The explosion in channel choices has naturally fuelled a cut-throat ratings war. At the heart of the challenge of attracting and keeping a sizeable audience, channels have to understand viewers' tastes and preferences.
Gruelling adventure fare like Survivor, Combat Mission and Eco-Challenge have gained a strong following. But their place at the top of the programming pile has since been usurped by quiz show imports, chiefly Who Wants to be a Millionaire and The Weakest Link. However, running quiz shows in Asia is a challenge in itself largely because formats have been fixed by the copyright holders in the West.
The BBC's The Weakest Link highlights the issue succinctly. In the UK, it's known chiefly for its nasty streak - its sullen host Anne Robinson has even taken home the dubious honour of being the "rudest woman on television".
But are rudeness and routine humiliation acceptable across Asia's hodge-podge of cultures? Perhaps it explains the widely-varying welcome the show has received from market to market.
In Hong Kong, The Weakest Link was rolled out by TVB last August, but its rating plunged soon after the launch. Newspapers at the time said that host Dodo Cheng was just too nasty, even though her UK counterpart Robinson would have rubbished her as simply as a kid's version of the real thing.
To lift ratings, TVB was forced to tweak the format, allowing Cheng to smile, even joke with contestants. TVB's marketing and sales controller, Leung Kin-Wah, says: "We can make changes to the atmosphere to make it more appealing to the audience. This, of course, translates into higher ratings and more advertisers."
The Taiwan version, however, has the feel and tone of the UK show as host Belle Yu, a local television anchor, hurls verbal abuse at contestants who err. In the process, she has earned herself the nickname, the dominatrix.
But the Taiwanese - unlike their Hong Kong counterparts - obviously enjoy a spot of nastiness, helping propel ratings up for Star. But India, which launched just two months ago, has gone the other way. Star's version boasts a dignified and glamorous feel. After all, host Nina Gupta, a television personality, is better known for her charm than having a masochistic streak.
Star senior vice-president of marketing communications, Mani Rao, says the key is to take into account the psychological differences in the way media consumption occurs in different markets.
Taiwan, Rao says, is a market, which accepts "edgier
programmes because cable penetration is high. "People are, therefore, cynical and indifferent. There isn't much they haven't seen,
Rao says.
Likewise, the marketing campaign for the Taiwan launch was equally bold and direct. Posters showing pigs as contestants abounded, with the headline: "Are you a fierce tiger? Or a tiger disguised as a Pig?
On the other hand Star India, operating in the land of Bollywood, the world's biggest movie production industry, decided that The Weakest Link had to have a theatrical feel.
Rao says: "The atmosphere of the show and the marketing pitches an event that is glamorous and dignified. There are no torture tools and no sarcastic remarks. Everything has been designed to create a level of comfort."
Research, she says, plays an important role in Star's launch of programmes.
"You would have thought that there might be similarities between Hong Kong and Taiwan. Obviously, this wasn't the case. You just cannot take any market for granted."
