22 July, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending July 22nd. 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

What happens when you’re running a website that illegally distributes more than US$1 billion worth of pirated material, and you’re also using an Apple email account and running a Facebook fan page? You get arrested in Poland. Meanwhile, seven domains and a bank account belonging to Kickass Torrents have also been seized by US authorities, who say the site was earning somewhere between 12 and 23 million dollars in ad revenues annually. Meanwhile, in case you needed further proof of the whack-a-mole nature of online piracy, Kim Dotcom has announced a relaunch of Megaupload.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Indonesia’s House of Representatives has selected nine new Commissioners for regulatory body KPI. The nine were selected after scrutiny to determine they were “fit and proper”, a process which partly seemed focused on ensuring they agreed with the barring of any LGBT presence on TV. In recent months, the KPI has proven to be quite activist when it comes to censorship, sometimes requiring terrestrial channels to go to seemingly ridiculous extremes to blur offending bits. Meanwhile, in what is probably unrelated news, the House is considering banning Pokémon Go from being played on its premises.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

What happens when a company’s EPS goes up by 50%, and comes in 3x more than analysts expect, naturally it drops by 15%. Well that’s what happened to Netflix earlier this week when it delivered far fewer than expected subscriber numbers They ONLY added 1.7 million subscribers in Q2. What really disappointed was that a paltry 160k subs were added in the U.S., which is far below the 900k the company added during the same quarter a year ago. Netflix blames reporting about it’s expected plan to “ungrandfather longer tenured members.” Translation: “price hike”. Though it’s hard to believe so many people canceling over $1 more per month. Market saturation, possibly.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in South Korea has put the brakes on a merger between the two giants in the local telecommunications and broadcasting sectors SK Telecom and CJ HelloVision. Korea’s antitrust watchdog said it rejected SK Telecom’s bid to buy the country’s leading cable TV operator, raising concerns that the merger would limit competition in the pay broadcasting and telecom markets. SK Telecom has said it seeks to become an all-around media platform operator both in the mobile and Internet-based IPTV sectors, while CJ HelloVision has been focusing more on the entertainment and TV production business. Both SKT and CJH said they will accept the decision.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Staying in South Korea the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has announced that it intends to ban TV commercials promoting highly caffeinated coffee milk drinks with effect from November. The ruling applies to both terrestrial and cable broadcasters who will be banned from airing ads for more than 100 products and brands. The 500-milliter drinks in question contain the equivalent caffeine to almost four cans of Red Bull. As we say in the CASBAA office “Drink Coffee – do stupid things faster”.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

If you can’t take geeks, stay the hell away from San Diego this weekend: ComicCon 2016 has begun. The event, “…where Hollywood meets geek culture in the loudest, craziest way possible…,” has been running for 46 years now, and yes, cosplay has pretty much always been a feature. This year, film studios have reduced their presence, only to be replaced by broadcasters— it seems like there’s something TV-ish happening every half-hour. But the best news of all? You don’t have to go anywhere near the madness if you don’t want to, since it’s being streamed online.

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

The new MIB minister Venkaiah Naidu promised a section of the film industry of more effective piracy control tools, but government needs to do more than just shifting copyrights and IPR issues from one ministry to another. In recent times, its either the media industry or courts who have been cracking the whip more to curb loss of revenue all round even as commentators ask when will Indian Copyright Act favour artistes and not institutionalised bodies.

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

News from India’s TV measurement body BARC, which has announced new genre classification criteria for broadcasters. Under the new system, television channels must have more than 60% of the content from the genre in which they want to be categorised. Channels that do not fall under any specified genre will be labeled as GECs. As BARC reports weekly top channel lists grouped by genre, the classification is a move to counter channels broadcasting significant amounts of mixed programming to engage and retain their audiences while still describing themselves under a specific genre/theme. More information on the move from BARC can be found here.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley and Mork & Mindy were all shows of my youth. It was classic TV that had Garry Marshall behind them all. Unfortunately Garry passed away this week. Lots of tributes (pick your star): Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, James Cordon, Anne Hathaway, Richard Gere, and Kate Hudson each provide their memories. Oh yes, then there was the movie Pretty Woman directed by Marshall, which my wife saw four times….on one flight.

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Consumers around the world will this year spend 23% more time viewing video on mobile devices than on ‘fixed’ devices, according to a new report from Zenith’s Online Video Forecast.

Member News

Additional News

15 July, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending July 15th. 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

A lot of news about digital migrations this week, starting with Fox’s plan to live-stream its prime-time slate across the US, making it the first network to roll out an authenticated digital service for pay-TV subscribers across the country. Meantime, Bloomberg TV has signed up with Twitter to live-stream its market coverage and some of its shows. Elsewhere, Viacom’s Comedy Central has announced streaming deals with Amazon and Snapchat. And NBCU is touting its pay-TV-subscriber-only digital deluge of 4500 hours of Olympics coverage of the Rio Games, which start in just three weeks on August 5th.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Google is creating value while fighting piracy, or so it claims… the internet giant has released its annual, self-congratulatory “How Google Fights Piracy” report that reiterates that it is on the side of the guys with white hats. But there are still more than a few questions unanswered; such as why it doesn’t remove pirate sites from search results, just demotes them; how much pirate content it’s simply overlooking; and, despite trumpeting its participation in the CASBAA workshop on online advertising last year, why the tech behemoth continues to provide advertising revenues to sites hosting pirate content. At any rate, the timing of the update is slightly uncanny, coming hard on the heels of that petition signed by some 186 artists protesting YouTube’s “safe harbour” status for copyright-infringing material.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Reassuring, in these troubled cord-cutting times, to read a sensible article in praise of the bundle: “…neither streaming service felt like an adequate substitute for a cable package.” And it seems a lot of other people are starting to come around to the same idea, too: “…there are actually very few options available for those who want to watch live events without a cable subscription or TV.” All of which should be good news for major media companies being dumped on by Wall Street because of cord-cutting hype: they will “…remain relevant to any bundle and render irrelevant any bundle without them.”

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Meanwhile, The Economist weighs in on the digital transformation of the TV industry, with a rather less optimistic viewpoint: “…the fat, pricey cable bundle of 200 channels is fast becoming antiquated as slimmer streaming options emerge.” It goes on to specifically identify the industry players threatened: “…large media companies with weak programming… small independent channels that have benefited from being part of the “long tail”; and satellite operators, who have little to sell but TV.” Dour stuff, indeed.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

They’re not going down without a fight: CJ Hellovision and SK Telecom have filed follow-up report to South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission which recently rejected their M&A deal. Meanwhile, the companies’ competitors are — naturally — praising the FTC decision, which might still go the other direction before the dust finally settles. Both companies have hired individual lawyers though, a move seen as preparation for the deal to be blocked. There is still support for the merger, though, with the Korea Herald calling the FTC’s decision “…ill-advised as it deters the development of the nation’s broadcast industry.”

