DISCOVERY NETWORKS Asia Pacific (DNAP) plans to capture the attention of more millennial viewers by strengthening its presence in the digital space, as the network targets to boost its viewership by 300 million across Southeast Asia by 2020.

DNAP Vice President and General Manager Shavkat Berdiev is looking to attain this goal by tapping partners who have already established themselves in the digital space.

“Our major approach is to have strong partners in the market. We believe that to get a max out of what we can do is to have someone strong on the ground who can help us with operations but also with understanding the market. So we are in talks with several partners here, to launch our digital propositions,” Mr. Berdiev said in an interview with BusinessWorld in Pasay City last week.

The bulk of DNAP’s business currently comes from subscription television or pay-TV. In the Philippines, the network has a 14% penetration rate among households with televisions.

While Mr. Berdiev said this segment of the business is still growing, the pace is much slower compared to digital.

“There’s a significant growth coming from audiences using mobiles so I think these are areas where I can help Discovery to get to new levels because the digital is being added to linear TV viewership, so suddenly networks like Discovery and others have the opportunity of reaching new people that they didn’t have before,” he explained.

Mr. Berdiev said they are exploring all digital platforms for expansion.

“Going into digital, we’re looking at all options available on the market, including streaming sites and players like that. If you want to be successful in digital you want to make sure that you are present in all those platforms,” he said.

The digital industry’s growth is attributed primarily to the preferences of the millennial audience, or those aged 18 to 35 years old, who spend more time watching shows on their mobile phones rather than sitting down in front of a television.

For instance, Mr. Berdiev cited an experiment they did for the premiere of the DNAP show The Kings, which follows the life of former model and host Joey Mead King and her husband’s transition to being a transgender woman. While the show was aired on pay-TV, the first episode was also broadcast live on social networking site Facebook, which garnered five times more viewers than the former.

Mr. Berdiev said the network’s venture into the digital space also comes as audiences are presented with more choices by which they can entertain themselves.

“It opens the access to people to watch videos even when they are not at home like when you are traveling. You can really watch good quality content when you travel. This is something people didn’t have before,” he said.

The shift in focus to the digital space would also mean a change in the format and content of the shows that DNAP would be producing. From previously creating long-format shows ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, the network has started experimenting with short-form programming that lasts between five to 10 minutes.

Noting that the millennial generation’s watching behavior is slightly different, Mr. Berdiev said DNAP would have to produce shows that would attract audiences with a shorter attention span.

To start, DNAP is in the midst of launching 16 shows with localized content, or those that feature Asian stars. This is what Mr. Berdiev called as the first major phase in introducing new content to the network, which previously had been showing Western content.

“That’s our strategy, to keep creating very strong Asian shows that can also travel to other countries. Because I think the influence of Asia overall is increasing worldwide, and having those Asian formats is also important,” Mr. Berdiev said. — Arra B. Francia

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