Turner Broadcasting’s Phil Nelson revealed, in an exclusive interview with The Standard, that the Philippines is one of the most important markets in the region. In addition, the executive unveiled the media company’s new and exciting plans for the year.
Nelson, Turner’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Southeast Asia, talked about Cartoon Network and its top -rating shows.
The leading kids channel in the Philippines for four years straight, Cartoon Network finished the year 2015 with more than 31 percent relative share, according to data from Kantar Media Philippines. With 2016, a reimagining of beloved series The Powerpuff Girls “is coming very soon,” in addition to “a younger, more comedic” reboot of Ben 10 coming “later in the year,” according to Nelson.
Building on top of Cartoon Network’s success, Toonami, its more action-oriented counterpart, will also be airing the brand-new, much-awaited show, Dragon Ball Super, for the first time outside of Japan.
Also, Boomerang, a network catering to kids, will also be more widely distributed across the nation’s various cable TV services, with new shows such as Bunnicula, featuring the titular vampire rabbit, as well as various other shows featuring the good ol’ Looney Tunes characters providing a healthy dose of comedy for kids, as well as nostalgia for the kids-at-heart.
For the teens and adults who seek something different from the kid-centric shows of the aforementioned channels, enter Warner TV, one of the hottest newcomers on Filipino cable TV. An all-too-different beast after its rebranding last year, Warner TV ended the previous year on a high note, powering forward from a relative nobody into an 8 percent market share by the end of 2015.
This year, Warner TV doesn’t show any signs of letting up, opening 2016 with double-digit ratings, spearheaded by one of the hottest shows on TV, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
According to Nelson, Turner prioritizes the Philippine market “above the rest of Southeast Asia … due to an emerging middle class,” in addition to other factors. This is evidenced by Warner TV Philippines being separated from the rest of Southeast Asia, having a different, specialized type of programming crafted specifically for Filipinos.
And the benefits for the Filipino viewers are obvious: highly-rated shows such as Gotham and the aforementioned Legends of Tomorrow are simultaneously aired here and in the US. No more getting spoiled via social media, no more downloading the shows on questionable websites on the Internet – Filipinos get the same shows, at the same times, as Americans do.
The entertainment train doesn’t end there – Warner TV, according to Nelson, prides itself in “having something for everyone,” with critically-acclaimed comedies such as Angie Tribeca, dramas such as The Last Ship, and movies such as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, balancing out the DC heavyweights.
With 2016 opening so strongly for Warner TV, Nelson says that “there’s plenty more to come,” and that they’re “cooking plenty of interesting shows and movies up,” and, much to our delight, that “[the Philippines] will be one of the first ones to get ‘em.”