SINGAPORE – October 21, 2013 – Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks announced that it will launch a brand new channel, GEM, in January 2014. GEM will feature popular general entertainment content from across Asia, SPT said in a press release.
“While there is an increasingly strong interest in Vietnam for scripted and non-scripted Asian general entertainment content, programming is available only intermittently on various platforms,” says Hui Keng (HK) Ang, senior vice president, Business Operations, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia. “With GEM we are bringing Vietnamese audiences the best and most popular shows from across Asia on one dedicated channel.”
GEM is the second Asian content channel offering from Sony Pictures Television Networks, who launched ONE in October 2010. ONE, which offers the latest in Korean dramas, K-pop variety and music programs, is one of the top-rated pay-TV channels in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the launch of GEM marks SPT Networks’ second channel in Vietnam. It also operates AXN, which is currently available in SD and HD on all major Vietnamese TV platforms across the country.
Vietnam is one of the fastest growing pay-TV markets in the region, SPT said, citing a recent study by Media Partners Asia, which said pay-TV subscribers are projected to grow from 4.8 million in 2012 to 8.1 million by 2020, with both cable and DTH remaining critical growth platforms in Vietnam. Pay-TV advertising is also anticipated to grow during the same time period, from US$108 million to US$209 million.
GEM adds to SPT Networks’ presence in Asia, where it currently offers five wholly-owned pay-TV channels — AXN, Sony Entertainment Television, beTV, ONE, and Animax. In addition, SPT Networks has a joint-venture stake in the Indonesian telenovela channel Televiva, which it operates with Dori Media Group.
