World Cup 1.0

By CASBAA in Piracy 0 Comment

world-cup

(Photo by: himanisdas)

matt-kurlanzik

Matt Kurlanzik

21st Century Fox

Director, Government Relations Asia

 Yet again, the World Cup proved to be an incredible event with a one-of-a-kind ability to connect and engage with audiences across the globe.With millions of viewers watching matches online, the 2014 World Cup demonstrated the potential of live streaming content; unfortunately, the 2014 World Cup also illustrated that illegal online piracy remains a serious threat to the continued development of online video content and distribution.

Legal, legitimate options are not the silver bullet

The 2014 World Cup broke records for both traditional TV viewing and online streaming.   Due to substantial investments in online platforms, websites were able to handle the increased usage and deliver quality video, even with Internet traffic peaking at 6.87 terabytes per second.

Despite the wide range of options that World Cup viewers had, millions still turned to illegal live streams of the event.  For example, the game between Russia and Belgium drew 471,541 illegal viewers according to Viaccess-Orca, a firm specializing in live stream take down notices.

Here in Hong Kong, TVB purchased the rights to 2014 World Cup for HK$400 million (approximately US$52m) and as part of their World Cup broadcast they offered the matches “anytime, anywhere and on demand.”   TVB even offered fans a chance to watch games in state of the art 4K, which left viewers ‘over the moon.’

TVB made a strategic decision to invest in the content rights of the World Cup, but despite broadcasting games to multiple devices and offering a number of free broadcasts, many Hong Kongers still turned to illegal, pirated streams online.  In addition to these illegal Internet streams, illegal streaming devices, or “black boxes” offered unauthorized broadcasts of World Cup matches.  These illegal black boxes were detrimental to TVB’s World Cup broadcast and continue to be a threat to the TV industry in Hong Kong.

The prevalence of these unauthorized, illegal streams available online and through streaming devices illustrates that even when operators provide high-quality legal streams of content across multiple devices, piracy remains rampant.

Commercial cooperation is necessary for online video to prosper

Prior to the start of the World Cup, FIFA, the organizer and main beneficiary of the World Cup, issued a strongly worded letter that threatened pirate websites with civil and criminal liability lawsuits.  While some commented that this is “above and beyond” common takedown procedure, most companies in the online video ecosystem attempted to comply and work with FIFA.

In the United States, Google worked with World Cup rights holder ESPN and reached a deal where the search engine directed users to the ESPN website or streaming app to show licensed and authorized highlights of the game.

The financial terms of the deal between Google and ESPN were not disclosed, but whether or not ESPN had to pay Google to feature authorized video clips, it is refreshing to see this type of cooperation from Google.  It is also encouraging to see that Internet search engines can take reasonable measures to address the queries of the user while at the same time acknowledge the authorized rights holder.  This continued type of action is essential for legitimate online content to grow and thrive.

Univision, a Spanish-language channel based in the U.S., is another example of how streaming the World Cup can be a wise strategic investment.  Univision spent over US$325 million for the Spanish language rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup, and has continued to invest in technology to deliver the World Cup into American homes seconds faster than its competitors.  Univision also offered free streaming to American viewers on multiple devices including their PCs and cellphones.

All of these factors, and the fact that Univision reached nearly 81 million viewers, up 34% from 2010, in its World Cup broadcast caused the New York Times to call Univision the Biggest Scorer in the World Cup.

The World Cup showed that an innovative tech giant such as Google can play a helpful role in upholding content rights.  Hopefully these tech innovators will continue their commitment to protecting content rights, but their sustained cooperation remains unclear.

Social media delivers tremendous exposure and raises new questions

Social media continues to impact how we consume and interact with video content, in particular live broadcast events like the World Cup.  It should not be a great surprise, but there were record numbers of social interactions related to the 2014 World Cup, with an estimated 350 million Facebook users posting 3 billion World Cup related conversations and 672 million World Cup related tweets.

In the Final alone, 88 million Facebook users had 280 million interactions and Twitter users sent out 32.1 million tweets, or 618,725 tweets per minute.

Facebook and Twitter were not the only social media players to participate in the World Cup action.  The users of Vine, the Twitter-owned social networking service that utilizes six second video clips, promoted all types of short videos related to the World Cup.

Most operators had no issue with Vine videos showing fans celebrating or other World Cup related clips, but many Vines were showing the most dramatic game action, such as goals, free kicks and yellow cards.

The trouble with these “social media” clips and the websites that promoted them is they were not authorized to distribute these video clips.  Also, many of the rightsholders (e.g. TVB or Univision) offered programming designed to showcase these valuable highlights.  As a result, FIFA and various rightsholders requested that Vine videos with unauthorized content be taken down.

These Vine highlights further demonstrate how new digital technologies and social media services can generate exposure and promote fan interaction, but at the same time may inhibit the growth of an online video ecosystem by ignoring content rights.

