BALI: Banijay Asia, the formidable content producer, is strategically expanding its reach into Southeast Asia, with a sharp focus on Indonesia and a ground breaking reality series that will propel contestants into space, according to a report in Variety. Group chief executive Deepak Dhar, speaking at the APOS conference, revealed the company has "already locked a couple of deals in Jakarta" for both scripted and unscripted ventures.

This expansion includes an enhanced version of Banijay Asia’s previously announced cross-border reality show, which initially sought one Indian participant but will now search for "one Indian and finding one Indonesian who we can send to space in a Blue Origin rocket."

The move comes as Banijay Asia continues to scale its substantial operations in India, a market with a "voracious content appetite," according to Dhar. He noted the company produces "800 days of Big Boss [the local version of Celebrity Big Brother] in our calendar year of 365 days," highlighting the sheer volume of content generated.

"The timing is right for us personally, because we’re happy in the position that we are at in India, and now we can focus our bandwidth into the rest of the region," Dhar explained. "We are really doubling down on Indonesia and then subsequently in Thailand."

Banijay Asia has built a strong reputation for successfully localising international formats while also developing successful Indian originals. Its  adaptation of The Night Manager for the erstwhile Disney+ Hotstar garnered massive viewership, with a second season currently in production. The company also recently rebooted the long-running crime procedural CID, which delivered "massive strong results on Sony television" before its subsequent windowing to Netflix.

Dhar articulated the company's broader regional ambition: "It’s really time that an Indian story catches the fancy and attention of global audiences as well. So that’s really something that we’re excited and working towards."