12 May, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending May 12th. 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:

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The FCC under Ajit Pai is moving ahead with scrapping the utility-style regulation imposed on ISPs in the name of “net neutrality” under Tom Wheeler’s leadership. The Washington Post had a good summary of the state of play and various positions. The process will be a long one, with a full Commission vote set for May 18 that will set the wheels in motion. There will be opportunities for public input, of course, and the Usual Internet Suspects have started making their views known by spamming the FCC’s website. For those interested in where Chairman Pai is really coming from, there’s a comprehensive Re-Code interview with him, in which he sums up “you can’t have these pure net neutrality rules if you also want to have massive investment in networks, because the return on the investment simply isn’t going to be there….as I see it, there’s a happy middle ground here, which is light-touch regulation.” Meanwhile, in India the debate continues as to exactly what should be regulated under TRAI’s Net Neutrality rules. There’s a lot of divergence among various internet players; it was interesting to see Hotstar, Netflix and Akamai all arguing that content delivery networks (CDNs) should not be regulated. (Hotstar favored inserting conditions into ISP licenses as the best means of implementing narrowly-targeted “bright line” rules.)

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

The chattering classes are awash with the rumour that Facebook has kicked its push for TV-like shows into high gear and is aiming to launch its premium, TV-like video in mid-June, right around the Cannes Lions advertising festival. It’s thought they will have around two dozen shows for the initial push and are working on two tiers for longer, big-budget shows, and a lower tier for shorter, less expensive shows (with a virtual reality dating show from Conde Nast Entertainment already in the works in time for Cannes). The new video initiative means Facebook would play a much more hands-on role in controlling the content that appears on its social network. The video strategy pits Facebook directly against YouTube, which last week announced it would fund a slate of original shows starring big names like Ellen DeGeneres, Kevin Hart, and Katy Perry. The new YouTube shows will be supported by ads and available for anyone to watch, instead of living in YouTube’s $10-a-month subscription service.

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Google and Facebook together accounted for 20 percent of global advertising expenditure across all media in 2016, according to the new edition of Zenith’s Top Thirty Global Media Owners, which ranks the companies at number one and two, respectively. However, one of the most startling (and depressing) aspects of the advertising and marketing industries is the depth of the ignorance all around us. You expect that professionals would be aware of the key facts that govern their industry, but ad industry professionals have become blind to the truth – and some of them prefer it that way – argues Bob Hoffman

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

For News please read articles linked in Kevin and Jane’s pieces. Views are as follows. For many of us in the pay-TV industry, Google and Facebook (Goobook) have just signaled that they are now gunning to eat our lunch. With 77% of online ad spending going their way, all that’s left is organic growth or new markets. Since the internet has taken a HUGE chunk out of the traditional publishing business, Goobook will now be going after TV. They own “only” 20% of global advertising expenditure across all media and are now eyeing the current global TV ad spends of $180 bil. Youtube and FB creating their own shows and TV apps and Youtube’s new skinny bundle are hints at what’s coming. Zuck sums it up nicely, “The goal is going to be creating some anchor content initially that helps people learn that going to the video tab that that’s a great destination where they can explore and come to Facebook with the intent to watch the videos that they want…and then the long-term goal is actually not to be paying for specific content like that, but doing a revenue share model once the whole economy around video on Facebook is built up.”

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

There’s a major shake-up about to happen in Australian TV with the Oz government announcing plans to scrap media ownership restraints in the free TV arena. The proposed amendments will drop the decades-old 75 per cent reach rule and the “two-out-of-three rule”, which prevents media companies owning a TV station, radio station and newspaper in the same market. In addition the government will abolish broadcasting licence fees in favour of spectrum fees to reflect the current media landscape. The moves will help improve the sustainability of Australia’s free-to-air broadcasting sector, support Australian content and modernise broadcasting and content regulation. Local regional TV broadcasters have welcomed the reforms that would allow them to merge with metropolitan TV networks or media companies to be able to compete with companies like Netflix. The Sydney Morning Herald said the reforms, if passed, “will open the door for a major round of mergers and acquisitions“.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

And on the subject of consolidation, Malaysia’s Media Prima has bought the local start up Rev Asia for US$24M. The move will fully incorporate REV Asia into Media Prima’s digital platform — and in doing so makes the platform the largest Malaysian digital media company. Media Prima’s digital reach is estimated to be more than 10 million people and puts it in third place behind Facebook and Google. Rev Asia was founded by the Catcha Group who is also involved in ventures such as Iflix. Media Prima ’s business interests include print, radio, TV and streaming OTT services.

