MTV Asia is creating eight original shortform series for Facebook Watch, the youth broadcaster’s parent company Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has announced.
Each series will comprise eight episodes of up to eight minutes and encompass the genres of music, pro-social and reality. Popular social influencers in Asia will also feature in the shows, with the first four set to debut later this year.
“Creating original content is a key focus for us in Asia. We have a diverse portfolio of original content – from hip hop show YO! MTV Raps and the Comedy Central Stand-Up, Asia! series, to Nickelodeon shorts and esports branded content – that lives on our linear and digital platforms. Working with Facebook further amplifies the content creation opportunity as with this partnership, there is the potential to bring the power of MTV’s original ideas and storytelling to new audiences whenever and wherever they are consuming content,” said Paras Sharma, senior vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia, VIMN .
Saurabh Doshi, director of entertainment partnerships, Facebook Asia Pacific, said: “We are proud to partner with Viacom International Media Networks to bring the best of Asia’s creator content to Facebook through new show formats that will engage their community and inspire conversations. On Facebook Watch, publishers and creators connect with people in meaningful ways. We are excited to bring this to life with MTV Asia.”
The first four MTV Asia shows will premiere on Facebook Watch at the end of 2019 while the remaining four will be developed in 2020.
The project is driven by VIMN’s digital studios arm, Viacom Digital Studios International (VDSI), which was also behind an MTV Studios and Facebook Watch partnership to produce MTV’s The Real World in Thailand, Mexico and the United States, announced in October 2018. MTV The Real World: Bangkok has been available exclusively on Facebook Watch since 13 June.
“Creating original content is a key focus for us in Asia. We have a diverse portfolio of original content – from hip hop show YO! MTV Raps and the Comedy Central Stand-Up, Asia! series, to Nickelodeon shorts and esports branded content – that lives on our linear and digital platforms. Working with Facebook further amplifies the content creation opportunity as with this partnership, there is the potential to bring the power of MTV’s original ideas and storytelling to new audiences whenever and wherever they are consuming content,” said Paras Sharma, senior vice president and general manager for Southeast Asia, VIMN .
Saurabh Doshi, director of entertainment partnerships, Facebook Asia Pacific, said: “We are proud to partner with Viacom International Media Networks to bring the best of Asia’s creator content to Facebook through new show formats that will engage their community and inspire conversations. On Facebook Watch, publishers and creators connect with people in meaningful ways. We are excited to bring this to life with MTV Asia.”
The first four MTV Asia shows will premiere on Facebook Watch at the end of 2019 while the remaining four will be developed in 2020.
The project is driven by VIMN’s digital studios arm, Viacom Digital Studios International (VDSI), which was also behind an MTV Studios and Facebook Watch partnership to produce MTV’s The Real World in Thailand, Mexico and the United States, announced in October 2018. MTV The Real World: Bangkok has been available exclusively on Facebook Watch since 13 June.
