Did you know the Indonesian television market is booming? Or that the $606-million South Korean media major CJ E&M is looking for a partner to enter the entertainment business in India? And that the Chinese copies of Facebook (Renren) and YouTube (PPLive) are huge listed businesses? As I listened to speakers describe Asian markets such as Indonesia, South Korea, China and the Philippines, among others, at last week's Asia Media Summit in Hong Kong, organized by Media Partners Asia, it hit me how poorly engaged we are with the rest of Asia.

Our benchmarks and learnings are all derived from mature Western markets. That is good. But evolving markets in Asia, and even Latin America, could offer valuable insights.

Take the Indonesian TV market. This cosy duopoly is seeing unprecedented growth as democracy, which came in 2002, fuels the hunger for more media. It is a hot favourite with investors across the region. One of Indonesia's two leading broadcasters, MNC, makes its own programming, and owns distribution across media as well as channels. The $268-million (Rs 1,206 crore) company has about 15,000 employees. That seems very high. The $656-million (Rs 2,952 crore) Star India, one of the largest broadcast firms in India, has about 1,200 employees. Yet, with 37 per cent operating margin against Star's 24 per cent, MNC is very profitable. So is there something to know about the way MNC manages costs and retains value by keeping programming in-house? India's entertainment broadcasters, grappling with high content costs, would do well to check it out — they haven't so far.

Why aren't we more interested in other Asian markets? One reason, of course, is the whole size thing. Every other country is simply dwarfed by India. At 142 million TV homes, 120- odd million newspaper copies sold every day and so on, we are way ahead of any other market in the region. The only markets that come close to India in size are China, the US and Europe as a combined entity. So we tend to look at them. But lessons on how to monetise India's size better could probably be learnt by looking at other Asian markets instead of the US or Europe. Indonesia is, again, a good example. As many as 13,466 islands housing 238 million people make up this country. To cable it, and have a national TV station or newspaper, is a huge geographical challenge. Sounds familiar?

The second reason we are not sufficiently engaged with other Asian media markets is texture. India is largely a liberal and robust media market. Most media segments are fairly hassle-free to enter. Hundred per cent investment is allowed into almost everything except news and distribution infrastructure. Most of the other markets in the region are not as liberal and transparent. For instance, how TV licences are issued in Indonesia is still a mystery, say analysts.

It is not just about the rules; it is also about the somewhat repressed feel of these markets. At the Hong Kong conference, like most others I have attended in the region, no hands were raised to ask questions. The audience were happy to use their iPads or mobile phones to post their questions through a local Wi-fi connection. However, these anonymous questions were of better quality than the ones that would have been asked if people had raised their hands to ask one. A fellow journalist pointed out that the anonymity of the e-option gave people the freedom to ask about things that really bothered them. A similar audience in India would have wanted to engage with the speakers verbally — questioning, arguing and debating.

Given this, then, the US, Europe, and even Brazil seem interesting because they are more competitive and reasonably liberal compared to India. The US and Europe have a "been here, done that" air about them that Indian managers desperate for some calm in their chaotic, fragmented and hyper-competitive lives would love to have. That is good only for aspirational value. But if you really want to figure out some dal roti kind of everyday solutions to operational problems, then the Philippines, Indonesia or Korea offer interesting perspectives. It is time we said hello to them.