A young crew: recruited from across Asia, the network’s journalists and technicians
are on average 24 years old.
Learning the ropes: over sixty YATV trainees have moved on to secure jobs with Asia’s
major television networks.
The network makes extensive use of computer graphics, still a fairly rare practice
in Asia.
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Website
of the month
www.unesco.org/
virtual-library
A selection of UNESCO books are now entirely available online and free of
charge. This virtual library is part of the Organization’s new efforts to make books
available to the widest possible public using the latest developments in communication
technology. Though presently limited as to the number of titles, many in this first
selection of works are out-of-print. The majority are concerned with world heritage
sites, complete with photographs and maps. This experimental project plans to add
more titles on a regular basis. Arctic languages or Simon Bolivar, Hué or
Gorée, the choice is yours. On your bookmarks!
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An Asian broadcasting
network run by young professionals focuses on social and environmental issues
 To a first-time visitor it might
look like a journalism school or a college campus. Walking along the corridors of
Young Asia Television Network’s (YATV) headquarters in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo,
one can find youngsters in casual clothes occupying newsrooms and studios. In Asia’s
vast and expansive electronic media world, YATV may sound like one more television
company trying to be successful with entertainment-only programmes.
Not so. The network’s young crew is putting together entertainment programmes based
on Asian cultural and social values, environment and sustainable development. “YATV
is a network for Asian youth. Our motto is ‘infotainment and edutainment’. It is
a combination of education and information with a lot of entertainment,” says Hilmy
Ahamed, managing director of YATV network.
Started in 1995 by the Worldview International Foundation (WIF) and some private
investors, YATV produces programmes that are broadcast on television channels in
countries all over Asia, including Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh,
Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Viet Nam.
An
estimated viewership of 250 million people
The Asian satellite
television boom in the early 1990s opened up new opportunities for many channels
and companies producing programmes for local audiences, triggering a race for maximum
viewership. This eventually led to many Asian television networks opting for the
shortcut method of making or buying programmes based only on entertainment. According
to YATV officials most of these programmes lacked creativity and imagination, and
were simply imitations of Western television programmes.
“There was a crying need for an alternative television, especially for youth, which
would draw their attention to social and cultural issues instead of bombarding them
with Western pop culture,” says Ahamed.
The idea for a television network focusing on environment, development and culture
was first raised in a conference of South Asian broadcasters in 1989, a proposal
which was welcomed by Unesco. But it was the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 that actually
paved the way for setting up an alternative television unit. The Non-Governmental
Organizations’ (NGO) forum at Rio gave the mandate to the WIF, which has been in
the field of development communication in Asia since 1980.
The WIF, funded mostly by Norwegian and Swedish aid agencies, set up the network
in Colombo where it has a full-fledged media centre. YATV was launched with an initial
investment of about $18 million. It is a business enterprise with 51 per cent owned
by the WIF and 49 per cent by private investors, mostly multinational corporations.
For WIF, Asia was the obvious place to launch an alternative network. Half of the
region’s three billion inhabitants are under 24, hence the tremendous impact of television.
In addition, there were no television networks or channels dedicated to programmes
dealing with social and environmental issues.
YATV started with one-hour weekly programmes, based mostly on information about developmental
issues provided by the United Nations and NGOs. In 1996 the network started producing
seven different 30-minute programmes broadcast each day, focusing on a wide range
of subjects. Today, on average, about 15 hours of YATV’s programmes are shown every
week on terrestrial and satellite channels throughout Asia–such as India’s Doordarshan
Metro (DD2), Pakistan’s PTV World, Nepal’s NTV, Malaysia’s RTM, Bangladesh’s Ten
Network, Thailand’s ITV and Channel 5, and Viet Nam’s VTV 2.
Despite this wide geographical spread and with an estimated viewership of about 250
million people, YATV producers admit that they have not yet conquered a mass audience.
Without a channel of its own, this will be difficult. Recent surveys estimate that
about 30 million Asians watch YATV’s programmes. “This is not a mass appeal programme.
We cater to a niche audience wishing to see more meaningful and qualitative programmes
than watching Music Television (MTV),” says Ahamed.
But even getting this far has not been a smooth ride. YATV has had to battle with
giants like the STAR TV network and well-established television companies from other
Asian countries. They soon realized that only by being innovative and different from
other players could they gain viewers, especially among youth.
To begin with, YATV recruited youngsters without any experience in television journalism
and trained them to make programmes. Today, it manages a crew of about 120 young
media professionals drawn from various Asian countries–the average age being 24.
“We asked our young team members what type of programmes they would like to see and
how they would go about making them. This helped to develop a style of our own,”
says Ahamed. Apart from few high-level positions, young people, between 18 and 25
handle editorial planning, research, writing and filming, making YATV a unique television
network in the region. In short, these are programmes made by young Asians for young
Asians.
YATV programmes are characterized by their fashionable and creative camera work,
their animated and articulate presenters and their extensive use of computer graphics,
still not very common among many Asian producers. The Pan-Asian background of the
professionals is also an asset in making programmes that attract yong people from
different countries.
But slick presentation aside, young viewers are attracted by Made-in-Asia quality
programmes dealing with sustainable development, women’s rights and more importantly
their own culture and traditions. “Previously no producer thought of making programme
series on Asian folk music, dance and arts,” says Parthiban, a 23-year-old producer
at YATV. Slowly but surely YATV programmes have gained popularity. Within a year
after its inception, YATV gained entry into the top twenty of Sri Lanka’s favourite
programmes.
