18 September, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Sep 18th. 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 Slaughter CEO	It’s one of those truisms in journalism… if the headline ends in a question mark, the answer is so obviously “NO!” that it can make your brain hurt. In this case, the question is “Are Media Companies Charging Streaming Services Enough?” Of course, in the discussion about whether to licence content to rivals, and if so, how much to charge, most answers are a bit more nuanced than simple declaratives, as James Murdoch pointed out at a Goldman Sachs conference this week. And anyway, not all decisions have to be final, do they?
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	On a sort of related note, the BBC is going OTT in the USA (say that three times fast). The service will launch next year to carry programmes currently not available in the US, and will put the Beeb in direct competition with Netflix, among others.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Remember we mentioned that Apple’s iOS 9 update was going to support ad-blocking? Well, the software update came out this week, and ad-blocking is definitely a thing. The fact that the update also features an un-removable Apple News app is, of course, no coincidence. But apart from potentially sounding the death knell for some ad-supported web publishers (who are trying to fight back, btw), there’s a great piece on The Verge that explains that what we’re really talking about is money and power in Silicon Valley.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	ZenithOptimedia is forecasting that global adspend will grow 4 percent to reach $554 billion in 2015, with mature markets set to lead the growth for the first time in nine years. Television is still, by some distance, the dominant advertising medium, attracting 39 percent of spend in 2014. ZenithOptimedia forecasts television adspend to grow by an average of 2 percent a year through to 2017.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Ahead of CASBAA’s conference on Promoting Online Safety & Protecting Brand Integrity, the growing problem of online ad misplacement was recently discussed at the Australian IAB’s leadership summit in Sydney. Speakers claimed ad fraud costs the industry around $100 million a year straight out of marketers’ budgets. Over the last year, the US IAB has been focusing on online traffic fraud as well as placement of ads on illegal (including pirate) websites. They’re working to clean up the supply chain – something for the online industry in Asia to think about. These issues will be discussed at CASBAA’s conference Making Online Advertising Click which will be held on Monday 26th October during the CASBAA Convention week.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Far too many governments are content to sit complacent and unmoving in the face of the tidal waves of changes sweeping the communications industry. Not Down Under, where both the Oz and NZ governments have regulatory reform initiatives underway. New Zealand has just issued a thoughtful “road map” to guide discussion of work extending across several ministries, which will explicitly examine areas where a “Tilted Playing Field” is developing. (Things like the need for content classification, applicability of GST to cross-border content delivery, regulatory inequities in advertising, etc.) The paper recognizes that existing broadcasting regulation was designed for another age, and “it is timely to review whether and how content should be regulated.” Bring on that review…
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Meanwhile, in Australia: a couple of months ago, the Minister of Communications announced he wanted a public review of regulatory agency ACMA, “to ensure it remains fit-for-purpose for both the contemporary and future communications environment.” (It’s rare for any government to ask questions whose answer might be “sunset” for regulators or regulations…) Well, the Minister is now the Prime Minister, and some people are saying that means in addition to changes inside the government, reform of media ownership rules is imminent. But others (including the Labor Opposition) are grumbling “not so fast, boys and girls…” The Labor dude warned Turnbull that he was standing “in the middle of a minefield” on media ownership.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Anyway, back to the ACMA review: the submissions are in, and the telcos sought a major paring back (or elimination) of the regulator. Interestingly, about the most detailed submission was from ACMA itself, analyzing how well it has met its KPIs. Our cousins at ASTRA, the pay-TV association in Sydney, cited “the potential for legacy regulation to inhibit innovation and investment… and to apply inconsistently to existing operators and new services.” So they want to move the future communications regulator toward “a preference for non-regulatory or co-regulatory approaches.” Yay!!! The prize for best line of the week goes to ASTRA CEO Andrew Maiden who told their annual conference that the rules today look like they were “drafted on a Commodore 64 computer.” (Here, this will save all you Millennials from having to Google that…)
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Here’s an interesting commentary on digitization in India. The authors are pretty pessimistic, saying that while India tried to leapfrog to digitisation in a much shorter time than big developed countries, “the realisation (of the goals) became more distant as the deadlines approached.” And they analyze all the missteps being made.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Many good stories this week. For those of you that have never seen the video “Everything is a Remix” the remastered version is on Vimeo. It’s a very interesting look at music, film, tech from the perspective of plagiarism and copyright laws. Beware, your current view could be altered. Myspace is back in vogue with its pivot to music AND video, “making it a bigger property than Snapchat and Vice”. With the new Apple TV just announced, Digital Ian takes a look at The Impact of Apple TV Universal Search on Content Apps. This could have implications for any media company distributing video through an Apple TV app.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The controversy about forced pan-European copyright licensing continues to rage. (The EU Commission is pushing to ban geo-blocking and break down licensing on a national basis, as they believe Europe should have a single market.) Now the English Premier League has weighed in, saying the Commission was “reckless” in trying to “transform effective business models which are working for thousands for a tiny minority at the margins.” The Commission is ignoring the evidence of the real world, said the head of the EPL. At the same time, the MPAA’s Europe chief, Stan McCoy, took on the ‘Luddite Critique’ of the audiovisual sector, for our alleged failure to embrace technological change. The Commission is moving toward a system that would benefit only big players with the scale to serve all of Europe, he said, but this risked disrupting the developing online ecosystem that already counts about 3,000 audiovisual services across the continent. “What (the Commission) fails to grasp is the critical role of contractual freedom…” he said.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Hard to believe it’s been 67 years, but that’s the number: the 67th annual Emmy Awards are being held this Sunday in the US. Of course, in this age of “Peak TV”, there are far too many nominees to keep track of, let alone shows to have watched. But in the run-up to the awards ceremony, there are loads of prediction pieces out there, many with variations on the same headline — and too many of those, too. And this year, the TV Academy has tweaked things (not for the first time, btw), opening up voting for “Best Comedy” and “Best Drama” to all 20,000 of its members, so there could be some surprises. Tune in Monday morning!

