12 Jan, 2016 – No one enjoyed SpaceX’s historic rocket landing more than SpaceX’s employees. During a live stream of the December event, the majority of the company’s workforce could be seen gathering around mission control, chatting excitedly amongst themselves about the mission to come. And when the company’s Falcon 9 rocket finally landed vertically after traveling back from space, the cheers and yells of the crowd were deafening.

Read more at the Verge

12 Jan, 2016 – Nearly one month after SpaceX successfully launched and returned its Falcon 9 rocket to Earth, Elon Musk and his team are ready to see if they can do it again, trying this time to return the rocket to a drone ship floating in the ocean.

SpaceX landed its Falcon 9 rocket upright at Cape Canaveral last month after the private space company launched a payload of satellites into orbit. With a launch date set for this Sunday, SpaceX will launch the Jason-3 into orbit for NASA. The satellite that will measure the height of ocean surfaces from space.

Read more at abc news

SINGAPORE, January 12, 2016 – HBO Asia brings the complete Oscars® experience direct from Hollywood, across multiple screens on-air and online, offering viewers unprecedented access to red carpet exclusives and backstage interviews on the network’s website and social platforms.

This Thursday, starting with the LIVE NOMINEE ANNOUNCEMENT of the 88th Annual Academy Awards 2016, Guillermo del Toro, John Krasinski and Ang Lee, together with Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs, will announce the nominations of all 24 Oscar® categories at a special two-part live news conference in Beverly Hills, televised live on HBO and streamed live on HBO GO at 9.30pm (8.30pm Thai.Jkt) on January 14, 2016.

THE 88TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS will be broadcast live on HBO this February 29 at 9.30am (8.30am Thai.Jkt), with a same night primetime encore at 8pm (7pm Thai.Jkt). The awards show will also be streamed live on HBO GO. Hosted by Chris Rock, who previously hosted the awards show in 2005, the 88th Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood.

For the week leading up to the awards, HBO honours past winners with a recap of 2015 Oscar-winning movies, airing every night at 9pm (8pm Thai.Jkt).

Refer to the full line up of Oscars® programming on HBO below:

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 and Home Box Office are trademarks of Home Box Office, Inc. Used with permission.
The 88th Annual Academy Awards 2015 ©A.M.P.A.S.®

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

Lee Min Min
Executive, Communications
Tel: (65) 6381 1790
Email: minmin.lee@hboasia.com

12 Jan, 2016 – Hong Kong broadcaster TVB will devote more resources on tackling rising competition at home as well as growth opportunities in mainland China, after announcing a sale of its remaining 47% tranche in its Taiwanese pay-TV business.

The deal, priced at just over HK$1 billion (~US$133 million/NT$4.3 billion), follows TVB’s first move to reduce its holdings in Taiwan, after first selling 53% of its cable network to three Taiwanese investment groups, Lim Mao, De En and Lien, in the first half of last year.

Pending regulatory approval, the three shareholders will also acquire the remaining 47% stake, becoming outright owners of an operation that includes production facilities and three pay-TV channels: infotainment offering TVBS; TVBS News, a leader in the news segment; and TVBS Entertainment.

Read more at Media Business Asia

12 Jan, 2016 – Sony Pictures Network (SPN) and ESPN are launching two co-branded sports channels on direct-to-home (DTH) platforms in India on 17 January 2016.

Replacing Sony Kix, Sony ESPN and Sony ESPN HD will also gradually be rolled out across India’s cable networks. They will join existing SPN sports offering Sony Six, and may be joined by other channels as well as a multi-platform sports app in the future.

“At least two more channels are there in the pipeline and if the content demands more, we might launch more. But at this stage, we have two channels launching on 17 January and two more in the near future,” said Ramesh Kumar, VP ESPN India and South Asia.

The news comes after the conclusion of a three -ar separation from ESPN’s previous business partner in India, Star.

