Sony Entertainment Television

Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is a brand new English entertainment channel devoted to serving the interest of discerning, urban career women in their 20s and 30s. The channel provides smart entertainment - sexy, chic, sophisticated and witty shows - with strong female leads and female-driven content, and features a variety of genres including fashion, lifestyle, drama, comedy and reality. http://www.set-asia.com/ and http://www.set-singapore.com

SET is managed by SPE Networks - Asia (SPENA), which also owns and operates cable channels AXN, AXN Beyond and ANIMAX. It is part of Sony Pictures Television International (SPTI), a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.

Programming highlights

April - Top Chef (Season 3)

The art of cooking is not as easy as it seems, and the contestants in this reality TV series face tough challenges each episode. Top Chef was nominated for Outstanding Reality Competition Program at the 2007 and 2008 Emmy Awards, and even won the Television Food Special at the James Beard Awards.

May - Flipping Out (Season 2)

Flipping Out is a reality TV series about a real estate agent, Jeff Lewis, who buys over houses and sells them for a profit after makeovers with the help of his employees. With his obsessive-compulsive tendencies, Jeff provides hearty entertainment with his many quirks, while perfoming miraculous transformations on his houses.

May - The Ex List

The Ex List is about Bella Bloom (Elizabeth Reaser, Twilight) - a single, 30-something, successful business owner who is surprised to learn from a psychic that she's already dated her future husband, but there's a catch: if she doesn't find him in the next year, she will remain alone forever.

June - The Real Housewives of New York City

Get ready for domesticity New York-style revolving around five glamorous Manhattan housewives. Whether they are out for the front row at Fashion Week or heading to the Hamptons, these busy ladies demonstrate the art form that is juggling motherhood, career, and a social calendar.

June - Top Design (Season 2)

Aspiring interior designers compete in this reality TV series, with various themes each week testing their designing abilities such as bachelor pads.

"SET is doing well on the distribution front, having launched first in Singapore (on SingTel mio TV) in July 2007, followed by Hong Kong (on PCCW's nowTV) in July 2008. Since then, SET has expanded its footprint to Cambodia, and has most recently been added onto the basic tier package on TVB Pay Vision platform in Hong Kong, " says Voo Chih Yeong, executive director and head of Sony Entertainment Television, SPE Networks - Asia. "Based on past experience with our other channels on similar platforms, SET's performance has been pacing well to our expectations. In terms of viewership hours per week, we are going strong in Hong Kong, with total hours per week reaching up to 90 percent of AXN's."

The campaign

The new campaign entitled 'Wickedly Juicy TV' was launched via a series of on-air teaser promos that started rolling out in February 2009.

Explains Voo, "We want to showcase SET as not just a 'feel-good' channel for women in general. The tagline 'Wickedly Juicy TV' aims to convey a message that is much stronger and more relevant for the modern women of today - women who are all empowering, who are not afraid to indulge in her desires and have things her way… no matter how 'wicked' the intention or 'juicy' the content."

Conceived in-house, the tagline was the result of a brainstorm session among the SET team members. The campaign

comprises: On-air - Teaser promos; 'Wickedly Juicy TV' promos; themed nights eg 'Ferocious Mondays and Tuesdays' for reality bites like Top Chef; and 'Glamorous Thursdays' for fashionista favourites like The Rachel Zoe Project.

Print - 'For Women Ahead of Their Time' print ads. TBWA was appointed to conceptualize and develop the print ad campaign, coming up with the tagline 'For Women Ahead of Their Time' to align it to the brand campaign message. Two print ads were developed, both showcasing the all-empowering woman who is not afraid to take the lead in getting what she wants or desires.

Online - Hong Kong: For the month of April, SET's 30-second trailer and subscription offer was blasted on 45 web portals and forums which cater to the entertainment and lifestyle needs of women and metrosexual men. Singapore: The SET website is being enhanced with a general change in look and feel of visuals and banners used online, to reflect the new brand identity.

Out-of-Home - Hong Kong: Outdoor billboard in the SoHo area in March. Singapore: MRT and Bus ads

On-the-Ground - Singapore: SET Topless Car Wash in celebration of International Women's Day, and in benefit of the Singapore Breast Cancer Foundation. Hong Kong: SET came on board as Television Partner of Hong Kong WineWalk 09 which took place on 18 April 2009, with proceeds going to charity. Hong Kong: In April and May, roadshows will be held at MTR stations, featuring SET's Wickedly Juicy TV promo trailers, along with other offerings from SPE Networks - Asia.

Voo says that together with three other linear channels in the SPENA portfolio, the bouquet of channel brands offers different entertainment destinations for the varying psychographic groups of viewers.

Asked how SET will leverage upon its parent network's foothold in the region, Voo says, "There is no doubt that SPENA has enjoyed a good relationship with our affiliate partners. Our partners and viewers have come to trust our channel brands, and expect the brands from SPENA to deliver top quality entertainment. AXN's wide distribution footprint in Asia and its number one position for English general entertainment, are testimony to the quality of the brand and its offerings. Animax, since its launch in January 2004, has achieved one of the fastest roll-outs in the region among new channel launches, now reaching out to more than 22 million homes across 20 countries. AXN BEYOND and SET are the two newest channel brands launched by SPENA, and within a span of less than two years, they already have a combined reach of over 600,000 homes on 8 platforms across 4 countries in Asia. With more channel brands in our portfolio, our affiliate partners also know that we now have better negotiation power for programme acquisition."

So how does SET differ from existing female-skewed channels out there currently?

SET offers general entertainment that spans a wide variety of genres, from drama, lifestyle-reality, celebrity-driven programmes, talk shows, to comedy.

Existing female-skewed channels are more geared towards genre-specific or content-specific programme lineup. There are also "family-oriented" or "feel-good" channels that appeal to more mature female audiences.

Is the female demographic currently under-served?

While there are many channels offering news, documentaries and movies to the mass audience which of course include females, there are not that many that offer English general entertainment to females in particular. Research has shown that females spend 15 hours more watching TV than males on a monthly basis. There is also a significant higher percentage of women versus men who are heavy TV viewers. TVAplus

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