In Focus … Chinese Participation Up at Asian Television Forum
Mainland content sellers and buyers were present in greater numbers than ever before at this year's Asian Television Forum (ATF) conference and trade show in Singapore from December 10 to 12, a sign of the increasing emphasis Chinese producers are placing on overseas sales.
ATF is billed as the single, most comprehensive television programming platform in Asia by the event organizers, Reed Exhibitions. The events held on the sidelines of the market this year were firmly focused on the New Media, including a Digital Future Symposium and a conference on "Widgets and the Future of TV".
Every year, CMM Intelligence organizes Chinese companies attendance at the fair. Heavyweight mainland broadcasters such as Beijing TV Media, Shanghai Media Group (SMG), Hunan TV and Jiangsu Broadcasting were among the 12 Chinese exhibitors with stands at the market. Other mainland companies - such as Star-D TV and Film Production, and Wuhan TV Station - attended to scope out the feasibility of holding a stand at next year's market. A couple of Chinese buyers, including Beijing Continental Bridge Culture Media Group, prowled the floor looking for content to source.
The ATF market holds a number of distinct advantages for Chinese rights holders looking to sell their content abroad, especially organizations that have not attended many international trade fairs. For a start, the fair focuses on Asia, which is an easier market for Chinese rights holders than Europe or North America because of the many cultural similarities. The market is also smaller than leading international markets such as MIPTV and MIPCOM, making it easier for newbies to get into the swing of things and make connections with valuable contacts.
Beijing TV Media set up a stand for the first time this year, in order to introduce its catalogue to potential buyers, especially its range of documentaries on Chinese culture, TV drama series and animation series. Ding Ke, a senior sales executive at Beijing TV Media, said they did not close any deals at the market but are following up with a number of contacts made during the event.
"ATF is a very important event in Asia and my company's goal is to sell more content in the Asian market. I found it very useful. It provided us with new and fresh information on the market, which I can feed back to our production team," Ding Ke said.
In the past, ATF participants hired hotel rooms to showcase their content and hold meetings. The market moved to an exhibition hall for the first time this year, a move that drew mixed reactions from at least one of the participants.
Sylvie Qin, International Sales Executive for SMG, held the fort at the SMG stall for the fourth year in row, promoting a range of variety shows, documentary series and TV dramas.
"I think the exhibition hall format is not as effective as before. When we set ourselves up in hotel rooms, all our meetings were pre-booked and all the people visiting us had definite aims in mind. However, I guess the exhibition center does give us more space and more opportunities to promote our content to new people," she said.
Mainland broadcasters have made increasing efforts to sell their content overseas in recent years, but their efforts have been stymied by a combination of lack of volume and their relative naivety in international distribution. However, major players have been consolidating their presence at international trade fairs such as ATF and MIPTV in recent years and this is starting to translate into a clearer idea of which products suit the market as well as the importance of networking. Chinese broadcasters are also becoming more confident about entering golden products into professional awards. China has a relatively good track record at the Asian TV Awards and this year Hunan Satellite TV's long-running Happy (Kuaile Dabenying) was awarded best variety show.
Will any big deals come out of the connections established at this year's ATF? The sales execs are still following up on their leads but at least indicator suggests Chinese content is well received in Asia this year.