Some additional links you might be interested in:	44% watch content on their mobile daily Danger, Will Robinson! Cast Members Recall ‘Lost in Space’ on its 50th Anniversary Dotcom Fails In Last-ditch Bid To Delay U.S. Extradition Hearing Fullscreen Set to Launch Subscription Video Service Long read: Anthony Bourdain’s World Domination Netflix Missing Big Opportunity By Ignoring Downloading Nielsen is now tracking ratings for nearly 1,000 streaming shows Pewdiepie Is Making A TV Show Q&A with Rewind Networks founder Avi Himatsinghani Retro: “Greatest Television Achievement In Years” Some Early Shockwaves From BPL Study: Most Millennials Don’t Want to Cut The Cord Taiwan: Poll shows opposition to selling cable TV services to China-related interests UK: Culture Secretary orders shock review of Terms of Trade Vox.com does the whole “Peak TV” story Youku Tudou Scores Paramount Movies
Member News (Channels)	A+E Networks Chief Nancy Dubuc on TV’s Power to Change Lives Astro’s e-commerce venture hits RM75mil revenue in 6mths Astro posts 4% revenue increase amid ‘challenging environment’ Australia Plus Television Now On Air In Vietnam BBC Worldwide and Multi Screen Media Form Joint Venture to Launch ‘Sony BBC Earth’ in India Celestial Pictures and Tencent In Partnership to Remake The Magic Blade Disney: The entire Star Wars saga now available on Tencent’s platform in China Fox boss: local content crucial for pay-TV industry to grow in Asia LeTV Max 2 to feature smaller 5.7-inch screen? LeTV ‘has major plan for Hong Kong viewers’ amid reports of US$400m English Premier League deal NBC UNIVERSO Brings More High-Quality Programming In Brilliant High-Definition TV To Comcast Customers NBCUniversal licenses movies for Alibaba’s VoD service Sony Launching ‘Free 4K HDR Movies When You Buy A TV’ Promotion Sony rolls out Gem across Asia StarHub adds Zee’s &TV to Hindi TV offer Turner Classic Movies Tees Up Fire TV App Viacom: Pierre Cheung named Senior Vice President and General Manager of Greater China for Viacom International Media Networks
Member News (Satellite operators and service providers)	ABS electric satellite arrives early Arqiva scales up Eutelsat satellite capacity for DTH broadcasting Cisco At IBC 2015: Showcasing The Future Of Pay-TV And Digital Media Technologies Cisco delivers Infinite place in the cloud Eutelsat reveals new consumer research on Ultra HD and data on skyrocketing screen sales in key TV markets Harmonic’s DiviTrackIP Honored With Emmy Award For Innovation In Closed-Loop IP Statistical Multiplexing Technology Indonesia’s Media Conglomerate Kompas Gramedia Partners with Brightcove to Power Next Generation of Video Experiences for Audiences Everywhere Introducing Telstra Broadcast Services Irdeto for Turk Telecom pay-TV NASA and Harmonic partner to launch first UHD consumer channel in North America Ooyala and joiz team up for audience monetising Satellite Industry Launches The Future Video Initiative SES Awarded “Operator of the Year” at WSBW SES Teams Up With Industry To Demonstrate Two Broadcasts Of Ultra HD Television With High Dynamic Range SES To Distribute NASA TV UHD Skyworth, Metrological integrate TV application on STBs Telekom Austria Group and ANTIK Telecom pick EUTELSAT 16A satellite for new “ANTIK Sat” TV platform in Slovakia and Czech Republic

4 September, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Sep 4th. 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 Slaughter CEO	There’s a cottage industry that has built up flogging rumours about secrecy-obsessed Apple; this week, it’s been thrown into a tizzy by Variety’s scoop that Apple is considering a move into original content. Such a juicy bit of gossip was too good to pass up, so of course, everybody else in media started chasing the story The rumour mill had already been buzzing over the anticipated re-launch of the Apple TV box; starting with invitations being sent for a bigger-than-usual event on 09 September. But regardless of whether there’s a new remote controller to get the fan-boys drooling, the much-talked-about streaming service could still be many months away — as usual, an Apple representative was not available for comment.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Another Apple-related furore: the imminent release of iOS 9 will include ad-blocking technology in the mobile browser, and given the huge base of iPhones out there, publishers are understandably freaking out. To be fair, though, some of these publishers have been essentially scamming mobile users to increase the number of ads served, and in the process, driving more people to use ad blockers to speed up their browser-loading. And even though some contrarian observers think that ad-blocking should be good news for publishers, most are warning that there will be blood.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Here’s an interesting little tidbit: The operator of pirate movie sites in Northern Ireland made £300,000 over several years from ads posted on his site. He was prosecuted and pleaded guilty, but his lawyer asked the court why advertising agencies that provided the cash had not been prosecuted? Said the lawyer “they entered into agreements that if anyone visited the site they would pay, even though from a cursory view of the site it would be apparent this was facilitating criminal offences.” There’s a moral to this story… dodgy ad agencies are not immune to legal consequences.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	For those of you that lean “geek” the technology war for the next video streaming codecs are hotting up: Inside Google’s master plan for faster, sharper streaming video. What’s at stake is a whole bunch of royalties (get this: one codec is demanding payments for streaming video of 0.5 percent of all revenue derived from the encoded video). The market reacted and now Microsoft, Google, Amazon, others, aim for royalty-free video codecs. These new codecs will also bring bandwidth savings which will be required as 4K gets rolled out. And speaking of 4K, it looks like Netflix’s 4K Breaking Bad stream has been hacked and is available on the torrent sites. As the file is almost 18 GB, only seriously equipped pirates may be interested.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	In a rare instance the Indian government has sent out a strong message to the stakeholders. ‘Sort out your internal problems and misgivings’ is what MIB has told the MSOs, LCOs and content owners on digital rollout in India, adding that there would be no further extension of the deadline for third phase. If only such messages can go out more often with such clarity. But industry players insist shortage of STBs and lack of awareness plagues implementation.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	A month before its scheduled launch in Spain, Netflix has announced an agreement with Vodafone. From the moment it launches, the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platform will be available on the TiVo-powered Vodafone TV. Through the deal, the telco intends to establish one of the cornerstones of its new TV-based project in Spain, following its acquisition of cable operator ONO, and aims to compete directly with Telefónica in the pay-TV arena. But it’s Vodafone, not Netflix, that’s the company worth keeping an eye on as it moves into position as the dark horse in the OTT race.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	GroupM now believes that total global spending growth for the year will be 4% — down from the 4.9% (to $538 billion) the firm had forecast earlier. Spending in Brazil, Russia, China and Greece are also expected to be lower than originally thought. TV’s share of spending is expected to drop 1.5 percentage points to 43% on a global basis this year, Smith said. By comparison, 20% of net new growth will come from digital.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	A couple of weeks ago, I commented on the hard-line lobbying tactics of Facebook in India. Now an Indian media commentator picked up the same line, noting that comments Facebook submitted in “support” of its Internet.org initiative included comments like “Everybody should be preveleged”, “This wilk help our vj,” “free kro net” and even “H’lo Pooja.” Very thoughtful people, those internauts… and very honest broker, that Facebook…
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	The first time he said it, it was all over the headlines, but now FX Networks chief Jon Landgraf has taken his message to Edinburgh, telling the International TV Festival that there’s just too much TV these days. Which, of course, set off the headline-fest all over again… but we’ll spare you the complete index. Meantime, making the rounds with Landgraf’s “Peak TV” trope is the “Binge-watching Is Bad” meme, which has also been getting another airing lately; but count on HuffPo to combine both ideas.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	A couple developments with Hulu this week. Rumors were that one of the reasons that Hulu was created was to keep the ad sales dream alive as viewers shifted to streaming, on-demand, ad free platforms (OK, Netflix). They have now decided to have their cake and eat it too with a commercial free option costing $12 per month. For the punter the question may come down to “what is 130 hours of my life worth“, as it’s estimated that Netflix viewers save this every year. Also this week there has been a shift of programming between these two big streamers as Epix Movies Are Leaving Netflix, Coming to Hulu.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Ericsson has issued its 2015 ConsumerLab TV & Media report, confirming a lot of the trends we’ve been talking about lately. Among them, the report claims more than a third of TV & video viewing is done on-demand and as many as 61% of those surveyed watch video on smartphones. A bit worryingly, teenagers are doing most of their viewing on smartphones, laptops, or tablets, not TV sets, although linear TV does still have steady audiences in other demographics.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Actor Robert DeNiro gave the commencement speech at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts this past weekend, in which he summed up the graduates’ prospects succinctly: “You made it… and you’re f*cked.” That sounds harsh, but it was actually a pretty funny and uplifting speech, and if you’ve got a spare fifteen minutes or so, it’s worth the watch.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

