Latin American TV's challenges in Asia.

It's no secret that Asian territories have not been the easiest markets for Western TV distributors--and especially telenoveleros--to penetrate. But, now there's a light at the end of the formerly dark tunnel thanks to the popularity of the telenovela genre worldwide, the telenoveleros increased flexibility in licensing formats and Asia's progressiveness when it comes to new technology. Still, it remains to be seen whether a Latin American-produced telenovela can find a permanent home among the main Asian channels. Either way, the telenoveleros are showing up at the Asia TV Forum later this month in Singapore to try their hands at some Asian business.

Xavier Aristimuno, who has handled Tepuy's sales to Asia for four years and has been promoting Latin shows in the territory for almost 10 years, said the success of Latin telenovelas is cyclical in Asia. "There used to be a time when the market was dominated by Brazilian novelas," he said, "and then, for a long time, it was dominated by Mexico (Televisa in particular). Now, the business is widening." He credits some of this greater opportunity to the success of Colombia's Yo Soy Betty La Fea, which he promoted years ago in Asia. The show was a success throughout the region as a finished product, and as a format in India.

Traditionally, within the vast Asian area, the territories that have most warmly welcomed the telenovela were the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia (where they are usually programmed in the morning or early afternoon, and if particularly successful, moved to primetime).

"Indonesia is an important market, where we have been since the beginning of the year," added Raphael Correa, sales director of Globo TV International. "But several other countries in the region represent new business and it is a market that we are very interested in."

According to Aristimuno, what makes novelas translatable to Asian audiences has a lot to do with cultural sensibilities. "The cultures are very similar in many ways. Both have strong family traditions, a lot of energy and focus on street partying. The business relationships in both places are more like friendships," he said.

While telenovelas have had daytime success in some countries, problems have risen most often when it came it Thailand, China and Korea. "The Asian market has its own habits and huge cultural differences and each has to be addressed in a unique way," said Globo's Correa. According to Aristimuno, Thailand has been difficult to infiltrate primarily because its airwaves are dominated by local and North American programs.

RCTV's vice president and general manager, Jose Escalante, attributed his company's difficulty infiltrating the Chinese market to censorship issues, wherein the government is almost constantly placing restrictions on the number and kinds of foreign programs that can enter the country.

"Korea is more difficult," Escalante added, "because that territory produces so many local dramas. Korea is becoming a tough competitor in the area." While Korean dramas feature plots that are reminiscent of telenovelas, they are much shorter in length (with the average series lasting between 20 and 30 episodes rather than the 120-plus episodes a telenovela spans). Escalante also pointed out that content from Asian countries is well supported by the local governments: "The government helps the counties promote their dramas within Asia. Even at markets like MIPCOM, you see the distributors coming under the Korean banner, and that really helps."

All of these reasons, collectively, have forced the telenoveleros to explore the business of telenovela formats when dealing with Asia. "The format business opens up hard markets like Korea, Singapore and Thailand," Escalante said enthusiastically.

"The broadcasters in Asia have, in the last five years, become experts in telenovelas," confirmed Aristimuno. "They've learned to research ratings from all over the world to see what will and won't work." For this reason they're also able to step behind the wheel themselves and produce their own local versions of telenovela formats.

Aristimuno singled out India as one territory that almost always opts to buy formats rather than finished product. "Thanks to their experience with Bollywood movies, they know how to produce series with high production values and cheaper costs," he said.

Interestingly, though, Aristimuno said that the Asian-adapted formats usually don't vary much from the original versions and "maintain most of the storyline."

Martha Contreras, TV Azteca's international sales manager, Asia, said, "There are cycles during the years; they go from licensing the finished product to formats to local production. These change among countries over time, so you have to be very keen to determine the trend in a certain territory," she said.

When asked if he thought the popularity of formats created an opening for companies to take the idea of an established novela and run with it, Aristimuno was unfazed. "Piracy is always a risk in Asia, so we only work with people who we know and trust. Some small players will try to do that, but they'll undoubtedly fail. There's much more to a telenovela than the story, and only certain companies can pull it off. It's an art."

But its not just global producers' proficiency with telenovela scripts that's making them more viable options, according to Aristimuno, it's also the evolving nature of the telenovela. "Telenovelas have changed greatly: production value is higher, and they're beginning to revolve more around successful women. They're getting fresher and younger-looking, too."

The protagonists are also getting younger. According to RCTV's Escalante, the genre of kids' telenovelas is being welcomed by Asian clients. At MIPCOM, many Asian buyers showed interest in Tukiti, and Escalante is hoping to close the deals at this year's Asia TV Forum in Singapore.

Telefe's head of Sales, Michelle Wasserman, is also banking on having success with kids' novelas, though only for daytime parts (especially in China, where kids' animation has been completely banned from primetime). So far, Chiquititas (Little Angels) has been sold into Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. "We were approached at MIPCOM by quite a few Asian channels interested in our kids' shows," she said.

But even without the kids' novelas, there is hope with the tried-and-true telenovelas. "The romantic and classic ones travel best into Asia," said TV Azteca's Contreras.

According to Telefe's Wasserman, "Asia is not our strongest market; we haven't focused a lot on it." She agreed with her colleagues that, thanks to homegrown drama series, Latin novelas have lost a bit of their novelty on free-to-air TV channels. But, to counter the negative effect, "there are more new platforms and alternative doors opening in Asia, including pan-regional and local cable stations," she said. "There are also a lot of opportunities when it comes to DVD and VoD licensing," she added. While Wasserman admitted that these new outlets don't necessarily translate into big financial opportunities, she said that her company is still looking to "increase relationships" in Asia.

Another reason the traditionally difficult territory has become a little easier to infiltrate is a result of, according to Miguel Somoza, regional sales director at Venevision International, "The increasing integration of many countries from that region into the global market, more competition among international companies, with the globalization of content and the needs arising from economic growth and sizable populations with more disposable income and entertainment needs. Our product has been present in Asian countries for a long time, now we are entering markets where we were not present before," he said.

Carlos Castro, general director of Sales at Televisa Estudios, said "We have been working hard to consolidate our presence in Southeast Asia, and to increase our presence in new markets in the region." He also provided the most optimistic forecast: "Opportunities in Asia will only continue to grow," he said. "These markets are experiencing economic recovery and deregulation; plus impressive population numbers are driving demand for more and improved content, distribution outlets and entertainment options."

When it comes to what's in store for the future, Tepuy's Aristimuno expects buyers' demands to change even more. The Asian market is experiencing the same fate as the rest of the world--with media company mergers and acquisitions becoming commonplace, and according to him, "It'll be interesting to see how all the consolidation will affect our business. The stronger and bigger companies will probably buy less programming and higher quality novelas."