30 May, 2014

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending May 30th. 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	Analyst-turned-VC and all-round Internet guru Mary Meeker has released her annual Internet Trends report, and among the takeaways in the 164-slide deck: TV is still on top. But the report also reinforces what is fast becoming a digital truth… mobile is eating everything. Meanwhile, former Sony CEO and Chairman Sir Howard Stringer seems to have received an advance copy of Meeker’s report. He issued his own report this week, calling on the BBC (whose Executive Board he joined late last year) to re-prioritise, and emphasise mobile platforms over broadcast services.
Sara Madera Director, Member Relations & Marketing	Production giant Shine Group’s global sales and distribution arm, Shine International, has launched a video on-demand channel on the Roku streaming platform. This is the first time Shine has gone OTT directly to consumers, and could be the start of an interesting trend: production companies exploiting their own back catalogues via digital delivery.
Desmond Chung Associate Director, PR & Communications	Ah, the duality of the human psyche! According to a new study from Verance Corp., an estimated 94% of all American consumers viewing pirated movies are also buying legitimate copies of content. On the positive side: “This finding confirms that piracy loss can be converted to revenue opportunities…” The negative? That’s still an estimated 1 billion views of pirated movies each year! Half empty, half full… you decide.
Godfrey Chan Marketing & Member Relations Executive	Yahoo! is said to be developing a video product to compete with You Tube, complete with a more favorable ad revenue split. While they are being a bit cagey on the actual numbers, it could mean good news for content providers if digital delivery growth continues. It’s projected mobile video will soon account for over half of all data traffic come 2018.
Michael Steel Regulatory Assistant	Despite Cable TV’s overwhelming popularity in India, Satellite services continue to fight for their share of a growing market. Dish TV is expanding its DTH services, mainly in India’s Eastern regions. Adding 810,000 subscribers in the 2014 fiscal year, Dish TV saw an increase of over 15% in standalone revenues. However, several factors still weigh against Indian Satellite providers like Dish TV. India’s position regarding use of the C-band as well as the strain on the country’s current supply of transponders may well hamper further growth for Satellite TV providers. Can Dish TV keep it up? Or is this a case of taking the sweet before the bitter?
	As technologies and consumer habits continue to evolve, how will the satellite industry remain relevant during this time of transition? Join CASBAA and a high-profile roster of industry thought leaders as they explore what’s next for satellites in the Asia Pacific market. Regular rates end on 9 June.