Working in Singapore as an anchor for the weeknight business show “CNBC Tonight,” May Lee couldn’t help but notice a void in Asia’s television market. There weren’t any programs that women could really relate to, she thought. Sure, they had their dose of Asian soap operas and syndicated talk shows like “Oprah,” but nothing catered to their unique, changing lifestyles.

So the 41-year-old Ohio native took action. Abandoning the security of a big TV network, Lee armed herself with a how-to book on starting a business and built her own production from scratch. In May, after more than a year of hunting for funds, hiring employees, furnishing studio facilities and booking celebrities, viewers everywhere from Korea to India could flip on “The May Lee Show,” Asia’s first regional women’s talk show.

Each week, in front of a live studio audience, Lee chats with guests about topics that interest the “new Asian woman,” who she says is no longer afraid to talk about issues traditionally left behind closed doors. The veteran journalist wants to spur dialogue on serious matters such as infidelity and rape, as well as entertain viewers with more lighthearted segments on fashion and food. With each episode, she brings in Asian experts and celebrities. Guests have included actors Joan Chen, Kim Tae Hee and Daniel Henney.

Based in Singapore and shown on Asia’s English-language cable-television channel Star World, the production has completed its first season and is in the pre-production stage of Season 2. KoreAm chatted with Lee about her one-woman journey.

 

How did you come up with the idea for the show?

From 1997 to 1999, I had been the anchor for CNN International out of Hong Kong. Then I had gone back to the U.S. to be a host on Oprah Winfrey’s network Oxygen Media and an anchor and correspondent for ABC. In the years that I’d been away from Asia, I noticed this dramatic shift of women in Asia and their roles, their behavior, their empowerment. But they weren’t being represented in the media. People were watching “Oprah,” but “Oprah” is very U.S.-centric. There was nothing they could relate to fully.

I just thought there had to be a way to speak to them. I thought, maybe somebody needs to do a show. The concept came to me while I was at CNBC in Singapore. That’s how the seed was planted in my head.

What were the challenges of launching a brand new production?

In Asia, television is still sort of a developing industry. I really wanted to raise the bar with this show. I didn’t want it to look like some shoddy local production. But because this is an independent production, I did not get money from a network. And sponsors tend to be very cautious. They don’t want to sponsor something that doesn’t have a track record. So for a year and two months, it was literally pounding the pavement — calling and meeting and begging people. It felt like a lifetime.