ASIAN ACADEMY CREATIVE AWARDS LINE-UP MORE TV DEALS SINGAPORE OCTOBER 7, 2019:
The Asian Academy Creative Awards announced its broadcast partnerships for its 2019 Grand Awards and Gala Finals to be staged in Singapore this coming December 5th and 6th.
HOOQ OTT
Platform HOOQ will again stream every minute of both prestigious awards nights live into Singapore, Thailand and Philippines and exclusively into Indonesia. Singaporean based HOOQ is a joint venture between Sony Pictures, WarnerMedia and Singtel and picked up 3 awards at the inaugural AAA’s in 2018.
E! ENTERTAINMENT
NBCU Managing Director Asia-Pac Networks, Christine Fellowes, fronted the Singapore Media Festival press conference in Singapore today to announce that E! Entertainment channel will broadcast the glittering Gala Finals Red Carpet live into 34 countries across the entire region “and we’re extending our coverage to one hour” Christine said.
VIU TV
Asian Academy Creative Awards President Michael McKay then announced a raft of new broadcast agreements including Hong Kong-based free to air broadcaster Viu TV. The PCCW backed terrestrial will broadcast both the Grand Awards and Gala Awards Final on its English channel ViuTVsix.
TOGGLE
Added to this will be live coverage of both nights into the host nation courtesy of Mediacorp’s digital entertainment service “Toggle”. “The annual Asian Academy Creative Awards honour the finest of the region’s media industry, from content creators to media producers. As Singapore’s national media network, Mediacorp is proud to join the celebrations by bringing the glitz and glamour of the Grand Awards and Gala Final ceremonies live to audiences through Toggle” said Anil Nihalani, Head, Digital Products and Technology, Mediacorp.
TONTON
Malaysia’s OTT heavyweight Tonton is also throwing its considerable reach behind the AAA’s. tonton is Malaysia’s first and largest home grown streaming service with around 8.6 million registered users and is part of the part the Media Prima group. Last year Malaysia scored two of the coveted golden Goddesses of Creativity but many local experts are tipping an even stronger showing this year, despite the weight of regional competition. “We are very excited to be part of Asia’s most prestigious awards and stream AAA’s this year to all Tonton users. The awards show recognises the best of the best in our industry in Asia Pacific and we are sure our viewers will be in for a full night of entertainment, glitz and glamour but most importantly supporting talents from around the region. Kudos to AAA for putting together a platform for aspiring and established talents to reach for creative excellence” said Airin Zainul, Director, Digital Asset Management Group, IP- Animation and Licensing & Merchandising.
DANET VIETNAM
Also back for 2019 is Vietnam’s OTT platform Danet from media giant BHD who were among the first platforms to snap up local rights to the AAA’s.
SOCIAL MEDIA
“Last year our social media reach was enormous including in excess of 78 million fans on Twitter, almost 52 million through Facebook and 17 million via Instagram and we expect those numbers to go even higher this year” AAA President, Michael McKay noted. This year influencer and actress Munah Bagharib will front an enhanced digital TV unit called AAA[tv] that will give total access to all aspects of the prestigious awards “Munah has an Access All Areas pass to take our fans well and truly behind the scenes.
FAN APPEAL
When asked what draws fans to the Asian Academy Creative Awards, Fiona pointed to its National format where entrants must first win the category in their own country then go on to represent their nation or territory in the final against the best work from the other nations”.
“The fans want to get behind their country and, of course, there’s the appeal of their favourite shows and stars but another twist is that we often announce the scores, especially when they are close” said Fiona “we believe we are the only major awards show in the world that is actually prepared to reveal its scores” she added.
“The tension is especially high when we have Tie-Breaker Rounds where we have to send shows off for another round of judging and this all plays out at the ceremony”.
The Asian Academy Creative Awards also speaks directly to local fans who can connect with celebrities from their own region, or with local stories that they can more readily relate to.
“The AAA’s are highly accessible to local fans and we price our Fan Zone tickets at $50 to ensure they can attend the Red Carpet, get up close to the stars and even attend the ceremony,” Fiona said.