Going beyond the ordinary

AXN has become a brand for adventurous, action-packed TV viewing for the past 10 years. It has been airing adrenaline-pumping shows (The Amazing Race and its Asian version and The Contender) and mind-boggling programs (CSI: Miami, NY and Las Vegas, Lost and Damages).

The channel has recently undergone a makeover to push the limits of what it can offer. After all, the children have grown up, as Jack Lim, SPE Networks Asia VP for advertising sales and marketing, put it. The televiewers have changed their interests. AXN sees the need to come up with a new TV destination called AXN Beyond to address this shift in preference. As its name suggests, the network goes beyond the ordinary action, adventure and drama fare AXN has been known for.

So what does the word “beyond” in AXN Beyond mean?

Like its predecessor, AXN Beyond is a 24/7 channel which explores unpopular genres like sci-fi, fantasy, suspense, horror, paranormal and the supernatural. It tickles and affirms one’s imagination and belief of the unknown and the unimaginable. AXN Beyond gives everyone different choices for thrills, spooks and chills. The network will hopefully make a believer out of the skeptic. It reminds one of Scully and Mulder of The X-Files fame.

Although the young with a penchant for out-of-the-ordinary can visit the channel, AXN Beyond is for viewers aged between 15 and 35 who believe in the existence of another reality our senses normally refuse to comprehend.

The shows are classified as Beyond the Ordinary, Beyond Reality and Beyond Imagination. Lost and Journeyman, for instance, will help televiewers see the thin line that separates real from reel, and vice versa. Shows like Pushing Daisies and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fuse mystery with fantasy. The X-Files is resurfacing on the small screen to give its signature stamp of going beyond imagination on the new channel.

Other must-see shows are Supernatural, Masters of Science Fiction, America’s Psychic Challenge, Sleepwalkers and Mysterious Ways. You can also catch up the episodes of Mondo Magic: Singapore featuring the magic tricks and fast hands of JB Benn and Chris Korn. The duo also never fails to entertain and awe onlookers as it goes Far East in Magic Asia  India.

Recently, AXN Beyond shared the amazing, mystical side of the other world by staging an event at The Fort’s Embassy. Tonytoni hosted it while SPE executive Lim and SkyCable airtime sales director Carla Manas led the unveiling of the new AXN network.

Fans showed up in costumes and enjoyed the party by knowing their future through handwriting analysis and tarot card reading. They also hopped from the photo station to the glitter UV tattoo booth. The cocktail drinks that glow in the dark added an eerie atmosphere to the occasion. Erik Mana made a visual and mental performance.

Also gracing the event were Pinoy Dream Academy Season Two host Billy Crawford, The Amazing Race Asia Season Two runner-up and Ang Pinaka host Rovilson Fernandez, models Joey Mead and Geoff Rodriguez, James and Philip Younghusband, Tim Yap and Spongecola lead vocalist Yam Yuzon.