Piracy continues to be an obstacle to online video innovation and distribution

From content to distribution, this is an exciting time to be involved in the online video space.  Companies are continuing to make strategic investments to capitalize on growing consumer demand for online video.

The 2014 World Cup emphasized the opportunities and challenges that currently exist in online video, and it showed that affordable, legitimate alternatives are not a panacea to piracy.

A variety of stakeholders: governments, rightsholders, distribution platforms and tech innovators, need to show a committed effort to reducing piracy to allow online video to succeed, and additional measures need to be available to remove and create disincentives for websites offering illegal, unauthorized content.  This will allow legitimate players to flourish and will encourage more investment.

The 2014 World Cup shows the potential of streaming content but plenty of work remains to ensure this potential is realized.

 

Los Angeles Screenings 2014

By CASBAA in TV 0 Comment
amit-malhotra

Amit Malhotra

Disney Media Distribution

General Manager – Media Distribution & Media +

 

 

 L.A. Screenings is held on the back of the N.Y. Upfronts where a dizzying array of Upfront presentations from all major networks to Madison Avenue have concluded with 54 new series (and counting) ordered for the 2014-15 season.

Hollywood Report quoted “Adaptations, political drama and genre plays are hot while those sitcom writers didn’t fare as well.”

L.A. Screenings, the annual television industry event that takes place yearly for a week in May, brings together major US TV Studios (ABC, FOX, WB, CBS, NBCUniversal and Sony) and over 1,500 TV buyers from all over the world for a week of screenings, presentations, parties and a little glamour in the City of Angels. Over the course of the Screenings, Studios showcase pilot episodes of the shows that will premiere in the fall in front of international television distributors, with the aim of selling international broadcast and/or distribution rights for these shows.

Disney Media Distribution, the international distribution division of the Disney ABC TV Group, which handles global sales for all series produced by ABC Studios, unveiled our new line-up of programming the day before the big week kicked off during our International Upfront at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. Many of our key APAC/SEA clients, from pay TV partners like FOX, HBO, RTL CBS, AXN and A&E to free-to-air MNC (Indonesia), Media Prima (Malaysia) and MediaCorp (Singapore) and even digital partners like Samsung and FLY (Thailand) joined in the unveil and pilot screenings, and if I may add, excited by many new titles.

This is the week where their selections will determine the performance and ratings for their respective networks back home in our markets.

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Betsy Beers – Co-Creator “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” with Keli Lee and Rob Gilby – Disney

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Kellie Lim – Disney, Brian Lenz – CTO/CIO Astro and Amit Malhotra – Disney

Below are some of the top shows generating some buzz from ABC Studios.

 

Key Programming Trends from This Year’s Screenings

1.  There are more Anthology series that have close ended story arcs which are being used as tentpole event programming
2.  Mid season shows continue to resonate and a lot of the key networks are holding their big tent pole shows for the mid season launch towards end of Jan / early Feb to coincide with the Feb Sweeps.
3.  With the every growing penetration of DVR’s and catch up TV online in the US, programmers are looking at audience shares across multi platform and on a Live + 7 day basis

 

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

DRAMATIC MYSTERY THRILLER

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A sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller about a group of ambitious law students under the tutelage of a manipulative criminal defense professor (Viola Davis) who may be a sociopath. The brilliant, mysterious professor becomes entangled in a murder plot that will rock their entire university and change the course of the lives of the students.

 

RED BAND SOCIETY

ENSEMBLE DRAMEDY

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Based on a format from Spain, this coming-of-age dramedy that explores, with dark humor, the daily lives of a group of teenagers living in a hospital who become unlikely friends. Set in the children’s wing of a hospital, the series chronicles the daily adventures of 6 teenagers, all long term patients who start “the red band society” to fend off boredom. They develop a bond that is fun, life-affirming and very inspiring in the midst of such difficult circumstances.

 

MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER

ACTION ADVENTURE

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“Marvel’s Agent Carter,” starring “Captain America’s” Hayley Atwell follows the story of Peggy Carter. It’s 1946, and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad.Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark all while trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of herlife – Steve Rogers. Inspired by the feature films

“Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Captain America: The Winter

Soldier,” along with the short “Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter.”

I am sure everyone is also excited to know that your favorite shows are returning as well including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” “Resurrection,” “Revenge,” “Criminal Minds” and “Once Upon a Time.”

Personally this is the best part of my job to get closer to the content, the creators and the business of entertainment.

The Commoditization of Media: The Unspoken Elephant in the Room of Media

By CASBAA in Media 0 Comment

elephant-in-the-room

(Photo by: David Blackwell)

Nick Binns

GroupM

Deputy Head of Trading APAC

 

 

 Moving from conflict to partnerships with media providers 

A traditional article or blog from an agency trader on media commoditization would typically be a fantastic opportunity to showcase the industries general frustration with our clients laser focus on media price and savings.  We moan and grumble about the situation collectively internally as an industry, but very little is conveyed outside of the industry or explained to our partners and suppliers about this change.   The reality is this is now old news; this focus has been in the APAC region for up to five years and won’t naturally disappear for the foreseeable future.   The art for the industry is embracing and managing the change, or as the Chinese say 危机 or wēijī…where there is danger there is also opportunity, we just need to see it.

