Formats acquisitions in Asia were down 7% in 2019 to 312 titles compared to 2018’s 337. Aqilah Yunus tracks titles and trends across the region in ContentAsia’s Formats Outlook for full year 2019. 

ContentAsia’s Formats Outlook tracked an 7% slide in the number of formats (titles/seasons on air or commissioned) across the region during 2019, continuing the downward trend evident in 2018. We counted a total of 312 in 2019, compared to 337 in 2018. Evidence of the slowdown was clear in the first half, which dropped 11% (27 titles) to 224 titles compared to the first half of 2018 (251 titles).

The latest Formats Outlook shows six of the 17 markets tracked were up in 2019 compared to 2018. Indonesia was the country with the most add-ons with seven formats, followed by India (+5) and the Philippines (+2). The rest – regional, Bangladesh, Cambodia – added one title each in 2019 from 2018.

Year after year, even with the declining formats numbers, Vietnam remains still in the lead by volume with 58 formats, followed by Thailand (51), India (42), Indonesia (34) and China (25). 

Vietnam’s count for 2019 was dominated by 31 game show formats aired in 2019/commissioned for 2020. This also means Vietnam accounted for the largest share of game show formats for 2019. 

Thailand is second by volume for 2019 with 51 titles. But the market for acquired formats is in steep decline, with 27% fewer formats compared to the 70 recorded in 2018. Thailand recorded the largest drop in number of format titles of any other country in Asia in 2019. 

Thai highlights include the first Asian version of The Ellen de Generes Show hosted by Thai personality Woody Milintachinda. The Woody Show Thailand premieres on Channel 7 in April this year.  

By genre, reality plunged by 20% from 88 in 2018 to 70 in 2019. High-value scripted formats were flat at 60 titles. Game shows dropped 3% from 92 in 2018 to 89 in 2019. Entertainment formats increased by 17% and singing formats increased by 9%. 

Fremantle, which has topped Asia’s formats distribution chart for three consecutive years in 2016-2018, continues its winning streak, with 52 titles sold/on air during 2019. Fremantle’s 52 makes up 17% of the total formats on our list for 2019, including Let’s Make A Deal Indonesia on GTV, which was extended by 15 episodes in its sixth season, broadcast in January 2020 after the season’s initial finale in December 2019. A new addition to Fremantle’s repertoire was TED Talks India: Nayi Soch, hosted by Shah Rukh Khan. TED Talks India was created in partnership with TED and Star India. 

Endemol Shine, having dropped to third place behind Talpa in Q3 2019, regained its second place by the end of 2019, with 49 titles. New titles include Big Brother Malayalam S2, MasterChef All Stars Thailand, MasterChef India S6, MasterChef Indonesia S6, The Money Drop Myanmar S4, The Wall India and Tripping Thailand.

ITV Studios-owned Talpa Media fell into third place with 45 formats. 33 of these were different versions/seasons of The Voice in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

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