MANILA, Philippines - Six of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) top media firms, including ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., have teamed up for a regional convergence in vital broadcast technologies, content and best practices to hurdle an evolving and increasingly competitive industry environment.

The group, collectively called SMART Alliance, is comprised of representatives from Thailand's BBTV, Vietnam's International Media Corp., Indonesia's Media Nusantara Citra, Malaysia's Media Prima, Singapore's MediaCorp., and Philippines' ABS-CBN. Members are looking to hurdle new challenges in the industry such as the internet, social media, and rising equipment costs through the production of original Asian content, as well as tighter copperation in terms of procuring equipment and sharing information.

"The alliance was born at the right time because we are in the midst of change. The desire for Asians by Asians content has never been stronger, but at the same time, our business models are being challenged by the technologies today. As we move into a world where analog dollars are being traded for digital pennies, we must find innovative ways to work as a group and follow our audience online and through new mobile technologies," ABS-CBN Chairman Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III said in his opening speech.

Officials present during the conference signed the Equipment and Facilities Rental Agreement, which aims to share facilities among members and reduce operational and equipment costs. This includes opportunities for bulk buying of equipment, which, as a group, would yield better, more efficient deals for the companies.

The group also signed the Smart Alliance Website Agreement, which aims to provide information on the alliance to its different stakeholders through a website, which the group hopes to complete by the end of the year. The companies all committed about $30,000 for this project alone.

SMART Alliance Chairman and Singapore's Media Corp. President Lucas Chow said the companies have been working well together amid different cultures, roots, and strategies, and that the partnership would further help the companies meet the needs of the future.

"One of the objectives is to get our companies ready for the future--to future-proof ourselves. Things are moving too quickly to ignore. We have to equip our people more for what's coming," noted Chow.

ABS-CBN President Charo Santos-Concio said that Filipino viewers would especially benefit from the implementation of the group's projects, particularly the generation of "Asian content."

"We did well with TFC, in reaching out to our global Kapamilya. But we should also reach out to other viewers in the other countries. Then we can really say ABS-CBN has gone global.," she said.