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

The cudgels that Star India has taken up against TRAI in Madras High Court, challenging whether the regulator can hold sway on commercial matters relating to content and their IPRs, shows legal twists and turns akin to some soaps that the broadcaster might be airing on its various TV channels, including several judges recusing themselves from the case. The Supreme Court allowed TRAI to publish its new set of regulations relating to tariff, QoS and inter-connect norms even while a High Court was hearing a case filed by Star against TRAI. But later, SC also stayed implementation of the published regulatory norms till the high court disposed of the case. Meanwhile, the MSOs are pushing for compliance of the new tariff norms. And, petitioner Star India is not far behind as it too published its inter-connect offers, aimed at complying with the now-frozen norms. Almost when I was going to close this piece, arrives the news that Tata Sky and Airtel DTH too have challenged the TRAI tariff order and this time in Delhi High Court. Wait for the next twist in this saga.

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

The consumer video media services market is worth over $300 billion a year globally, with pay television accounting for 90% of that. In 2017, consumers will spend over $18 billion on subscription video-on-demand services like Netflix, up 28% on the previous year. Spending on such services will continue to rise, but pay television will still represent over 86% of direct consumer spending on video services in 2020.

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5 May, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending May 5th. 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:

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Fox just launched its Fox+ streaming service in Singapore after its debut in the Philippines in March. The service will initially be available to Singtel customers with Starhub to follow soon. A 30-day free trial is also available (through the Android app anyways) for anyone. It looks very slick, but haven’t yet figured out how to cast it to my TV. Pricing can start as low as US$10/month and go up to as high at $18, depending on existing plan and introductory offer. This compares to US $7.75/month in the Philippines. 11,000+ hours of programming with live sports makes this a very exciting and ambitious offering. Looking forward to diving into it…after I punch out for the day.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Thailand’s NBTC announced that it would set up a subcommittee to implement regulation of OTT operators. One suspects this may have more to do with what one Thai newspaper called the trend toward “tightening regulation of all Thai Media.” The Bangkok Post said it is all about “out of control” OTT services. And there is certainly a control orientation in the Thai government these days.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

Meanwhile, plans to curb journalists and news outlets across the kingdom edged a little closer this week as the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) voted to endorse the “media reform bill”, which would impose restrictions on TV News channels and print media journalists. According to The Nation, concerns have been raised by media professionals, consumer groups and overseas watchdogs while the newspaper openly denounced the authoritarian law, which it says takes Thailand back decades.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

During APOS last week, Mark Britt of iflix made the point (a couple times) that his biggest competition is piracy…with recent reports saying Singapore is in the top 10. Bloomberg has an article this week that states that “Subscription-based business models in content distribution is making piracy pointless” and refers the recent Orange is the New Black fifth season leak. This fantastic chart of the “Comeback” of the music industry is promising and could show us what’s in store for the video business under subscription models. Fox+’s recent launch, combined with other services, will help pave the way.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Elsewhere, in Australia, another blow against a different sort or piracy, with the Federal Court ordering ISPs to shut off access to the website KickassTorrents. It’s not the first torrent site to be blocked in Oz (several others were blocked late last year); here’s hoping it’s not the last!

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Investment in digital and online advertising is set to exceed television in two Asian markets, Hong Kong and Taiwan, in 2017. According to WPP media company GroupM’s annual Interaction Report, TV still remains king across Asian markets, with digital only reigning supreme in China. The report, which examined digital advertising growth forecasts in 46 markets, said TV still accounted for the majority of adspend 2016 at 42 per cent.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

India’s TAM service provider BARC has announced that from July it will no longer monitor analogue homes across most of the country, with the exception of those homes in the state of Tamil Nadu, which has been slower to force the pace of change compared to other regions. Currently vast swathes of homes across India are thought to still be able to receive analogue signals and the move to drop reporting will push operators and channels to focus on switching to digital after the MIB ordered the switch off of analogue signals in March. BARC have said that their sample homes is also set to increase from 20,000 to 30,000, with a government mandate to increase the number to 50,000 by the year 2020.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Opposite trends on copyright: The EU Court of Justice rendered a very interesting advisory opinion, which may make it possible to close down more ISD retail operations. At the same time, across the Atlantic in Mexico, the Supreme court decided no blocking action against pirate websites could be taken, as they might also host some legitimate content.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

This week Hulu’s CEO Mike Hopkins announced the launch of Hulu’s brand new live TV streaming beta service in the US, along with what it describes as its ground-breaking new user experience with the streaming-plus-live combination that Hulu is hoping will set it apart from its competitors Viewers. who subscribe to the beta plan can enjoy live and on demand programming from more than 50 popular sports, news, entertainment and kids’ channels as well as the streaming library all for just shy of US$40. The rather imaginative name for the service is Hulu With Live TV. It says what it does on the box, so can’t fault them there.

