Singapore’s ATF Expecting Record Attendance
By Patrick Frater
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Organizers of the Asia Television Forum are forecasting a record attendance in Singapore for the event’s 20th edition. Running December 3-6, 2019, including a pre-market day of conferences, the 2019 edition is 5% larger than the 2018 event.
“The 20th edition of ATF takes place during exciting times of a paradigm shift. With so much changes (sic) happening ahead, we expect the market to be dynamic this year, and discussions at conferences to be intense and insightful,” said Yeow Hui Leng, group project director of Reed Exhibitions, the producer of ATF.
New attendee companies include China’s Baidu Haokan, Google Play, GoPlay, Hoichoi, and India’s Jio. Other game changing companies include Facebook Watch, Bililbili, LineTV, Hotstar and MX Player.
Yeo said that 20% of buying professionals are new to ATF this year, and that 40% more buyers have indicated their interest in acquiring digital rights. In total, Reed is counting on attendees from 55 countries and regions.
The thrust of the ATF Leaders’ Summit, which takes place Tuesday, is intended an examination of how the media industry in Asia aligns with the global strategies of newly reshaped and enlarged entertainment conglomerates. Industry heavyweights delivering keynote speeches include Giorgio Stock, president entertainment networks, distribution and advertising sales, EMEA and APAC, at WarnerMedia, one of the global conglomerates that has recently restructured itself for the digital age. Other speakers include Gong Yu, founder and CEO of Chinese video streamer , and Shibasish Sarkar, CEO of India’s Reliance Entertainment.
The ATF is part of a larger cluster of events taking place in from late November an through the first week of December. Other elements include the Singapore International Film Festival, which came to its conclusion on Sunday, ScreenSingapore, the Asian Academy Creative Awards and for the first time Singapore ComiCon. Added as an associate event is digital media conference Vidcon (Dec. 3-4).
