FEATURES
The new AMC channel closes an era in Asia
03 November 2014
3 November 2014: By the end of December this year, one of Asia's oldest regional channel brands, MGM, will disappear, replaced by a brand known in the region for shows such as The Walking Dead, Mad Men and Breaking Bad.The channel switch was widely expected after U.S. company AMC's acquisition of Chello Media and its rebranding to AMC International earlier this year. AMC Networks' chief operating officer, Ed Carroll, said during the August announcement that the intention was "to replicate our successful U.S. strategy, extending the AMC brand worldwide and creating a broad pipeline for our original content". The AMC Asia channel, rolled out by AMC International Networks Asia under Bruce Tuchman, joins Sundance Channel, WEtv and Jim-Jam in Asia. The global roll-out of the AMC channel – the fi rst AMC-branded channel outside of North America – kicks off in Latin America at the end of October.AMC International's flagship channel brands in Asia will be AMC (more mainstream content) and Sundance (festival/indie line-up, more edgy, unconventional and younger). Strategies for WEtv and JimJam have not yet been disclosed.The new AMC Asia, with the tagline "something more", will continue to air MGM movies as part of a long-term licensing deal with MGM, says Tuchman, who heads up AMC’s Asia Pacific operating unit as president, AMC global and Sundance Channel Global and president, AMC Networks International, Asia Pacific.Branding and design is based on the AMC kit from the U.S. with customisation for Asian markets. Dubbing/ subtitling will be the same as MGM – Mandarin, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia."MGM will remain part of the mix and there's a lot of value in some of the titles," Tuchman says, adding that the movie slate will be expanded by acquisitions from other studios.MGM titles headed for AMC so far include Raging Bull, War Games, Fargo and Blue Velvet. Tuchman talks ab...
3 November 2014: By the end of December this year, one of Asia's oldest regional channel brands, MGM, will disappear, replaced by a brand known in the region for shows such as The Walking Dead, Mad Men and Breaking Bad.The channel switch was widely expected after U.S. company AMC's acquisition of Chello Media and its rebranding to AMC International earlier this year. AMC Networks' chief operating officer, Ed Carroll, said during the August announcement that the intention was "to replicate our successful U.S. strategy, extending the AMC brand worldwide and creating a broad pipeline for our original content". The AMC Asia channel, rolled out by AMC International Networks Asia under Bruce Tuchman, joins Sundance Channel, WEtv and Jim-Jam in Asia. The global roll-out of the AMC channel – the fi rst AMC-branded channel outside of North America – kicks off in Latin America at the end of October.AMC International's flagship channel brands in Asia will be AMC (more mainstream content) and Sundance (festival/indie line-up, more edgy, unconventional and younger). Strategies for WEtv and JimJam have not yet been disclosed.The new AMC Asia, with the tagline "something more", will continue to air MGM movies as part of a long-term licensing deal with MGM, says Tuchman, who heads up AMC’s Asia Pacific operating unit as president, AMC global and Sundance Channel Global and president, AMC Networks International, Asia Pacific.Branding and design is based on the AMC kit from the U.S. with customisation for Asian markets. Dubbing/ subtitling will be the same as MGM – Mandarin, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia."MGM will remain part of the mix and there's a lot of value in some of the titles," Tuchman says, adding that the movie slate will be expanded by acquisitions from other studios.MGM titles headed for AMC so far include Raging Bull, War Games, Fargo and Blue Velvet. Tuchman talks about more programming flexibility and the ability to acquire and schedule original first-run content. "There isn't anyone in the business right now who doesn't want first run narrative fiction series," he says, adding: pay-TV in Asia is "a maturing business. Everyone has to up their game".AMC Asia will air first-run and exclusive product from AMC Studios in the U.S., beginning with two titles – Halt and Catch Fire and eight-part legal drama The Divide, which premiered on WE TV in the U.S. in July this year. Halt and Catch Fire, an IT drama set in the 1980s, aired on AMC earlier this year and has been renewed for a second season. Schedules and other acquisitions will be made public closer to the launch date.AMC will "expand the MGM base and offer something completely modern", complemented with authenticated VOD and streaming, Tuchman says.The Asia channel will be programmed in Singapore and will acquire programming from multiple sources. The idea is to maintain the existing fan base and to broaden the appeal to include a younger demographic, he adds."There is a huge amount of content we are trying to get onto our channels. Sundance will carry indie, unconventional titles," Tuchman says, adding: "We would like to see AMC as more widely appealing, targeting families as well, and keep Sundance as more unconventional"."There isn’t anyone in the business right now who doesn’t want first-run narrative fiction series." Bruce Tuchman, President, AMC Global and Sundance Channel Global.