24 July, 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending July 24th. 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 Slaughter CEO	China’s content regulators are at it again: “Cut the celebrities” is the latest mandate. Meanwhile, the New York Times published an interesting exploration of why Korean content appeals to Chinese consumers, and why China has difficulty producing similarly appealing content. And in the background, rules mandating increased censorshipby internet TV operators are coming.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	In India there’s a very public set of controversies involving the Maran dynasty, owners of Sun TV. Here’s a useful summary. One commentary muses the family’s business may be “crumbling,” but also notes that Kalanithi Maran will “fight to the finish.” What this means for broadcasting is that the family’s 33 very popular channels in southern Indian languages may be forced to shut down. (Is that a market opportunity for others?) But the situation is complex and chaotic (well this IS India after all), with the Home Affairs Ministry having denied security clearances, the attorney general having said “no problem to issue” (as cases pending against Maran involve corruption, not security threats), and the I&B Ministry worried that denying the licenses could find them (I&B) hauled up before a court. One interesting Twitter comment opined that the Sun TV licensing controversy could be followed by others, starting with NDTV.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	Hulu is talking about offering streaming without ads. The company is considering offering an ad-free alternative that will cost users a bit more and is going under the internal working title “NOAH” which stands for “No Ads Hulu.” The popularity of ad-free alternatives like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Instant Video seems to be the prime motivator but a prohibitively high cost of the ad-free tier could still be a dealbreaker.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	A government survey in Australia has found nearly half of the country’s digital users illegally download movies, TV shows and music on a regular basis. The research comes amid an Australian government crackdown on digital copyright infringement, including recent passage of site blocking legislation. Australians are among the world’s most regular illegal downloaders of digital content. Alongside enforcement, both the Department of Communications and the industry group Communications Alliance agreed the best way to combat online infringements was for content creators to make their material easy to access, timely and affordable to consumers, with the main reasons claimed for illegal downloads being price and releasing content in other markets ahead of releasing it in Australia. (Of course, when the competing price is zero for illegal downloads, how low do they think the industry can go?)
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	This news can warm your cockles or lay you out cold, depending on which side of the debate you are on (slow implementation, notwithstanding). Media reports state Indian Government is mullingincreasing FDI cap in news media to 49% from present 26%. Rah, rah! Hang on. We said it earlier that MIB and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had stated in January 2015 FDI caps and their practicality need to bedebated in a digital era, but then it needs a strong political will to push through such a radical and contentious policy decision. Is PM Modi government up to it?
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	Pay TV will be in half of homes worldwide. Estimates vary, but a new report suggests that the worldwide pay-television market has passed the 900 million subscriber mark. It is forecast to grow to a billion by 2017, representing half the households in the world. Although mature markets are approaching saturation, there is room for growth in developing regions, with 1.1 billion television subscribers worldwide forecast by 2020. Meanwhile, the pay-TV market is booming across the Asia Pacific region with the addition of 36.74 million subscribers (7.3% growth) in the 12 months to end-March, 2015.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Following an extended period of controversy, Reddit has just rolled out a list of rules for the site. One of those rules bans the posting of illegal content such as copyrighted material. While the posting of such content has never been explicitly permitted, it’s going to prove impossible to stop moving forward.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	Interesting look at the investors supporting Kim Dotcom’s new-look Mega group, in New Zealand. Apparently its largest current investor is based in Beijing, having received shares flipped from a previous director. Meanwhile, Auckland businessman William Yan has increased his role in the company, despite his 16% ownership share being subject to an asset freeze as part of a joint New Zealand and Chinese investigation into an alleged money laundering ring. And all of this aims at taking the company public! What a fantastic investment its shares will be, I’m sure…….
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	A couple of interesting items from Vietnam: First, according to official stats the number of pay-TV subscriptions in Vietnam is nearing the 10 million mark. (That’s up from about 7 million a year ago.) Then, it was reported that private Vietnamese telco FPT has been licensed to build a fiber optic broadband network in Myanmar. FPT has considerable experience; its pay-TV operation is small but it delivers broadband to 1.8 million homes in Vietnam (out of 7.5 million nationwide). Myanmar is badly in need of capital and expertise; its broadband networks are negligible and total TV penetration is only about 30% of homes.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	In the US the FCC is apparently moving towards recommending the approval of AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV. Conditions reported to be under consideration by the FCC will include a requirement for the carrier to multiply 10-fold AT&T’s current fiber deployment — giving 12.5 million customer locations access to a competitive fibre connection from AT&T. Also, to prevent discrimination against online video competition, AT&T will not be permitted to exclude affiliated video services and content from data caps on its fixed broadband connections.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	The net neutrality debate in India is getting muddled and the media is saying so, highlighting the meandering. While a Department of Telecoms report is being criticised for allegedly being `soft’ on or siding with telcos, a DoT official’s statement adds to the confusion. This comment by an academic debunks some of the “free internet” rhetoric, noting that “The call for Net neutrality is an anguished cry for lost innocence.” Pilloried by strident criticism, Telecoms Minister reiterates his ministry’s report not the final word, deftly putting the ball in regulator TRAI’s court. However, CNBC scoops saying TRAI’s yet-to-be out report sides with DoT on regulating voice service applications. Clarity? What’s that?