Let’s take a step back, whilst outside of the industry we read about how exciting media and change is now and what superb time it is to work in media, the hard unspoken taboo is this is the hardest and demanding time to work in a media agency.   All main media platforms have been commoditized down into laborious pricing excel templates, most key decisions on agencies are based on their ability to offer price improvements whereas new innovative media is deprioritized over traditional media dollar savings year on year.    On average most agencies have to complete over 1,000+ cells or pricing data to enter an advertiser’s pitch process across a limited timeframe.   Whilst fragmentation of media has creating excitement around choice, the rise of advertising budgets in Asia has also raised the importance of ROI and accountability of media to deliver tangible value or globally reported savings.  Sadly this value is largely determined as media rate improvements by our customers, in a region where inflation is prevalent across all traditional procured commodity types.

Whether media savings and commoditization is right or not is not for us to say unilaterally, what is more important to debate is whether this is a sustainable focus for the long term.   The hard reality is purchasing low cost Television spots (or any media) for advertisers can be achieved (thanks to GroupM), but more importantly how this ‘economy or budget media’ buy option contributing to a client’s business performance success is a vital bigger question to ask.    A dynamic contemporary agency should by default offer a plethora of services, and cheap budget media is one of those, but how important this is for the client needs to be relooked at on a yearly basis.

As an industry, working with platforms and publishers, what do we need to do differently?  Putting it simply, we need to sell more effectively (dirty word for some, insert ‘promote’)  We need to sell with a balanced focus on pricing and performance, equally selling various value types to advertisers beyond just ‘budget media’ options.   Selling bespoke research, selling content opportunities sell new media metrics and measures of success and also sell harder the true impact of internet and data fuelled media – i.e. selling performance with the right data, not just the of absolute cost media.  Whilst we think we have the trusted advisor relationship with clients, the hard reality is there is no perfect solution to an advertiser’s media brief; there are multiple solutions – some with classical and contemporary media routes, some with just classical media.   We need to sell in these contemporary media opportunities and their contribution to an advertiser’s business performance success, not just the unit cost of this contribution.    Increasingly, advertiser agents will have to start working collaboratively with media partners and suppliers in delivering and determining this measured success for advertisers, accessing and evaluating relevant new and existing data and not agriculturally just horse trading with media vendors on media unit costs and rates.

In terms of commoditization of media, we have to accept this change has happened and is here to stay in some form.   Agents and suppliers need to work together in demonstrating there is value in everything we plan and buy, not just around cost savings and pricing.    As an industry we need to change what we promote and how we effectively sell it to our customers and advertisers, if we don’t the existing ‘show me the savings’ dichotomy will remain a constant.   The elephant is there, it’s time to work with it and not try and hide.

In a nutshell, time to change the measures of success and performance within media investment.  There is a clear need for a focus on new reporting currencies and working even closer with partners and suppliers for more proven effectiveness research, appraising relevant data points and nurturing ‘lightning strike’ implementation strategies and tactics.

Actually, sounds like an exciting time to work in media after all…

 

Views expressed on CASBAA 20 | 20 are those of the authors and not those of the organizations they represent, CASBAA itself or any of CASBAA’s members.

 

Digital, Legal and Anywhere: Innovation in Australian TV

By CASBAA in Regulatory 0 Comment

DLA-Australia

nick-binns

Matt Pollins

Olswang

Associate

 

 

 The way Australians watch TV is changing. Australian users are voting with their taps, clicks and swipes, with millions now tuning into online TV services from their laptops, tablets and smartphones.

The pace of change is rapid and unprecedented, and the key challenge for the TV industry lies in quickly adapting to new technologies and evolving viewer habits against the background of widespread piracy.

In an effort to track this rapid change, showcase the level of innovation in Australian TV and consider the challenges that remain, CASBAA recently co-published a report with law firm Olswang Asia entitled “Digital, Legal & Anywhere”. The full report is available on the CASBAA website but here are our top 3 talking points:

1. Australia is a great market for OTT

Australian viewers are generally young, tech-savvy and affluent. Technology infrastructure is improving (despite recent issues with the controversial rollout of the National Broadband Network) and Australia is a world-beater when it comes to mobile broadband penetration. It is fair to say that Australia is a market of early adopters.

2. Piracy in Australia remains a big problem

Piracy remains a huge challenge for the TV industry in Australia. Indeed, levels of piracy in Australia are high by any international standard. Although the Government is starting to take some initial steps to addressing the problem, there has so far been a lack of decisive action of the kind seen in comparable markets such as the UK.