28 August, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Aug 28st. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

Brought to you by:

	Early Bird Rate ends TODAY! Secure your delegate passes now at the lowest rate, and enjoy the benefit of significant room discounts at the Intercontinental Hotel. The CASBAA Convention 2015 programme is online. Hear leading executives from around the world, mix and mingle with industry peers and colleagues, create new business opportunities, and much, much more. Register now!
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Japan is hosting the latest cage-fight in the territorial wrestling match that is the streaming video world: this week, Netflix and Softbank announced a partnership to launch the service on 02 September. That was followed by some smack-talk from Amazon, which will launch its Amazon Prime Instant Video in Japan next month as well. You’ll remember that Hulu entered the Japan market in 2011, but threw in the towel last year, and sold its local business to Nippon TV. And of course, Rakuten-owned Viki is also already in the ring, setting the scene for a SummerSlam that even Jon Stewart might want to join in.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	From wrestling to kick-boxing: There are a couple of interesting fights in Thailand. First, a spat over the future of TV audience measurement is raging. The Media Agency Association of Thailand says it wants to go ahead with a new, broader TAM system, and MAAT is supported by several of the key terrestrial broadcasters. There were unconfirmed leaks that Kantar would be chosen as the new data supplier. But at least one of the FTA companies wants to stick with Nielsen, the existing TAM operator. The government has pushed for better measurement, so to make sure the system is viable, MAAT sought government subsidies. A panel from the NBTC has made known that it would consider the request. Nielsen, in the meantime, says it’s not being fairly treated; they point out that they’ve invested heavily in enlarging the cable-and-satellite-panel to 2200 homes, and in starting multiscreen measurement. I’m confident that the behind-the-scenes lobbying on this one is intense. (BTW: Kudos to The Nation and their reporter Watchiranont T., who wrote the articles linked above. He really follows closely the issues related to the media industry!)
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Meanwhile, the NBTC itself is embroiled in a legal battle with its digital terrestrial licensees. We were all flabbergasted 18 months ago by the “staggering” sums that Thai players agreed to pay for DTT licenses. Now it seems the industry remains too competitive and they can’t make money. (More than half of Thai homes have satellite dishes and are already getting digital programming; they see no need to buy a DTT box.) So the licensees blame the NBTC for not pushing (read: subsidizing even more heavily) the DTT rollout. They’ve sued the regulator. But the officials say they’ve done everything by the book and they’re ready to defend the case in court. Sanook! This is a thrilling spectator sport…
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	It turns out to be true. India’s two television audience measurement companies, BARC and TAM are joining hands to form a separate meter management company.The joint venture company will supply raw data to the joint industry body, BARC India.What this effectively means is that BARC India will be the sole TV ratings monitoring agency. Further, meters will be deployed based on BARC’s sample design and the ratings will be computed and disseminated through BARC India’s software.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Reality TV is one thing, but what about Virtual Reality TV? Discovery Communications is betting big on the format, launching the Discovery VR platform. The site is live at discoveryvr.com, featuring nine short-form videos that can be watched in a browser, on a mobile app, or with full VR set-ups. Not to be outdone, MTV will produce a streaming VR red-carpet pre-show before the VMAs on Sunday. All this is great, but the headsets probably won’t be under the Christmas tree, although with Facebook-owned Oculus holding a developer’s conference in Hollywood next month, look for other broadcasters to jump into the space soon.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	A few months back my six-year old, Scarlett, experienced a first-world crisis as she screamed out *“CARTER* (son, 10)….stop stealing my wifi!!!!!” Somewhere between my wifi repeater, router, cable modem, ISP and the rest of the internet a PewDiePie video and a Sophia the First video could not be delivered simultaneously. From Scarlett’s perspective the internet was broken and her neighbor, on the couch, was the problem. Bloomberg warned about this in 2010 when Netflix accounted for 20% of primetime internet traffic. (It’s estimated now at about 37%.) This week, Akamai announced that the Web Can’t Handle Viewing Surge of OTT and that “the Internet must shift to a different protocol for OTT video in order to carry the load.” Sling TV experienced this problem this week as it struggled under the strain of massive demand for AMC’s premiere of Fear the Walking Dead. But let’s be honest, at the end of the day, increasing demand for one’s product is a very good problem for a businessperson to have.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	YouTube Gaming, Google’s direct competitor to the hugely successful streaming service Twitch, has debuted this week with the services first being rolled out to users in the US and the UK. Similar to Twitch, YouTube Gaming allows gamers to broadcast the titles they’re playing in real-time to YouTube users around the world. Viewers are able to participate in chat, as well as subscribe to their favorite streamers as they watch the games unfold. Surprisingly addictive for the inner geek in all of us.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	After a 2015 upfront market that has been described as both “wobbly” and “droopy”, there are signs that ad spend on TV in the US market is on the rise, but in the form of “scatter” buying, outside the guaranteed buying that takes place in the upfronts. It’s the silver-lining part of the dark-cloud trend of ad buyers relying less on the traditional upfront marketplace. But even with the scatter money coming in, the lackluster upfronts are still having a knock-on effect, and are part of the reason WPP’s Group M is reportedly preparing to downgrade its 2015 global ad spend forecast.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	It’s worth noting that site blocking of overseas piracy websites has started in Indonesia. There were complaints at first that the ISPs weren’t uniformly following the government’s rules, but as time goes on, things seem to be getting sorted out. The first batch of sites to be blocked includes well-known piracy operators like The Pirate Bay, but also places like cinemaindo.com and nontonmovie.com that are located overseas but target Indonesia.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	This multi-channel pay TV business used to be so easy, simple really. (Only half tongue in cheek.) Every player had a role and if one had enough capital and a decent value proposition they could claim some channel real estate, grab an (imprecisely measured) audience and build a decent business… maybe even sell some ads. Channels expanded, the land grab expanded and revs grew. Worldwide this is all changing. The lines are getting blurred between who controls the delivery path, who’s customer is who’s, where did all these direct to consumer OTT players come from and where have all the Millennials gone? That is why I took note when I saw that The Daily Show just hired a Supervising Producer who will help the program “Go Viral” and embrace what he wryly described as “all this media that has become highly fragmented and swipe-able and annoying in ways that Edward R. Murrow could never have imagined.” It’s my guess that in the near future all successful TV shows will have this type of dedicated staff.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	TV networks and advertisers have opportunities to maximise earned media and build loyalty among viewers who use Twitter over the course of a programme’s season, according to a new report. It found that new social TV authors regularly join conversations about programmes; that loyal authors are valuable for more than just their social allegiance; and that big programme moments inspire more fans to participate.