Advancing
the cause of women
Nature Calls
is a popular YATV programme now shown in many Asian countries. It looks at environmental
problems from the rainforest of the Amazon to the plains of Tanzanian Serengeti,
from the peaks of the Himalayas to the coral reefs of the Maldives. The programme
presents stories showing our common heritage and highlights the need for a balance
between exploiting and conserving resources.
A recent Nature Calls focused on ancient irrigation systems and organic farming techniques
practiced in the Asian region for centuries. It also discusses how eco-friendly traditional
farming techniques could help to improve environmental conditions in the region.
A feature on Eco-warriors profiles leading environmental activists who are involved
in the struggle to save our planet.
Another popular programme, Space to Let, tackles a wide range of social issues of
concern to women, including education, employment, healthcare, sexuality, reproductive
rights, abortion, and discriminatory practices like the dowry system, arranged marriages
and female circumcision. It doesn’t just look at “women’s issues” but rises to the
challenge of conveying woman’s views and takes a firm stand against certain practices
upheld in the name of tradition.
The YA Tribe aims to celebrate Asia’s diversity. A special segment of the programme,
The Gong, is devoted to promoting traditional Asian musical forms and artists, as
well as exploring the fusion between Eastern and Western forms. View to Tell presents
folk tales and mythological stories passed on from one generation to another, keeping
this intangible heritage alive among the young.
“The Asian focus of the programmes appeals to me a great deal because there is so
much to learn and relate to from our own region,” says Christine, a housewife in
Colombo.
In the past three years, young people from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia
and the Philippines have trained and worked alongside Sri Lankans at the production
headquarters in Colombo. After gaining a few years experience at YATV, trainees often
move on to other mainstream networks. Today, over 60 of its trainees have landed
jobs in almost all the major television networks in Asia.
“At YATV I feel that I am doing something that has the potential to make a difference,
to empower, to inform, to show that someone cares,” says 22-year-old Robin David,
an Indian media professional who produces YA Café, a programme on Asian music,
cookery and fashion.
To ensure that programmes include content from countries across the region, YATV
has production centres in Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Malaysia, along with a network
of stringers in Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. The programmes
are mainly produced in English and either dubbed or subtitled in different languages.
In addition, Pakistan Television’s satellite services provide an Urdu version of
the programme Nature Calls to Bangladesh and the Gulf States. Vijay-TV, a satellite
television channel in southern India, broadcasts a Tamil version of Nature Calls.
An Astro Satellite TV cable and satellite services provide Malaysia with Bhasa Malaysia
and Tamil versions of the programme I-Zone, dealing with youth issues.
YATV is about to make its debut in China. Chinese Educational Television (CETV) has
agreed to broadcast YATV’s two programmes on Nature and Culture. YATV officials say
that these programmes will be adapted to Chinese viewers. With the new deal the channel
hopes to broaden its audience substantially.
YATV mostly buys airtime from terrestrial and satellite networks preferably at prime
time in order to attract the largest possible audience. Income is generated mainly
by programme sponsorship and advertising. Some networks buy programmes directly or
enter into a cost-sharing or co-production arrangement with YATV.
Recently organizations such as UNICEF, the Asian Development Bank, Save the Children-Norway
and WHO have started sponsoring programmes on children’s rights, democracy, sustainable
development and nature. Operating with an annual budget of $3 million, YATV made
modest gains for the first time in 1999 and hopes to turn a greater profit this year.
YATV recently started dealing with sensitive political topics through programmes
on Sri Lanka’s long-drawn-out ethnic conflict. Sathi (Awareness) in Sinhala and Vilippu
(Awakening) in Tamil are the network’s responses to the perceived apathy, insensitivity
and resignation of a large number of people to events in the country. Producers put
the blame on a lack of awareness about the needs and experiences of those most affected
by war.
“It was not easy in the beginning as hard-liners from both sides were not happy,”
says Sulochana Peiris, a 26-year-old producer in charge of Sathi.
Opening
up a dialogue
The two programmes,
telecast nationally, look at the need for initiatives to be taken by both communities
to achieve peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. For the first time, Sinhala viewers
get the Tamil perspective of the conflict through one programme while the other gives
Tamil viewers the Sinhalese side to this 25-year-old saga.
“It has a good response from the young people. This is the reason why we want to
continue with it,” says Nimal Perera, news director of the Talashine Network Ltd
(TNL), a private channel in Sri Lanka.
Now YATV is looking beyond Asian borders. As a first step they want to produce a
show called Planet Asia, a compilation of its best programmes, aimed at Western countries,
to raise awareness among young people of the issues facing their Asian peers. YATV’s
future plans include entering the European ethnic television market. Throughout Europe
there are many ethnic Asian channels trying to cater to immigrant communities.
With their success, do they hope to fight Western culture? “No it was not our aim.
We know that it is difficult to fight the likes of MTV culture,” says Ahamed.
Worldview International
Foundation (WIF) is an independent, non-profit organization with headquarters in
Sri Lanka. Founded in 1980, it has consultative status with many United Nations agencies.
WIF operates a network of Media Centres in Asia and the Middle East.
Useful website: http://www.lanka.net/yatv
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