To say that Ringo Chan’s life has revolved around television would be an understatement. Chan admits that he was once “one of those couch-potato children” who couldn’t be pulled away from the tube, who wouldn’t do his homework without it, who was a “die-hard fan of Thunderbirds”. Chan was one of those kids who “wanted to know what went on in that box, and how everything got in there. I wanted to know how I could get in there”.
His career at Time Warner has been a fulfillment of those dreams - he has been in front of the camera and behind it, working on everything from cartoons to news. Now VP of wireless, interactive content development and distribution of Turner International Asia-Pacific, he is the man charged with expanding the group’s TV presence in the region and revitalising it for the digital age.
Following a university degree in broadcast journalism, the Hong Konger started out as an investigative reporter for Taiwanese TV network CTS - a job that saw him reporting live from Tiananmen Square in 1989. That was as far as he took journalism; soon afterwards he decided to go behind the scenes.
He first moved to Turner in the 1990s, becoming a marketing manager for CNN International, TNT and Cartoon Network across the region. Marketing led to distribution, and he was soon charged with finding a way to introduce CNN to mainland China - a market almost entirely closed off to Western media operators.
China was to be his big break. In 1999 Time Warner was looking to acquire satellite television network CETV so that it could carry and manage local content throughout South China, and Chan was chosen to be the face of the deal, leading negotiations with Government officials. In the process he laid the groundwork for every Western network looking to enter the market in the future. “I remember making headway in my negotiations with the Government for the first time and what a really crucial achievement that was. It took me two years of negotiations to broker a deal, and in that time, I had to get them to break their own rules and help them to embrace a US company enough to give us one of their networks,” he reminisces.
The deal went through in 2001. “We worked together for that historic moment,” he adds. “Now the process of how things happen for all networks has changed, but the model and the agreement that we established is still the same.”
His reward was the post of general manager of CETV. “I was in charge of the programming, sales, management and operations of the first US-backed TV station in China,” he says proudly.
Now, however, he has much more to worry about than TV. As well as distribution, Chan currently oversees strategic development and operations of Turner’s mobile and interactive business in Asia-Pacific, which includes video-on-demand, games and other interactive applications for CNN International, CNN Headlines, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Adult Swim, Pogo, TruTV and Turner Classic Movies.
Among his most time-consuming projects of 2009 has been the relaunch of CNN.com, which was an initiative from the company’s headquarters in Atlanta but needed shepherding in Asia-Pacific. The revamp included an overhaul of CNN’s mobile presence, mainly through the launch of an iPhone application that includes local news, weather and location-based information. This is in the process of being made available to Asian audiences, and similar applications are in production for handsets by other manufactures, including market leader Nokia.
“Our goal is to keep CNN as a pioneer in the multimedia world and keep audiences informed on the move,” he says. “For Cartoon Network, we want to be a talking point on campuses and playgrounds.”
To that end, one of his pet projects is the rabbit cartoon Tuzki, which Chan is trying to build into first a regional, and then international brand. Beijing artist Wang Momo’s cartoon was a hit in China, and was previously used in campaigns by Motorola. Chan flew out to see her and eventually convinced her to allow Tuzki into the Turner family in 2008. Since then, Tuzki has been given its own website, launched earlier this year, extending the character’s presence to 124 countries at the time. But Chan thinks the rabbit can do more. Tuzki, he believes, will become a Chinese icon worldwide.
For all the cutting-edge new developments, the job is not without its frustrations. Chan points out that there are constantly dead ends in the business, where ideas don’t come to fruition. He points to CNN’s difficulties in China last year (the network became a whipping boy for nationalist netizens following unrest in Tibet). Chan regularly finds he has no access to Government officials, and without their co-operation, moving forward with news and additions to Turner’s websites can come to a standstill. With the technology landscape changing so quickly, this can leave Turner scrambling to catch up, he says.
Nevertheless, having spent much of his career patiently negotiating with slow-moving bureaucracies, his advice to other media companies in the region is to do the same. The best way forward, Chan says, is to earn the trust of local partners and governments, especially in highly regulated markets. Acceptance by local power players automatically helps draw audiences, and with unique and local content, followers will find their way online.
As for the future, after 15 years at Turner Chan is in no hurry to move on. For the kid who couldn’t tear himself away from Thunderbirds, there’s probably no better place to be. “I think back to when I used to imagine how the content got behind the TV. That dream has come true. That boy has got to do the greatest things.”
Ringo Chan’s CV
2006 Vice-president, wireless, interactive content development and distribution, and vice-president, Greater China, Turner International Asia-Pacific
2004 Vice-president, Greater China, Turner International Asia-Pacific
2000 General manager, China Entertainment Television (CETV)
1999 Vice-president, network distribution and affiliate relations, Greater China, Turner International Asia-Pacific
1998 Director, network distribution and affiliate relations, Turner International Asia-Pacific
1997 Associate director, network distribution and marketing, Turner International Asia-Pacific
1995 Marketing manager, Asia-Pacific, CNN International, TNT and Cartoon Network
1988 Executive producer, CTS
This article was originally published in 17 December 2009 issue of Media.