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Member News

21 August, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Aug 21st. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

Brought to you by:

Christopher Slaughter CEO	In the US, Comcast is reportedly planning to launch an ad-supported streaming service called “Watchable” that will feature short-form video and offer content-makers a much more generous ad-revenue split than platforms like YouTube. The service seems to be aimed squarely at millennials, and will leverage the investments Comcast-owned NBCU has been making in various online media companies — by the way, last week’s rumor about a US$200 million investment in Buzzfeed has been confirmed. The Watchable news is not without its detractors, and even the less cynical commentators are sneering at it as “a defensive move.” Then again, there are still plenty of people sneering at Buzzfeed, and surely Watchable has to be a better strategic move than leaving all those massively viral (and NBCU-funded) Jimmy Fallon clips unmonetised on YouTube?
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	“Waving the bloody shirt” is a one of those wonderfully descriptive political metaphors (“used to define someone who brings up a past injustice or mistreatment … to cover up an injustice being committed in the present.”) And it well describes how “copyleft” forces in the USA wave the specter of the now-dead SOPA copyright law to scare people about ongoing copyright enforcement. The latest case started with the Silicon Valley-funded Electronic Frontier Foundation denouncing MPAA litigation against piracy website Movietube (seeking cessation of services to the pirates by third-party web providers). This gave rise to a very on-point commentary comparing EFF to Monty Python’s Knights Who Say Ni. “The Web industry likes to portray every prospect of this type of legal action…as the beginning of the end. They say SOPA, and hope the peasants cringe.” Another commentator apparently told the EFF in so many words to shut up about SOPA, already. But then in a more serious development, a coalition of Internet companies filed a brief in the Movietube case, again waving the bloody SOPA shirt. We’ll see if the court agrees, in due course, that “what is abusive is the way online piracy (for profit) is allowed to flourish, made sacrosanct by tech apologists.”
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	When an industry veteran does a keynote speech, it is usually well thought out and hits the key issues and threats facing that particular business. The recent speech by Robert Thomson (Chief Executive of News Corp) at the 2015 Lowy Institute Media Awards dinner hits this mark. His comments about the state of the media business in general are poignant, “Media companies, too, are looking for their bearings. Here we are in the age of the GPS, of relentless, endless tracking and precisely precise data, and yet some in media are wandering aimlessly, dazed and confused, without coordinates and slouching towards oblivion.” He also doesn’t hold back on his distaste for Google, Facebook or Linkedin, “…there are broader issues that are still unfolding for media companies, who are themselves struggling to profit from their news and other content, while the distributionists are helping themselves to that content, coopting and corralling audiences and consciously devaluing brands.”
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Problem with crowd sourcing is that it can get unmanageable. And India’s Department of Telecoms (DoT) may just realise that when it collates public response to its report on OTT and net neutrality. Differentiating the serious from non-serious from amongst over 70,000 responses would be mind-boggling. General responses like `I want to access everything on the Internet‘ (difference between legal and illegal content hasn’t dawned on such respondents yet) can submerge serious submissions from the likes of CASBAA. Telecoms Minister did put up a weak defence , but tech-savvy Narendra Modi-led government seemingly is unable to map the big picture where Indian players are saying entertainment’s future is OTT and traditional media companies are exploring digital play.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	EzyFlix has become the first casualty in Australia’s streaming media sector since Netflix arrived Down Under. It’s not like the company didn’t see it coming; just last December, an EzyFlix co-founder predicted “carnage” in the market. Netflix has seen steady subscriber growth since its launch in Australia, and the battle for streaming subscribers has only just begun.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	This week, the “too much good TV” meme was trending again, as the TCA summer tour wound down. Whether the “New Golden Age” is actually “Peak TV” is open to debate; and make no mistake, debate it critics did. For that matter, just as they did back in 2014, as they also did as long ago as 2013, and as they even did way back in 2011. Hmmm… now who’s complaining about all those remakes?
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Indian broadcasters turned out recently to criticize a TRAI mandate that commercial subscribers should receive cable TV for the same price paid by poor households. IBF President Uday Shankar and others criticized the principle of “five star hotels availing TV content at subsidised rates especially when they charge a leg and arm for a room, a meal or even a bottle of water.”
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Apple’s new TV streaming service won’t launch this year as originally planned. Apple had wanted to introduce a live TV service delivered via the Internet by June this year , but is now aiming for 2016. A report from Bloomberg suggested that licensing from TV networks is taking longer than expected, while other sources claimed the delay might be more related to Apple software integration.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Fox Networks is experimenting with a new advertising model for its US mobile and online video service: letting Fox Now viewers watch one 60-second ad before episodes of “Master Chef Junior”. The trial is a result of two converging trends, namely, low CPM rates for online ads, and the increasing use of ad-blocking software among online viewers who hate ads. Publishers may have only themselves to blame for the latter problem, but if the Fox Now experiment can solve the former, look for it to be replicated elsewhere online.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Alert from Dubai, where it seems a court convicted and fined the distributor of one of those black-box streaming media services for UK expats. Copyright concerns aside, the court noted this was an unlicensed broadcasting service. Such legal reasoning should be applied in Asia as well.
	It’s not definitive yet and early, but worth taking note of: creeping fear of government censorship of media. Corporate rumblings, including those in media, have started against slow pace of economic reforms. And, despite the PM’s whirlwind global tour assuring India is a great place for investments where democratic rights are upheld, global media is sceptical.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Television is crucial to consumer engagement but it is currently in an evolutionary period which could last up to five years and which will redefine how consumers and agencies interact with it. Changing technology and addressable screens are important developments.

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Member News

14 August, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Aug 14th. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

Brought to you by:

