Channel News Asia positions itself for regional expansion

<p>Sending out combat signals to the broadcasting big-guns of Asia, </p><p>Channel News Asia (CNA) has announced the decision to turn its local </p><p>Singaporean feed regional, come September 2000. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Celebrating its first birthday on March 1, throughout the channel's </p><p>fledgling year it has kept diminutively quiet about regionalisation, </p><p>focusing on building marketshare and loyalty in the Lion City. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Today, however, CNA is ready to venture into Asia's broader, more </p><p>critical, viewer markets - intending to tackle the likes of CNN, CNBC </p><p>and BBC World with an Asian twist. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In the face of competition from cable and the Internet, we've really </p><p>got to put our news on tap - so while the big networks do a good job, </p><p>they're only reporting on the main headlines in Asia," said Channel News </p><p>Asia chief operating officer Shaun Seow. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We want to supplement that content by covering the second, third and </p><p>fourth tier stories, from a more Asian perspective," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Citing the recent economic downturn as the catalyst behind the channel's </p><p>regionalisation, Mr Seow added, "we noticed a lot of people wanting news </p><p>and information on how to survive the crisis - and our terrestrial </p><p>channel ratings (in Singapore) went up as a result". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Garnering a range of pan-Asian programming, 30 per cent of the channel's </p><p>regional feed is set to differ from its more "Singapore-centric" </p><p>cousin. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Our newsroom is here (in Singapore), but in the course of last year we </p><p>built up a fairly expansive (correspondent) network of nine bureaus </p><p>Asia-wide," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We'll be opening a tenth in Taipei by mid-June, a newsroom and studio </p><p>in Hong Kong and commissioning a production house in Mumbai to do strip </p><p>programming and a talk show". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Foreign lifestyle and documentary programming will also make up 25 per </p><p>cent of the regional feed. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We want to showcase what's important in Europe and the US, if (we feel) </p><p>it will have implications on Asia or a parallelism here," Mr Seow </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Aside from the US$150 million investment which, over the next </p><p>five years, will foster new talent and finance satellite links, he </p><p>stressed that joint ventures spelt the way forward for CNA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We won't rule out JV partners because for us to do really well in key </p><p>markets we've got to tie up with a strong local partner, who either </p><p>gives programming strengths or marketing as well." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Getting "a foot in the door" with the cable operators was key with a </p><p>series of roadshows targeting the broadcasting trade, regional </p><p>publications, advertising agencies and cable operators rolling out in </p><p>Hong Kong to Australia from April to June. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Beaming out on Indonesian satellite Palapa within the year, Mr Seow </p><p>earmarked the potential five million Indonesian eyeballs as a step up </p><p>from the Lion City's limited viewership. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Singapore is a small market, we're targeting half a million </p><p>professionals, reaching only 30 per cent of those daily - and to really </p><p>satisfy Asian consumer's need for news we have to cover China as well," </p><p>Mr Seow said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With "the Asian perspective" hinging on local language subtitles and </p><p>feeds, he is pragmatic about the inroad to the mainland. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"At this point our official entry into China, with the approval of the </p><p>authorities, will be through hotels and serviced appartments - but we're </p><p>considering local language versioning in a few years time." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Meanwhile, upping awareness, CNA is pouring US$4 million into its </p><p>advertising and marketing directive, backed-up by its website </p><p>(www.channelnewsasia.com). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It's our advance guard before we're seen by satellite (viewers)," said </p><p>Mr Seow. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Brandishing the site's news advantage of 24-hour real-time news feed and </p><p>streaming video content, Mr Seow added that its dotcom offering had </p><p>delivered credibility to the channel. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We're getting some advertising, but all dotcoms are lost leaders at the </p><p>moment - we may talk about money, but the real traffic is yet to be </p><p>seen." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>