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28 April, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Apr 28th. 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:

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Okay, it’s now official. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he wants to “repeal and replace” the Wheeler FCC’s order for sweeping “Net Neutrality”-based regulation of ISPs as utility providers. Net Neutrality, he said, was a bit of regulatory overreach that wasn’t needed: “Nothing about the internet was broken in 2015.” A few smart commentators noted that ensuring a free and open internet doesn’t require full-on utility regulation; I agree with that. But Pai’s speech yesterday didn’t provide any details, and I want to know what will he replace it with? There were previous reports he would advocate a code-of-practice system to deter internet providers from interfering with legitimate web traffic, but that wasn’t in the speech. Never mind…..the Internet lit up with the usual commentaries about how the change in regulatory approach would “Nuke the Internet.” Yawn; I get so tired of Internet Imbeciles who can’t make a coherent policy argument about public policy issues.

Andrew Lin

Regulatory Assistant

Meanwhile, Canada’s regulators are going in the other direction, installing broad net neutrality rules in that country and banning “zero-rating” for content supply services.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Ajit Pai, by the way, is consistent in his deregulatory approach. He’s also said he wants to do a top-to-bottom review and get rid of outmoded broadcasting rules!!! (Hooray….finally a regulator who might actually DO something about the tilted playing field.) He’s also going to look at amending or doing away with media ownership restraints that look pretty senseless in the Internet Age. (“It makes no sense for the government to be discouraging investment in the newspaper industry,” Pai said last year.)

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

Some interesting news this week with Google announcing that it is rolling out programmatic technology that will allow advertisers and agencies to manage video campaigns across digital AND linear TV. Historically, TV and digital advertising have been bought and measured through different systems and currencies. This is something of a reinvention for Google who originally attempted this as far back as 2008 but with only moderate success and the project was finally dropped in 2012 – definitely something to watch this time around.

Andrew Lin

Regulatory Assistant

Netflix’s long time struggle to enter the Chinese market has finally come to an end this week as they established a licensing deal with local video service, iQiyi owned by internet search giant Baidu. Already reaching 100 million subscribers just last week and having their shares at an all-time high, this deal will further put them ahead of their competitors. It’s not clear to us how iQiyi plans to cope with the “full season clearance only” policy of mainland content regulators. Netflix, of course, pioneered making whole series available to consumers for binge watching. And, while there have been doubts about the wisdom of that strategy, some of the traditional-network competitors have put their toes into the water too.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

A few weeks ago we covered the Vietnamese government’s tiff with Facebook and YouTube, over hosting of politically sensitive videos. Last week, a Facebook delegation showed up in Hanoi to meet with the MIC Minister and talk about curbing “toxic content.”

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21 April, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Apr 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:

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The full-on Net Neutrality debate in the USA has resumed. The Internet Association, representing the big tech firms, met FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to lobby against his plan to revoke utility-style regulation of ISPs (installed by the previous FCC majority as the means to enforce Net Neutrality.) This was accompanied by thundering commentary from a former FCC staffer to the effect that “no net neutrality means the end of internet privacy.” That’s more than a bit of joke, in light of the fact that the tech firms are already reading your emails (to serve up relevant ads), monitoring your TV watching (to offer you better recommendations) and keeping track of everyone you might know (to do you the “service” of sending you spam emails offering to “connect” you.) So a commentary in the Washington Post caught my eye: “Google and Facebook Oppose Managing the Internet – Except When They’re Doing It!”

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

This week saw Netflix disappoint Wall Street in some areas of its quarterly results, and it has been announced that the US video streaming service provider is in talks with Indonesia’s top telecom firm Telekomunikasi Indonesia to roll out its service in the country. Netflix has faced problems including local competition and regulatory hurdles in several major Asian markets and in Indonesia, Netflix ran foul of the film censorship board last year. The state-controlled Telkom had previously blocked Netflix but the service was still available in Indonesia via other carriers.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Still on Netflix, CNET postulates that “without buzzy series, we won’t subscribe in droves”. If you are wondering about live sports on the service, the company said in a statement, “That is not a strategy that we think is smart for us since we believe we can earn more viewing and satisfaction from spending that money on movies and TV shows.” Still wondering just how Netflix grew to now almost 100 million subs? An article from Quartz looks at their unique strategy. But 100 mil subs is not enough for Reed Hastings. He says Netflix’s “viewing is very large and growing, but nowhere near as big as YouTube…so we definitely have YouTube envy and we’ve got a lot a room to go.”

