Networks And Asian Language Values

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I'm glad they were referencing AZN TV and iaTV in this article, and even though I'm not convinced that the overall programming culture have got it - because look what's not being picked up by basic cable across the U.S. - it is nice to see that people still are at least talking about the value of our community when it comes to programming:

Despite AZN’s demise and iaTV’s (formerly ImaginAsian TV) moves to broaden its audience, operators and programmers remain confident there is a real demand for networks targeting Asian-Americans, especially those offering foreign-language content.

English-language networks aimed at the children and grandchildren of immigrants are “nice-to-have channels,” but it’s the “in-language channels that have the most value,” said Rob Thun, senior vice president of programming for AT&T’s U-Verse TV, an AZN affiliate.

While Comcast-owned AZN, which targeted Asians born or raised in the U.S., reported 13.9 million subscribers, most of the current crop of Asian-language channels count viewership in the tens and hundreds of thousands. But viewer loyalty is high.
I know what you're saying - gotta wait and see if anyone really does something (and on another note it still gets me that they couldn't make AZN TV work with that many subscribers).

Either way - check out the full article down at Multichannel News.