Macau – The CASBAA Convention annual conference got underway at its exciting new venue, Studio City, Macau. This year marks the 25th anniversary of CASBAA which is dedicated to representing key players from the cable and satellite broadcasting industry under the motto ‘represent, inform, connect’. Today’s sessions looked at the deals being made in the industry today, as well as the tools to aggregate and measure audiences. As ever, content was hotly discussed, with a focus on how content is evolving in the digital age. Following opening remarks by Sompan Charumilinda, Chairman for CASBAA, Irwin Gotlieb, the Global Chairman for Group M, was first to take to that stage to discuss the changing nature, and measurement of viewing behaviours. He underscored how media will continue to play a role becoming more targetable, addressable and eventually part of the transaction process.
Oliver Wilkinson, managing director for Pricewaterhouse Coopers, provided statistics to illustrate that pay-TV is not dead, despite what the headlines say, and that it remains a primary form of entertainment. Doing deals in China was the topic for Bennett Pozil, EVP of East West Bank, who discussed the migration of content both ways as well as some of the pros and cons of doing business in China. Vivek Couto, Executive Director at Media Partners Asia, flagged the rise of digital players with the forecast that pay-TV growth would slow to about 3% as content providers looking to establish more direct to consumer offerings.
Localised and Asian content was flagged by Henry Tan, COO of Astro, for being one of the main drivers that have seen the provider defy the trend of decline in time spent on TV, reporting healthy growth in this respect. On the global stage, compelling content that tells a great story is the winning formula for Thom Beers of BoBcat whose male-oriented programmes like Deadliest Catch and Monster Garage have achieved success the world over. Norman Lao, VP International of Leyard showcased how MR – mixed reality comprising a kind of virtual reality that reacts with real physical events – will shape the content of the future. In a session devoted to piracy, Avigail Gutman, Programme Director, Operational Security, Cisco, advised that the industry needed to ‘follow the money’ in combating piracy.
Lucia Rangel, VP Latin America, Asia Pacific & Worldwide Game Strategy and Operations Warner Bros. agreed the problem was worldwide and a global effort was needed to fight the pirates. Desmond Chan, Deputy GM, Legal and International Operations, TVB highlighted the tangible impact piracy had already made to their business. Nickhil Jakatdar of Vuclip talked about how the content provider’s strategy was to provide a better experience than that available from pirate outfits. Jakatdar illustrated how Vuclip’s Viu platform was a direct to consumer offering while David Weiland, EVP Asia, BBC Worldwide discussed how the ‘Beeb’ had instead opted to stream their new OTT app via their operator, Starhub. With all the different streaming options available, it was concluded that consumers could hardly keep up and would want a ‘one-stop’ shop when seeking out their viewing content.