Read more at Rapid TV News

12 Jan, 2016 – American sports media brand ESPN has re-entered the Indian market more than three years after exiting the television space by selling its 50 per cent stake in the then joint venture ESPN Star Sports to 21st Century Fox (then News Corp).

ESPN was bound by a three-year non-compete clause as part of its sale agreement with Star Sports. With that expiring, it has returned to collaborate with Sony Pictures Networks India across both television and digital platforms.

Even though it has retrenched from various markets in Europe and Asia to focus on its primary market the US, the sports media brand has identified India as a key market. This time it has decided to collaborate with Sony Pictures Networks India to make its mark in the volatile sports broadcasting market.

Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/television/espns-play-in-india-with-sony-as-partner/ | TelevisionPost.com

12 Jan, 2016 – SHERMANK OAKS: GRB Entertainment has inked several factual deals in Asia, with Discovery Asia Pacific taking a bulk of the titles.

How Stuff Works, Nasty By Nature and When Fish Attack went to Discovery Asia Pacific’s Indian-territory feed, while FBI Takedowns was acquired for its China and Pacific Rim feeds. Meanwhile, the extreme-nature program Prehistoric Assassins will be broadcast in China on CCTV, with TBS Japan airing Without Warning.

Read more at World Screen

Hong Kong, January 11, 2016 – FOX International Channels (FIC) opened the new year on a successful note: 12 shows and movies on the network across Hong Kong & Southeast Asia boasted 15 awards at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards. The accolades include awards for two series each for Star World (Empire, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and FX (Mad Men, American Horror Story: Hotel), while 11 awards went to movies to which FIC has acquired the pay-TV rights for broadcast on its leading Hollywood movies channel, FOX Movies Premium.

Among the nominated films carried by FOX Movies Premium, The Revenant was the biggest winner of the night, bagging the top-tier awards of Best Motion Picture, Drama; Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for Leonardo DiCaprio; and Best Director, Motion Picture for Alejandro G. Iñárritu. This was followed by The Martian’s two awards for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for Matt Damon. FOX Movies Premium is dedicated to featuring Hollywood movies that showcase amazing performances and storytelling, including other Golden Globe winners such as Creed (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Sylvester Stallone), Inside Out (Best Animated Feature), The Hateful Eight (Best Original Score, Motion Picture), Spectre (Best Original Song, Motion Picture), Joy (Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy – Jennifer Lawrence) and Room (Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama – Brie Larson). All these acclaimed films will be seen on the channel and available for viewers across Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, StarWorld’s leading women won big at Golden Globes, including Taraji P. Henson of Empire for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama and Rachel Bloom of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy. These wins support the channel’s position as the leader in entertainment programming that that attracts trendy, young female viewers who aspire to lead smart and sophisticated lifestyles. FX shows also triumphed at the Golden Globes, with Jon Hamm winning the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama for Mad Men and Lady Gaga awarded as Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for American Horror Story: Hotel. These two award-winning shows exemplify FX’s commitment to fearless and unconventional programming sought by viewers looking for innovative content.

Keertan Adyanthaya, Executive Vice President of Content & Communications for FIC Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, said, “We are thrilled that our network is home to so many shows that have been recognized by such a prestigious award. It is a testament to our programming strategy and our commitment to delivering top quality content to our viewers across Asia.”

Golden Globe Awards for television programmes shown on FIC’s channels (4):

Star World
Empire (1 award)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama – Taraji P. Henson

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (1 award)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy – Rachel Bloom

FX
Mad Men (1 award)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama – Jon Hamm
American Horror Story: Hotel (1 award)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television – Lady Gaga

Golden Globe Awards for films to which FIC has acquired the pay-TV rights (11):

Room (1 award)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama – Brie Larson

-END-

About FOX International Channels

FOX International Channels (FIC) is 21st Century FOX’s international multi-media business. We develop, produce and distribute 300+ wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, sports, factual and movie channels in 45 languages across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. FIC’s core channel brands include FOX, FOX Sports, FOX Life, FOX+ and National Geographic Channel. FIC’s movie channels include FOX Movies, FOX Movies Premium and SCM (formerly Star Chinese Movies). Our non-linear brands include FOX Play, FOX Play+ and Nat Geo Play. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high- definition extensions, reach over 1.8 billion cumulative households worldwide. In addition, FIC owns and operates two production studios and produces thousands of local programming hours for its wholly owned channels and third parties. In operation since: August 14, 1993.