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

In a week where Tencent acquiesced to Apple’s demands in China on including purchasing systems outside of Apple’s own iOS ecosystem, Chinese authorities have introduced comprehensive regulations to oversee mobile applications, which are mushrooming in popularity alongside smartphone use. The new guidelines are part of a broader effort by the government to clamp down on sensitive content which can be anything from critiques of the Communist Party to porn. The regulations will apply to more than a dozen platforms that offer video apps for download, including local streaming service Huajiao as well as Apple and local smartphone makers. The move also imposes requirements not just on app stores, but in some cases also on developers and app operators. It is worth keeping an eye on this, because the politically-motivated clampdown could also work to reduce availability of pirate apps on app stores. China already has regulations in place to restrict loading of unapproved apps onto streaming media boxes.

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14 April, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Apr 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:

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The big news this week in enforcement against illicit streaming devices (ISDs) is that two major e-commerce platforms have implemented programs to weed out sales of blatantly infringing devices from their user postings. Amazon, which has been a major route for ISDs shipping to Europe and America, added a paragraph on streaming media to their seller policies, and said “Products offered for sale on Amazon should not promote, suggest the facilitation of, or actively enable the infringement of or unauthorised access to digital media or other protected content.” There was no big announcement, but the piracy press certainly noted. With respect to box sales on Asian platforms, we also learned this week that Alibaba says it is implementing a parallel policy. I couldn’t find any public discussion of this in the press (yet), but member company Irdeto confirms they’ve now seen a very substantial reduction in numbers of blatantly infringing boxes on the Alibaba and Aliexpress platforms. All of that is great news…..but we do have to temper our joyful reaction just a bit – there are still plenty of sales of empty boxes on the e-commerce sites. (Those are streaming boxes that haven’t yet been loaded with the piracy software apps.)

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

I ONLY listen to “people familiar with the matter” and especially so with rumors and conjecture. This week they tell us that Comcast Is Planning a Netflix Rival Using NBC Shows. The service could include programs from the NBC broadcast network as well as Comcast cable channels Bravo, SyFy and USA with a launch anywhere in the next 12-18 months. Sorry, not a lot of hard facts here folks. Though with comedy streaming service, Seeso, and a sports package with cycling and rugby, called NBC Sports Gold, more VOD services in the future seem consistent.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

Chinese cable television companies have cut off access to South Korean programming in a move by Beijing to punish Seoul for installing a missile defense system aimed at North Korea, but which China says threatens its own security. As well as boycotts of South Korean goods and services that have spread across China in recent weeks, authorities have blocked access in China to South Korean television channels. In cities like Yanji and Jilin which have large ethnic Korean populations, people are now installing satellite antennas to receive the South Korean channels. While drama and other entertainment shows are popular with Chinese viewers the channels also carry news programmes.

Andrew Lin

Regulatory Assistant

During the past weekend, PCCW-owned operator Now TV was able to provide live coverage of the Hong Kong Sevens through virtual reality, jointly with NETVIGATOR. Now TV is always trying to adopt new video technology to improve the viewing experience for their customers says Janice Lee, managing director of PCCW Media Group. With the addition of VOD, recording functions, and much more, Now has offered enhanced convenience for customers to view the event.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

My favorite streaming stories of the week. “Let’s not pretend that this is a consumer-wins-all race to the top — it’s a way for struggling media businesses to pivot their revenue strategies, for agitators to disrupt existing verticals and it’s a way for large media players to lock-in their supremacy for the long-term. And on the same theme, As The Digital Streams Become A Gushing River, Who Stays Afloat? For those of you that have “run through all of Netflix’s programming” you can find out Where the Best Television Online is Hiding. And to top it off, The Billion-Dollar Race for Streaming Supremacy, Amazon Prime to spend $4.5 billion on video content this year…Netflix to spend $6 billion.

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7 April, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Apr 7th. 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:

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Youtube TV launched in the U.S. this week. From previous reports about the service I wasn’t too excited though I have significantly warmed to it because of the functionality of the app. The service provides linear channels but with unlimited DVR of favourited shows which essentially turns this into a VOD platform….with ads. And the ability to easily cast to any TV, while turning the phone/tablet into a remote control with picture-in-picture, ensures that one can get a high-end viewing experience anywhere, anytime. Definitely something to watch, especially if they start rolling out internationally and/or use this as a platform for third party internet TV providers.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten has announced it plans to integrate its online film and series streaming operations in Europe (Wuaki), US (Viki) and Japan (Showtime). The group say that this is the next step in its strategy following the upcoming change of Wuaki.tv to Rakuten.tv in the coming few months. Showtime and Viki will also be rebranded to Rakuten.tv, with all three operations being coordinated out of Barcelona. The rebrand of Wuaki in Europe coincides with the start of a global sponsorship agreement between Rakuten and FC Barcelona announced last November for the next four seasons, worth around €60 million a season.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Blocking of flagrant piracy websites continues to progress in Europe. An Irish court ordered that country’s first blocks (against three well-known pirate sites), leading the Irish film industry to praise the judgement. In Italy, the regulator orders blocking (not the courts), but a Rome court blessed the process, and the country’s record industry called the decision “a big win.”