3. A broad and growing range of OTT services exists – probably the best in Asia-Pacific

One of the key findings of the report is that Australia is now offering arguably the broadest range of legal content offerings in any market in Asia-Pacific, with a wide range of models and content types covered. In fact, new offerings were being launched almost monthly just during the period that the report was being written. To showcase the range of offerings available, a pilot “one stop shop” website is being launched at www.finddigitaltv.com.au. This “one stop shop” allows viewers to search for legal online TV services by category (e.g. kids, sports) and commercial model (e.g. free, download, subscription). This site builds on work that was done in Singapore last year and given that some of the findings between the two countries were the same (i.e. that there is still some scope to improve consumer awareness of legitimate content offerings available), one wonders whether this is a broader opportunity for the TV industry across Asia-Pacific.

Australia is definitely a market on the move and one to watch when it comes to the evolution of TV. Anyone interested to read more can download the report here.

 

APOS 2014: TV Everywhere, Business Models Somewhere

By CASBAA in TV 0 Comment

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(Photo: Armando Torrealba)

shoggy

Saugato Banerjee

A+E Networks

Vice President – Strategy and Operations, Asia Pacific

 

 

 The annual gathering of the broadcast industry, Asia Pacific Operators Summit 2014 (a MPA Conference), brought an interesting mix of broadcasters, platform owners and content producers from all over the continent. As the participants slowly work off their hangovers, what did we really take away from the thought provoking sessions over the two days? 

a. The ecosystem is truly waking up to the challenge of shifting media consumption patterns. All players in the system recognize the challenge of increasing Pay-TV penetration rates exponentially as audiences get their entertainment fix through other pipes. The good part is that the industry seems to developing a collective will to see this as an opportunity and there is a lot of experimentation underway to figure out models that best suit their own needs.

b. Platforms are increasing their investment in local content and thereby increasing controlling their own destiny across the entire value chain. As much time was spent discussing their investments in local content as was in discussing growth rates, collaborations with channel partners and the ever-increasing cost of sports rights.

c. The localization bug seems to have an infectious spirit that has also affected the international channel providers. More than one network head seemed to chant the mantra of increasing audience share and creating a deeper connect with local markets.

d. The boldest proclamation had to go to the Chairman of Shanghai Media Group who declared that the current BesTV business model would be extinct in a few years. Given that BesTV is the largest IPTV platform in China, is listed on the stock markets and is wholly owned by the Shanghai Media Group, it was a statement designed to illustrate the direction of the Chinese entertainment market. The answer seems to lie in current mantra on every player’s lips – OTT.

e. India continues to vex and encourage. More than one session did not miss an opportunity to rail against the structural and regulatory imbalances, limited opportunities to extract the true potential from the market etc. And yet with digitization already having a positive impact, a pro-reform government on the horizon and the worst of the slump seemingly behind, there was more than a hint of optimism in the air.

APOS is often a venue for a lot of deal making on the sides and plenty more social interaction within the industry. The mood this year can best be described as guarded optimism. There is clear recognition that a lot needs to change with the way the industry presents itself to the consumer in order to stay relevant. But there is also optimism stemming from the fact we are in the golden age of story telling and content consumption. And who better to take advantage of this age than those who best tell the stories?

 

Net Neutrality or Net “Preferentiality”?

By CASBAA in OTT 0 Comment
sushant

Sushant Sharma

Accedo

Business Development Manager

 The recent spat between Comcast and Netflix over Net Neutrality, the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated equally, rekindled a decade long debate with industry experts denouncing the behaviour of major broadband providers, calling the principle detrimental to the spirit of an open Internet, stifling for innovation and an infringement on consumers’ choices.

 

What is the big debate about?

The Internet is an integral part of our lives not just because it keeps businesses moving, it also has a huge impact on our personal lives. From e-mails, e-commerce to entertainment, virtually everything is just a few clicks away. The Internet has been one of the biggest disrupters in the modern history and has spawned a whole new generation of services that only existed in brick and mortar form until a few years ago. Netflix, YouTube, Facebook and Skype are some of these services and their popularity has also led to a steep rise in consumers’ demand for more bandwidth and faster speeds. Broadband providers, both Fixed ISPs and Mobile Operators, have invested mammoth amounts of money into interconnections and building last mile networks infrastructure to meet consumers’ bandwidth demands. This is the genesis of the Net Neutrality debate, precipitated by the amount of broadband Internet usage by these services.

broadband-usage-north-america

Modern network monitoring technologies have allowed broadband providers the ability to identify every packet flowing through their networks. As a result, broadband providers have been accused of either degrading certain services or prioritizing those services that consumers are willing to pay for. Think of the latter scenario as the equivalent to paying more to be able to drive in the “fast lane” of a highway as opposed to getting snarled in the “slow lane” traffic. This behaviour shifts the balance in favour of bigger Internet players such as Netflix and Facebook and poses a significant barrier to start-ups and smaller companies competing with the industry giants. The common questions around Net Neutrality, therefore, are whether ISPs are mere “utilities”, like water or electricity, or are they justified to set different toll lanes on the Internet Superhighway?

