ATF Online + 2020: show must go on

The APAC region keeps its growing path with new ventures taking place and markets evolving, mainly in South East Asia. China is a big engine, and the only market in the world to growth 1% in 2020; Japan, South Korea and Indonesia are also doing well due to their strong domestic markets but especially because they are strengthening their global business. India has been hit deeply by the Pandemic, but they expect to grow again in 2021.

‘We’ve identified Vietnam and Myanmar as growing markets. Users there adapt quickly to innovation. For instance, the first 4K TV I saw was in Vietnam and not in France’, exemplified Jacques du Puy, CEO, Canal + International, which operates in 40 territories and offering channels in 9 languages to +12 millions subscribers worldwide.

‘Asia has not only become a force in documentary acquisitions, but also a trendsetter in producing radically compelling documentaries’, noted Gan Chao, VP or Chinese Youku. ‘Documentaries aim to shorten the distances between people, not only to bring the users to what producers want the audience to view, but also for the producers to understand what the users want. Our productions have strong humanistic content, focused on people and their stories’.

What do Asian buyers wanted during ATF Online+? Mansi Shrivastav, head of Content Acquisitions & Partnerships, MX Player (India): ‘We are looking for content that can resonate with Indian audience in there locally dubbed languages. In the digital universe, content that can be translated and brought to viewers in their relevant languages can work well, regardless of its origin. We are exploring more territories across Asia for shows and movies that can travel and find a home in newer languages with the Indian Diaspora’.

China Mobile International operates its own platform, iShow, as a global business arm. Ka Wan Jeron Cheung, Senior Product Specialist, explained: ‘We are excited to secure foreign animation content to introduce them to a huge Greater China market. Largely, we need rights on a “Case-by-Case” basis but we require exclusivity for the Greater China region’.

Skyline Media is looking for commercial movies for TV and VOD platform with exclusive rights for Vietnam. ‘I prefer to attend markets in Asia because we have more choices for our clients. Asian films are more popular in Vietnam, especially from Korea, Thailand, China and Hong Kong. We also source from US and Canada and we are open to upcoming movies for Cinema’, commented Hang Thinh, CEO.

But not only Asian buyers are in ATF Online+. Adem Uysal, Lead Content Strategy & Acquisitions Manager, Turkcell+ (Turkey) had and active market: ‘Primarily we ae interested in VOD rights of ready-made content and only for Turkey. For new titles, we are looking for some exclusivity. Being here allow me to sift through high quality content and act quickly’.

AVOD has become a truly global force with players like FOX Corporation’s TUBI, described by Chief Content Officer, Adam Lewinson as the ‘future of ad-supported television’. The company pursues a strategy of ‘super serving underserved audiences’ with a library of +20000 older titles that target different audiences from YouTube, Netflix and other SVODs. The median age of its audience is 34 years old, younger than most steaming services and definitely than those of linear.

ATF Online + is a close sample of the changed provoked by the Pandemic on the audience behavior and the industry. Keep tuned, as the game has just begun. 

Nicolas Smirnoff, Fabricio Ferrara and Alberto Buitron