The Asia Pacific Pay–TV Operators Summit, the first of its kind, organized by research group Media Partners Asia (MPA) brought together 300 delegates from pay–TV and broadband industry communities in Bali, including 30 of the region’s leading pay– TV operators serving 40 million pay–TV homes. In his opening presentation at the Summit, MPA Executive Director Vivek Couto said that the fundamentals of Asia’s pay–TV and broadband industries were strong and growth oriented, as reflected in MPA’s latest annual research report, Asia Pacific Pay– TV & Broadband Markets 2010. During 2009, a recessionary year for most segments of Asia media, the pay–TV sector added 26.6 million new subscribers. Total pay–TV subscribers reached 340 million, up 9 percent year–on–year and representing 46 percent penetration of TV homes. During 2009, pay–TV industry sales increased by 8.6 percent to US$32 billion, a sharp deceleration from 15 percent growth in 2008 with 10 percent subscription revenue growth offset by a modest 3 percent advertising increase amidst the economic downturn. Total pay–TV subscribers reached ~340 million in aggregate across 16 Asia Pacific markets; going forward, forecasts from MPA suggest that more than 460 million households will be receiving pay–TV in the region by 2015, about 56 percent penetration. “The future growth of the basic pay–TV product still has lots of legs in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and if certain dynamics sort of themselves out, markets such as the Philippines and Thailand,” said Couto. “These are markets in which viewing is actually increasing every day, sometimes more on the terrestrial dial but pay–TV is also benefiting and in places where over–the–top, mobility or online is potentially a threat, operators are innovating to co–opt the future and over this year, we’ll see the launch of the integrated broadband / pay– TV media services, starting in Australia and Malaysia.” In his keynote address, David Haslingden, CEO of Fox International Channels, warned content providers: “Before you enter an alliance with someone, you better make damn sure you understand that person’s design.” He added: “We are naive to believe every new revenue source is additive…platforms and consumers will not pay for our content if it is freely available. If carriers don’t pay for our content, the value chain on which its creation depends will erode irreparably. We must deliver meaningful exclusivity to our partners who will pay us fairly for it, and we must eschew those who will undervalue it.” Exclusivity was a key point for most of the leading operators speaking at the Summit. “Channels have to work harder at protecting their tent pole programming,” said John Porter, CEO of Austar. “Channels that don’t understand that are going to have difficulties launching more channels, in times of renewal, and supporting their HD initiatives on our pay–TV platforms.” Astro CFO Grant Ferguson emphasized growing investment in next generation services and vernacular content. “We’ve set aside US$400 million over the next three years, primarily in the next 18 months, to put us in a position to be at the cutting edge of what next generation can bring in terms of HD, DVR, IPTV and over–the–top – we want to empower the consumer.” But Ferguson also identified local content as one of Astro’s key growth drivers, diminishing the importance of exclusive turnaround content. “We have 26 channels on our own – those vernacular channels are really our driver channels,” he said. “The exclusivity on most of our turnaround channels has become a nice–to–have rather than a must–have. There will always be a premium to having it, but unfortunately the premium will be less and less as the focus turns to niche and vernacular channels.” Ward Platt, President of Fox International Channels Asia, perhaps summed it up best from the perspective of international channel suppliers. International. “If you can get it anywhere else, then it’s not going to be valuable,” he said. “Premium and exclusive content is commanding higher and higher pricing, but channels. —————————————————– Asia Pacific Pay–TV & Broadband Markets 2010 (AP 2010) is Media Partners Asia’s 9th annual analysis of Asia’s pay– TV and broadband industries. This report, published in April 2010, offers the definitive guide to the commercial distribution of pay–TV, broadband, digital and next generation television and communications over cable, satellite and telecommunications networks in 16 markets across Asia Pacific. Exclusive MPA analysis also incorporates historical indicators and forecasts plus profiles of more than 90 distribution platforms. The AP series is established as the only authoritative reference of its kind, based on MPA’s independent analysis of information provided by operators, broadcasters, investor groups, technology suppliers and various regulatory agencies. To learn more about MPA and its capabilities, please visit www.media–partners– asia.com To gain more insight into the industries MPA covers, visit www. mediaresearchasia.com and www.asiamediajournal.com

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