 

State of this debate in Asia

The state of telecom networks, competitive environment, government regulations, market maturity and several other factors shape the nature of this debate in the region. In Asia, this issue has not drawn as much debate as it has in North America and Western Europe but there have been rumblings in different parts of Asia including South Korea when KT began blocking their Internet subscribers from using Internet services on their Samsung smart TVs. On the other hand, the rest of the market has quietly adopted the path of Net “Preferentiality”. Examples of partnerships between popular services, working with ISPs and Mobile Operators can be found aplenty across the region. Google, for example, struck a deal last year with Airtel, India’s largest mobile network operator, to offer Free Zone, providing up to one gigabit per month of free access to Gmail, Google+, and Google search. Facebook, instant messaging companies, music streaming services and several popular consumer Internet companies now rely on such partnerships and deals with broadband providers. Other example such as Mobile Operators offering “unlimited plans” for accessing Facebook and Whatsapp, are commonplace across Asia.

This has serious implications for the broadcast industry, especially as traditional broadcasters launch their own OTT services and as these services witness mass adoption. At the same time, smaller OTT players such as independent Video On Demand providers and content aggregators will face even more significant challenges. Don’t we want to see a next Netflix emerging out of Asia?

 

CASBAA 2020 Views

Sushant: The implications of Net Neutrality are far and wide, touching upon the issues of content filtering, Internet censorship, user privacy, etc. As more and more consumers go online to access content, be it offered by pure-play OTT or by broadcasters, this issue becomes more and more relevant and ripe for serious public debate. Whether as constituents of the broadcast ecosystem, or for the average consumers, creating awareness and catalysing appropriate regulations is necessary, lest we want Net “Preferentiality” to become the norm. Do we really want to pay through the nose to the toll collector every time we hit the highway to do any sort of online business?

 

Game Consoles and the TV Industry

By CASBAA in Gaming 0 Comment
nick-binns

Matthew Kurlanzik

21st Century Fox

Director, Government Relations Asia

 

sushant-sharma

Sushant Sharma

Accedo

Business Development Manager

 The video gaming industry has evolved from a niche market to a multi-billion dollar a year industry over its two decades of history. While Nintendo has been among the first successful players, Sony and Microsoft have emerged as the other big players in the industry.Nintendo’s latest series of game consoles, Wii and Wii U, have clocked combined sales of over 100 million units to date worldwide. Sony’s PlayStation series (PS, PS2, PS3 and the latest PS4) has had an astonishing run and has sold close to 350Mn game consoles. Microsoft, the youngest player in the game consoles industry has sold close to 80 million Xbox game consoles (Xbox 360 and recently launched Xbox One). Considering there are about 1.5 billion TV households in the world, the game consoles user base is quite significant.Over the last 2 years, this industry has undergone rapid transformation. Although game consoles have added more computing power, enhanced graphics and better games which have translated into growth of their niche market among core gamers, the recent generation of game consoles havs added media streaming capabilities and has emerged as a viable alternative to Smart TVs, online media players, blu-ray players etc. A substantial user-base, powerful platforms, the explosion of cloud based services and increasing broadband penetration make game consoles a medium that the TV industry can’t afford to ignore any longer.

 

What has changed?

Over the last couple of years, consumers have been increasingly using their game consoles as streaming devices too. Having seen this trend, several leading players in the media and entertainment industry have started dabbling with this new medium to connect with consumers. Besides pure-play OTT players such as Netflix and Amazon, traditional pay-TV companies and broadcasters such as Verizon (Redbox Instant), Fox, HBO, Channel 4, Viasat, and Foxtel have embraced these game consoles as a medium to offer their content to consumers.Both Sony and Microsoft have taken a strict strategy to allow only online streaming (i.e. restricting the access to externally connected devices such as USB dongles). Among all major console manufacturers, Microsoft has shown the strongest commitment towards providing an integrated living room experience including gaming and video.“We set out to make Xbox One the all-in-one games and entertainment hub for your home. The one system that offers the best games next to the best entertainment experiences and apps.” Marc Whitten, Xbox Chief Product OfficerA look at Xbox One, the latest game console by Microsoft, reveals how Microsoft is positioning Xbox One as the hub of home entertainment.1. Xbox One Guide: Xbox One owners can plug their digital STB into their Xbox One and watch television through the console’s user interface. This is a compelling feature, providing a unified access to regular pay-TV programming together with apps sitting on the console. Switching to a channel is as easy as saying “Watch ESPN”! In addition, Xbox One allows gesture control to the same effect.xbox

Source: The Verge

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2. “SmartGlass” for second-screen interactivity: A free to use mobile application that allows mobile apps to control the video experience on the big screen via Xbox. This is similar to the direction taken by Apple and Google via AirPlay and Chromecast respectively.