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

Indonesian Pay-TV provider NexMedia has teamed up with telecommunications operator Indosat Ooredoo to announce a new package with a high-speed internet connection in response to rising demand. The partnership agreement will launch a joint services bundle which will offer Ooredoo’s 4G Plus internet service and include Indosat and NexMedia’s TV channel offerings, including a slew of international channels. The monthly fee for the service will be just over USD14 per month.

Andrew Lin

Regulatory Assistant

Differential speeds on the subcontinent: India is wrapping up its conversion to 100% digital cable transmission, and Nepal is just getting started.

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31 March, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Mar 31st. 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:

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Have been getting emails this week from members in Hong Kong seeing English-language ads in their Facebook feeds for a China-made pirate ISD box; apparently the local reseller for the fully-loaded boxes is paying for Facebook ads, targeting expats in HK. (Tell me it’s not true! Facebook profiting from piracy?? Nooooo….) There’s not much difference between this box and the ones sold by shops and stalls in Sham Shui Po – except for the glitzy English-language ads! Hong Kong has not done much to clamp down on widespread ISD sales. Other jurisdictions are one by one getting their act together, though: last week a Court of Appeal in Canada let stand an injunction against a bevy of ISD sellers, prohibiting them from selling the boxes they had been shamelessly advertising as ways to get pay-TV content without paying. The sellers didn’t contest the facts, they just tried the usual dilatory arguments to the effect that the boxes were just empty devices, and the plaintiff cable companies hadn’t proved they were damaged by the ISD sales. The judges gave them short shrift; so the injunction stands, and meanwhile the main case accusing the sellers of copyright violations continues to wend its way through the courts.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

It’s that time again, with the upfronts underway in the US; this year’s playbook is pretty clearly focused on emphasising not just great new shows, but innovations in measurement and addressability. But there are also efforts being made to show that advertising on TV is about more than just audiences, it’s also about the context in which those ads appear. That tactic is more than just a nod to the recent boycott of YouTube advertising by major brands in Europe and the US: “…we would be foolish not to lean into that in some way.” And with companies like JPMorgan Chase slashing its online ad inventory from 400,000 to just 5000 and seeing no negative results, it’s possible this year’s upfronts could lead to some interesting outcomes.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

A month ago I did a piece on SpaceX landing a Falcon 9 rocket, so why another piece today? Well, rockets are cool, this story also includes CASBAA member SES and history was made! They are so cool that I woke my 12-year old up early this morning to watch SpaceX launch and land the same rocket…for the second time. A reused Falcon 9 put SES-10 into a successful orbit and also landed back onto their drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. (Youtube video.) What does this mean to one’s pocketbook, “the cost to launch a Falcon 9 starts at around $60 million, launching on a used rocket could start at around $40 million”. Cool savings too.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

Bangladesh has signed an agreement with India to formally join New Delhi’s ‘South Asia Satellite’ initiative where the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) intends to launch a communication satellite serving the South Asia region. Potentially each participating country would be able to use a dedicated transponder for its own internal use for various communication needs including television broadcast or DTH television services. Officials said that All South Asian countries, except Pakistan, will be part of the project. Meanwhile, switching gears from hi-tech to “lower tech” a local Bangladesh provider has launched its first telcom tower made form Bamboo. The innovative move replaces the need for steel towers, is cheaper and can be installed on rooftops without putting any additional stress on buildings.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President

Officials in Myanmar announced the country will provide access to low cost broadcast channels under its national satellite programme. To promote the country’s communications sector, the government signed a five-year contract with Intelsat last year. The low price will be made available for government ministries and private companies to launch their own channels through the project called “Myanmar Sat 1”.

