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Kevin Jennings
Vice President
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| In case you still had any doubt that Apple has Netflix and Amazon in its’ sites, Apple has shown its hand with the hire of British TV executive Jay Hunt, who has held top roles at Channel 4, the BBC and Channel 5, and whose credits include British hits such as Sherlock, Luther, Humans and Gogglebox. One of the UK’s most senior TV executives, Hunt has been responsible for running Channel 4’s £630m annual budget for the past six years. Apple has earmarked $1bn over the next year to make at least ten TV shows in a push into original video production that will also challenge traditional broadcasters. It has so far only dipped its toe into original programming, striking a deal to spin the popular Carpool Karaoke segment from James Corden’s late night US TV show into a series, and there are questions about how edgy its original content will be. Apple’s expansion follows rival Netflix revealing that it intends to spend up to $8bn on making and buying TV programmes and films next year, a significant increase on its $6bn budget this year. |
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John Medeiros
Chief Policy Officer
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| For those interested in Thailand, the news this week was dominated by images of the cremation of the late King Rama IX. The scenes encompassed all the red and-gold pageantry and ceremony of Thailand’s unique culture. The main rituals of a Thai royal cremation haven’t changed since the 14th century, but 2017 is certainly a unique turning point, as this is the first time they have been broadcast – live – viewed around the world on OTT television. For the Thain nation, it was a time to forget politics, as the mourning was truly nationwide. And it was shared by friends of Thailand, everywhere in the world. In memoriam, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. |
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John Medeiros
Chief Policy Officer
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The landmark case of the Teeside ISD seller concluded with his being sentenced
to an 18-month suspended jail sentence, following his guilty plea. (This was the guy who initially pleaded not guilty, because “he was only selling the box” (albeit fully loaded with piracy software) and “it wasn’t up to him what people did with it.”) The case is being seen as a landmark, because as the judge said: “If anyone was under any illusion as to whether such devices as these, fully loaded Kodi boxes, were illegal or not, they can no longer be in any such doubt.” |
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Cathryn Chase
Regulatory Assistant
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| PR wars are raging over efforts to deal with Kodi boxes. Following press coverage of various enforcement activities the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) lashed out, deriding anti-ISD enforcement efforts in the UK and claiming that “most of the software” on Kodi add-on depository TVAddons was legit. (No evidence for that statement was offered.) Computer and Communications Industry Association, an organisation representing major IT companies, also chimed in following a remark by MPAA that labelled Kodi as a “global threat,” saying that the Kodi software must not be blamed for piracy. (Okay, that’s fair; Kodi can be used for both legal and illegal purposes. But in the UK, it’s so widely used for the illegal side that everybody – pirates, media and enforcers – call ISDs “Kodi boxes.”) Anyway, the content-industry linked Creative Future coalition has now responded to the EFF nonsense, noting that this mouthpiece of “the internet must stay free” theology is “wilfully blind” when it comes to piracy. (That seems to be a common condition in Silicon Valley….) |
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John Medeiros
Chief Policy Officer
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| Facebook says it is considering doing live sports broadcasts. Gee, that’s odd….I thought there was a LOT of live sport on Facebook Live already. Oh…..I see……they mean they are going to start legitimate, authorised sports broadcasts, to go with the pirate stuff on their platform now. |
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Clare Bloomfield
Director, Policy & Research
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| Another global survey of the world’s leading 17 Pay-TV providers, representing over 100 million active subscribers has been published which highlights the ongoing challenge of OTT vs Pay-TV. The survey suggests that one approach which seems to be working is for Pay-TV companies to partner with third-party content providers to explore and implement new revenue generations models, such as revenue share with content owners and pay-per-use mobile access to non-subscribers. |
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Mark Lay
Vice President, Singapore
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| OTT news roundup… Last week we heard about Nielsen’s push into OTT data and now we get a glimpse into the US market. “An estimated 80% of time spent viewing SVOD is to catalog programming and only 20% to originals.” Digiday has a piece on how Scripps created Genius Kitchen, a streaming video brand focused on making food videos for people in their 20s and early 30s…with a website, mobile & TV apps and distribution on Facebook and YouTube. At the The Paley Center For Media, 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch said that the company is all-in on over-the-top streaming, but it plans to focus on bundled offerings like Hulu’s live OTT TV service. “I don’t think we’re all that concerned about cord-cutting”, Murdoch said. “What we want to see is a lot more competition downstream.” With Facebook Watch recently launching, National Geographic and Time Inc. discuss their video strategy. To foresee how this could work out: Publishers might have to start paying Facebook if they want anyone to see their stories. Click on over to the CASBAA OTT Group Newsfeed for even more OTT stories. |
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Clare Bloomfield
Director, Policy & Research
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| If you have time, there’s an interesting short (6 min) interview with Michael White, former DirecTV CEO and PepsiCO CFO on CNBC, in which he discusses changing consumer habits in the media landscape, the increasing role of broadband and new over the top services offered by companies. |