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Why should the TV Industry pay attention?

Target demographics

Game consoles users are typically the Millennial – young, Internet-savvy and more inclined towards consuming content over the Internet. This user base is also least likely to subscribe to a full pay-TV service. However, as their earning potential increases, over a period of time, these users can be converted into subscriber of a full Pay-TV service.

Game consoles can also be targeted at the “second TV” at home. Many households are unlikely to buy two pay-TV subscriptions but they can subscribe to a “mini-package” for the second screen.

Better experience than the STB

STBs provided by the majority of the operators are clunky and have a stone-age user experience. Game consoles perform far better on usability and performance in comparison with not just traditional pay-TV STBs but also in comparison to Smart TVs. Game console manufacturers are in a very good position to enrich this experience by extending content offerings, incorporating easy to use payment methods and great connectivity with Internet services such as online storage. Game consoles will be more attractive to a user-base who would choose a mid-tier pay-TV subscription and mix it with some OTT services.

Portable and Personal

Game consoles are “less mobile” than a mobile but more personal than a TV. As a result, it opens up a treasure trove of information about individual preferences and usage patterns which can be leveraged towards more personalized offerings.

 

What is the future of game consoles in the TV industry?

Several Technology and consumer electronics companies have shown commitment to building leading edge media streaming devices. These include Apple, Roku, TIVO to name a few. Other heavy hitters such as Amazon have joined the fray, not to mention the deluge of Android based STBs, dangling the promise of bringing thousands of apps onto the big screen. Among this hullabaloo, we believe that game consoles have a strong advantage as they have a huge and loyal user-base, as evinced by the sale of 1 million PlayStation 4 devices within 24 hours of launch. In the context of the TV industry, we don’t believe that game consoles will replace pay-TV since operators and broadcasters in each country have a better portfolio of content, understanding of the market and customer support. Having said that, broadcasters and pay-TV operators do need to connect with a market segment that might slip away from them. Game consoles provide access to this segment globally. On the other hand, game consoles have a delicate line to tread too. While they are venturing into a new territory of streaming media, they certainly don’t want to lose their core customer segment, which are the gamers. We do think that these consoles will become more powerful, allowing gaming and content to co-exist and at the same time will need partnerships with broadcasters and operators to enhance their content offerings.

 

People Power, Political Will

By CASBAA in Political 0 Comment
shoggy

Saugato Banerjee

A+E Networks

Vice President – Strategy and Operations, Asia Pacific

 

nick-binns

Anna Mathew

STAR India

Corporate Team

 Elections are a defining part of the modern political and economic structures in most parts of the world. In the Asia-Pacific region, 2014 is a crucial year with 3 important territories choosing their political destinies in the coming months: Indonesia, Thailand and India.A broadcast and content industry blog is certainly not the place for debating the direction and merits of each country’s policy. But the role of media, the policies surrounding ownership, creation and dissemination of content has a deep impact on the fortunes of our industry.  Added to that, the boom in Internet penetration and bandwidth availability positions the entire ecosystem on the brink of profound changes, from piracy to transaction led entertainment consumption. None of which can be de-linked from the economic outlook that determines the future of over 1.6 billion people, roughly just over 1 in every 5 human beings on this planet.There are common threads to these countries. They have all been dubbed economic miracles; they have all fallen out of favor at various points in time.  No one disagrees on the potential that comes with the weight of population driven domestic demand, richness in natural resources, the unlocking of local entrepreneurship spirits and the overall move towards more free-market policies. Equally, perhaps everyone disagrees on the ‘populist’ streak that characterizes decision-making in most large democracies when it comes to various subsidies, entitlement programs and protectionist policies. What may be bad economics and populism on one side of the prism may simply be empowerment and political necessity on the other side.All of this is of course being discussed against the mutual backdrop of a global economic scenario that is interlinked like never before. It has been 6 years since the financial crisis first came knocking with a battering ram. The bulge of fiscal stimuli, 50 shades of Green aka shoots of recovery, the roller coasters of manufacturing indices, ‘now we spend, now we don’t’ demand in the developed economies; we seem to be caught in a spin cycle of alternating optimism and pessimism. Ironically, the broadcast and content industry has mostly had a good ride through all of this. The health of most businesses, the increased localization of content and advertising spending decisions, the size and gamut of risk-taking seem to reflect an eco-system that is sure-footed, maturing and increasingly confident that these countries will be in a position to emerge stronger and move on to the next level of growth in the next 5 year period. So where do the challenges lie? And what is required?

 

India: Boom underneath the gloom?