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24 March, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Mar 24th. 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

“Brand safety” is the buzzword — YouTube is the problem. Starting last week in Britain, more than 250 brands joined a boycott of YouTube over concerns about their ads appearing next to offensive material; in the US, momentum grew, with AT&T, Verizon, and Johnson & Johnson all yanking their ads. Google has apologised to its ad clients, but the company has already lost US$24 billion in valuation, with possible further downside. The boycott comes as the advertising industry gathered for Advertising Week Europe, where the topic was discussed at length. Worth noting, as the NY Times did, “…unlike television, with specific programming during which brands choose to run their advertising, YouTube mirrors the internet’s sprawl.” Equally worth noting, while YouTube stands to lose millions in revenue, Google’s search advertising business is less likely to be hit.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

News in the world of internet TV gave us a few stories of note this week. Are all those logins per subscription for OTT services leading to cord-cutting and revenue loss or an opportunity to access an elusive demographic, see: Password Sharing: Mountain or Mole Hill for ESPN and Other Sports TV Networks to Overcome? UBS analyst looks at the impact of streaming on the current players. Cable ops will mitigate revenue drop by selling more data, but satellite TV providers will be more challenged. Since the future business models will be shaped by viewer behaviour, Can Hulu Reprogram The Way We Watch TV? And to end off, would you like to know “five interesting tidbits about Netflix’s path to world domination”.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The annual FICCI FRAMES event had a major focus on piracy this year. Various government spokesmen announced the intention to do more to repress online piracy. And the state of Maharashtra said it would form a specialized police unit to give new impetus to anti-piracy enforcement. But the most eye-opening info came in a new report from Verisite. That company’s Chairman, Bharat Dube, denounced “badvertising”, which pays for piracy. He said his company tracked over a thousand piracy websites in India, and found 73% of them were ad-supported. (For those who like full texts, you can find the Verisite report on advertising on Indian piracy websites here.)

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Just when the cable guys thought they’d identified all the exigent threats to the pay TV business, savvy Dutch company Altice announced it is expanding in the advertising market with the takeover of TEADS, one of the largest online video advertising exchanges. TEADS is especially strong in Altice’s two largest markets, the US and France. Altice for its part is the fourth largest broadband provider in the US after its takeover Cablevision last year, and expects the that acquiring TEADS will help it develop better advertising to deliver to its fixed and mobile customers. It is also a shot in the arm for the development for real time programmatic online ads being served. Altice will provide clients with data-driven, audience-based advertising solutions on multiscreen platforms including TV, digital, mobile and tablets. All in all, this puts Altice in a very strong position to grow its global advertising platform and better monetize its core telecommunications access and content business.

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17 March, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Mar 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:

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The Premier League won a potentially very important injunction from a UK court, allowing it to work with ISPs to block in real time pirate streams of live football matches. The injunction is limited in time to the remainder of this season, so watching how this works out will be a very interesting test case. The “free internet” crowd seems outraged because the ISPs didn’t fight the EPL’s request for an injunction…..well, duh! Responsible ISPs have a definite interest in not undermining a healthy content ecosystem.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

SXSW has been taking place in Austin Texas this week. Out of the hundreds of sessions there are a few interesting stories that cover our business. The New Rules of TV Marketing in Binge-Watching World is somewhat reassuring, “We’ve never seen a new entertainment platform completely wipe out another one.” You can also explore Why Pay-TV Bundles Will Just Take a New Form as Cord-Cutting Grows. “There could be bundles of so-called over-the-top networks that serve specific audiences…at some point, I don’t think people are going to buy all of these individual OTT services.” And to round it off, HBO brought its best shows to life at SXSW with an awesome escape room.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

On the back of Twitter streaming several live sporting events it is rumored that the company will shortly announce plans to allow media firms to post live streaming videos directly into the social media service, the latest step in its path to becoming a hub for live video. It’s thought Twitter will open up its live-streaming API, allowing media firms to plug directly into their software. Currently, broadcasters that want to stream live on Twitter have to arrange deals with the company or else use its Periscope app. It’s also thought Twitter will announce partnerships with firms that provide back-end services for live-video streaming.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Thai regulators are finally trying to ease the burdens on small pay-TV operators caused by their “must-carry” rules, which came into force two years ago to benefit their pet DTT licensees. It’s a good example of why governments should take care and think FIRST before sticking the industry with new burdens – the damage lasts and lasts and lasts.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

It’s taken more than two years but this week saw the launch of Cambodia’s first undersea communications cable system. Jointly funded by Cambodian, Thai and Malaysian companies the 1,300-km long submarine fiber optic cable system gives a direct link to the internet for the first time as previously Cambodia had relied on terrestrial fiber systems via neighboring Thailand and Vietnam. With approximately 50 percent of the kingdom’s nearly 15 million people currently having access to internet, the new fiber optic cable system will mean Cambodia will experience faster, cheaper and more reliable internet speeds which in turn will inevitably lead to growing consumption of online video and OTT services.

