Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Feb 6th. 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 SlaughterCEO |
I’m reaching for a Godzilla analogy, and not quite grasping it: Netflix has announced it will launch in Japan later this year. It’s a challenging market for foreign players, but understandably attractive, if only because of its broadband infrastructure. Right, that’s 1 down, 149 more to go for Netflix to reach its stated goal of 200 markets by 2016.
It’s been whispered about for months now, but Singtel’s new HOOQ service has finally been officially announced. The OTT service is a joint venture between Singtel, Warner Bros and Sony, and will start rolling out this quarter in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and India, all markets where Singtel has significant stakes in mobile operators. Predictably, the initial comparisons are to Netflix, but even the articles with a favourable slant are still taking a wait-and-see approach to the new service. |
Mark LayVice President, Singapore |
The evolving world of OTT is still, well, evolving. New to the scene is Nickelodeon who is to unveil stand-alone subscription video service in February. Not a lot of details were made available. Next we have Walt Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger who squashed any hopes for a standalone ESPN over the top product for the near-term. I guess Mr. Iger was talking about the main ESPN channel as tech website re/codereports that ESPN takes another step outside the bundle, starts selling streaming Cricket World Cup subscriptions. And as if all that wasn’t enough, re/code is ALSO reporting that Apple is looking at launching its own streaming TV service. Again. |
John MedeirosChief Policy Officer |
The political battle lines have formed in Thailand, over the role and authority of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). The post-coup government has proposed taking back from the NBTC the power to make spectrum licensing decisions, but civil society groups don’t like that – they see an attempt by various groups to use “political connections” to secure spectrum. And even the head of a “superboard” named by a previous government to oversee the NBTC announced his group didn’t like the new proposals, and would urge the legislature to leave the NBTC’s independence unobstructed, to avoid “third-party intervention, particularly from politicians, in the frequency allocation process.” |
Kevin JenningsProgramme Director |
Binge viewing gets the thumbs down from researchers. People under 30 were asked to complete a survey on their feelings of loneliness and depression. According to the findings, the more lonely or depressed a person feels the more likely they are to binge watch several episodes of a TV show online. |
Anjan MitraExecutive Director, India
|
In several Asian countries, there are heated debates underway about censorship of pay-TV broadcasts, and – in keeping with India’s democratic traditions – nowhere is the dialogue more enthusiastic than there. Last week, the chief film censor said that TV broadcasts really need more censorship. And a Hindustan Times journalist responded with a wonderful column entitled “If a Film Offends, You Don’t HAVE To Watch It”. He wrote that the CBFC certification board “has morphed into a public morality nanny, scissors in hand at the slightest whiff of sex, politics and religion,” and complained “The CBFC must be alive to the threats to our constitutional freedoms. We need a board that will stand for creativity, not create lists of banned words.” |
Jane BuckthoughtAdvertising Consultant |
With the OTT Summit coming up in early March, it’s fascinating to see the new trends developing in the digital space. China’s mobile internet use has increased by about 56.72 percent year-on-year and now accounts for as much as 85.8 percent of total online population. Last year, China’s internet user base stood at 618 million. Meanwhile, Japan is beginning to embrace digital video, witnessing a 31% growth in the sector last year to JPY81 billion (US$670 million). Globally, Ooyala estimates strong growth for video-on-demand (VOD) services, interactive services, multi-view on multi-screens offered by telcos along with pure-play IPTV services. These factors will provide significant fuel for market growth, as will the expanded availability of OTT content and the ubiquity of mobile devices.. |
Michael SteelRegulatory Assistant |
In China, one of the more logical and reasonable commentaries this week came from the usually rabid Global Times newspaper. The author noted that the rise in internet video deals cries out for settling one set of standards – a level playing field – between online and offline content supply, and implied (but didn’t state) that the standards should be lighter than the traditional SAPPRFT heavy-handed approach. Sadly, that’s not the way things seem to be going. |
Christopher SlaughterCEO
|
With 114.4 million viewers, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched programme in US television history. It’s fair to say that not all of those viewers were supporting the Seahawks or the Patriots, and quite a few were just watching to see the ads, many of which actually appeared online before the big game. And sacrilegious though it might seem, with each 30-second spot costing up to US$4.5 million, some observers are wondering if there might not be other ways for brands to get more bang for their bucks. |
John MedeirosChief Policy Officer |
Hong Kong’s regulators responded with a wag of their collective finger and a loud “Tsk, Tsk” to news that FTA licensee ATV, in addition to not paying its workers, has not been paying its license fees to the government, either. The TV station has been given fines (which it won’t bother to pay), and three more months to settle up. So much for even-handed regulation… who thinks if this were an international company, it would be given only a slap with a wet noodle, for not paying its government fees? (If you think that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.) |
Mark LayVice President, Singapore |
MP & Silva have been busy. Last week I reported on how they had secured a 15-year rights deal with Malaysian FA. And this week we see that the Football Association of Singapore has inked a deal worth over $25 million with MP & Silva “The six-year deal, announced on Monday (Feb 2), will see the international firm manage media and sponsorship rights, as well as international events for the Singapore national team and the age-group teams.” “This is the biggest commercial partnership for the FAS, eclipsing the $15 million, 10-year deal signed in 2001 with Tiger Beer.” |
Kevin JenningsProgramme Director |
News from Australia is that Telstra is reportedly replacing its set-top box with a cheaper version with limited storage. While customers can use the new box to access streaming Internet video services they wont be able to access Netflix or Stan. While still unconfirmed, the story is bound to create more tension with competing OTT services like Netflix sure to cry foul. |
Christopher SlaughterCEO |
The latest update to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast has hit the streets. Weighing in at 42 pages, it’s not exactly light reading, but it’s definitely chock-full of information. For our industry, one of the key headlines: by 2019, Cisco says almost three-quarters of mobile data traffic will be video. |