Christopher Slaughter CEO	NBCU has been hitting the deal trail, taking a US$200 million stake in Vox Media, which operates eight heavily-trafficked websites, and claims to be “…redefining the modern media company.” Last week, one of Vox’s sites, re/code broke the news, and is also reporting that NBCU will be taking a similar stake in listicle-and-viral-video-juggernaut Buzzfeed. That site gets some of the highest social media rankings among US media publishers, and the NBCU investment is likely to only further feed the buzz around the company (groan).
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	I’m impressed at the way Silicon Valley companies shamelessly and blatantly use their audience bases to manipulate political issues, using pseudo-populist themes to support their commercial interests.The most clamorous example came in 2012 when Wikipedia and other internet companies replaced their websites with political messages for 24 hours to cudgel the U.S. Congress into rejecting tighter enforcement against online pirate services. Recently, Uber used its apps in New York to mobilize opposition to legislation that would have limited the number of Uber drivers on the streets. The NY Times last weekend published a great commentary on that, noting that what Uber did was “leveraging the power of its app to prompt a populist social-media assault, all in support of a $50 billion corporation.” And now, these tactics have reached Asia; in India, we see Facebook using its apps to broadcast appeals for netizens to support its Internet.org scheme against regulatory threats. And these guys don’t mess around with their crooked publicity! Facebook gave people two choices: Yes, please tell my government I love your brilliant idea; or “Not now.” Note well: there’s no option for negative feedback; you’re not allowed to disagree with Facebook. This is hardball, manipulative populist advocacy, and Silicon Valley has become very good at it.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	If this statement interests you, “Growing up with a supercomputer in your pocket connected to most of the world’s population and knowledge has created an irreversible pattern of behavior unlikely to revert to the ways of previous generations”, you will enjoy “May I Have Your Attention, Please?” As we all know, attention can be monitised but the new players in this market may not have it so easy: YouTube Is a viable TV alternative for advertisers, But some are wary of commitment. Lately the Twittersphere has been all abuzz about how Facebook is going to eat YouTube’s lunch. Wired isn’t convinced…yet, Facebook isn’t a real threat to YouTube …Yet.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Interesting news from North America. Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) has said OTT services will not be regulated under the same terms as traditional pay-TV services. Earlier, Mexican TV providers Televisa and TV Azteca had asked that the IFT treated and considered streaming services as similar to their own pay-TV services.The ruling means OTT video services, such as Netflix or América Móvil’s Clarovideo, will not be considered as pay-TV services or be regulated the same way as the telecom market in Mexico. Not quite the level playing field the TV operators were looking for. Meanwhile, in Canada the Prime Minister says he doesn’t want Netflix to pay sales taxes (as other pay-TV operators do), but the tax authorities say if Netflix doesn’t pay, then individual users are liable. That won’t be popular.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	TRAI’s new chairman, a tech-savvy former bureaucrat, is finally in office. Coming from Department of Telecoms, chief regulator RS Sharma ought to be familiar with many of the pending and contentious issues, including net neutrality, OTT, online piracy, bandwidth crunch, etc. What may be slightly unfamiliar are hardcore broadcast issues like price caps of TV channels and getting MSOs, LCOs and broadcasters on same page on matters financial. But, Sharma has also to contend with, what his predecessor described as, “policy paralysis” or lack of decision making in Telecoms Ministry.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Despite clear evidence of the binge-watching trend, US OTT service Hulu has decided to turn the clock back, and will release new episodes of its original programming weekly, instead of all at once. (It’s not that Hulu subscribers can’t binge-watch other shows, just not the new ones.) Meanwhile, if it seems like a Greek chorus of nay-sayers is starting to form to bemoan the current state of TV, not to worry, there are still plenty of cheerleaders for the new Golden Age.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Zenith Optimedia’s online video forecasts report predicts that video usage on mobile devices will grow by over 43% in 2015 and over 34% in 2016. It expects mobile to become the main platform for viewing online video, accounting for over 52% of online viewing in 2016 and 58% in 2017.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	India has over 100 TV news channels, and not all of them are run in a completely ethical fashion. So there’s been a debate, frequently behind closed doors, over whether having news channels controlled by political parties, state governments and various other actors is healthy. Now Subhash Chandra, the Grand Old Man of Indian commercial TV, has weighed in publicly, saying “licenses should not be issued without proper checks.” He went on to suggest that news channel ownership should be scrutinized as rigorously as bank ownership. Now, he said, “A few entities have started news media businesses as a shield for their illegal activities… We should not be surprised if some of these news channels are owned by underworld elements.”
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	‘Can’t be present in everyone’s bedroom,’ Indian Government’s lawyer informed Supreme Court on banning porn sites. Lame official defence notwithstanding, critics asked why at all the government directed an un-implementable ban. Adding to worries, MIB issued show-cause notices to few TV news channels on debating hanging of a convicted terrorist. Highlighting government double-speak on individual and media freedom vis-a-vis arm-twisting , an editorial in The Hindu called it an “outrageous overreach” of the government’s powers.

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Member News

07 August, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Aug 7th. 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 Slaughter CEO	We keep talking about the many ways OTT services are different to broadcast, but they also face many of the same problems; chief among them, subscriber churn. A recent US report tracked 75 OTT services (!!!!) and found that smaller players are seeing churn rates close to 60%, and even the bigger players have worryingly high rates of subscriber drop-out. Meanwhile, HBO’s online service, HBO NOW, seems to be defying that trend so far, although analysts disagree on estimated subscriber numbers (registration required) since the service launched in April. The company isn’t disclosing the numbers, but is “extremely pleased” with how the service has been received — and with the fact that less than 1% of cable subscribers have dropped their bundles to go online-only.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	In case you missed it… last week’s exchange about Facebook video was thought-provoking. First, YouTube star Hank Green criticized Facebook for “lying, cheating, and stealing” with regard to its video plays. Among other things, he pointed out that counting three seconds of auto-roll playback as a video “view” is a joke. (There are some interesting analytics of the different video platforms here.) A Facebook exec responded, defending (not very persuasively) the company’s practices, claiming that they take IP rights seriously. And that engendered further commentary, and attention to “the blaring failure that is Facebook’s efforts to protect intellectual property in their videos,” according to a Techcrunch blogger, who opined that if Facebook wants a future in the video industry, it should be wary that its “mantra of ‘move fast and break things’ is going to end up pissing off a lot of the video creators that they’ll likely soon be relying on to grow their service further.”
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Lots to consider as this business morphs. There are definitely more, but here are 5 reasons broadcasters need an OTT strategy. Also, in a time when anyone with a cameraphone can create a “channel” re/code explains why it’s a fragile moment for big media. And, with the various social networks attracting billions of users is audience ownership becoming harder to sustain. Then there is the switch to 4K. But how to get programming to the TV when the cable box is only HD. FOX has done a deal with Western Digital for 4K UHD movies. The box comes pre-loaded with a few movies and additional content can be purchased via on-line retailers. Which leads me to wonder if OTT will be what drives 4K adoption. Lots to consider, indeed.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Sad news from Britain’s TV Land with media outlets reporting that Cilla Black died at the weekend. Cilla had already cut a successful music career in the 1960s with 19 consecutive UK Top 40 hits, including 11 top 10 singles before she turned her attention to television, establishing herself as one of the most in-demand presenters of her day, regularly commanding audiences over 20 million. She was the first woman to have her own prime-time show on BBC and went on to become the highest paid female performer on British TV with LWTs Blind Date on ITV in the 1980s.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	A Twitterrati observed his bookmarks paled in comparison with government’s list of 800+ porn websites to be blocked by ISPs. Jokes like this flooded social media when Indian Government announced the list. But days after widespread outrage on what seemed more of right wing moral policing vis-a-vis adult choice and freedom, government hamhandedly backtracked taking refuge behind technicalities, saying only child porn should be made off limits and put the onus of doing so on ISPs who rightly termed the rollback vague. Commentators said such bans are like treading a slippery slope, but one critic aptly summed it stating government’s naiveté would indeed have been charming were it not so misplaced.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Currently, advertising is the biggest component of the over-the-top (OTT) TV and video revenue pie in Asia-Pacific. According to estimates from Digital TV Research Ltd., advertisers in the region spent $1.61 billion on the channel last year, compared with $1.03 billion in subscription revenues. But as both figures grow, a switch is expected by 2020, when subscriptions will bring in $4.76 billion and ads $4.35 billion.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	In the US, the Television Critics Association‘s annual summer tour is underway, and this week, Amazon Studios hogged the spotlight, starting with their announcement about closing a deal with the Top Gear team. The nature of the TCA tour means lots of stories along similar lines, although there are somewhat different takes that do emerge from the same briefing sessions.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Continued fallout from the whole BBC licence fee imbroglio; now commercial rival ITV seems to be getting ready to sue if catch-up TV viewers are required to pay licence fees. (Bear in mind, the story seems to have been broken by Sky News, which, of course, competes with both ITV and the Beeb.) Meanwhile, just to add to the delightful summer Auntie has had so far, the BBC’s Royal Charter is up for renewal, a process which ensures the domestic debate will carry on for some time yet.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The North Korea-inspired hack of Sony’s emails has produced public evidence of how even innocuous sci-fi films are edited to take China’s content sensitivities into account. In this commentary, Reuters observes that not only content going into China is affected — global content is being altered to suit Beijing’s censors. Reuters itself is no stranger to the censors’ lash, as its services were blocked in China for a period earlier this year.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, and Japanese telco major SoftBank have invested US$500 million in Indian ecommerce marketplace Snapdeal, according to Recode. Snapdeal had previously raised more than $1 billion from investors including SoftBank, eBay, BlackRock, Bessemer Ventures and Indian venture firms such as Kalaari Capital and Nexus Venture Partners.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	ZenithOptimedia is forecasting that the number of people regularly watching linear TV will peak this year and will start to decline for the first time in 2016, as mobile drives an increase in online video consumption. The average amount of time people will spend consuming online video each day will increase by 23.3 percent in 2015 and by a further 19.8 percent in 2016, according to the firm’s Online Video Forecasts report.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Major League Baseball Advanced Media (“BAM”) is in the news again, this time securing a deal to run the National Hockey League’s digital video businesses, league and team websites and the NHL Network cable channel. BAM now handles the backend for streaming products including Watch ESPN, CBS’ March Madness On Demand, HBO Now and the WWE Network. The Verge has a thorough feature on BAM. Regarding the NHL and PGA deals: “The new approach moves BAM beyond just a white label service provider, putting them in position to become an ESPN of the internet age, competing against the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon with the one thing all those services lack: live sports.”
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	A couple years back, CASBAA testified in court to back up Macau Cable TV, because for years Macau Cable had to fight against “antenna companies” which supplied the lion’s share of Macau’s consumers with program bouquets including pirated international pay-TV broadcasts. Macau Cable sued, and now the courts have finalized an order that the government pay compensation, in the amount of US$25.6 million. Sure would be nice if other pay-TV operators could find a legal “hook” like that one… (Post script: The exclusive franchise system in Macau has now ended; in 2014, the authorities restructured the TV economy and created a government-owned TV distribution company that provides a bouquet of 49 free-to-air channels to the “antenna companies” for redistribution.)
Christopher Slaughter CEO	This week, Jon Stewart steps down as host of The Daily Show after 16 years on the air. It’s hard to believe that Stewart actually started as a replacement host for the Comedy Central show, but as he leaves, the plaudits have been rolling in. The show hit its stride early on, with the 2000 US Presidential elections, and along the way it became such a legitimate source of political commentary that Stewart’s anchor desk is going to the Newseum in Washington, DC. Many of the best-clips-compilations being posted hither and yon are geo-blocked, of course, but you can at least watch a “family tree” compilation of all the careers the show launched, read about its moments of Zen, and check out the best of the programme’s very funny graphics. And coming up next… Trevor Noah.