For media inquiries, please contact:

FOX International Channels – Asia
Kelly Jang | Director, Marketing & Communications
Tel: +852 2621 8875 | Email: Kelly.Jang@fox.com

12 Jan, 2016 – Financial news channel CNBC has struck a deal with PT Trans Media Corpora to launch a CNBC-branded channel in Indonesia.

CNBC Indonesia is to enter Southeast Asia’s largest economy later this year, and will be a Bahasa-language service.

Mark Hoffman, chairman of CNBC, said that the deal with Trans Media underpins the broadcaster’s emerging markets strategy.

Read more at Mumbrella

HONG KONG (Jan 11, 2016) – Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE), operator of the largest bouquet of pan-Asian channels dedicated to Asian entertainment, and PT MNC Sky Vision (MSKY), the largest pay-TV company in Indonesia, announced today the launch of CTE’s Asian kids channel Miao Mi. Miao Mi is the first pan-regional Mandarin kids channel created specifically to entertain and educate preschool children regardless of their language backgrounds. MSKY carries the channel exclusively on Indovision’s Galaxy, Super Galaxy, and Venus packs, as well as Okevision’s basic pack.  Indonesia is the first market for Miao Mi, which will roll out progressively to other Asian markets this year.

“We are very excited to launch Miao Mi in Indonesia with PT MNC Sky Vision,” said Ofanny Choi, Executive Vice President, TV Networks, Celestial Tiger Entertainment. “PT MNC Sky Vision has always made it a priority to entertain, educate and empower their subscribers, and we have created this channel with those ideals in mind. There are many Western kids channels in the market and we passionately believe Miao Mi offers a high-quality alternative to subscribers with its carefully curated programs that entertain children with a unique Asian perspective. The channel also encourages kids to learn Mandarin through its dual Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia audio tracks and its dedicated Miao Mi Classroom time belts,”

“We are very happy to have Miao Mi on board our platform, where kids can enjoy the best Mandarin educational and entertainment content. We hope, through this channel, Indonesian children can learn to speak Mandarin in a fun and entertaining way,” said Yudha Wibawa, Deputy CEO & Managing Director, PT. MNC Skyvision, Tbk.

Designed for children between the ages of three to six, Miao Mi features “edu-tainment” programs from leading producers of children’s content in China as well as the rest of Asia.  The channel is fully dubbed in Bahasa Indonesia, but parents have the option to switch to the original 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 for language-learning.

Besides the previously announced first and exclusive shows Star Babies, Secret Y, and Happy Friends, Miao Mi is the home of other top-rated kids series such as Little Rabbit’s Kung Fu Academy, a series created for preschoolers starring the characters from China’s award-winning 3D animated film Legend of a Rabbit; Rubi, an adorable series produced by the award-winning Chinese animation studio Zoland Animation; Eori, a high-quality Korean animated series, with Mandarin dub, centered around Asian and international folk tales; Fox Inventor, an adventure series based around the themes of exploration and discovery; and Bellbug Popo, an eco-friendly 3D animated series featuring catchy songs to teach children about the environment. Miao Mi will also feature one of the most well-known Chinese animated characters in the world, Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, in a new series called Dear Little Wish.

Miao Mi launches as a linear channel on Indovision (Ch. 38), Okevision (Ch. 66) and Play Media (Ch. 38).  The on-demand and over-the-top (OTT) versions of the channel will be available at a later date.

– 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 first Mandarin “edu-tainment” channel created specifically for kids across Asia; and THRILL, Asia’s only regional horror, thriller and suspense movie channel.  All of CTE’s channel brands are availableas 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 entertainmentstudio.

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