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

Interesting data has been put forward by Singapore-based Media Partners Asia (MPA) on India in times of slow economic growth all round. A new report from MPA states subscription revenues for broadcasters in India from cable TV and DTH platforms will cross the Rs 10,000 crore (US $1.5 billion) mark by end 2016. India’s pay-TV industry too likely to generate $9.4 billion in sales in 2016. The report adds Asia-Pacific pay-TV industry is, however, expected to grow at a sedate average of 5.8 per cent annually between 2016 and 2021. Well, that should cheer policy-makers in New Delhi who recently uncorked a slew of liberalised investment norms for media sector.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

In Thailand, officials at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission have been given immunity from prosecution if they shut down TV or radio stations deemed to be broadcasting illegal content. The move by the ruling military government has drawn criticism from local media groups, with one member of the NBTC even going so far as to urge members of the media to file a lawsuit against the government. Join us on 5 September in Bangkok to find out the latest on the NBTC as well as a host of other industry developments at CASBAA’s Thailand In View event.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

A new survey from IBM Cloud Video is casting doubts about last year’s headlines claiming password sharing is costing the SVOD industry millions; it says of greater concern for digital video service providers should be issues like buffering, ads, and slow streams. Other key takeaways in the report “Everybody Wants To Rule The Streaming World”: 43% of respondents do most of their viewing on a connected TV, most watch SVOD and cable about the same amount, 69% have never cancelled a streaming service, and buffering and delayed starts affected nearly three-quarters of respondents.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

According to the Media Development Authority, most Singaporeans are satisfied with local media services (or, as the Straits Times puts it, “…satisfied of mainstream media.”). That assertion comes from three MDA surveys, the annual Media Consumer Experience Study, the Zero-to-Fourteen Consumer Experience Study, and the new Over-The-Top Video Consumer Study. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the surveys consistently found MediaCorp channels were most-watched among respondents. One detail worthy of much closer follow-up: only 11% of adult Singaporeans watching OTT video pay for their online video.

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

Controversial Mumbai-based Islamic tele-eveangelist Zakir Naik and his sermons on his NGO-owned Peace TV has opened up a can of worms of illegal re-transmission of unlicensed TV channels in India. Denied Indian landing rights earlier, Peace TV sermons allegedly influenced some of the perpetrators of recent killings in Bangladesh. Peace TV, which beams in South Asia via various feeds, has triggered renewed review of monitoring of unlicensed TV channels and, at times, indulgent Indian bureaucracy.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

The latest deep dive from Matthew Ball at Media REDEF is a bit heavy on the Star Wars references, but “Big Media’s Death Star Strategy” makes a valid point: “Scale matters, but it wasn’t sufficient to stop the Rebel Alliance. Hollywood should take note.”

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Research and consulting company Strategy Analytics is jumping on the Asia digital bandwagon, with a new report that predicts the APAC region will overtake the US this year as the world’s largest digital advertising market. Analyst Michael Goodman says: “Advertising is about “eyeballs” and the sheer scale of the Chinese market, along with India and Indonesia, is why Asia-Pacific will overtake North America this year, despite underlying economic weakness in some economies. Millions just can’t compete with billions.”

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

So much terrible news lately, in so many different places, it’s all been a little overwhelming. But what’s also overwhelming is to consider how that news is reaching us: “…though it will shake up the economics of TV, live streaming is opening up a much more compelling way to watch the news.” And with some 62% of adults in the US getting their news from social media, it’s clear things have already been pretty well shaken up. But the repercussions of that shakeup potentially extend well beyond just the TV news business: “Increasingly, what counts as a fact is merely a view that someone feels to be true – and technology has made it very easy for these “facts” to circulate with a speed and reach that was unimaginable in the Gutenberg era (or even a decade ago).”

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

The Television Academy has announced the nominations for the 68th annual Emmy Awards. The complete list includes 113 categories, and runs to a whopping 74 pages, which means there are too many awards to give out in a single night. And of course, there were surprises and snubs, although the list was also described as “mostly unsurprising.” The Academy’s 20,000 voting members will have two weeks to get their ballots in starting August 15, and winners will be announced at the awards show September 18.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

The digital rumble is on this weekend in Las Vegas, with the Evolution Championship Series (Evo for short) fighting games tournament getting underway. Players from 17 countries will descend on the event to compete in tournaments on nine console games (although at least one “Godslayer” has had US visa issues), alongside thousands of spectators, and featuring live coverage on ESPN. All the activity in e-sports is prompting serious consideration of the phenomenon, as well as the growth of e-sports oversight groups to protect the industry’s reputation.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

8 July, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending July 8th. 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

As everybody knows, the last few months have seen feverish building of alliances between telcos/ISPs and OTT content players. And the mobile sector is affected, too: a new survey reports that half of Asia’s mobile operators have partnerships with OTT players already, and the other half is very interested in doing a deal. Interestingly, even as big international players (like Netflix) roll out more content deals in the region, it is local players who are doing well at snapping up indigenous content at reasonable prices and making a push to lock in local consumers.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has objected to the proposed merger between SK Telecom and the media company CJ HelloVision and have asked for an evaluation on the impact on market competition. An official with the antitrust authority told the Korea Times that the FTC agrees with the concerns raised by SK Telecom’s rivals over the potential impact on the deal, claiming the merger could restrain competition by handing SK Telecom market dominance, and give SK Telecom the ability to distort the market by offering bundle pricing that rivals may not be able to match. This is a big blow to SK’s ambitions; the company complained that the FTC was being “excessively stringent” and wasn’t heeding the needs of the market economy, as the cable industry needs “healthy restructuring”. SK now has to decide whether to drop the merger case totally, or try to press on despite the FTC’s objections, which are considered by many to be “an effective block” of the merge.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Lots happening in VR this week. Following the money, HTC Vive announce a $10 billion VR VC fund “to put the investment weight of much of the industry on the back of itself and its partners”. On programming, NBC will offer 85 hours of VR Olympics courtesy of Samsung. None of it live though. And this Christmas one can expect to see a full-length, 90-minute “Jesus VR — The Story of Christ”. BTW, if you are into seeing how VR may evolve to take over the world, I highly recommend an excellent sci-fi book, Ready Player One. An even more fun read if you are a geek-pop-culture buff.

Andrew Lin

Regulatory Assistant

Recently, Comcast and Netflix have reached an agreement to incorporate Netflix into Comcast’s X1 set-top-box platform. People with the X1 cable box will now be able to access Netflix content which will not only make binge watching TV shows easier, but also introduce Netflix to the elderly US residents who are less aware of it and watch more TV than the average. Despite issues in the past, Comcast teams up with Netflix as a way to keep their customers connected to their cable subscription.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

This week’s trawl for the dirt on censorship produces an interesting question, from Chennai: “Does Television Content Need Censorship?” There’s no single answer in that article, but a couple of other articles show the perils of creating a nanny-state censor board, as India has for the film industry: every Tom, Dick and Hari has an heartfelt need to have content of one kind or another blocked. Maybe it’s because regional films are a threat to national unity. Or because content shown isn’t appropriate to someone’s religious holiday season. Or even because it shows your city in a bad light. And remember that over in China, stories about space aliens get censored too! The point is that there are a never-ending series of reasons why somebody might object to some sort of TV content, and in a fully wired/wireless world, it is self-regulation and co-regulation that make sense.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

On the subject of censorship, the latest round of Chinese blocks on foreign content have the Koreans worried – Korean series have been fabulously successful in China. (Of course, Korea has long had in place a whole array of quotas and other constraints designed to keep out keep foreign content…….People who spent long years trying to negotiate access for foreign channels to the Korean market can be forgiven a bit of shadenfreude.)

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

REDEF has another fantastic “Original”, The Death and Resurrection of Live & Communal Entertainment. “Live isn’t just something you put in your queue – you prioritize it and go out of your way to watch it. This is of huge strategic value. Not only does live sustain greater ad loads and improve ad efficacy, it also does so with integrated, pre and post-roll advertising. To this same end, live defies binge-based consumption, thereby driving both sustained subscriptions and/or engagement. In addition, live affords fan engagement opportunities that can’t be replicated on-demand (e.g. audience interactivity) and can significantly increase a fan’s brand affinity. This will make live programming particularly important for video services that can’t compete based on the sizes of their libraries.”

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

Another reshuffle, another round of period of `understanding issues’ (read slow decision-making process). At a time when industry thought MIB had an important role to play in giving those extra `nudges’ to India’s burgeoning, but regulation-intensive, media and entertainment sector, a recent Cabinet reshuffle saw senior ministers at MIB and Telecoms Ministry replaced. Critics went to town: one said the reshuffle was PM Modi’s way of admitting government was off track, while another blamed the PM for another squandered the opportunity for a “course correction that his government” needed.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The Indian government is looking at three technologies that can help extend “Digital India” to cover the country’s many rural areas. And Eureka! Satellite is one of the three.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

30 June, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending June 30th. 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

A week after Britain’s vote to leave the EU, the country’s TV production industry is still reeling. Or for that matter, still grieving… the words that keep coming up are “disastrous” and “devastating.” Oh well, at least Game of Thrones will continue to be filmed in the UK despite the vote; but whether the UK (if it stays united, of course) will see more blockbuster productions post-Brexit is another question.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

As-yet-unconfirmed reports are circulating suggesting Netflix offline viewing may finally arrive later this year. The move, which would match what some competitive streaming services are already offering, has analysts abuzz in what was generally viewed as an open secret. When asked about the shift Netflix merely said “No Comment”, although that’s already a paradigm shift from two years ago when they said it would never happen.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Vidcon, the big online video gathering (kinda like the Digital Matters for the US) took place late last week in Anaheim. With 30,000 attendees it is bigger than ever and definitely breaking into the mainstream. Apparently it has “gone Hollywood” with the likes of Nickelodeon, NBC, Paramount, Universal Pictures and Netflix all in attendance. Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO, talked a lot about “freedom” and believes that “digital media and traditional linear media are blending together.” Digiday closes this piece off with an interesting article where they asked online video executives and personalities what keeps them up at night.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The FCC has been considering forcing cable operators in the US to “unlock the box” and allow internet companies access to proprietary cable networks. Cable operators hate the idea of course; MPAA and others also opposed the FCC proposal on the grounds it would “import the piracy problem from the internet search world into the pay-TV world by mixing pirated content with authorised content,” and make it all easily searchable. (Sort of the way the internet search engines serve up easy access to pirate content now, on computers.) Then the cable and content industries formed a “Future of TV” coalition which put forward the idea of “ditching the box” entirely. The way forward for TV is via apps, said the coalition. Allow consumers to ”ditch their set-top boxes and access live and on-demand programming via boxless apps compatible with a wide range of retail devices…” No surprise…..think-tanks funded by search engines scoffed. But the new proposal has gotten considerable traction, with praise from one of the FCC Commissioners. And now there are reports that Chairman Wheeler may have to beat a retreat.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Measurement giant Nielsen has released its Total Audience Report for the first quarter of 2016, with the news that 50% of US households now have access to streaming services. Oh, and everyone seems to be lying about not watching TV any more. In fact, for some Americans, watching TV is the equivalent of a full-time job.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

South Korean cable TV group D’Live (formerly C&M) , has narrowly avoided defaulting on its debt and loan repayments, amid earlier worries in May that may have seen it being managed by its creditors. The company’s major shareholders, including the Korean National Pension Service, agreed on a debt settlement to convert 800 billion won of debt into equity and rolled over the repayment by a further three years with more favourable refinancing terms. MBK, a private equity firm founded by former Carlyle Group managers, which leads a consortium that has held 92.5 per cent of C&M/DLive since 2008, have not been successful in the search for a buyer after putting the company up for sale last year.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

In Thailand, the legislature is considering a package of eight bills concerning the digital economy. There’s a fair degree of unhappiness about several aspects of the bills. Among other reforms, a new Digital Economy and Society Ministry will be established, and the existing National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will be restructured. Critics complain that the new structure for the NBTC doesn’t make enough room for real-world industry expertise. One thing is clear: the government will take back from the NBTC the real cash cows (aka mobile frequency auctions).

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Meanwhile, the existing NBTC is going about its duties, pushing digital multiplexers to increase DTT coverage to 100% of the country by 2018. And the Commission also decided to reduce fees paid by licensed broadcasters along a sliding scale. The full rate of 4% will now only be paid on revenues over a billion baht. Well, the downward trend is in the right direction – back in the now-vanished days of a UBC monopoly, the pay-TV broadcaster had to pay 6.5% of the gross! (But CASBAA’s complaint is still that governments see licensed pay-TV broadcasters as cows to be milked, ignoring their competitive challenge from unlicensed internet content providers.)

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Pakistan regulator PEMRA has announced it has approved IPTV licensing and will start issuing IPTV licenses to private firms across the country. In another move PEMRA also approved the long-awaited “loop holding” which allows wider retransmission of channels. This means that individuals will be able to offer cable TV services without any infrastructure investment while at the same time hopefully giving distribution service providers to a broader audience base and an upturn in subscriber revenue. PEMRA is hoping that with loop holders’ licenses in place, digital TV will also grow in more remote areas of the country.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The process of selecting new members of Indonesia’s Broadcasting Commission (KPI), moved forward with the announcement by a Ministry of Communications screening committee of the names of 27 candidates. These now move for further scrutiny to the House of Representatives (DPR), which has to choose nine to act as KPI Commissioners for the next three years.

Andrew Lin

Regulatory Assistant

CASBAA’s members in Singapore attended a lunch presentation by the Asia Digital Alliance a couple of weeks ago on Remote Access Trojan malware (one of the lovely things consumers pick up when trolling piracy sites). For those who couldn’t be there, this article in the Manila Bulletin lays out the whole issue. And while we’re talking about nasty stuff waiting for you online, here’s word of a study concluding that half the ads on livestreaming sites are loaded with malware.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

And in Delhi, a letter-writer says “Never-ending TV serials make viewers psychologically sick…” and wants the government to regulate so series can’t be tooooo long. Sheesh. (You see? The bureaucrats don’t come up with all their crazy ideas on their own……who was it that invented cross-carriage, anyway?)

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

24 June, 2016

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

As of July 1, China is strictly curtailing TV programmes based on overseas formats. A new policy issued by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film, and Television (SAPPRFT) imposes a bevy of restrictions on how channels can make use of foreign formats, restricting the number of such programmes and the times they can be shown. Commentators noted this was the latest continuation of SAPPRFT’s crackdown on the Chinese satellite TV space. The justification is simple: “Only self-innovated TV programs with Chinese cultural inheritance and characteristics can better carry the Chinese Dream themes, the socialist core values, as well as patriotism and Chinese fine traditions.” And just in case broadcasters are tempted to favour ratings over patriotism, SAPPRFT head Tian Jin followed that edict with a stern warning in The People’s Daily the next day — toe the party line or face disciplinary action.

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

Indian Government relaxed foreign investment norms in various sectors, including media by bringing carriage services under automatic route for investments. But opinion is divided on whether it would attract actual investments; especially when the whole eco-system continues to be a challenging one with various policy measures, at times, working at cross-purpose. However, USIBC feels these reforms likely to boost India-US ties, though the organisation’s plea to relax foreign investment norms in news media sector went unanswered — for the time being at least.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

The music industry enlisted an A-list of well-known artists, including Taylor Swift, U2 and Paul McCartney, to implore the U.S. Congress to make changes in the DMCA Copyright Act. The “take-down” procedures envisioned by the act don’t provide real-world protection, they said, and besides “It’s impossible for tens of thousands of individual songwriters and artists to muster the resources necessary to comply with its application.” Some cynics said this all had to do with ongoing Youtube negotiations with music companies. Maybe yes, maybe no…..but it’s interesting that just a couple weeks ago the British music industry was saying the same thing. Anyway, there is a very real legal issue about old laws mandating unworkable copyright procedures in the digital age….and we hear the exact same thing about YouTube from many Asian video producers! (But of course, if you want to believe The Masters of the Universe (aka Silicon Valley), it’s all about a few greedy musicians.)

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

A whole lot of streaming video news this week. At Viacom there is more playing than just the Sumner-Shari-Philippe Show, they have launched their first direct-to-consumer VOD platform. Xumo, (who?, yes, exactly, and that’s the point) Streams in Two More OTT Channels. BitTorrent is now looking to launch a TV news network. Vanity Fair believes that the Days of Cord-Cutting Nirvana May Be Over. Variety wants to coin a new name for online content, “community programming.” Hmmm…brings back memories of Bob and Doug McKenzie. And this gent has found a solution to “too much TV”, watch it at 1.6x the speed. Check it out. He may be onto something

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Samsung has announced it has acquired the Canadian digital advertisement startup AdGear, The AdGear acquisition comes on the heels of an earlier report form the WSJ outlining Samsung’s push to expand advertising initiatives. The acquisition of the media software and ad services company could have far reaching consequences with Samsung expected to increase ads as it expands the Smart TV service and looks at ways to verify TV audiences across digital and mobile.

Staying in South Korea, the cable broadcasting company D’Live (part of C&M ) has announced it has signed an exclusive STB licencing deal with Netflix for its service in Korea . The Korea Times had reported that negotiations had failed a few months back for a Netflix-exclusive deals with SK Broadband and LG Uplus over profit sharing disagreements. D’Live is Korea’s third-biggest cable TV operator and subscribers will be able to access Netflix services by clicking a Netflix-only button on the remote control.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Thai pay-TV Operator CTH announced a cessation of most pay-TV operations on August 1. It’s been a long and difficult road for the company, which started as a cooperative of cable operators buying a few foreign channels, and morphed several times, finishing as a DTH operator. Its moment of glory came in 2012, when it won the Premier League 3-year contract with an unprecedentedly high bid. But that proved to be its undoing, as it never succeeded in recouping the outlay. After BeIN sports won the latest EPL contract award, droves of CTH’s subscribers fled. Regulators are worried, saying 40,000 remaining customers could be left in the lurch. And for now, it’s very unclear what will happen to them.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, there’s whining in the Straits Times: Omigod, soccer prices are high… My reaction is: “Qu’ils regardent du tennis.” Or, they could watch a more Asian sport, like Sepak Takraw.

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Thinkbox UK, the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK responds to the dubious research faucet that has been sponsored by YouTube. It has been leaking all over the industry says Thinkbox. YouTube’s latest claims are obviously for the benefit of advertisers, but let’s examine the advertising opportunity closely. 0.6% of video advertising is seen on YouTube; 94% is seen on TV, in full and with sound

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

It was only a couple years ago that analyst Benedict Evans declared “Mobile Is Eating The World”… now he’s updated that presentation, starting with a simple but critical grammatical change in the title: “Mobile Ate The World.” He makes a lot of solid points in the presentation, and expands further in his 16 Mobile Theses. Among my favourites: “We should stop talking about ‘mobile internet’ and ‘desktop internet’ — it’s like talking about ‘colour’ TV as opposed to black and white TV.”

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

In what many might consider being a little late to the party, the social media network Tumblr has announced it will add live video. The update should help the Yahoo-owned social network compete with Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and YouTube and it claims to differentiate itself. Users will be able to share live video to Tumblr from YouNow, Upclose or YouTube after they connect those accounts with their Tumblr account. And while we’re on the subject of being late for the party… Amazon is thought to be planning to enter the Indonesian market and has a rumoured war chest of some US$600M to be used in the first year. While the move would beprimarily focused on e-commerce the inevitable question for us is will they be bringing Amazon Video to the market – Indonesian government regulations on OTT notwithstanding.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

European officials be warned: After India, the Internet shock troops are aiming in your direction. “Fight for the Future,” a US-based net lobbying group funded largely by companies selling VPNs and other services that ride on the top of the internet, is promoting an “internet slowdown day” on June 28th.. They’re pushing widgets for people to put on their websites, social media, etc. that will not only have cute graphics but will (surprise surprise) generate mass copycat emails to the committee of European regulators considering how to implement their version of net neutrality. (I’m betting the officials will give “due regard” to the mass-generated emails……but anyway Fight for the Future will surely quote in its fundraising how many millions it generated!) Their position has non-credible statements like “For too long, Europeans have been stuck with inferior Internet access because ISPs have been allowed to create fast lanes and slow lanes.” (Really? It’s fast lanes that did it all???) And so there you have the essence of modern internet lobbying: cute graphics, sweeping slogans, and click-and-run advocacy.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

A roundup of stories this week on various industry Big Names: The Murdoch Brothers make changes at Fox, Viacom boss Philippe Dauman makes his “last stand”, ex-DreamWorks boss Jeffrey Katzenberg has thoughts on 3D, and Disney’s Bob Iger talks China and more.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Here’s a lovely closing thought: even when the US elections are finished, we may not be rid of Donald Trump. Besides the disturbing possibility that he might win……it seems that if he loses, he wants to come back to the TV industry!

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

17 June, 2016

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

Old hacks rule of thumb (now apparently codified into “law” ): If the headline ends in a question mark, the answer to the question it asks is “No.” With that in mind, the New York Times Magazine rehashes the six-month-old “Netflix goes global” story this week with “Can Netflix Survive in the New World It Created?” Unfortunately, to get to the meat of that premise, you have to wade through the first 4000 words of the article, by which time you’ve forgotten the question. Contrast that with last weekend, when The Guardian cut straight to the chase: “Will Netflix Really Steal Traditional TV’s Crown?” (And it’s a much shorter piece, too.)

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

There’s a reason that POLIcy and POLItics start with the same syllables…….The Washington-based Court of Appeals has given a boost to the FCC’s Net Neutrality stance, ruling that the agency acted appropriately in deciding to regulate internet service providers as common utilities. The cable industry and the cellular industry had both sued to block the action. Reactions differed, of course. Silicon Valley companies loved the decision, but others complained the FCC and the court had both ignored good economics and made political decisions. Don’t you dare think this is even close to being resolved: AT&T said they’d take the case to the Supreme Court, and on the pure POLItics side, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives will try to legislate against the Democratic majority on the FCC.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

REDEF has another well thought out “Original” this week. Mathew Ball takes a look at The Impending Fall of TV Ad spend…Brightest Before the Dark. “No matter how you define consumption, the industry is experiencing a dramatic flight from ad-supported television (whether linear or over the top). And though counter-intuitive, the severity of this trend has actually benefited the major network groups. The loss of audiences (especially young audiences) has created ad impression scarcity that has driven up primetime CPMs significantly over the past 18 months, even though the core product (a TV ad) remains the same and its efficacy continues to erode.” Definitely worth the full read.

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

The censors at the CBFC have been getting a roasting in the Indian press. “Is (CBFC chair) Pahlaj Nihalani out to bury the Indian film industry?” and “Film Industry vs Pahlaj Nihalani” were typical headlines. Commentators noted that if films are cut, audiences increasingly go online to find uncensored versions. And this is equally true for TV, said one writer. The proximate cause of all the criticism was a court case about the film “Udta Punjab“, and that was finally resolved with the CBFC being order to rescind most of its cuts. But the systemic problem seen by some writers endures.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

It has been announced that Microsoft, Google and Facebook are to work with the Bangladesh government to remove ‘inappropriate content’ form the internet. The State Minister for Telecoms said that the companies had agreed that they will respond to requests within 48 hours. China’s Xinhua News said the three companies had agreed to share information related to any “unexpected incidents” with the Bangladeshi government. Whilst it’s not entirely clear what content would be targeted, Google has already cooperated with Bangladeshi authorities and agreed to remove certain videos from YouTube. Some critics are already crying foul, although Bangladesh has experienced a string of brutal attacks against bloggers and foreign nationals in the last 12 months.

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Television will still be the dominant medium for the foreseeable future, data from media agency Zenith is predicting, however the sharp rise of mobile internet consumption is eating into how much all other media is consumed globally, particularly in Asia Pacific. In another study by EGTA, Television still dominates video viewing around the world. Figures from international television trade bodies put online viewing into perspective. Even among younger adults, television accounts for the majority of their viewing.

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

If you are making decisions based on how video consumption will change, the first indicator you will want to look at is broadband roll-out. There may be no better source for this than the Cisco Visual Networking Index. A few key findings: a) Global IP traffic will nearly triple at a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent over the next five years, b) new Internet users will grow from 3.0 billion in 2015 to 4.1 billion by 2020 and c) Internet video will account for 79 percent of global Internet traffic by 2020—up from 63 percent in 2015. Cisco will have a live webcast specifically for Asian-based participants on June 22, 2016 from 10: 30AM – 11:30AM. Pre-registration is required through this link.

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

E3 — shorthand for the Electronic Entertainment Expo — has wrapped in LA, and apparently, Sony was the winner, again. There were lots of announcements that could have significant impact on the future of the console gaming market, but also plenty of other news about all aspects of games and gaming. And in case you wondered, yes, eSports really are starting to become an even more serious thing (the CEO of Electronic Arts told Bloomberg that eSports are “here to stay”). Equally importantly, brands are starting to pay even more attention to the whole world of competitive gaming. Oh, and VR, that’s definitely a gaming thing, too.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Speaking of games, the upcoming Olympic Games have been generating heat in some Asian markets, because of difficulties over broadcasting rights. In Thailand, Dentsu (the rights holder) has been playing hardball, refusing to let the government Universal Service fund decide that the coverage would be available to all 25 digital TV channels, as the rights were actually bought by a pool of only six ex-analog channel operators. (I doubt they were pushing hard to let their competitors in, either.)

It seems hardball is also an Olympic sport in Singapore, where Dentsu hasn’t yet been able to lock up a deal with any of the TV operators. (Of course, the kiasu Singaporeans let it be known that the bargaining was around a price that was only a quarter of what Hong Kong had paid.) And in HK, TVB (which locked up the rights two years ago), got roasted for picking as its torch relay champion a guy who had not much to do with sport. The broadcaster replied that their man was a veteran presenter who was well qualified to represent Hong Kong. (Yesssssss……..he was quoted as saying “My aspiration in the early days was simple. I didn’t just want to get rich, I wanted to get very rich.”)

Finally, down in the Land of Oz, we have the surreal spectacle of the government using its content diktat (aka “antisiphoning” rules) to reserve the Olympics for a free-to-air broadcaster, which has now turned around and said it will charge the public for the privilege of watching some of the games. And it seems this is just fine. Tilted playing field? Nahhhhh……

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Kantar Media’s new Dutch measurement service will deliver a complete view of TV and video consumption which will allow advertisers, agencies and broadcasters to monetise beyond the main TV set and analyse viewing across smartphones, tablets and PCs for the first time

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

My inner A/V geek went a little bit wild the other day, when I discovered the online A/V Artifact Atlas, a repository of information for “…use in the identification and definition of the technical issues and anomalies that can afflict audio and video signals.” Seriously, just spend a couple minutes browsing through the table of contents, and if (among others) the sections on Head Clog Banding, Dihedral Maladjustment, or Stiction (that last with an awesome video example!), don’t set your heart beating a little faster, you’re made of stone.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

In New Zealand SKY and Vodafone have announced a plan to merge. The two companies say the merger will create a combined entity that will have the ability to offer New Zealand’s best entertainment content across all platforms and devices in a rapidly evolving media and telecommunications market. Critics say the move has come as a response to fundamental shifts in the market, with internet –based operators such as Netflix posing a serious threat to the PayTV model. The directors of SKY New Zealand have unanimously recommended its shareholders to vote in favour of the merger which is expected to complete by December at the earliest.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

There were piracy arrests in the UK and also in Japan. (I love the Japanese crook’s excuse: it was “troublesome” to get a legitimate pay-TV card.) In the UK, copyright federation FACT used the opportunity to get out the message that “set-top boxes with apps and add-ons allowing the streaming of pirated TV, sports and films are very much illegal” There, as in Asia, the piracy peddlers tell people “oh yes, these are perfectly legal…..you know, grey market goods.” Wink, wink…..

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

And now, the fun begins… the first round of nomination voting for the Emmys is underway, with some 20,000 members of the TV Academy voting on more than 8000 shows entered in 100 categories. The voting will go on for two weeks, and the final list of nominations will be announced on July 14. Part of the reason for the overwhelming amount of shows and categories is the inclusion of digital short form series, among other changes (including the order in which names appear on ballots). Final voting will take place in late August, and the 68th Emmy Awards extravaganza will be held on September 18.

Kevin Jennings

Vice President, Programme

Unilever has appointed a new boss for Southeast Asia and Australasia. Pier Luigi Sigismondi, who was previously the London-based chief supply chain officer, steps into the role as president for one of the company’s fastest growing operations. Pier will be based in Singapore and likely to be very popular amongst adsales teams across the region for the foreseeable future.

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

CASBAA’s conference last October on “Making Online Advertising Click” pointed out that the cost of ad fraud – frequently but not exclusively linked to online piracy sites – is rising rapidly. Now a new study by the World Federation of Advertisers says ad fraud “is endemic across the internet,” and says “until the industry can prove that it has the capability to effectively deal with ad fraud, advertisers should use caution in relation to increasing their digital media investment…” I particularly like the WFA’s recommendation that marketers “should avoid run of exchange buys in favor of databases of safe sites” – because piracy sites by definition are not safe sites. The attention to this issue may be one reason that big online ad agencies, including Google, have signed up to the TAG initiative in the USA that does anti-fraud and anti-piracy work.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

10 June, 2016

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

Christopher Slaughter CEO	The global entertainment and media industry will grow by 4.4% over the next five years, from US$1.7 trillion last year to US$2.1 trillion in 2020, according to PwC’s latest Global E&M Outlook issued this week. There are plenty of other takeaways, including the firm’s prediction that 2017 will be the year advertisers spend more on the Internet than TV, and that box office receipts in China will overtake the US next year, and the report identifies five key shifts that will drive change; demography, competition, consumption, geography, and business models. But the biggest call to action is also a major challenge — media companies must innovate and reimagine the industry.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	ESPN dipped their toe into eSports broadcasting a while back, Amazon went big with $1 billion purchase of Twitch and Google started their dedicated Youtube Gaming site last summer. Last month, Turner started making a big push with a combination of streaming and live airing on TBS. And just this week, Facebook is entering the eSports market by doing a deal with Blizzard Entertainment. “Users of Blizzard’s PC games such as “World of Warcraft,” “Heroes of the Storm,” “Hearthstone,” “Diablo III,” “StarCraft II” and “Overwatch” will be able to log in using their Facebook accounts and then live-stream their gaming sessions directly to their Facebook timelines.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The debates over local content quotas on OTT platforms continue. Here’s a discussion of proposals to put in local content quotas in Australia. And in Canada, the political elite insists it is necessary to regulate online media in order to protect Canadian culture…..but it seems growing numbers of Canadians don’t think that’s so important.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	Taiwanese film distribution and production company CatchPlay has launched a streaming video-on-demand service in Indonesia with the country’s state-owned telecommunications giant Telkom Indonesia after rolling out the OTT service in Taiwan in March. In addition to movies produced by several Hollywood-based producers, CatchPlay has obtained licensing from local Indonesian independent distributors and movie producers. Meanwhile the indigenous Indonesian OTT platform Genflix is claiming it had 2 million viewers for the European soccer final featuring Real Madrid, at the end of May.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	In India, satellite policy is clearly the subject of a tussle between advocates of continued state monopoly over Ku-band satellite services, and those advocating a more competitive market economy. The space bureaucrats maintain they are advancing the Prime Minister’s “indigenization” agenda to make stuff in India, while the other side says more openness would be better for connectivity of rural areas, and also push innovation throughout the entire economy, and not just in the state sector.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Elsewhere, AT&T and The Chernin Group are preparing to launch a subscription video bundle targeted at the younger demo. They believe that a combination of anime, video games, niche action sports and other fare off the beaten path will attract viewers who haven’t traditionally subscribed to pay TV. The new platform will be created by Ellation who runs anime video subscription service, Crunchyroll, with 800k subs. The exact structure of the programming and packaging is still unknown. And regarding the older demo, an analyst at Morgan Stanley has a plan for how Netflix can win these reluctant streamers.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	In an important step forward, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory, PEMRA, has approved the process of Pakistan’s first direct-to-home (DTH) licensing. It is hoped that the process will spark the creation of a new generation of technology and services for viewers, and that it will also bring much needed investment to the media industry and generate employment. PEMRA says that it will ensure a transparent mechanism to complete the DTH process and will announce a detailed timeline. Market sources estimate that — with approval of DTH process in place — it won’t take more than 3-4 months till the completion of DTH licenses’ auction.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	The conversation about measurement continues. The UK’s Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS) – the independent body that defines best practice and standards for online ad trading – has produced recommended guidelines for products that aim to measure the viewability of online video. “Consequently, advertisers are becoming more focused in their demand for greater transparency in this area,” said JICWEBS chairman Richard Foan.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Nielsen has released its Twitter rankings for TV shows in the US, claiming that more than a billion tweets were sent out about TV shows during the 2015-16 season. The data is presented by type of programme, including sports (The Super Bowl), series (The Walking Dead and Empire), and specials (The Grammys), with an added section on the US Presidential debates (the Democrats win by a nose: insert Donald Trump comment of your choice here). Meanwhile, depending on what numbers you use, the conclusion that “Scripted TV is Dying A Slow Death” among US network broadcasters might not be far off target.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	McCann Japan have created the first TVC made by artificial intelligence. An ad for Clorets has been created directed by AI-CD ß, which recently became the first machine member of their creative department. The project is part of a “man Vs machine” project with a country-wide poll to decide whether the human or AI version of the ad is preferred. The two ads can be seen here. On a not unrelated issue, can’t help feeling that none of this will sit well with Cindy Gallop who has chastised Ad Agencies in the past for not employing enough women or minorities saying “It’s not about diversity it’s about humanity’ … Man Vs machine indeed

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

3 June, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending June 3rd. 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	It’s that time of year again: Mary Meeker’s latest Internet Trends report has hit the streets, all 213 slides (or, if you prefer, in PDF.) As you might expect from a deck so dense (it started back in 2001 as just 25 slides), there is a ton of data to wade through, and everyone has their own favorite slides. Among mine: India has passed the US to become the #2 global Internet market after China; but in general, the Internet boom is plateauing. Oh, and online video advertising sucks, but there’s not enough of it, either. Data overload? Tune in again next week, when PwC releases its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook for 2016.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Video will account for roughly 70% of mobile data traffic in 2021 after growing by some 55% annually over the next five years, according to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report. The study noted a “significant increase” in video traffic share on smartphones and tablets and said that “viewing is gradually switching from traditional TV to streaming video on smartphones”.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	It’s pretty cool to work in an industry where our members (in this case, Thaicom and SpaceX) are doing stuff like this. It fires the imagination – maybe SpaceX really will go to Mars in two years. And for an even better understanding of what it means to drop a rocket onto a barge in the middle of the sea, watch the end of this slowed-down version, which has the landing platform location photo-shopped in, so you can see it way way way below, while Falcon 9 is still in space. Awesome, really. (On a side-note, Thaicom and SpaceX really hit the PR bonanza with that 30-second video…….almost 2 million Youtube views in a few days – hope Google is sharing the ad revenue!)
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	Apple has moved into the number three spot in the OTT Set Top Box market. The results, based on revenue in the overall global set-top box market saw Apple move to third place in 2015 from ninth the year before. More than 10 million Apple TVs were shipped in 2015, the fifth largest volume in the world — following Arris, Technicolor, Skyworth and ZTE. The Set Top Box market has certainly grown since 2007, when Steve Jobs originally described the Apple TV business as a hobby.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Michael Wolfe takes an interesting look at the economics of the skinny bundle and determines that maybe Fat is the New Skinny He indicates that “cord shaving and cutting come largely from the barely or temporarily connected young and from basic subscribers constantly shopping for a better deal — marginal or unprofitable customers whose business often fails to cover the cost of their cable box. In other words, the fight over them is something of a battle for a worthless prize”. In related news, James Murdoch thinks that “most of the big MVPDs in the U.S. will probably seek to go out-of-market, competing with each other on an over-the-top basis.”
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	In last week’s issue, I noted the EU proposals to put local content requirements on the catalogs of OTT program providers. Well, now other governments are rushing to consider ways to tax and regulate OTT video. Aussie Screen producers want a share of the loot. The Indonesian authorities want all players to have a permanent local establishment (and pay taxes). Spanish operators say Netflix should chip in to help fund the national TV station. The flood of new regulatory initiatives will soon reach tsunami status.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Another week, another round-up of articles about the Future of TV: from the viewpoint of a tech VC, the CEO of the Television Academy (home of The Emmys), a US-based consultant, and the Atlantic magazine, for whom the future is mobile. Meanwhile, if you’re tired of the future, how about a blast from the past? Hit Fix scribe Alan Sepinwall very thoughtfully reflects on 20 years as a TV critic by turning on the way-back machine.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Favorable reports from India on IP issues: the Commerce Minister just got the Copyright Registrar’s Office moved under her, and she admits there has been a “complete absence of enforcement of copyright” despite the laws on the books. And she goes on to say “we have to stop this; it tarnishes the image of the country.” Dedicated police units would be a good way to enhance enforcement; in a CASBAA-led panel at last March’s FRAMES conference, Telangana police announced they intended to introduce a new Telangana IP Crime Unit (TIPCU), and now that seems to be going forward. Meanwhile, Star TV filed a bunch of complaints against cable pirates, obtaining police raids and seizures of equipment from several cable operators.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	Netflix will be alive with the sound of music next year with a new series starring Julie Andrews as the head of a stage school. The preschool show, known as Julie’s Greenroom will air worldwide in early 2017. It is significant as it forms part of the Netflix strategy to create more family viewing for subscribers. Julie Andrews created the show with her daughter and The Muppets owners the Jim Henson Company.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

27 May, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending May 27th. 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	Nothing strange about a reported proposal by China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) to gain more control over the country’s online video providers by having state-owned enterprises take up ownership stakes in them; no, that’s not strange, and the idea even has a curious command-economy logic to it. However, what was strange was reading about it in the South China Morning Post, which is now owned by Alibaba. Yes, the same Alibaba that last month finalised its purchase of top streaming site Youku Tudou.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	The European Commission has announced approval of a proposal to extend broadcast regulations into the OTT sector. The proposal to reform the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and extend a number of regulations to online video platforms will ultimately see online platforms required to take a more active approach to taking down harmful content. The move comes on the back of calls from telecom operators for a ‘level playing field’ with OTT providers in terms of comparable services to be subject to comparable regulations, and is being seen as a broadly progressive move.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Of course, that’s not the only change in the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. This report nicely summarizes five focus areas. Another of the biggest novelties is a requirement that OTT providers like Netflix and Amazon maintain European works as 20% of their available catalogues. (European broadcasters will still have a 50%-of-broadcast-time local content requirement.) The new online local content rules push the big OTT operators in the direction they are moving anyway….investing in more European content.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Meanwhile, in Canada, a think-tank published a critique of the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) “protect and subsidize” approach to broadcast regulation. The author says there’s no evidence that “protect and subsidize” policies for entertainment programming help Canadians feel their national identity more strongly. And he notes that “the exemption (from national programming requirements) enjoyed by … (OTT) programming services … is a regulatory asymmetry that provides an inefficient implicit subsidy to OTT services.” He argues for deregulation of traditional broadcasting, not more regulation for OTT, saying “the CRTC cannot impose the same antiquated regulations used for traditional broadcast to online programming without seriously restricting access to internet programs.” Hear, hear!
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Contrary to earlier research, sports fans just might pay for OTT games. OTT sports has been a bit of a holdout for (domestically delivered) live games, probably because the rights are worth so much from the existing channel partners. This hasn’t stopped NBC Sports Digital from launching of a new technology service called Playmaker Media, “designed to convince leagues and teams to use NBC to stream their events”. And OTT delivery is perfect for any VR Sports experience, as Eurosport is providing for the French Open. But OTT delivered LIVE VR sports is really where the money is at. “The NBA has 300 million fans in China. 99.9% of them will never get to a game. If they can figure out a way to monetize this rabid user base through VR that’s found money for them.”
Christopher Slaughter CEO	In case you wondered who first coined the phrase “Content Is King”, it was legendary dealmaker and industry titan Sumner Redstone, who celebrates his 93rd birthday today. Its easy to lose sight of the man’s importance, what with all the rather waggish Game of Thrones anaologies being bandied about as the current boardroom drama unfolds at Viacom (and honestly, who hasn’t been keeping tabs on it?). Redstone was a pivotal figure in the development of the modern industry, and his legacy will be much greater than the current plethora of tabloidized headlines. Of course, that is… if he ever actually shuffles off this mortal coil.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Indian broadcast sector carriage regulator, TRAI, earlier this week during a media interaction said it’s initiating a comprehensive review of existing regulatory framework governing the broadcasting and cable services sector, but stopped short of fully elaborating on them. At least from the media reports it seems so — unless it’s proven journalists failed to probe the “review process” and liberalisation that the regulator hinted at. Thankfully, TRAI admits it’s under-debate interoperable STB regime is fraught with “technological difficulties” and it has sought help from experts. We have also been told TRAI will come out with a consultation paper on internet-based telephone service soon. But what about the almost decade-old price freeze on TV channels, mobile TV and much talked-about light-touch regulations? The media reports were mum on those issues.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Censorship updates: In India, Fashion TV got a stern warning over a show aired 18 months ago. FTV told the government they now have an Asian feed which will be different, and less racy, than their European feed. Separately, the activities of the “Censor Board” (CBFC) have come in for considerable argument, with one writer urging the CBFC to “let the film industry be,” and another suggested the Censor Board’s role should be transformed from cutting films to just rating them. Finally in India, a worrisome novelty: censorship of TV channels by state politicians, without any legal authority. Over in Indonesia, the censors at KPI in Jakarta have been worrying about obscene lyrics in indigenous “Dangdut” music. And now KPI is urging its regional offices to increase their vigilance, too. (Censors, censors, everywhere!) Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the censors at the MTRCB get a big round of applause, because while they were out looking for inappropriate content, they actually hit out at display of pirated films, too! Bravo for that.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	A free Internet (aka Net Neutrality in India) activist caustically observed in an opinion piece in Times of India that a third consultation process on net neutrality since March last year highlights how much pressure TRAI is under from the telecom lobby when it banned differential pricing. Times’ sister publication Economic Times in an editorial earlier chastised Telecoms Secretary for suggesting high spectrum price should not matter to telcos, adding that TRAI must ensure an open internet and low spectrum costs are at core of net neutrality. The irony (of adequate price tag for scarce commodity like spectrum) and predicament (of TRAI) cannot — and should not — be missed here.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	The old telly, big-screen, boob-tube (call it what you like) is getting a makeover. And I’m not talking 4K or HDR, which apparently have a “massive sales surge”. Most of our TV’s have a tuner in them that we never use and a cable/satellite set-top that we use a lot. (Some of us even have a Mac mini a Chromecast and a Roku 4 hooked up to ours.) The latest advancement for all the new 4K TV sets is to have ethernet/wifi and a serious streaming user interface built into them. Different TV manufacturers are going with different camps. Android TV is now in Sony, Sharp and soon to be RCA sets. Roku is offered in Haier, HiSense, Insignia, Sharp and TCL. While Samsung, Panasonic and LG all have their proprietary(ish) OS’s. Whoa, what to choose? It may not matter either way, as we may all just be casting our programming choices to our TV’s from our phone and tablets.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Okay, consider the source, but Vice’s Shane Smith is predicting a “media blood-bath” over the next twelve months. (My favourite part of that article is the note that Smith’s comments were “…slightly edited for clarity.”) Somewhat relates is viral grindhouse Buzzfeed’s plans to jump into video news, since apparently it has figured out a way “…to do it so it’s not boring,” while remaining consistent with its editorial guidelines (which reassuringly include such diktats as: “Information… should come from a verified source.”). And in case you’re wondering about this whole “New Media vs Old Media” thing, an excellent cross-ownership breakdown by Bloomberg Gadfly: “New Media Shares Old Media’s Roof”.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Some 41% of senior marketing professionals in Asia Pacific say they have already adopted programmatic buying into their media buying processes, a new industry report has revealed. These are some of the key findings from a survey of 300 senior marketing decision-makers by Forrester Consulting on behalf of MediaMath, the global tech firm.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	BitTorrent, the company behind the oft maligned peer to peer file sharing protocol, is planning to launch a live streaming TV service. The company claims it will have better performance than existing services that broadcast live channels over the Internet. BitTorrent Live is billed as a “multichannel, live and linear video streaming platform” based on a peer-to-peer live video streaming protocol that BitTorrent has been developing for a few years. The service will offer both free and paid options. The company said it will be available on Apple TV, iOS, Android, and Mac.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

20 May, 2016

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending May 20th. 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	US cable giantComcast is very happy with its current digital business, thank you very much,and CEO Brian Roberts says there are no plans to launch an OTT service outsidetheir current cable footprint. To be fair, his comments at the annual NCTAconvention (now rebranded as INTX – theInternet and Television Expo), weren’t a categorical denial — he did qualify his statement by saying, “Theworld always changes.” In themeantime, at Comcast’s massive booth on the INTX floor, their demo for NBCU’s Olympic coverage was impressive, and suitably OTT-heavy. Across its broadcast networks, NBCU will play out some 1500 hours ofcoverage, withanother 4500 hours delivered on demand and over-the-top; especially forComcast subs, Roberts said, “We’re going to throw everything at it.”
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Well, on the other hand, happy is as happy does, and the US cableindustry is definitely not happy with its regulator, the FCC. Andthe members of the Commission aren’t happy with each other. NCTA chief MichaelPowell used his keynote at INTX to denounce the FCC’s “relentlessregulatory assault” on the cable industry. If you’re afan of inflammatory language you’ll love this; Powell said “Weincreasingly are saddled with heavy rules without anycompelling evidence of harm to consumers or competitors.” The FCC’s recentactions have not been “modest regulatory corrections,” he said.Instead, “they have been thundering,tectonic shifts that have crumbled decades of settled law andpolicy.” FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel commented afterwards“Wow, that was subtle.” But Commissioners AjitPai and Michael O’Rielly in a later session took the cable industry’s side on the currentdebate over proposals to force cable companies to allow competitors to channelcontent through their set-top boxes. Paideclared “what is happening at the FCC is not a conversation, it isdictation….sentence first, verdict afterwards.” And O’Rielly suggested “I would take thecurrent proposal and throw it in the garbage. That’s where it belongs.” Equally subtle, eh?
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Of course, this debate is about politics, as much as regulatorypolicy. (Rosenworcel, like FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, is a Democrat,while Pai and O’Riellyare Republicans.) But the accusation that recent FCCproposals are motivated by a political ideology has also come from someDemocrats. A former Undersecretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton’sadministration wrote that “Net NeutralityIsn’t Progressive,” He says net advocates who want to killzero-rating or “sponsored data plans” actually are seeking to inject thegovernment excessively into internet regulation. “What the ideologueswant is a public sector Internet, and they’re willing to impose their vision onthe Internet on us, regardless of what the public actually wants.”
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Elsewhere atINTX, “Reports of the death of TV everywhere are greatly exaggerated.” Industry executives rolled off some impressive stats: “Double-digit growth in TVE viewing in thefirst quarter; 84% offrequent TVE users say it’s a reason they’ll stay with their provider foranother year; adoption of TVE grew by 36% amongst pay-TV subscribers inthe U.S.” Also, Accenture has found that “consumers globally stilltrusted their satellite operator (31%), their cable TVcompany (26%), more thandigitally native competitors such as Internet video providers (15%) orsocial media service providers (5%). Not everyone is convinced, as eMarketerbelieves that the “TV industry on the brink of a cord-cuttingstorm.”
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	We’re clearlyfocused on the US this week, where the Upfronts are also underway, and whatbetter time for a little smack-talk? Cue ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel: “DoCrackle, and Vox, and Vevo really need to have upfronts? These aren’t networks:these are sound effects when Batman punches a bad guy.” To be fair, Kimmel took aim at prettymuch everyone, but the broader strategy among networks has been clear, which isto counter the specious accounting demonstrated at the Digital NewsFronts (or rather, the “SnoozeFronts”). Clearly, one of the best ways to do that is with data, but throwing some shade doesn’t hurt either (repeat after me, “non-premium, sub-prime video”). Seriouslythough, Fox’s Toby Byrne pointed out that the published audiencereach of “a YouTube star” and a World Series game were both 14million. But the average audience for that YouTube star was only 1,620. UsingYouTube’s metrics, he added, the World Series game would have racked up 6.8billion views. “Impressions for subprime video can’t compare to TV’sdelivery,” said Byrne.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	We’veheard it, we’ve read it, we’ve said it ourselves — this is a new Golden Age ofTelevision. But a GoldenAge of TV Criticism? Or for that matter, a GoldenAge of Family Sitcoms? Even if you agree that the GoldenAge endedwith The Sopranos, though, you still have to acknowledge that there are ahell of a lot of new shows; we’ve gone from about 200 shows produced in 2009 tosome 409 produced last year. For good or for ill, it’s definitely a thing, andthe Vulture has a great look at “TheBusiness of Too Much TV.”
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	India’stelecoms and broadcast carriage regulator, TRAI, wants more consultationsbefore it settles once and for all issues related to Net Neutrality. Earlierthis week chief regulator RS Sharma told media that “pre-consultationon net neutrality will start in 2-3 days.” TRAI is under pressure from telcos who have criticisedregulator’s move to ban differential pricing of data services and petitionedfor its review.
Kevin Jennings Vice President, Programme	BARC – theBroadcast Audience Research Council in India have announced that their ratingsdata can now be split between Urban and rural India. Interestingresults in the firstweek of published numbers with differentviewing trends emerging between urban India and their country cousins. ZeeNetworks’ FTA Zee Anmol topped the chart in rural areas with Sony PicturesNetwork’s free to air channel Sony Pal and Star India’s FTA channel Star Utsavranking second and third respectively. In contrast, in Urban Hindispeaking markets , Viacom18’s Colors lead the Hindi general entertainmentchannels, closely followed by Star Plus in second place with Zee TVranking third.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The UK government, whose IPprotection policies are already the strongest inthe world,recently unveiled a new strategy fortackling intellectual property infringement over the next four years. New legislation isplanned. Another part of the strategy appears to be increased pressureon Big Internet companies. Nobody says it, but government pressure in the UK was responsiblefor the online ad industry’s adherence a couple of years ago to the Good PracticePrinciples that divert mainstream advertising away from piracy websites. It will be interesting to see theeffect of the reported ratchet upwards in pressure.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Meanwhile, an interesting development in the EU, where the bureaucracy isreported to be looking for ways to apply EU content quotas to Netflix, Amazon,etc. I’m curious to see how they willpropose applying quotas to SVOD services, where consumers access huge librariesand then choose what THEY want to watch.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Lots of ink hasbeen spilled on this story but it all comes back to the recent article in theTelegraph which stated that BBC set to launch Britflix rival to Netflix. This new streaming service is”believed to be a collaboration between the corporation and ITV, its maincommercial rival, and is still in the early stages of development.” Otherthan the White Paper on the future of the BBC, not a lot of details have been formallyannounced. Though, “the BBC has been quick to reassure viewers that anynew service would not involve any of the corporation’s existing showsdisappearing behind a paywall.” According to the Guardian, ‘Britflix’ and chill – doesn’t have the quitesame ring to it.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	File this in the “confirming what we already knew” department: aresearch firm found 450 websitesserving up pirate views of the latest Game of Thrones programs were alsoserving up malware. Which is morescary …a malware-infected zombie computer, or the White Walker zombies frombeyond the Wall?
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	Finallyit has happened. Indian Government approved the national IPR policy withDepartment of Industrial Policy & Promotion to be the nodal department toco-ordinate, guide and oversee implementation and future development of IPRs inIndia, including copyrights issues, which was earlier curiously beenoverseen by Human Resources Development Ministry. In general hailed,some lobby groups, however, have criticised thenew law saying it lacks specifics and won’t be enough to foster innovation.

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