Andrew Lin

Regulatory Assistant

Last week, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has confirmed that the Philippine government recently approved the National Broadband Plan, which is expected to improve public access to telecommunication services by deploying fiber optic cables and wireless technologies across the country. The network will host national government websites, allow citizens in rural areas to receive better internet connection, and act as a third player so smaller telecommunication companies that do not have extensive resources can compete with players like Globe Telecom, Inc and PLDT.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

We’ve talked quite a bit about the positive actions of the ad industry in the USA and the UK to stem mainstream ad financing of pirate (and fraudulent and malicious) websites. Now the bodies on both sides of the Atlantic have joined hands to work together. (And now, the key question for us: where’s the positive action in Asia?????)

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

In Laos, the Thai company Kanboon has inked a deal which will allow it to broadcast through Lao satellite. Kanboon is one of several companies interested in the television broadcasting service offered through the Lao Sat-1 satellite and the agreement will transmit their Lamkhong TV channel for 12 months. They have also agreed to cooperate in distributing satellite receivers. The Laosat HD satellite receivers will facilitate television broadcasting through DTH satellite where 60 television channels, including six Lao channels, are already housed. So far, companies from Indonesia, Thailand, and China have signed agreements to rent space on the country’s first telecommunications satellite which was designed, built and launched by China.

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10 March, 2017

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Mar 10th. 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:

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

In Hong Kong Wharf looks set to exit its pay- TV business as the company announced that no deals were reached to sell its television and internet broadband business i-Cable Communications – Hong Kong’s oldest payTV service. In a move that could seal the operator’s fate, Wharf said it would not extend any further financial support to i-Cable. Wharf have said they would also be reluctant to enter another 12 year pay TV licence – The HK government had provisionally renewed i-Cable’s pay-TV licence to 2029 in December, which requires HK$3.4 billion in investments for the first six years. Meanwhile the Office of the Communications Authority said i-Cable’s Cable TV and its affiliate Fantastic Television currently hold a payTV and a free-to-air licence (the latter was set to start broadcasting in May this year) and i-Cable must fulfil its financial responsibilities before its pay-TV licence matures on May 31.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

According to Hollywood insiders, Wanda’s billion-dollar deal to buy Dick Clark Productions is falling apart. Meanwhile, other Tinseltown wags say Paramount’s billion-dollar partnership with Shanghai Film Co. and Huahua Media is also on the skids. Elsewhere, at the Keshet-sponsored INTV conference in Israel, China Media Capital’s Li Ruigang told Content Asia’s Janine Stein: “…Hollywood is still Hollywood and the people just offer capital. So from China, I think we should be more reasonable, more cautious and smart.” Sound advice.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

There are two types of issues at stake in the continuing Indian controversy over TRAI regulation of the TV industry. As usual, there’s a large quotient of “fighting over the carcass” in which industry stakeholders seek to have the government wield its regulatory clubs to beat “the other guys” and better the competitive position of one group or another. So when the Supreme Court came out with its order allowing TRAI to implement its new pay-TV rules, it’s not surprising that the actual implementation involved tweaks (e.g. removal of the genre caps on channel pricing) that bettered the lot of broadcasters, to get them to pipe down. (The cable MSOs are already very supportive of TRAI’s regulations, believing that their negotiating position vis-à-vis broadcasters would be strengthened. And the MSOs don’t believe they would ever escape from TRAI’s heavy hand, as they provide the interface with the consumers that governments always want to protect.) But the foundational issue here is not about who ekes out a few paise more or less in contract negotiations – it’s about the creeping Blob of “carriage” regulation that has, since 2004, enveloped more and more parts of India’s TV industry with the gooey muck of state control. That’s the core of the case before the Madras High Court – not that the regs need to be tweaked one way or another, but that the tendrils of the state need to be withdrawn from a content industry that is active, competitive, plural, and generating huge benefits for India. CASBAA has urged that kind of regulatory restraint for at least a decade; and we earnestly hope the High Court decision will cause a re-think of India’s slide down the slippery slope of ever-expanding regulation.

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

Netflix is upping the ante in India and has tied up with more telcos and a satellite TV operator (Videocon d2h) in an attempt to reach directly more consumers. In India, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings admitted high data prices are an issue in some parts of the globe, including India, but was optimistic they would fall over the next few years. Reed not only acknowledged Netflix’s competitiors in India, including Star’s Hotstar ,were are all working to expand the OTT space, but said faster telecom networks like Reliance Jio would help all. Being marketing savvy and a diplomat too!