Much has been written about an economy that was poised to make the next big leap and then proceeds to develop a fear of heights. But good monsoons, rural demand and entitlement programs have still kept the economy growing at 5% p.a. The interim budget pegged growth at 6% for the coming FY. The industry finally adopted digitalization, with all analogue subscribers to be converted to digital by December 2014. Deadlines may slip due to change in governments, but industry has reason to be optimistic about a measure that promises to finally unlock distribution value in the market. As more and more Indians move online, traditional content consumption habits will be tested. As will the regulatory environment around the deployment and monetization of such content.

 indonesia

Note – The election schedule in India just been announced. More than 800 million voters will decide the outcome in a phased process in April and May, with results out on the 16th of May. Cue frenzy and ad spends on India’s numerous news channels. 

 

Indonesia: More the same, a bit faster?

There seems to be a feeling that the economic hiccups of 2013 are poised to go away this year. The consensus from experts points to the need to accelerate the pace of infrastructure development, investment in human capital and advancement in responses to natural disasters. For our industry, cable penetration continues to grow; new platforms continue to invest in growing penetration and broadcasters test new programming formats from slightly different countries. Elections and WC 2014 are likely to continue to drive growth in the short term, as Indonesia’s economy looks to overcome the depreciation in the rupiah.

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Thailand: A clear direction?

As we write this, the political stalemate is beginning to have a real effect on the economy. When everyone from the farmer to the business owner starts hurting, the fight for the future direction of the country is in danger of jeopardizing that very promising future. Competition in the content industry points to an era of prolonged growth, and the chaos has not come in the way of the prevailing excitement or bidding levels around the DTT licenses. But the immediate situation on the ground may prove to be the most important determining factor.

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Nick Binns, Group M adds:

The situation in Bangkok is slowly getting better. Thailand has a record of resilient ad spending despite political instability in the past. If the situation is backed to normal, we will see spending back on track quickly. Yesterday, the protest sites have been combined to just one site.

In term of ad spend; the spending in March is back to the normal level. World Cup in Q3 will maintain the momentum to the end of Q3.  However, there is possibility to have deep cut in Nov-Dec due to an economic slowdown.  Political unrest plays important factor. There could be a double-digit drop in media spending if the protests drag on to the second quarter.   

My view: Overall, minor impact of the protests but more deep-rooted economic uncertainty here, within a market that matured a lot earlier than the VIP ASEAN markets (VIP – Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines)

 

The CASBAA 2020 Summary: The true outcome of an election lies not in the mandate it throws up, but in the decisions that are taken by those the people have empowered. As 3 of CASBAA’s most important markets decide their futures, the natural instinct of business is to renew optimism. There is hope that the political will of the elected leadership will continue to harness the potential of these economies and realize their abundant promise.

 

The Media Disruptors: 5 stories from CES 2014 and their impact on the media industry

By CASBAA in Media 2 Comments

(Photo: SamsungTomorrow)

matt-pollins

Matt Pollins

Olswang

Associate

 

khush-kundi

Khush Kundi

Ericsson

Head of Compression Solutions, APAC

 By Matt Pollins and Khush Kundi

For the media industry, CES 2014 was one of the most interesting in years. As always, the gadgets made the headlines. We saw everything from connected toothbrushes to 100inch curved screen TVs – and the implications for the consumer electronics industry have been well-covered.But beneath the gadget buzz, we saw some trends that could have a real and, in some cases, immediate impact on the media industry. Here are the top 5 “Media Disruptors” observed by ‘2020.

 

1.  The year of wearables and connected things

First and foremost, this was the year of wearables and connected things at CES.  We saw everything from connected toothbrushes and fridges to wearable devices that monitor user movements and fitness.The opportunities this could open up for media companies are exciting, albeit that the focus so far has been on the implications for the consumer electronics industry rather than the media industry.

One thing we do know is that devices that hold (or send to the cloud) a huge amount of user data will enable an even greater level of interactivity between user, screen and content, and that has to be good news for advertisers and the TV industry alike.

Could a user’s TV check with their fridge as to whether they have the ingredients for a recipe the user has just seen on Jamie Oliver’s latest show? Could users receive customised advertisements based on how long they brush their teeth for or what time they tend to go to bed?

Scary or cool? Of course, media companies and advertisers (like everyone else) will need to tread carefully and bear in mind the privacy and data security concerns that these developments give rise to. But managed properly, the ability to merchandise, sell through and in general create more immersive content experiences for realising the true value of ad dollars becomes more realistic than ever before.

 

2.  The 4K revolution

4K was all the rage, with the major TV manufacturers touting their latest line-up of 4K sets.  But 4K wasn’t new – last year there was also a lot of 4K hype. So what was different in 2014? We can think of three things: affordability, proposition and content.

Things are looking positive for consumers in terms of affordability – we already saw sub $1000 sets being launched and we know that prices will continue to come down.

The bigger question is about the customer proposition. To succeed, 4K needs to be pitched as more than just “resolution”. Services that bring together several technologies like high frame-rates, high dynamic range and multichannel audio to create a truly differentiated service offering are, in our view, far more likely to succeed than those that devalue the proposition by presenting something that is perceived to be HD with an expensive badge on it.

