19 August, 2016

CASBAA CPO John Medeiros and I have been in Seoul this week, so we can be forgiven for our new addiction to Korean drama — specifically, the drama around China’s clampdown on Korean TV shows that has serious financial implications for the local production industry, particularly since China accounts for about 40% of the overseas exports of Korean shows.  Of course, it’s actually all about the military, right?  That is, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD, intended to protect against North Korea’s eminently logical leadership and their tendency toward nuclear brinksmanship; but which China thinks could be a loaded gun pointed directly at it.  But the ban isn’t stopping the fans, although certain advertisements with questionable political messages aren’t really helping much. Like any good drama, there are cliffhangers a-plenty, enough to keep you tuning in week after week: watch this space.

It looks like 4K/UHD broadcasting is finally arriving, as a commercial offering.   A few weeks ago, we reported that sales of 4K TV sets in Japan have really taken off.   In Korea this week, we learned that – although there are only an estimated 50,000 4K/UHD sets in Korean homes, several pay-TV operators are aggressively rolling out competitive UHD channel offerings.  IPTV operators SK Broadband and KT Olleh have 3 UHD channels each, while direct broadband competitor LG U+ has one.  The UHD king, though, is KT Skylife, with five operating UHD channels.   Meanwhile, in Europe,Sky began its broadcasts of English Premiership games in UHD, and the upcoming IBC show is full of UHD announcements.  And in Hong Kong, PCCW is moving to offer 4K to its subscribers as well.    Research companies say UHD equipment in homes is multiplying rapidly.

Media companies are engaging with social media in different ways. Digiday has a great piece this week on How Sky News distributes video on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. With the Premier League just kicking off, Sky Sports used Facebook and YouTube to stream their popular “Soccer Saturday”. Though, a number of media companies are resisting striking deals with Facebook Inc. for its video features. “TV executives say they’ve been put off by the tech company’s constantly-shifting goalposts and its failure to articulate a clear path for content owners on how they’ll make money from participating in its video offerings.”

Twitter is apparently in talks with Apple to bring the Twitter app to Apple TV. According to a report in the New York Times the deal would allow Apple TV users to use the Twitter app to stream NFL football games and other live content under Twitter’s growing number of video deals. In April Twitter agreed to pay the NFL around USD 10 million to stream 10 games and to sell only a portion of the ad inventory exclusively. (Facebook had reportedly set tougher terms in the bidding, under which the social network wanted to sell all the ads that would air during the games.) Twitter will stream its first NFL game on Sept. 15.  But the question is will its $10 million deal pay off?

Media Business Asia has this interesting take on the situation of Thailand’s SVOD industry.   MPA’s Vivek Couto will explain his take on developments in Thailand at CASBAA’s Thailand in View Conference, on September 6, in Bangkok.   Don’t miss it.  

UK’s subscription-free satellite TV service Freesat is enabling the first live audience measurement service showing viewing free-to-air (FTA) behaviour in real time.  The anonymised data is captured from over 100,000 connected Freesat set-top boxes and then processed by TVbeat’s platform. Data available includes info on Audience Flow, for viewers moving across channels and programming; Audience Retention, for returning viewers to the same series; Time-Shifted Data based on PVR usage, and VOD Impact with data from catch-up and other on-demand services.

The Rio Olympics still have a couple days to go, and as we mentioned last week, this edition of the Games has been an interesting bellwether for digital disruption.  No question about it, ratings for linear television have fallen in the US, although the full picture won’t emerge until after the last torch has been blown out in Brazil.  But despite the lower ratings, NBC is still confident that it will win plenty of gold of its own, and that this will be the most profitable Olympics for the peacock network yet.

Last week, authorities of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) sent an e-letter to Pokemon Go developer Niantic, requesting that they establish Pokemon-free zones around dangerous areas, religious places, state property, and private property. Officials believe that playing Pokemon Go in sensitive locations could be a threat to national security. It did not come as a surprise that people flooded social media with their frustration and disbelief.