million households nationwide.

The company now positions itself as a broadband cable operator and platform management, distributing variety of customized digital data such as Cable TV Broadcasting, Broadband Internet, and others related products & services for individuals and business customers.

For media queries, please contact:
Fashion One
Gorden Li
gorden@fashionone.com
Tel.+32-3-808-06-01

Cable Thai Holding, Plc.
Mrs. Sarisa Voraphakhun
Marketing Communication Director
sarisa_vo@yahoo.com
Tel.+662 328 3499
Mobile +66 81 828 2932

Nancy Dubuc becomes president and CEO after a strong year

April 23, 2013: A&E Networks undoubtedly will fare well in the upcoming cable upfront, after a year in which A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” and History’s “The Bible” became two of the biggest new hits on television.

Now the woman behind much of the networks’ success, Nancy Dubuc, is getting her reward.

Dubuc has been promoted to president and chief executive officer of A&E Networks, replacing Abbe Raven, who will move to chairman.

Read more at Medialife Magazine

April 23, 2013: The Asian lifestyle channel Life Inspired is now available in Thailand, inking a three-year carriage agreement for its HD and SD offerings with leading pay-TV provider TrueVisions.

The channel, delivering content focused on food, home, wellness, travel and style, is already available in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. On TrueVisions, it’s carried in the Platinum, Super Entertainment and Gold Lite packages.

Read more at World Screen

UNIVERSAL CHANNEL UNVEILS INTERNATIONAL BRAND REFRESH WITH NEW, “100% CHARACTERS” POSITIONING

The New Logo, Look and Tagline Will Premiere First in Asia on April 28

Singapore, April 24, 2013 – The channels’ division of NBCUniversal International Television today announced the refresh of its flagship brand, Universal Channel (Starhub Channel 512). The evolution focuses on character-driven entertainment as the channel unveils its brand new positioning, logo, on-air packaging and tagline – “100% Characters” – beginning in Asia on Sunday, April 28. The worldwide roll-out of the refreshed channel will then follow throughout 2013.

“Our investment in Universal Channel underscores our long-term commitment to the brand and its key role as a portfolio driver of Universal Networks International’s entertainment brands. Universal Channel is one of the fastest-growing general entertainment channels in Asia, and we are certain the refreshed channel will provide an even greater connection with Asia’s entertainment seekers, advertisers and platforms,” said Christine Fellowes, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Universal Networks International.

“We arrived at our unique positioning because we believe that great characters are the magnets that draw viewers back to their favourite shows – week after week,” added Lee Raftery, EVP, Marketing, NBCUniversal International Television. “Universal Channel’s new logo, look and ‘100% Characters’ tagline are simple and intuitive enabling us to connect with the hearts and minds of our audiences, everywhere, and maximize the potential of this global entertainment brand.”

As part of the brand refresh, on May 29 Universal Channel Asia will premiere Bates Motel the critically acclaimed prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s genre-defining film, Psycho – which has already been renewed for a second season.

A core channel brand for Universal Networks International, Universal Channel is seen in 103 countries and delivered in 16 languages around the world. The channel’s new positioning – as the home of character-driven entertainment – comes to life across Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa, Latin America, Brazil, the UK and Australia throughout the coming months.

The Universal Channel brand refresh was developed via collaboration between NBCUniversal International Television’s Central Marketing Team, the award-winning Creative division of Red Bee Media and world-leading TV brand strategist, Lee Hunt.

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About Universal Networks International
Universal Networks International, the international channels division of NBCUniversal, is one of the world’s premier entertainment portfolios, delivering quality content and compelling brands to over 176 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific. The brands in the portfolio include Universal Channel, Syfy, 13th Street Universal, Studio Universal, E! Entertainment Television, The Style Network, DIVA Universal and Golf Channel. These unique brands deliver a full range of entertainment experiences to local audiences across the globe. Universal Networks International also operates Movies 24 and has a controlling interest in the KidsCo joint venture.

Universal Networks International is a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. NBCUniversal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment television networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBCUniversal is owned by Comcast Corporation.

For more information, please contact:
Marlene Ee
Communications Manager, Asia Pacific
Universal Networks International
marlene.ee@nbcuni.com
Phone: +65 6326 1872

Regina Yeo
Strategic Public Relations Group
regina.yeo@sprg.com.sg
(65) 6325 8232

Sarah Sanusi
Strategic Public Relations Group
sarah.sanusi@sprg.com.sg
(65) 6325 8185

Cisco Enhances Its Videoscape Architecture In India With Video Delivery Platform From Apalya Technologies

Tuesday, April 23, 2013: Cisco has added live TV and mobile video capabilities to its Cisco Videoscape architecture by integrating the Video Delivery Platform from Apalya Technologies Private Limited, a leading managed service provider of video streaming to telecom operators, handset manufacturers and content owners. This capability was demonstrated last week at the Cisco Video Summit in New Delhi, an annual event for the company’s customers and partners in the cable and broadcast sector.

Read more at EFYTimes.com