Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Mar 6th. 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 SlaughterCEO |
In case you missed it, SNL Kagan’s Wangxing Zhao gave a very good overview of the current state of play in the US market at theCASBAA OTT Summit in Singapore this past week. Delegates also received the latest CASBAA publication, our OTT Sentiment Report 2015 (member log-in required), during the event. |
John MedeirosChief Policy Officer |
I’m in Thailand this week, where a big debate continues to rage about the current government’s proposals to rein in the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission. Complaints about alleged malpractices have led to this plan to transfer some of the NBTC’s authority back to government ministries, but as one prominent media outlook editorialized, the issue illustrates “how politically problematical the telecom and broadcasting industries still are, and how the problems can accumulate if politicians are, again, allowed even a slice of the cake.” The big issue is a money one: who controls and allocates frequency spectrum in Thailand? The interests that have controlled analog broadcast spectrum for decades didn’t like the NBTC’s attempts to break their rice bowl. |
Mark LayVice President, Singapore |
It’s well-known that a lot of the pirate websites out there are being run to make money. So to fight them, one effective tactic has been: cut off the flow of cash from advertisers, and the site goes away. But what if the incentive is not money? Welcome to Popcorn Time, a wildly-popular, open-source pirate service that’s being run “for fun”. |
Kevin JenningsProgramme Director |
Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group plans to invest CNY 2.4 billion in Beijing-based TV program and film production company Enlight Media. Interestingly Enlight Media recently set up a paid-content online video JV with internet firm Qihoo 360 in December and Qihooo 360 also reportedly receives a significant fee from online video service provider Youku Tudou (in which Alibaba Group is also an investor), to direct video traffic from its various web properties to Youku Tudou’s platform. |
Anjan MitraExecutive Director, India
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There is something about Mary…oops, sorry, BARC. Not given to flamboyance, the proposed audience measurement regime, claiming to be more scientific than others, is nearing the finishing line for formal commissioning sans hype. Having conducted road shows meant for industry people, the Broadcast Audience Research Council has now come out with a standard pricing model for its principal stakeholders in keeping with the spirit of transparency and equality. |
Jane BuckthoughtAdvertising Consultant |
There is a decline in the UK TV viewing figures but what’s the cause? Is it migration, measurement or something more worrying? Thinkbox recently released its summary of the situation and Richard Marks writes an interesting piece about it. |
Christopher SlaughterCEO |
For those of us (errr, should be ALL of us) who were watching the net neutrality debate unfold in the US, it’s no surprise that telcos have objected to the FCC’s ruling (in one case very wittily using Morse code), or even that some FCC commissioners opposed it. What’s odd is that Netflix — an early and vocal supporter — appears to have had a change of heart. Meanwhile, don’t expect the US to set the precedent here; already, the EU is preparing for a two-tiered approach to data services, at least if Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone have anything to say about it. |
John MedeirosChief Policy Officer |
Pakistan is planning to put up a DTH broadcast system. File this under the heading of politically-motivated competition: the Pakistan authorities don’t like audiences watching Indian DTH channels, whose satellite broadcasts spill across the country’s borders. So they want to have a domestic broadcaster who will respect the government’s mandate about which channels to broadcast. (OTT on the internet is not much of a factor there……yet.) |
Mark LayVice President, Singapore |
“New cord cutters in danger of losing more than just pay-TV; they could lose their sanity, too“, now we wouldn’t want that! |
Kevin JenningsProgramme Director |
HBO’s stand-alone streaming service reportedly now has a name, a price, a platform, and a launch timeline: HBO Now will cost US$15/month on Apple TV as soon as next month. Mind you, there’s been no official word from HBO yet, so watch this space. |
Anjan MitraExecutive Director, India |
The Indian Parliament unanimously condemned the proposed airing of a documentary on the 2012 Delhi gang rape case and they are busy devising ways to block it being aired. There’s disquiet about this move on social media and elsewhere. At one level, banning such creative work may infringe upon certain democratic rights, but on a bigger level critics argue such bans serve no purpose, especially when like of BBC are involved. The Economic Times, in an editorial “Speak, see and acknowledge evil”, rightly points out the futility of such bans, while on its editorial page they carry an article that says that moral guardians want Indians to stay in denial. On Thursday afternoon, after millions watched it on YouTube and the BBC in the UK, the documentary was blocked in India on YouTube towards the evening. Dance of democracy indeed! |