Brands bite, now real race kicks off for viewers

Billed as the region's first 'made in Asia for Asians' TV programme, AXN's The Amazing Race Asia (TARA) has so far succeeded in generating frenzied interest among advertisers and sponsors ahead of its launch later this year.

But the question remains: will consumers follow? In the US, The Amazing Race has had a chequered past, which creates something of a paradox for the brand. Although critically-acclaimed — it has won a swag of Emmys during the course of its life — it has often swung between ratings records and viewer black-holes. CBS has unrepentantly shifted its timeslot on more than one occasion — this season at least three times — to give it a helping hand in the battle for ratings against shows like Fox's American Idol. In fact, the first episode of the latest Amazing Race series which premiered in March, achieved the show's lowest-rating since its launch in 2003.

In Asia, AXN currently boasts almost 40 million viewers across the region in 21 markets. TARA is specifically targeting the increasingly affluent core set of 18- to 34-year-olds across the region who enjoy adventure and sports lifestyle programmes. The pressure on Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) Networks Asia to produce ratings results is high, especially for the benefit of the show's first-time partners — and keeping those sponsors happy will go a long way to ensuring they return for a potential second series in 2007.

MindShare Asia-Pacific regional managing partner Jon Chadwick says the regional show has a strong chance of success, and he expects interest from advertisers and agencies to be strong. "Amazing Race Asia will offer a fresh new viewing experience, which, combined with the competitive element, should make for a success story."
SPE Networks Asia GM Ricky Ow admits that while the network is facing challenges in ensuring the show's success in Asia, the challenges are not insurmountable.

Among the obstacles are a widely- fragmented and disparate viewing audience, and the region's reserved culture. The latter is a factor which may affect how contestants interact with each other, making it difficult for producers to create compelling viewing. "The drama, I promise you, will be no less," says Ow. "One thing that surprised me was how comfortable and natural the contestants were in front of the camera, and how focused they were on winning."
Although Ow remains tight-lipped on the identity and nationality of contestants, the content and tasks during the series, and the filming locations, he says he's expecting the show to surpass the US version for several reasons. Firstly, he says, TARA contains never-before-seen content and challenges, giving the show a different twist, while presenting itself as more relevant and identifiably Asian among the region's viewers.

"It also has five or six firsts that the original series did not have, and the original creator has been hugely impressed with what we did on a much smaller budget," he adds.

SPE Asia has also signed on celebrity presenter and runway model Allan Wu, who shot to fame through stints on MTV and the US show Fear Factor. Producers will attempt to leverage his regional popularity through an extensive lead-up marketing campaign.

This will begin with a roadshow to find Asia's biggest 'Amazing Race fan', a tour which will take in Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and India, culminating in a wide-ranging — yet to be disclosed — integrated marketing campaign.

"You can expect us to do the unexpected. Watch this space, because there will be some really bold initiatives that have not been used to market a TV programme in Asia," Ow says.