Source:
https://scmp.com/article/693252/hard-act-swallow

Hard act to swallow

Thirty contestants have been selected and filming will begin next month at a secret location for The Biggest Loser Asia. An adapted version of the US reality TV show featuring obese participants who compete to lose the most weight, it's part of an ongoing drive by regional television networks to reach English-speaking audiences across Asia.

Resources have mostly been invested in developing reality programmes such as The Amazing Race Asia, The Contender Asia, and the odd chat show such as Star World's Asia Uncut. Reality TV is often thought of as a cheaper programming format than dramatic or comedy series but that isn't why the Asia-Pacific division of NBC Universal Global Networks decided to develop The Biggest Loser Asia.

While she declines to reveal figures, NBC programming director Karen Johnston says 'this was in no way a cost-saving measure' for the network.

'It's actually an expansion move; a way for us to be more relevant across Asia.'

The contestants, who come from around the region, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, India and Indonesia, must be fed and housed for three months, and the person who sheds the most weight will get US$100,000.

English-speaking viewers are a key demographic for regional channels because they are likely to have more disposable income than those watching terrestrial channels, says Doris Kuok, a partner at media agency Mindshare Hong Kong.

'Anyone who has pay-TV has a basic fee, which implies that these people have more to spend. So the channels are willing to spend more on programming to attract these viewers,' Kuok says. Besides, 'these channels have multiple markets to penetrate and English is the common language.'

As cost-effective as it is to buy ready-made shows with a proven record such as American Idol, regional networks need to differentiate themselves by offering their own material, especially now that many overseas productions can be viewed on the internet.

'People will always prefer local content because it is more relevant. But it has to be produced well,' says Riaz Mehta, chief executive of Imagine Group, the Singapore-based production company behind The Biggest Loser Asia. 'American shows are very American and the audience and appeal are limited.'

Regional adaptations also allow the networks to offer more than advertising breaks with a show. They can work in product-placement deals or endorsement campaigns by show hosts, and develop joint marketing plans with advertising partners even before the camera starts rolling.

'You can't change a bought show but producing your own gives a lot of flexibility,' says Ricky Ow Yoke-hong, general manager of Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks Asia.

Adapting formats that have worked overseas for regional audiences isn't easy.

MTV Asia failed with several attempts, including It's My Life, which tried to reproduce the success of a US show following seven teenagers as they try to complete a series of assignments. Whatever Things, a Hong Kong-based show which emulated the crazy stunts of Jackass, wasn't renewed when the producer's contract with the network ended in 2006.

Even strictly local versions such as Singapore Idol never gained the following of the original American Idol.

'Shows like American Idol are popular in Asia because Asians like to watch Americans being aggressive, but they generally don't like watching fellow Asians being aggressive,' says David Searl, senior vice-president of content partnerships at Star TV.

However, Sony began to make headway with The Amazing Race Asia, which first aired on its AXN channel three years ago. Featuring pairs of yuppie contestants battling to be the first to complete a series of challenges at destinations around Asia - locating a vendor selling a particular handbag at the Ladies Market in Mong Kok, for example - the show has already run for three seasons.

Ow signed off on the project only after monitoring the response to the original US show over several years. It did well enough with audiences here for Sony Pictures to commit to the debut season, a multimillion-dollar production that involved 100 people travelling to different locations around the region.

'It was a madhouse production,' Ow says. 'Logistically, it's a nightmare trying to manage such a diverse team.'

But the investment has paid off. Audited figures compiled by the network's research and programming team show a steadily growing audience: viewer numbers for the first episode rose from 540,000 for season one and 582,000 for season two to 649,000 for season three.

Audiences in its regional base in Singapore, and Malaysia, one of its biggest markets, grew 12 per cent in the third season, a Sony network spokesman says.

Searl says the success of The Amazing Race Asia is due to the show's producers adopting a different tone from the US version.

'The show isn't about negativity, it's about teamwork, which resonates well in Asia,' says Searl, an Australian who has lived in the region for 25 years. 'In America, the shows are often about the losers, about cutting people down, but that doesn't suit an Asian sensibility.'

Which is why he is producing a reality series with a positive bent. HP Space, which will begin airing on Star World and Channel V in November, sets 12 artists of different disciplines around Asia on a new creative challenge each week. Since the series is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, contestants must complete their tasks using HP devices.

But how do networks choose which formats to adapt, whether in-house or through an independent production company?

Often, decisions are based on a combination of experience and gut feeling. 'Programming is an art as much as it is a science,' Johnston says. 'There's no magic formula to knowing which shows to pick. You just have to listen and learn - and watch as much terrestrial TV as possible.'

Mehta says the key is selecting a topic that has mass appeal and isn't language specific. 'Singing, dancing, sports, weight ... [these are] relevant issues to every age, demographic and culture,' he says.

Online polls, chat-room buzz and sponsor feedback also help networks decide whether to extend a show or commission a new one.

However, it was simply word of mouth that led Ow to sign off on a three-part magic show with US-born illusionist Cyril Takayama - the most expensive series by episode for the Sony network in Asia.

The French-Morrocan Takayama, who has established a thriving career in Japan, became a YouTube sensation with his trick of pulling a hamburger out of a poster advertisement.

'Employees and viewers, they were all pointing me to his YouTube clip and saying we ought to produce a magic show with him,' Ow says. 'Even when I went to dinner parties people were telling me about this guy.'

But it'll be a while before any network bets on scripted shows - dramas or sitcoms - for a regional audience. Much higher production costs compared to reality programmes aren't the only consideration. The bigger hurdle is coming up with a recipe that would appeal in a region with so many diverse cultures.

'How would you put people from different countries into one situational comedy that makes sense?' asks Johnston. 'I'm constantly looking for the answer.'

Although some scripted series have become hits outside their original markets - dubbed Korean and Japanese dramas are popular in Hong Kong, the mainland and Southeast Asia, for instance - this is usually a side benefit rather than part of the producers' plan.

'There is potential for scripted drama but it'll take a long, long time,' says Ow. No one is quite ready to commit resources to quality productions and hiring talented performers and scriptwriters.

'But as more of us get into production for the region, the budgets and quality will rise. There's a big international market for us to tap.'