Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE) has turned profitable, slightly more than three years after the Asian entertainment specialist was created by combining channels from Astro-owned Chinese movie venture Celestial Pictures with those operated by Tiger Gate, a start-up backed by Lionsgate and Saban.

“We’ve doubled our revenue base in three years,” CEO Todd Miller tells Media Business Asia.

“That has enabled us to conclude our most recent financial year [FYE March 31] with a modest profit on a full-year basis,” Miller adds. “We did that, not by cutting costs, but by investing in content and executing against a very focused strategy.”

Industry analysts Media Partners Asia (MPA) estimate that CTE generates sales of around US$30 million.

The company, mainly geared around subscription revenue at present, makes most of its money in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, although it has widened its footprint in other markets, notably in the Philippines. Distribution in Hong Kong remains uneven however.

Greater scale together with sustained focus and execution, as well as an emerging second revenue stream from advertising, can help CTE maintain its financial health in an increasingly competitive market, where regional and local players are also bidding for Asian content, Miller says.

The company continues to sign 3-5 year deals for its key programming to shore up its positioning, Miller explains, signing up multiple suppliers for key genres such as movies or action series. Earlier this year, CTE inked its first renewal, with mixed martial arts property Bellator.

“When there’s so much dynamic at play, we have to go back and make sure our fundamentals are right,” Miller says.

“For us, that means focusing on what we’re best at, building those competitive advantages, identifying the content and the propositions that we really want to get behind, and making some judgement calls and some priorities.”

Original shows, and a new channel for kids

The broadcaster continues to build out its business, prepping a new Mandarin kids channel called Miao Mi for Southeast Asia launch in Q4 (followed by possible expansion into Australia and the Pacific), as well as its first self-produced show, R U Tough Enough?, which will air this month on action entertainment channel Kix.

The show has also brought in advertising sponsors and promotional partners, helping CTE nurture ad revenue, initially from Malaysia where CTE channels Celestial Movies, Celestial Classic Movies and Kix are rating well, and the company installed a local sales executive last year.

Ratings momentum is also promising in the Philippines, where CTE is planning a major consumer promotion in the summer.

More original productions are in development, mainly for Kix but for other channels too. “You will see in the coming months that we will be more aggressive in the original production space,” Miller says.

Overall, CTE channels are present in 15 territories, carried by 41 affiliates.

Company ambitions will remain largely but not entirely focused on Southeast Asia for the foreseeable future. Celestial Classic Movies, with content from the Celestial Pictures-owned Shaw Brothers library, has ventured further afield, recently landing in Sri Lanka via DTH operator Dialog for example.

Possible expansion into Korea and Taiwan could be on the cards over the next year or two.

There’s room for new feeds in existing markets as well as digital extensions of channel brands, Miller notes, as well as scope to launch new channels and move into new markets.

“We are looking in other corners of Asia at some particular growth opportunities,” he says.

“While we are taking a slightly bigger view of where we can add value, we are still primarily focused in Southeast Asia, because Southeast Asia is still very much growing and we believe that we are far from being complete in terms of what we can do.”