The last hurdle for 4K is content. This year saw the emergence of genuine content providers coming to the market with content shot and/or mastered in 4K.  Netflix made the biggest splash with Reed Hastings appearing with several vendors promoting the launch of House of Cards Season 2 in 4K along with a slew of other titles.  Sony, Amazon and several others did the same. What’s also quite astonishing is that it’s the OTT players like Netflix that are making the biggest noise about this, rather than the traditional delivery platforms. Whilst this is great PR for OTT services, it also brings to mind a potential problem in the Asian market: BANDWIDTH. Netflix says it will deliver 4K at 15Mbps. This is fine for the Asian countries that have high broadband speeds (South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore) but the rest of Asia will struggle to get broadband speeds anywhere near this level. Of course, Netflix isn’t in Asia yet but it’s certainly an important consideration for OTT services in the region who are considering 4K streaming.

 

3. Curved to fall flat?

If 4K felt like it had some momentum behind it for 2014, curved screens got a bit of a bashing.

Nonetheless, both Korean electronics manufacturers, Samsung and LG, seem to be investing big in this technology. Both released large, curved screens intended to “wrap around” users and provide a “uniquely immersive viewing experience”. Although some of those who experienced curved screens at 100inches pointed to a “cinema-like” experience, those who experienced it on smaller sets generally complained about image distortion.

The biggest challenge will be in convincing customers who have grown up with “flat” to learn to live with “curved”. If it was difficult to convince customers that 3D was the future of TV, it will be equally difficult (if not more so) to convince them to replace the flat screen they’ve known and loved for one that’s, well, curved.

Our feeling is that if there is a market for this, it will exist at about 100 inches and above – in other words, it’s something of a niche play for now.

 

4.  Smart TVs are getting smarter – and easier to use

Smart TVs continue to get smarter.  2014 saw all the major manufacturers announce re-imagined remote controls, voice and gesture controls and new UIs which are slicker and more in-line with consumer expectations.

But why is all this important?  The answer is user experience. Smart TVs have typically had less-than intuitive UIs and users have voted with their feet, either by not plugging in their Smart TVs in the first place or in just using them as “dumb screens”. For years, the devices that were touted as the “set-top box killers” have somewhat missed the mark by being notoriously bad to use.

LG took a lot of the headlines by demonstrating a new PalmOS-based interface that was slicker and cooler than anything it had launched previously. The use of a platform that was originally built for mobile devices is an interesting choice. It raises the question of whether we will see more offerings incorporating operating systems that users are already familiar with.

If users really do start using smart TVs as much as the manufacturers hope they will, content owners will need to build this into their distribution and marketing strategies. For now, content offerings on smart TV are pitched as a “value add” service – in other words, “you can also watch this great content on smart TVs”. That may change over time if smart TVs become a more primary viewing habit. And in terms of distribution, we expect to see more content owners pushing for platform exclusivity (or at least platform perks, like preferential UI positioning) on the devices that really nail the user experience, as a way to further differentiate their content propositions.

 

5. Content meets the cloud

There were two developments to underline the fact that “content and cloud” is a partnership that is here to stay.

First, WWE announced the launch of “the world’s first 24/7 streaming network”, offering a range of live and on-demand content over-the-top. It is of course not the only content owner looking to take its content direct-to-market – we have seen a proliferation of these services over the last couple of years with a range of business models, from bundling OTT offerings with platform subscriptions through to making them available on a stand-alone basis. Time will tell whether WWE’s move away from its trusted cable pay-per-view model will succeed.

Second, Sony announced that it is testing a cloud DVR service. These services aren’t new (in fact they have been around for many years) but have so far struggled to achieve the level of mainstream take-up that many predicted – in no small part because of the copyright issues that the services tend to give rise to. Nonetheless, with the likes of TiVo pushing its Roamio service and now Sony getting involved in the cloud DVR space, some very big operators are clearly  exploring the opportunities that these platforms give rise to. The biggest challenge will be in respect of content rights. Cloud DVR operators and content owners have historically not seen eye-to-eye and have been generally unable to do content deals that appropriately reward both parties. If that changes, and with the biggest players getting involved, these services could be finally set to take off.

 

Conclusions – it’s not (just) about the gadgets

CES is first and foremost a consumer electronics show. Put simply, it’s about cool gadgets. But CES 2014 further underlined the fact that great gadgets are nothing without great content. Yes, 4K looks great, but people also wanted to know what content they could get in 4K and how it would be delivered to their devices. Reed Hastings’ headline-stealing performance confirmed that the worlds of content and consumer electronics are now inextricably linked. So amongst the 37 football fields worth of “game-changers” on display at the 2014 show, the media industry might just have had an insight into some of the challenges and opportunities that are coming next.