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Our internet TV roundup this week provides a few stories of note. First off, Fox+ launched in the Philippines with 11,000 hours of programming across multiple genres and is available through Cignal, PLDT and Smart. More Asian markets to come. In the US, the BBC / ITV / AMC owned SVOD service, BritBox, launched in the US for $6.99 per month. Also in the US, Turner, Warner Bros. to launch Boomerang Cartoon Streaming-Subscription Service for $5 monthly. And for Netflix fans out there, here are a few ways to hack the service. This weekend, who’s up for a Slow TV marathon, using Netflix Party at double speed?

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

NBCU was a big buyer of Snap’s IPO last week, picking up about 15% of the shares on offer for US$500 million. In a letter to staff, CEO Steve Burke laid out the rationale, saying the deal was part of a strategy to “…drive digital growth for our business, both organically and through investments and acquisitions.” Meanwhile, no coincidence that this week Comcast NBCU has announced a start-up accelerator, “LIFT (Leveraging Innovation For Tomorrow) Labs for Entrepreneurs”, to kick-off early next year, targeting startups in media, entertainment, and connectivity.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Digital “ad misplacement” is a problem the world over (with major advertisers aghast that the digital ecosystem lands their ads on webpages supporting terrorism, child abuse, copyright piracy and all manner of social ills.) The Vietnamese government is upset that Vietnamese ads appear on YouTube pages with unacceptable videos. (Their definition of unacceptable includes politically sensitive matters as well.) And so, we reported last week, they went right to the source of the money, not only lambasting YouTube and Facebook for not respecting local laws, but threatening the advertisers with legal sanctions. This week, the advertisers rushed to explain themselves, and they also pulled their ads off YouTube. How to get people’s attention! Meanwhile, in the UK, the IP police reported that their much-praised “Infringing Website List” (and industry codes requiring ads not to be placed on rogue sites on that list) has resulted in “a 64% decrease in the amount of cash going from top ad spending companies in the UK to copyright infringing websites last year.”

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

In Pakistan an Islamabad High Court judge has said that the entire social media space could be banned in the country if blasphemous content isn’t controlled and blocked by the government. Reacting to specific pages the judge called for the ban of social media sites after questioning the inability of authorities to act. If successful the move would also seriously hamper online video, especially on sites such as Twitter YouTube and Facebook – all of whom have previously faced the wrath of authorities and had to take remedial action.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Thailand used to be considered a “free” country from a media perspective. In recent years, that rating has been downgraded. And sadly, we have to wonder where it will go in the future. In the last week, there are reports of deep concern by journalists about attempts to control them, possible self-censorship in the pay-TV industry, and acknowledgement that the BBC’s shortwave relay station in Thailand has closed down. The Beeb’s statement said their shortages of funds “contributed to” inability to renew the lease, but others reported that there was a big role played by disputes over Thai-language services saying things the generals don’t like.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

South Korea’s SK Broadband has announced a five year plan to create a new eco-system in the media industry and become the best integrated platform operator in the country. SK Broadband is the internet-based service subsidiary of SK Telecom and has said it plans to spend 5 trillion Korean won on improved technology and infrastructure with a view to doubling its subscriber base to 27 million. Specifically the company said it will try to offer differentiated IPTV and streaming services using big data and AI algorithms, and offer high dynamic range (HDR) and other high-definition technologies to improve the quality of images on its broadband and video services in a bid to woo customers.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

And in the US, copyright law is still under the x-ray machine; the Copyright Office is conducting a long-running consultation while key Congressmen have proposed an initial batch of legislative changes that the creative industries like. Creatives have made known their belief that current copyright law is “broken”, as it provides for take-down of pirated content but no measures to make sure that the same content isn’t uploaded again. Better filtering is needed, said the music industry. Meanwhile, an ongoing “fair use” case shows the huge problems with that bit of the U.S. approach. I don’t know who is right and who is wrong in this case – and nobody does, until a court decides what’s fair use and what’s not. But in the meantime, huge legal costs mean that win or lose, the defendants are “****ed no matter what happens”. Lesson for Asian governments: be clear on what’s okay and what’s not; avoid a system that requires individual court judgements to draw legal lines.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Something to start thinking about if you aren’t already is the Tokyo Olympics, only three years away and counting! As broadcasting plans start to take shape the Olympic Broadcasting Services, who act as the official host broadcaster and provide the international video feed of the Olympic Games, has asked that two new cables, including one backup, be installed underground across three prefectures near Tokyo. Japanese officials have balked at the costs in excess of US$90 million and have suggested using existing cables as backup and any new cables to be installed above ground. Local municipalities are also in line to share the costs of the cabling and Japanese Olympic organisers will face a hard time if they have to try and justify what they are calling “abnormal” costs.

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