CH3 SD to air travel show co-produced with TV Asahi
WITH FULL support from the Japanese government's "Cool Japan" policy, the operator of digital-TV Channel 3 SD yesterday announced a collaboration with Tokyo-based TV Asahi to produce a travel show hosted by famous actor Jirayu "James" Tangsrisuk.
“TABI JAPAN with James Jirayu” has been selected by the Japanese government as a project to promote tourism in Japan’s northeastern city of Tohoku.
Channel 3 SD, which airs on digital channel 28, jointly created the 10-week project with TV Asahi and Hakuhodo DY Media Partner, in association with the Japan National Tourism Organisation and three Japanese ministries – Economy, Trade and Industry; Foreign Affairs; and Internal Affairs and Communications.
“We have had a long relationship with TV Asahi in providing Japanese content to Thai audiences for many years. But this is the first collaboration with the Japanese TV broadcasting giant to co-produce |a travel show together,” Surin Krittiyaphongphun, executive |vice president of Bangkok Entertainment Company – the operator of Channel 3 SD – said yesterday.
The first edition of the programme is scheduled to be aired on Sunday, January 10, from 5pm to 5.30pm.
With James as celebrity host, Surin said many brands and product owners had contacted the channel for an opportunity to publicise their brands during the show.
The new travel programme will form part of fresh content lined up for Channel 3 SD next year, he added.
Meanwhile, the collaboration reflects an aggressive effort from Japanese media powerhouses wanting to penetrate the Thai market.
Last month, Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings and its subsidiary Grand March announced their first collaboration with Amarin TV – which broadcasts on digital channel 34 – to co-produce a 90-minute weekly infortainment show, called “I-I-YO NE! Wan-Yud-Sud-Jeng”.
The show will feature the latest cultural trends in both Thailand and Japan, including books, movies, gourmet dishes, tourist attractions, hobbies and mobile technology.
The first edition of the programme is scheduled to be broadcast next month.
Amarin TV, which is considered a new player in local broadcasting business, hopes the new show will help improve its TV ratings.
In light of the two collaborative ventures, an industry expert has predicted that Japanese content will continue to flock into the Kingdom because of the Japanese government’s “Cool Japan” initiative, which aims to export entertainment content like TV shows, animated films and cartoons, online games |and music to foreign markets.
To turn this vision into reality, the Japan External Trade Organisation (Jetro) is playing a key role in supporting Japanese media powerhouses and content producers to go abroad.
In an interview last month with The Nation, Mironobu Kitagawa, director-general for the service industry department at Jetro, said the agency was providing necessary information to Japanese companies keen on overseas expansion.
Apart from exporting Japanese content to Thailand, Jetro also |hopes it marks the beginning of a business partnership between Thai and Japanese content producers|that could lead to a deeper collaboration in the near future, Kitagawa said.
