21 February, 2014

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Feb 21st. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Don’t miss the “Good Money Gone Bad” report, which estimates that content theft sites pushing pirated movies, music and TV programs made nearly a quarter of a billion dollars last year from advertising. You’ll be hearing more about this issue in Asia, too — CASBAA is spearheading an in-depth look at who’s paying these sites to pirate our content.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Confession time: I’ve quit smoking at least three times in my life (this time, four years and counting). But while British television has been off cigarettes for more than 40 years, the UK has now officially fallen off the wagon by allowing e-cigarette ads. The recidivist TVC from British-American Tobacco got through by taking advantage of a legal loophole. All this, just weeks after the death from lung cancer of yet another Marlboro Man.
Desmond Chung Associate Director, PR & Communications	Is the hype surrounding social TV as the panacea for all of television’s woes been woefully overblown? A big part of Twitter’s pitch to advertisers is the audience of people who tweet while they watch TV, the so-called “second screen.” But there’s some evidence that Twitter’s audience isn’t growing as quickly as Twitter might like, especially during big TV events that advertisers like to buy.
Jill Grinda Executive Vice President	We keep hearing that wearables are the next big thing in personal technology. So what a great idea… delivering news to a wrist watch. The Sony SmartWatch 2 looks really cool and is compatible with all Android mobile phones interacting with them over Bluetooth. Euronews has just announced that it is delivering its Euronews Express app to the device to receive Breaking News Alerts so now you can watch the news on your watch…
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The CEO of FX Networks (USA) told a conference in LA this week what we all know: legitimate content providers can’t compete with free products offered by pirates. Internet companies, he said, need to “step up and join the league of adult citizens of the business community and take some responsibility…”
Sara Madera Director, Member Relations & Marketing	The rules for showing sponsorship logos at the Olympics are tight, but snowboarders and skiers are finding their way through the minefield. By utilizing the bottom of their board (seen during flips) or the underside of the skis (held up after their run), sponsors are getting their exposure, while the athlete remains in regulation standards. Will the Olympic committee catch on or will this be the way of sponsorship for years to come?
Godfrey Chan Marketing & Member Relations Executive	Local drama producers are being inspired by foreign programmes. While new ideas and innovation are always good things, I hope this won’t result in a flood of the same kind of shows in the long run, like all the cloned variety shows and singing competitions nowadays.