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Member News

31 July, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending July 31st. 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 Slaughter CEO	When Bob Iger talks, it’s worth listening; especially when the Disney CEO makes it pretty clear that ESPN will one day be a direct-to-consumer offering. Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, Iger drew comparisons between both the sports network and the Disney Channel and HBO’s standalone digital service, although he also pointed out that such a change wasn’t “right around the corner.” Meanwhile, there’s also a very in-depth look at ESPN’s “Push” into digital — especially mobile — in The Atlantic, in case you missed it.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	A really interesting copyright-wolf-wearing-antitrust-clothing has appeared in Europe. The European Union notified the six major Hollywood studios and Sky Broadcasting in London of a competition case against them. Far from being a conventional trust-busting enforcement action against back-room deals, this is a far-reaching challenge to the system of copyright licensing based on national boundaries. The Commission’s statement was forthright about the problem: “European consumers want to watch the pay-TV channels of their choice regardless of where they live or travel in the EU. Our investigation shows that they cannot do this today.” The action is a companion to the EU Commission’s attack on internet geo-blocking announced in May. It is seeking to erase copyright boundaries between European nations, such that content licensed to one market is available in all. This is no doubt the first of what promises to be a string of actions with possible far-reaching consequences for the video content, sports, and satellite TV industries.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	As the pay TV business morphs, many different players are reacting in many different ways. Fast Company has a great article about one of the leaders in this change, HBO, who recently reached a deal under which Verizon will sell the $15-per-month HBO Now. Sky in the UK is coming out with a swanky next generation set-top box, SkyQ, that will allow more simultaneous recording and viewing on various televisions, smartphones and tablets inside and outside the home. Then again, some think that Media Companies Hope Box Office Bounty Masks TV Troubles. Interesting times, for sure.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Australia’s Telstra has announced it will launch Telstra TV in September hosting streaming video services such as Netflix, Stan and Presto. At its heart will be the Roku 2 – that will connect TVs to hosts’ apps that play catch-up TV and streaming video. Telstra aims to use media products and services to keep existing customers loyal while winning new internet subscribers without paying the hundreds of millions of dollars required to become a media producer. The Roku experience is noted for its ability to search for content across all available services, so you can find what you want to watch directly from the main interface.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Incoming Chairman of TRAI, R S Sharma, will have to hit the ground running. Top of the pops for him is to give clearance to a yet-to-be-released report on OTT services and net neutrality. Both issues need expert helming. Good thing is that Sharma, being a Secretary in Department of Information Technology in Telecoms Ministry, would — or should — have a better understanding of the subjects. PM Modi’s Digital India dream may hinge on such proposed regulations…
Christopher Slaughter CEO	The 6th annual VidCon has just wrapped in Anaheim California, a three-day online video festival featuring tens of thousands of screaming teens and tweens and, of course, all the YouTube stars they adore. It’s easy to be snarky about the whole phenomenon, especially if you’re not part of the demographic devoted to these “creators,” but increasingly, VidCon is also becoming a focal point for business. And if you can look past the endless selfies, apparently, there were quite a few takeaways from the event.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Most people in our business have been dealing with subscription revenues for years though it seems that YouTube may face a myriad of challenges as it moves to squeeze new coin from the millions of free videos on its service. At the same time YouTube creators are looking beyond ads for money, with one YouTuber saying, “my overall goal is take my brand outside of YouTube and move it directly to television.” But why stop with TV, Smosh: The Movie is now out, with a full 5.0 on IMDB.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	China’s Ministry of Culture has said it will lift its long-standing ban on the manufacture and sale of video game consoles, allowing companies like Sony and Microsoft to start tapping the huge potential market. Last year, the ban was lifted, but only for certain companies, and the new regulations only applied to consoles produced within the Shanghai free trade zone. China still has strict controls on violent video games but lurking in the background is the ability to use game consoles in online video streaming.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	According to the latest International Ad Forecast from Warc, the internet is expected to overtake TV to become the largest medium for advertising in 2016. Across all key markets, internet adspend is expected to register rapid growth, rising 15.6% to $135.9bn in 2015 and 12.7% to $153.1bn in 2016.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	As if to prove Jane’s piece correct, it’s fair to say that the Superbowl is as much about advertising as it is about football, and in 2016 US network CBS will be taking the ad-stravaganza online, livestreaming the ads as well as the game. This year, rival network NBC also streamed the game live, but just 18 of its 70 advertisers chose to buy online slots, too; CBS won’t give advertisers the option NOT to. Too early to say how advertisers will respond, but at least the strategy is consistent with the network’s digital ambitions, as the CBS All Access online service it launched last year continues to gather steam.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Streaming app Meerkat may be trailing its Twitter-owned rival Periscope when it comes to popularity, but the underdog has proven itself to be creative and nimble. Recent updates have added Facebook integration along with the ability to stream from high definition GoPro. Only available for Iphone for now but something for broadcasters to be concerned about for future live events such as the next Pacquiao fight if Periscope claims are to be believed from last time around.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	In a scathing criticism of India’s Department of Telecoms (DoT), Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a Member of Upper House of Parliament and a telecoms entrepreneur, dubs a DoT report on net neutrality “bland” and being completely out of touch with reality. Even as Telecoms Minister struggles to defend and clarify the report, Chandrasekhar said the government wants net neutrality but can’t tell us what that is, which has left the debaters of the issue confused and wary. An apt summation indeed.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Gossip is circulating in Thailand with UK-based Kantar Media, one of the three companies submitting viewing measurement tenders, is expected to be named the official national TV-rating and multi-platform audience meter.

