FEATURES
What's going on in… channels
03 September 2014
3 September 2014: iConcerts launches its new regional Asia service on 1 September, with a whole new ramped up local slate.iConcerts launches its new Asia service on 1 September, with at least 10% of the schedule dedicated to Asian content, the entire service scheduled for Asia and Asian prime times, and a concerted effort to acquire new live music content from local promoters and music labels.More local collaborations, such as the partnership with Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards and Korea’s Green festival, are also on the playlist, says Transmedia Communications’ group chief executive, Mathieu Sibille. The Asia launch, with more than 25 Asian artists on the schedule for September, comes three years after iConcerts rolled out its international feed across the region.Asian artists on the launch line up include Jolin Tsai and The Bonez along with international artists such as The Black Eyed Peas and R.E.M. The Asia launch follows an eight-month initiative to ramp up coverage of Asian artists during weekend specials on the international channel. This included K-pop (Idiotape, Dynamic Duo), Canto pop (Mayday, Jolin Tsai), J-pop (Char, The Bonez) and Malaysia (Shila Amzah, Goldkartz). Sibille says that in India, where the service is a partnership with undisclosed private investors who have access to Bollywood live music rights, more than 30% of the content is now local.Social media activity is way up as a result. “We have seen that by broadcasting a greater diversity of music genres and origins, we also engage viewers in a more powerful way,” he adds.The channel doesn’t carry advertising, but runs limited promotional partnerships, such as the campaign with Gibson where viewers could win Gibson guitars and exclusive access packages to the Montreux Jazz Festival. In addition to India, iConcerts is carried in South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, ...
3 September 2014: iConcerts launches its new regional Asia service on 1 September, with a whole new ramped up local slate.iConcerts launches its new Asia service on 1 September, with at least 10% of the schedule dedicated to Asian content, the entire service scheduled for Asia and Asian prime times, and a concerted effort to acquire new live music content from local promoters and music labels.More local collaborations, such as the partnership with Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards and Korea’s Green festival, are also on the playlist, says Transmedia Communications’ group chief executive, Mathieu Sibille. The Asia launch, with more than 25 Asian artists on the schedule for September, comes three years after iConcerts rolled out its international feed across the region.Asian artists on the launch line up include Jolin Tsai and The Bonez along with international artists such as The Black Eyed Peas and R.E.M. The Asia launch follows an eight-month initiative to ramp up coverage of Asian artists during weekend specials on the international channel. This included K-pop (Idiotape, Dynamic Duo), Canto pop (Mayday, Jolin Tsai), J-pop (Char, The Bonez) and Malaysia (Shila Amzah, Goldkartz). Sibille says that in India, where the service is a partnership with undisclosed private investors who have access to Bollywood live music rights, more than 30% of the content is now local.Social media activity is way up as a result. “We have seen that by broadcasting a greater diversity of music genres and origins, we also engage viewers in a more powerful way,” he adds.The channel doesn’t carry advertising, but runs limited promotional partnerships, such as the campaign with Gibson where viewers could win Gibson guitars and exclusive access packages to the Montreux Jazz Festival. In addition to India, iConcerts is carried in South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Mon- golia, Taiwan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and China, where content is offered on-demand in partnership with the Shanghai Media Group.Issue Three 2014