Christopher Slaughter
CEO
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It’s not exactly playing out according to script, but the latest episode in the legal drama that is Hong Kong Television Network’s struggle with the local regulator has ended with the High Court siding with the Office of the Communications Authority. While not exactly a cliff-hanger, it’s unclear whether HKTV will again appeal the decision in an effort to carry on with its OTT service, or wait for the review of its FTA licence application that was ordered by the High Court back in April. |
John Medeiros
Chief Policy Officer
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At the beginning of this year, the Indonesian government set up a new Creative Economy Agency (Badan Ekonomi Kreatif). In June, the agency confirmed its executive team. And now they are getting active. We’re planning to host the head of the Creative Economy Agency at our Policy Roundtable at the CASBAA Convention 2015. |
Jane Buckthought
Advertising Consultant
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Measurement companies Comscore and Rentrak are merging, creating another major competitor in the US audience measurement business by combining Comscore’s digital measurement skills with Rentrak’s set-top box know-how. Incumbent Neilsen was not caught napping, though, and announced its plans to deliver measurement of audiences across linear and digital platforms by the end of this year. Meanwhile, here in the region, Starhub has hired Neilsen to launch “Starhub SmarTAM”, using Return Path Data from the two-way digital set-top boxes it has installed in 545,000 homes in Singapore. |
Anjan Mitra
Executive Director, India
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He came, he saw, he charmed. Especially the Silicon Valley tribe. One can add to that Indian PM Narendra Modi also generated controversy during his recent visit to the US where he met not only politicians, but also captains of the media and internet worlds. From Rupert Murdoch to Mark Zuckerberg to Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton to Sunder Pichai to Elon Musk all showered praise on PM Modi, his governance and ability to connect with people. But many also thought some serious issues did not get properly addressed. For example, at FB’s Hackers Square PM Modi’s Townhall debate did not go anywhere near issues like net neutrality or how tech giants are lobbying against neutrality, including FB, or India’s indifferent infrastrucuture. At a time when China’s President Xi too was in the US discussing technology, one commentator asked: Why do American digital entrepreneurs, including those of Indian origin, find it a lot easier to deal with China, with all its harsh new conditions, than to do business with Delhi? |
John Medeiros
Chief Policy Officer
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For those who enjoy piracy enforcement as a spectator sport, here’s the latest on Kim Dotcom’s ongoing extradition hearings in New Zealand, including some facts from the indictment about how Dotcom and his Mega cohorts were paying pirates< to upload infringing works and then generating revenues from the traffic. But it seems the prosecution may have made some technical errors in the documentation. The fun continues, next week….. |
Anjan Mitra
Executive Director, India
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Talks about liberalising FDI for news media in India keeps cropping up from time to time and the latest one makes cynics believe it’s like a sounding board when unnamed government sources are quoted saying a proposal to increase FDI to 49% from 26% is being studied. MIB and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had stated in January 2015 that FDI caps and their practicality need to be debated in a digital era, but then it needs a strong political will to push through such a radical policy decision. Is PM Modi’s recent US trip and meeting with top honchos of global media, any catalyst? Optimism apart, we don’t expect such a change to come through very soon, though. |
Kevin Jennings
Programme Director
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In a week when most of the world saw a Blood Moon, news from India is that ISRO has successfully launched its own telescope to gaze at the stars, joining US, EU and Japan in this exclusive club. The Astrosat was launched on Monday via the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-30, which also carried six other satellites, four of which were from the U.S., and one each from Canada and Indonesia. It is India’s first attempt at setting up an observatory in space. Antrix, the commercial arm of ISRO, has announced that India has signed contracts to launch a further 23 foreign satellites in the near future. India has launched 51 foreign satellites to date. |
Kevin Jennings
Programme Director
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The New Zealand government has announced the release of a five-minute Chinese PSA featuring reality TV star Huang Lei, the star of China’s top reality show “Dad, where are we going?” The TV star reminds tourists to take care while driving in New Zealand in an effort to raise road safety awareness in one of the country’s biggest tourist markets, with NZ opinion starting to question the ability of foreign drivers. |
Mark Lay
Vice President, Singapore
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Our business keeps changing. This week I have something for everyone about what we can do about it. For those of you in marketing take note of ‘The Great Unbundling of Marketing is Here‘. “Marketing has a problem nowadays: It’s too confusing.” For you programmers, Pilot Error: Top TV Critics on Reviewing New Shows in the Binge-Watching Era. “With fewer viewers watching TV as it airs, does it matter if the first episode is any good?” And for those playing the long game, the economist brings us, Naked Capitalism. “The internet blew the porn industry’s business model apart. Its response holds lessons for other media firms.” |
Christopher Slaughter
CEO
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In principle, it’s a pretty simple idea: Twitter is going to start aggregating tweets on specific TV shows, to make it easier for live-Tweeters to follow the social media conversation about their favorite shows. In practice, though, it’s off to a clunky start, with seemingly innocuous hashtags that just happen to be the same as TV show names overlapping. Cue hilarity. |
Jane Buckthought
Advertising Consultant
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Facebook announces that it is rolling out four new upgrades to improve the buying, planning and measurement capabilities of its advertising suite, particularly for TV advertisers. According to the company, marketers can plan a campaign across TV and Facebook with a total TRP target in mind, and they can buy a share of those TRPs directly with Facebook. |
Mark Lay
Vice President, Singapore
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There has been a lot of discussion since Apple announced that it would allow enhanced ad-blocking in IOS9. The fallout has hardy been realized but it will affect everyone in the advertising business. And maybe more so, here in Asia, where the mobile phone is THE device. Some think this is a brilliant assault by Apple directly against Google. Others believe that adblockers are The Only Way Out for news organizations. But there really is no question that the introduction of ad-free video streaming sites and increased ad-blocking on both PC’s and mobile devices will have a major effect. Those in the TV advertising space take notice: REFORM ADVERTISING…before it is too late. |
Kevin Jennings
Programme Director
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It’s being reported that Google is prepping a subscription to pair two YouTube offerings. YouTube’s Music Key service (which provides ad-free music videos and audio-only streams), and a pending service providing ad-free access to general YouTube content, will now be bundled instead of being sold separately. Google has reportedly told video industry sources that it plans to charge $10 per month for the combined service – a price matching that charged by Spotify and others for standalone subscription music offerings. According to sources the subscription service could be launched this month. A letter from YouTube reportedly told producers to agree to new terms by Oct. 22 or their videos will be taken offline. |
Yegee Chun
Regulatory Assistant
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Trevor Noah has had a mixed reception from critics as he made his debut hosting The Daily Show, replacing Jon Stewart who left last month. Viacom went big, airing the premiere across 12 Viacom channels and averaging 3,475 million viewers. Noah’s “smooth” but “flat” debut on Monday night had some wanting more bite – but it was probably better to play it safe, especially given previous controversy over his provocative Twitter history. As part of a strategy to attract a larger audience of millennials, he will also be utilizing platforms like Snapchat to connect with mobile followers. |
Christopher Slaughter
CEO
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Sony Pictures Television has launched a global campaign to raise environmental awareness. The “Picture This” campaign is running in across 177 countries, and features a range of key messages for different regions; here in Asia, the goal is to reduce use of plastic bags. #sptpicturethis |