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Member News

24 July, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending July 24th. 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 Slaughter CEO	China’s content regulators are at it again: “Cut the celebrities” is the latest mandate. Meanwhile, the New York Times published an interesting exploration of why Korean content appeals to Chinese consumers, and why China has difficulty producing similarly appealing content. And in the background, rules mandating increased censorshipby internet TV operators are coming.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	In India there’s a very public set of controversies involving the Maran dynasty, owners of Sun TV. Here’s a useful summary. One commentary muses the family’s business may be “crumbling,” but also notes that Kalanithi Maran will “fight to the finish.” What this means for broadcasting is that the family’s 33 very popular channels in southern Indian languages may be forced to shut down. (Is that a market opportunity for others?) But the situation is complex and chaotic (well this IS India after all), with the Home Affairs Ministry having denied security clearances, the attorney general having said “no problem to issue” (as cases pending against Maran involve corruption, not security threats), and the I&B Ministry worried that denying the licenses could find them (I&B) hauled up before a court. One interesting Twitter comment opined that the Sun TV licensing controversy could be followed by others, starting with NDTV.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Hulu is talking about offering streaming without ads. The company is considering offering an ad-free alternative that will cost users a bit more and is going under the internal working title “NOAH” which stands for “No Ads Hulu.” The popularity of ad-free alternatives like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Instant Video seems to be the prime motivator but a prohibitively high cost of the ad-free tier could still be a dealbreaker.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	A government survey in Australia has found nearly half of the country’s digital users illegally download movies, TV shows and music on a regular basis. The research comes amid an Australian government crackdown on digital copyright infringement, including recent passage of site blocking legislation. Australians are among the world’s most regular illegal downloaders of digital content. Alongside enforcement, both the Department of Communications and the industry group Communications Alliance agreed the best way to combat online infringements was for content creators to make their material easy to access, timely and affordable to consumers, with the main reasons claimed for illegal downloads being price and releasing content in other markets ahead of releasing it in Australia. (Of course, when the competing price is zero for illegal downloads, how low do they think the industry can go?)
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	This news can warm your cockles or lay you out cold, depending on which side of the debate you are on (slow implementation, notwithstanding). Media reports state Indian Government is mullingincreasing FDI cap in news media to 49% from present 26%. Rah, rah! Hang on. We said it earlier that MIB and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had stated in January 2015 FDI caps and their practicality need to bedebated in a digital era, but then it needs a strong political will to push through such a radical and contentious policy decision. Is PM Modi government up to it?
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Pay TV will be in half of homes worldwide. Estimates vary, but a new report suggests that the worldwide pay-television market has passed the 900 million subscriber mark. It is forecast to grow to a billion by 2017, representing half the households in the world. Although mature markets are approaching saturation, there is room for growth in developing regions, with 1.1 billion television subscribers worldwide forecast by 2020. Meanwhile, the pay-TV market is booming across the Asia Pacific region with the addition of 36.74 million subscribers (7.3% growth) in the 12 months to end-March, 2015.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Following an extended period of controversy, Reddit has just rolled out a list of rules for the site. One of those rules bans the posting of illegal content such as copyrighted material. While the posting of such content has never been explicitly permitted, it’s going to prove impossible to stop moving forward.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Interesting look at the investors supporting Kim Dotcom’s new-look Mega group, in New Zealand. Apparently its largest current investor is based in Beijing, having received shares flipped from a previous director. Meanwhile, Auckland businessman William Yan has increased his role in the company, despite his 16% ownership share being subject to an asset freeze as part of a joint New Zealand and Chinese investigation into an alleged money laundering ring. And all of this aims at taking the company public! What a fantastic investment its shares will be, I’m sure…….
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	A couple of interesting items from Vietnam: First, according to official stats the number of pay-TV subscriptions in Vietnam is nearing the 10 million mark. (That’s up from about 7 million a year ago.) Then, it was reported that private Vietnamese telco FPT has been licensed to build a fiber optic broadband network in Myanmar. FPT has considerable experience; its pay-TV operation is small but it delivers broadband to 1.8 million homes in Vietnam (out of 7.5 million nationwide). Myanmar is badly in need of capital and expertise; its broadband networks are negligible and total TV penetration is only about 30% of homes.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	In the US the FCC is apparently moving towards recommending the approval of AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV. Conditions reported to be under consideration by the FCC will include a requirement for the carrier to multiply 10-fold AT&T’s current fiber deployment — giving 12.5 million customer locations access to a competitive fibre connection from AT&T. Also, to prevent discrimination against online video competition, AT&T will not be permitted to exclude affiliated video services and content from data caps on its fixed broadband connections.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	The net neutrality debate in India is getting muddled and the media is saying so, highlighting the meandering. While a Department of Telecoms report is being criticised for allegedly being `soft’ on or siding with telcos, a DoT official’s statement adds to the confusion. This comment by an academic debunks some of the “free internet” rhetoric, noting that “The call for Net neutrality is an anguished cry for lost innocence.” Pilloried by strident criticism, Telecoms Minister reiterates his ministry’s report not the final word, deftly putting the ball in regulator TRAI’s court. However, CNBC scoops saying TRAI’s yet-to-be out report sides with DoT on regulating voice service applications. Clarity? What’s that?

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Member News

17 July, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Jul 17th. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

Brought to you by:

