Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending May 29th. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!
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Christopher SlaughterCEO |
Singapore’s Media Development Authority has awarded the tender for its new TAM system to global research giant GfK. This is the culmination of more than two years of effort, in which CASBAA played an important role in ensuring that Pay TV was properly represented. Special thanks go to Discovery’s Julie Petersen and Martyn Uren of Fox, who served as CASBAA’s subject matter experts on the MDA’s Tender Review Committee. The new system is expected to be in place and delivering measurement data in the second half of 2016, and CASBAA is hopeful that our industry will continue to be engaged as the system is implemented. |
Christopher SlaughterCEO |
Feels like we’ve been here before, doesn’t it? Charter Communications is set to buy Time Warner Cable in the US, fending off a potential bid from European telco Altice. Of course, the deal still has to face regulatory scrutiny, but it seems a lot more likely to pass than the Comcast bid. Reactions have been, perhaps predictably, mixed, even though the merged company would be the second biggest cable operator in the US. The logic for the deal is as sound as it was the first time around, and it’s still as much about broadband as it is about pay TV. And, of course, since it’s Charter, it’s also all about John Malone… although, being from Denver, I’m personally not sure the whole “cowboy” metaphor really works, especially since Malone is a transplant from Connecticut. |
John MedeirosChief Policy Officer |
My favorite Asian leader (this week at least) is Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo. This clip of his statements on piracy is a must-watch. “Piracy is right in front of our eyes,” he says. “There’s no need to go searching for it.” And “Online…has to be addressed, and continuously.” Plain-spoken truths! (Wouldn’t it be wonderful if leaders in some of our other countries could work up some zeal on this issue?) |
Kevin JenningsProgramme Director |
Ahead of the CASBAA Satellite Forum next Monday, news that five international firms have bought bid documents for the installation and support services of Bangladesh’s first planned satellite. US-based Boeing, Canadian companies Telus and Orbit, MDA Corporation from France and Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) of China have all purchased the documents to participate in the bidding. At the Satellite Forum, Myanmar’s Deputy Communications Minister is going to tell us about his country’s satellite plans. |
John MedeirosChief Policy Officer |
In Asia, we know well that – despite the industry press’s fascination with what goes on in North America – not everybody is entering the online universe at the same speed, and it will be a long long time before OTT supplants traditional TV business models. Two recently published research reports agree that satellite DTH transmission is going to continue to enjoy robust growth. “(Traditional) platforms are moving from strength to strength, with the pull of exclusive content, sports and localised channels being a significant draw for consumers worldwide to linear TV platforms,” says one report. That said, in the longer term “it will essentially be compulsory for DTH and other pay-TV platforms to offer OTT as a supplementary service… effectively becoming a ‘one-stop-shop’ for content as much as feasibly possible.” And the second one echoes, saying Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa will show the strongest satellite TV revenue growth. |
Christopher SlaughterCEO |
The cat certainly seems to be out of the bag, and CBS CEO Les Moonves is the one who opened it, by confirming reports of an Apple TV streaming service. To be fair, the bag wasn’t closed all that tightly anyway, but as Moonves put it, “When Apple calls, you always listen.” For its part, Apple still isn’t talking (surprise, surprise), but other (unnamed) industry sources say the service is being delayed because Apple wants local TV to be included in its offering. |
Mark LayVice President, Singapore |
The business of pay TV has never gone through a more exciting period. How the players will adapt their business models to the changing environments of technology, competition and the viewing habits of all generations provide for almost endless analysis and speculation. In business, or in anything for that matter, few people like being told what they are doing wrong (7 Deadly Sins: Where Hollywood is Wrong about the Future of TV) but the ones who do may end up making less mistakes than others. A thorough analysis of the nuts and bolts of two business models is presented in the state and future of Netflix v. HBO in 2015. The current profit differential is staggering. |
Kevin JenningsProgramme Director |
Surprise news for Anglophile music fans as the BBC announces that the long-running pop-quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks is finishing after a 20 year and 28 series run. While not in the same league as David Letterman (and you can take that however you want), some Buzzcock highlights are listed here – a personal favourite, though tragic, is Amy Winehouse, with apologies to cat owners everywhere. |
Sara MaderaDirector, Member Relations & Marketing |
Just a little light reading for the weekend… Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report runs to a mere 197 slides this year.Takeaways? Shockingly, there are quite a few. My favorite, though, is that in 20 years, global Internet penetration has gone from 1% to 39%. |
Jane BuckthoughtAdvertising Consultant |
Down with the kids? Two pieces came up a new report from JWT Intelligence described Generation Z, the 12-19 year old cohort “the ambitious, engaged, sensible child” who wants to “create, connect and change”. Research from Turner on SE Asian kids who are of course digital natives, wield influence over family buying habits in unexpected categories. More than half of parents say their kids influence their choice of car, 70 per cent over which mobile phone they buy and 80 per cent over their selection of laptop computer.
Meanwhile, speaking of research, last week ASI hosted the first APAC TV symposium which saw speakers present papers on audience measurement from Europe. One burning topic discussed at the event: should we use the term “television” or “video” to describe content? |
John MedeirosChief Policy Officer |
And in Thailand, despite the NBTC’s efforts to support its digital terrestrial channel licensees with a whole range of goodies including box subsidies, must-carry rules, light-touch ad minutage limits and so on, the financial constraints on the licensees (limited ad revenue, fierce content competition and high transmission costs) are having a toll. The first digital licensee to quit is trying to surrender its broadcast license and is facing demands that it pony up the rest of its bid for a license – a cool 1.6 billion baht. The operator says “we’re not going to pay”, and itblames the regulator for not making their business profitable, but manages to say nothing about the possibility they (and other operators) might have wildly overbid for the digital licenses! Meanwhile, another digital licensee, Nation Broadcasting, announced a big program revamp, moving more into entertainment to replace some of its news content. |