Viewpoints: acquisitions strategies

Shirley Po
Manager - Content Acquisition & Distribution
Broadband Network Systems Ltd.
Hong Kong

What programs did you buy this year?

In June, we acquired the Japan Terrestrial Free TV rights of the footage on Changing Faces & Sichuan Opera from Shanghai Media Group (SMG).  The footage will be excerpted into a weekly entertainment program of a TV channel in Japan. 

In July, we renewed the licenses of SMG's "The Art of Changing Face" and 2T3M's "Gags on You" respectively for our VOD partner in Japan.

We're closing a deal on two Pavarotti programs for IPTV in South Korea, finalizing the VOD contract with our long-term partner in Japan, and also in talks with several distributors regarding the DVD rights of their programs for Japan. 

What are your acquisition strategies?

Since content aggregator is one of our roles, we're expanding our content business in two directions:

On one hand, we help our clients to form programming strategies and also locate & acquire contents appropriate to their needs.  

On the other hand, we create more revenue streams for content owners & distributors through our distribution networks, especially on new media platforms.

This year so far, has shown a definite increase in enquiries about content from our clients. Most of our clients are looking for content for IPTV & Mobile platforms in South East Asian countries, such as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.  We foresee certain content-related opportunities there.

Having the in-house technical expertise and strong relationships with globally renowned vendors & operators, BNS is a leading technology solution provider for Telco IPTV, Internet TV, MDU IPTV, Mobile TV, Enterprise AV.  Since there's increasingly demand of various contents for new media platforms, we are able to combine our expertise in strategy, technology/systems integration and content to deliver end-to-end solution to operators.

We also plan to broaden our distribution horizons further, not constricted to new media only.  Our development in Japan is a good example - our programs have reached/are reaching VOD platform, Terrestrial Free TV & DVD market. 

Hence, we are open for different opportunities and welcome any potential partnerships.

What are your acquisition plans?

Down linking rights of 24-hour channels for IPTV, especially in SEA; High-definition programs for Korea & other SEA countries (single episode/one-off programs are preferable, such as concerts, music awards presentation ceremony, beauty pageant, etc.); Universal programs for different territories, such as non-verbal programs (i.e. candid camera, funny clips, magic shows); a nd, any new & exciting programs in the market.