FAST, India & second windows: Rashmi Bajpai’s ATF takeaways

As one of the final trade events of the year, Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) is always an important post MIPCOM follow-up, providing an important forum to understand clients’ needs before the Lunar New Year break.

We at Banijay Rights have long supported this market as it serves as the perfect opportunity to see our clients from Asia, all in one place, at the same time. And despite cuts to travel expenditure across the industry, it was reassuring to see this event so well attended.

Clearly, it was busy in Singapore and undoubtedly there is plenty of space for focussed discussions around the continent’s industry needs.

As I went from meeting to meeting, it was clear exhibitors from a wide range of Asian territories, including China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan, were well represented. There was a real positive energy in the air and this buzz permeated through the whole week. But there were plenty of other striking trends and talking points that materialised too.

Buyer demands

In this profession - understandably - I’m often asked: what are buyers looking for? Well, at ATF we saw Asian buyers hunting Asian-Korean language shows, formats and finished tape, Japanese anime, and Asian originals.

At the same time, Chinese and Indonesian movies were very much sought after but anything scripted generally would have to resonate with the audience, while factual or lifestyle titles primarily need to centre around Asia. Indeed, buyers remain loyal to local content and, as one of the leading distributors in the region, we will continue to add local, third-party formats such as My Name is Gabriel from South Korea to our catalogue.

Increasingly, we are featuring more Asian finished tape such as Jeremy Pang’s Hong Kong Kitchen to keep up with the growing need.

Open windows

With production budgets slashed across the board, and broadcasters eagerly looking for co-production partners, this has seen the advent of second windows in territories – and this was a big talking point at ATF.

At Banijay Rights, we believe this will become more common as partners share the risk with co-financers and the second window could be within a couple of hours from the original telecast, allowing for more and immediate licensing revenue and to prevent piracy.

Smaller territories with bigger appetites 

It is noticeable that countries such as Vietnam have suffered due to a sliding economy, but smaller territories like Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are filling the void left by many Vietnamese formats, albeit slowly. This comes as we announce the return of The Secret Life of a 4-Year-Old in Mongolia after nearly four years.

Scripted formats continue to garner interest from streamers and broadcasters alike. However, this is resulting in negotiations regarding retaining IP and distribution rights worldwide during the license period to enable to client to recoup the production costs.

In Thailand, for instance, producers have started to ask for a minimum guarantee from scripted format owners who want to retain the distribution during the term and outside the territory.

FAST is the future 

FAST channels are catching up in Asia with a lot of interest from clients wanting to tap into our library. This could be in the form of single IP such as Deal or No Deal, The Biggest Loser, Fear Factor, among others.

We already have a successful business when exploring our vast catalogue as we attract a broad spectrum of viewers around the world, working with the likes of Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV and Tubi, to name just a few.

With Samsung TV Plus now rolling out in Southeast Asia, this is an exciting opportunity for monetisation. However, the terms of engagement must be carefully considered given that most of Southeast Asia has a low cost per mille (CPM) and will offer very low revenues initially.

Indian buzz 

Last but not the least, the buzz around India at ATF was simply unavoidable. The recently announced $8.5bn (£6.7bn) Reliance-Disney merger has now been approved which means it will become the country’s largest media powerhouse.

A lot remains to be seen as the companies start to operationalise, but India is almost solely focusing on original production with a huge emphasis on localising content by offering it in various regional languages.

Looking ahead, captive reality formats like Big Brother, talent shows, and scripted formats continue to get a lot of traction and will be a focus as the broadcasters and platforms look to tap into a large and dynamic market with 1.4 billion people.

So, a lot to digest, but I left Singapore with a sense of optimism in a region that is rapidly evolving across multiple areas of the business. Here’s to a positive and successful 2025.

• Rashmi Bajpai is executive vice-president of Asia at Banijay Rights