Christopher Slaughter CEO	US cable giant Comcast is beta-testing a streaming video service, imaginatively named Stream. The service seems squarely targeted at “cord-nevers”, and initially its only pay-TV channel will be HBO, along with “thousands” of on-demand movies and shows. Whether it will actually be a “proper” OTT service is open for debate, but regardless, it definitely bears closer observation.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	No Honor Among Thieves: Kim Dotcom’s Mega.co.nz is threatening legal action against a leech website, Megasearch.co.nz, for… get this… violating Mega’s trademark and copyrights! The search site makes Mega content searchable and judging by the graphic in the story, it’s largely pirated content. (One wonders if Mega might want to keep its pirated files unsearchable, so content owners and the FBI can’t find them easily…) Meanwhile, Kim Dotcom is trying to get the US courts to order the Federal government to return about $67 million in seized assets. He’s not a fugitive, he says… I guess he just doesn’t feel like going to America.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Emmy nominations are in: for some, the glass is definitely half-full, for others, it’s decidedly all-empty. Meanwhile, Google’s Chromecast is set to become an important component of the US Emmy Awards. The streaming video service will be made available to the Television Academy’s voting members to allow them to access nominated TV programmes. Chromecast will give academy members exclusive access to an app that will show the Emmy-nominated content, while cutting back on distribution costs of the producing and shipping DVDs. It’s hoped the move will also cut back on piracy.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Ahhh, summer… and the annual running of the geeks in San Diego. A reported 130,000 nerds (and a good number of stars) endured mile-long queues to participate in Comic-Con, which has unsurprisingly become one of Hollywood’s biggest shop windows. Of course, that also means it provides tremendous opportunities for piracy, particularly of the blurry YouTube variety. Although widely denounced, it’s unlikely that the over-enthusiastic me-first fan-boy behaviour can be entirely reined in — although there is a simple solution.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Good to see the Indian Broadcasting Foundation lending its weight behind pay-TV broadcaster Sun TV Network, which has been denied security clearances by the Ministry of Home Affairs on the grounds that have been questioned by MIB and even a senior government law officer. With a government panel also refusing permission to Sun to bid for FM radio licences, the company’s share prices too took a hit. Political chess game apart, such moves dent PM Modi’s promises of business-friendly environs.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	It’s not exactly a huge logical leap, but a new study is predicting that as OTT services increasingly become mainstream, Netflix will increasingly lose market share in the US. The white paper was commissioned in part by CASBAA member Ooyala, and forecasts pretty staggering growth in OTT revenues, as well as a proliferation of new market entrants. Bear in mind, however, that this week Netflix announced Q2 results showing it added another 3.3 million subscribers, news that pleased Wall Street no end.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Down in Australia, the government has launched its consultationdesigned to figure out if regulatory agency ACMA is keeping up with the fast pace of changes in the communications industries. I don’t think there’s a regulatory agency anywhere that is really keeping up, but it’s great that the Aussie Communications Minister is asking the right question! In any case, the question has very quickly become political and the knives have come out, with one lawyer close to the FTA broadcasters denouncing “ the ACMA’s quite rigid, black letter, and often litigious approach to broadcasting regulation which imposes an onerous financial and operational burden on the industry in a challenging economic environment.” Sounds like a few other regulators I know…
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Chinese online video providers including Sohu, Tencent and Youku have set up an Internet video union and have agreed on members’ responsibilities and obligations related to adhering to video copyright. The companies have said they will provide viewers with genuine and quality films and TV programmes on their own platforms. Meanwhile home produced content production is ramping up with the online portal iQiyi announcing just last week that it plans to turn out at least 30 dramas with a total of 500 episodes this year.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	The research company Nielsen has launched a measurement system in six markets in Asia that uses the same metrics as television to measure digital ad campaign audiences. Rather than using the click-through rates, conversion rates or cost per video views, the company’sDigital Ad Ratings uses reach, frequency and GRP metrics combined with audience demographics to calculate audience sizes for digital advertising. The system has launched in Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia. Havas Media and Komli are two companies to have already started using the system.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	If this is a new Golden Age of Television, it’s worth remembering the story of King Midas; if everything you touch turns to gold, sometimes there’s just too much gold out there. While it’s easy to dismiss over-abundance of great content as just another “high quality problem,”search, discovery, and marketing are serious issues for our industry. Midas solved his problem by washing in the river Pactolus; somehow, I doubt if our solution will be as simple.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	A consulting company estimated that the global economy lost $800 billion due to piracy last year. “Owners of pirate distribution sites are making millions from malicious advertising on sites sharing stolen movies and television shows while placing Internet users at increasing risk,” says the report.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Can Indian cable MSOs become ISPs and gain sufficient scale to play the kind of role that the US cable industry plays? This analysis looks at the MSOs one by one and concludes they’re a long way from following the US model.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology are reportedly starting a TV news network in a massive $50 million Hollywood studio being dubbed ‘Scientology’s CNN’. It’s rumoured that Cruise will play a significant role in the Scientology news network and is planning to take on the major movie studios, the TV networks and cable stations with the creation of Scientology Media Productions.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	What do you do when in India you are unable to take a firm decision? Set up a committee and/or suggest a monitoring cell. And, that’s exactly what Department of Telecoms has proposed. DoT is proposing a separate body to monitor net neutrality, which could add to a plethora of such government agencies. Meanwhile, another authoritative DoT panelcame out with a series of recommendations that were not bad from our industry’s perspective: they include relatively strict regulation of the “network layer” but not the “application layer” (and video content services are applications). That Committee also spoke of the need to ensure consumer access to LAWFUL content. (The emphasis is mine, but the inclusion of the word by the Committee is important.) Watch this space for more updates on the neutrality maze.

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Member News

10 July, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending July 10th. 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 Slaughter CEO	The BBC has cut a deal on that licence fee loophole we told you about last week; in exchange for the Beeb covering licence fees for people over age 75, the government will no longer exempt people who only watch BBC shows online or via catch-up services from paying the fee. Whether the deal means the BBC is now “just another arm of government” or that it’s been the “willing victim of a drive-by shooting” is another matter, but there will definitely be repercussions from its new £650m obligation.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	At a recent seminar the China the Copyright Society of China has said plagiarism and unauthorized broadcasting of TV programmes is frequently taking place across China with the TV and Film industry suffering as a result. Legal experts blamed insufficient legislation and called for a need to better define plagiarism and fair use for the Copyright Law. In something that might resonate with CASBAA members, a University professor suggested strengthening the role of industrial associations in copyright protection.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Possibly in the new world of video content distribution, which is apparently “right on the edge of total chaos,” YouTube and Facebook could be networks’ new best friends. HBO says the sampling of shows on Facebook “is an effective way for us to introduce our programming to our current and potential subscribers. Ultimately we’re trying to create new fans.” Meanwhile, for Showtime, demand from audiences was the key reason behind the launch of its OTT service this week. Stephen Colbert, on the other hand, is using YouTube to hold onto old fans before he starts hosting the Late Show in September. A big change from his highly produced Colbert Report, Stephen was a guest host of “Only in Monroe”. Let’s just say that it would make Zach Galifianakis proud and could easily be renamed “Either Side of a Pothos Plant”.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	First it was Vice Media on HBO, next up, Buzzfeed TV? Buzzfeed CEO Jonah Peretti is thinking about it, although he also says, “I don’t really watch television.” Taking a slightly different approach, Huffington Post is doubling down on video, and will also be looking to distribute content on broadcast TV. Add to that DailyMail.com’s deal with Dr. Phil’s production company to make a TV show, and there’s definitely a trend going on here.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	The oscillation relating to OTT and net neutrality continues in India even as global OTT TV revenues predicted to hit $ 51 bn by 2020. Telecoms regulator TRAI has opined wider consultations amongst government agencies needed before a final call is taken, while a report ofDepartment of Telecoms is ambiguous on neutrality. This, even asexperts insist net neutrality is critical for PM Modi’s Digital India dreamand that rural India will dominate next set of Internet users. Seems nobody in Indian bureaucracy willing to be the last one to bell the neutrality-related cat.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	Fuji Television has started broadcasting Japan’s first commercial 4K ultra high definition (UHD) online streaming service. The subscription service is being delivered via the MistCDN content delivery network platform – a peer-to-peer (P2P) network capable of delivering content at bitrates of as much as 40MB per second. The service launched with a streamed documentary called Battleship Island – controversiallyawarded UNESCO World Heritage Status this week. With Netflix set to enter the market and also collaborating with FujiTV to produce original content, the local SVOD sector is expected to see rapid development.

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Member News

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Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Kevin Jennings

Programme Director

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

Kevin Jennings

Programme Director

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Kevin Jennings

Programme Director

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Kevin Jennings

Programme Director

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer