Macau, 07 November 2017 – The CASBAA Convention 2017 in Macau kicked off this morning with welcoming remarks from Joe Welch, CASBAA Board Chairman and SVP Public Affairs Asia, 21st Century Fox, during which he highlighted the association’s escalating efforts to curb the on-going regional revenue leakage caused by piracy.
“Most importantly”, said Welch, “CASBAA recently launched the Coalition Against Piracy, funded by 18 of the region’s content players and distribution partners”.
In the meantime, CASBAA CEO Christopher Slaughter, emphasised the yet to be fully-realised digital dividends for the Asia Pacific. Additional points made by speakers during the opening conference sessions to the 400 media executives, regulators and government officials, participating in the event, reinforced that CASBAA and its Members are meeting the opportunities presented by the Asian markets for new audiences, new technologies, new business models and new content.
According to CASBAA, TV production quality is soaring across Asia. Audiences are engaging with our Members’ products as never before. New ways of video distribution such as Over-the-Top (OTT) broadband services are reaching millions of additional customers across a CASBAA footprint that reaches from India and Pakistan to Japan and Korea, from China and Mongolia to Australia and New Zealand.
Operator workshops and conference sessions such as “New Ecosystems: Myanmar & Cambodia” and “OTT in China” showcased the plus side, while digital negatives were highlighted during sessions such as “Under Attack” and “the ISD Battle”, as well as clear-eyed examinations of the India market and new content offerings both domestic and international.
A few other “Quotable Quotes” heard during Day One of the CASBAA Convention 2017 in Macau.
Opening Keynote:
New Wine, New Bottles: Henry Tan, COO Astro: “We need to expand beyond our domestic market, it would be foolhardy to be satisfied, with 75% of Malaysian Households. The way the world is going, is mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships.”
“Last year at the CASBAA Conventions I met with Group M’s Irwin Gotlieb; he told me ‘Bet on transactions’. Since we have 75% market share, how to do that? Home shopping, eCommerce. We have to see ourselves as a consumer care company, our biggest asset is our customer base.”
On Piracy:
Kevin Plumb, Premier League: “In the past 18 months the illegal broadcasting of live Premier League matches in pubs in the UK has been decimated.”
Matthew Hibbert, Sky UK: “It (site-blocking) really has moved the goalposts that significantly. In the UK you cannot easily now watch live Premier League content. It drives piracy back to the margins.”
Kieron Sharp, Federation Aganst Copyright Theft (FACT): “The most successful thing we’ve done to combat piracy has been to undertake criminal prosecutions against ISD piracy. Everyone is pleading guilty to these offences.”
Ros Lynch, UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO)
“The UKIPO provides intelligence and evidence to industry and the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) in London who then take enforcement actions. We first heard about the issues with ISDs from TVB in Hong Kong and we then consulted the UK rights holders who responded that it wasn’t a problem. Two years later the issue just exploded.”
“While the UK works to update its legislation, we can’t wait for the new legislation to take enforcement actions and we rely heavily on “conspiracy to defraud” charges, and have successfully prosecuted a number of ISD retailers.”
“The cat is out of the bag. I would encourage any government to reach out to the search engines, if they’re interested in collaborating on similar measures.”
Some Advice to Asian governments
“It’s a matter of initiative, evidence, and political will. Always start with the evidence and to obtain strong evidence you must work with the rights holders making it easier to show the government that this is a problem, and convince them to contribute to taking meaningful enforcement actions.”
On New Content New Platforms:
Hosi Simon, VICE Media: “The business isn’t in some regional office where people send out emails, it’s about local offices building local content.”
“What VICEice trades in is being able to identify emerging trends – artists, music, movements – that young people care about. We trade on an understanding about cultural diversity and nuance, and we don’t believe there is just one global lens, the excitement is about the local story.”
On Security:
Mallory Delaporte-Bernues, TV5Monde: “Media companies, do not have the same security measures, as the financial industry which makes them low-hanging fruit for hackers… You know that black screen you never want to see in your office? When we turned our network back on, that’s what happened… You shouldn’t let your company do anything new until you’ve covered security.”
Matt Polins, CMS: “It’s not a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen. The key is how you respond to it when it happens… You shouldn’t be afraid of adopting new technologies, but be aware of the risks involved and plan accordingly.”
The Death Of Television?:
Sam Scott: The Promotion Fix @ The Drum: “As Ad Contrarian Bob Hoffman said, we need to counter the falsehood that TV is dying by pointing out that it’s having babies.”
“Marketers are not normal people. We love social media, but most people do not. 93% of marketers are on LinkedIn. Among everyone else, it’s 14%. 81% of marketers use Twitter. Everyone else, 22%.”
“The marketing industry has its own ‘fake news’ problem. Too many marketers – especially in digital marketing – accept what is said in our industry’s echo chamber without thinking critically or asking for evidence.”
“Don’t let those who are biased towards digital mediums and tactics frame the debate.”
On C-band and Satellite:
Huang Baozhong, APT Satellite: “With complementary OTT services, we add value instead of lowering prices.”
“If other countries will follow [the US/FCC]: Japan, Europe, Australia, Korea and others … this will completely destroy the broadcasting industry in C-band.”
Raymond Chow, ABS: “C-band is a precious resource, not only for broadcast, but also mission-critical for military applications.”
On OTT:
Greg Armshaw, BrightCove: “Really start understanding your customer base is the essential to selling OTT …. Even though there are free offers, not everyone is signing up to it, so personalised offers, being flexible about bundling and looking at marketing partnerships are key…”
Rohit d’Silva, Fox Network Group: “Data science is now front and centre for a multitude of industries. In the media industry the sooner they understand that data science is a huge part their operations, then they won’t get left behind.”
Uday Sodh: Sony India: “There is a huge mindset change required, when you move from traditional the broadcast business, to digital platforms. You have to deal with the huge explosion of data that you develop.”
In addition to the CASBAA Convention 2017 business sessions, “Desperate for Love”, produced by Yomiuri Telecast and broadcast by NIPPON TV of Japan, was announced as the winner of the CASBAA/ABU UNICEF Child Rights Award 2017 for the best children’s television programming and coverage of children’s issues produced in the Asia Pacific.
Day 2 of the Casbaa Convention 2017 in Macau, audience and speakers will reconvene at 9.00am at the Ball Room, Studio City. We look forward to seeing you.
CASBAA would like to thank CASBAA Convention 2017’s Supporting Sponsor, TRT World, along with our other Sponsors:
21st Century Fox, ABS, Amagi, APT Satellite, ARRIS, AsiaSat, Australia Channel, Brightcove, Cisco, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, Deutsche Welle, The Walt Disney Company, FashionTV, FOX Networks Group, France 24, Friend MTS, Google, Intelsat, INVIDI Technologies, Irdeto, Leyard, Lightning International, MEASAT, MPP Global, NAGRA, SES, True Visions, Turner Asia Pacific, TV5MONDE, Viaccess-Orca, Vindicia and Viu.
We would also like to thank CASBAA Patrons: A+E Networks, Astro, BAM Asia Entertainment Network, BBC Worldwide, Celestial Tiger, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, HBO Asia, NBCUniversal International Networks, PwC, Scripps Networks Interactive Asia-Pacific, Star India, and Viacom International Media Networks.
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About CASBAA
Established in 1991, CASBAA is the association for digital multichannel TV, content, platforms, advertising and video delivery across a variety of geographic markets throughout the Asia-Pacific. CASBAA’s members reach over 500 million connections within a regional footprint ranging from China to Australasia, Japan to Pakistan. For more information, visit www.casbaa.com.
Contact CASBAA
For media contacts and additional background contact:
Tel: +852 2854 9913 pr@casbaa.com
