SATELLITE & CABLE: MTV gearing up for growth from SE Asia

<p>MTV Asia has enhanced its localised services in Asia with the </p><p>rolling out of the Philippines feed in addition to its current Southeast </p><p>Asia, Mandarin, Korea and India feeds. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MTV Networks Asia president Frank Brown said Southeast Asia has "great </p><p>growth potential", now that it has recovered from the economic upheavals </p><p>of the late 1990s. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The music network has appointed Peter Bullard to oversee the Southeast </p><p>Asia region, with the support of general managers in markets like the </p><p>Philippines and Indonesia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We are increasing the weight on management to expand their potential </p><p>and we may take people form Singapore to other Southeast Asia markets," </p><p>said Mr Brown. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MTV will deliver a 24-hour service in the Philippines in addition to the </p><p>extending distribution on terrestrial station, ABS CBN. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Reaching more than 110 million households across Asia, Mr Brown said MTV </p><p>was taking on a "more decentralised and localised" programming strategy </p><p>in the region. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Digitalisation technology enables the multi-feeds strategy with </p><p>affordable operation costs. Mr Brown noted "it didn't make sense to </p><p>invest in infrastructure and equipment" many years ago as the network is </p><p>doing today. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Advertising sales for MTV has grown 60 per cent in the first quarter of </p><p>this year, according to Mr Brown, who added that the network has doubled </p><p>the size of its business over the past two years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Local advertising has grown significantly over the past year with the </p><p>proportion increasing to two-thirds of the total from a third. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But international advertisers tended to be more active following the </p><p>economic crisis, with increasing marketing budgets being allocated </p><p>across the region. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>On the Internet platform, MTV plans to launch an Indian website this </p><p>year and current page views for MTV Asia online were more than 11 </p><p>million. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Current advertisers on board for MTV's online services include: Cadbury </p><p>and Compaq in China, Asiana Air in Korea, Kenzo, Smint, Citizen, </p><p>Heineken, Motorola, Philips and Sony in Singapore, and Acer, Estee </p><p>Lauder, Intel, M&M, Pioneer, Kenzo and Za in Taiwan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The music industry is undergoing tremendous change, including in </p><p>marketing, with the emergence of interactive media platforms to deliver </p><p>services. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MTV is leveraging its online resources to promote the channel and plans </p><p>to "experiment on ecommerce", according to Mr Brown. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>