Television Asia Plus | July 2022

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JULY 2022

July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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Editor’s Note EDITORIAL/PUBLISHER Keen Whye Lee Publisher Monina Eugenio Editor editor-tva@harvest-info.com Arjay Alivia Layout and Design OPERATIONS Mari Vergara Head of Operations manager-ph@harvest-info.com SALES Simon Lee Hong Kong, U.S.A., and Europe sales@harvest-info.com Dear Reader,

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Thank you for picking up the latest issue of Television Asia Plus.

This issue features several key players in Asia’s pay-tv market, featuring interviews with Hong Kong’s Now TV, the Philippines’ Cignal TV, and Singapore’s StarHub.

MARKETING

Meanwhile, Television Asia Plus got to catch up with AVIA’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) General Manager, Matthew Cheetham, as he talked about CAP’s key focus in 2022, and how they’re accelerating efforts in stopping piracy in the region. Also featured is SPOTV’s Chief Content Strategy Officer, Rubin Zhong, who spoke about SPOTV’s focus on serving up world-class sporting content to its viewers across Asia.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Finally, Accedo’s Head of Product Management, Markus Hejdenberg explores several key OTT features needed–from optimisation to monetisation while growing their OTT services.

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Michael Magsalin tech@harvest-info.com Harvest Information Pte. Ltd. 150 Orchard Road #07-05, Orchard Plaza Singapore 169206

Monina Eugenio Editor

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

03

NEWS CONTENT

Silvergate Media and Tencent Video enter new landmark partnership

The Creature Cases.1

Silvergate Media is joining forces with Tencent Video to bring its new animated series The Creature Cases to China. Silvergate will also partner with Tencent Video on a full consumer products roll-out in China from 2023, to be led by toys and publishing. The Creature Cases is an action, comedy and detective series animated by TeamTo that follows the adventures of a unique detective duo who specialises in solving animal mysteries. The first series, launched on Netflix on April 12th, 2022, is soon to be released on Tencent Video, which will significantly expand the broadcast reach to families across China.

Selina She, Director of Kids’ IP Development and Programming Centre at Tencent Video says: “We are delighted to get our paws on The Creature Cases and thrilled to be partnering with Silvergate Media on this dynamic new series. We deduce that its exotic mix of real-life fascinating facts from the amazing animal kingdom along with side-splitting, super-sleuthing detective antics will have broad appeal in China. We are excited to be launching the series in the territory shortly, followed by the start of our consumer products programme which will be full of animal wonder!”

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

Espresso partners with Singapore-based Bitsmedia for SVOD platform Qalbox UK-based distributor Espresso Media International has established a new partnership with Singaporebased Bitsmedia, supplying more than 20 hours of content for the company’s new SVOD platform Qalbox launching in late 2022.

Qalbox is a global subscription video on demand (SVOD) streaming service providing Muslim lifestyle content and celebrating Muslim identities and cultures. Qalbox aims to provide comprehensive, curated, and diverse Muslim-centric content for the global community to discover and enjoy on a smart and secure streaming platform. Qalbox will be available for streaming in October 2022.

The bespoke package of content

from Espresso includes titles such as The Story of… Ramadan (1 x 60’) and Hidden Algeria (3 x 50’). It also features the new and popular history series Pirates of the Mediterranean, a 4 x 45’ and the documentary Beirut Blast: The Story of Warehouse 12 (1 x 90’).

Beirut Blast: The Story of Warehouse 12

TBS partners with NAVER WEBTOON to launch a webtoon production company in South Korea Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, Inc. (TBS) has reached an agreement with South Korea’s market-leading digital comics platform NAVER WEBTOON, a subsidiary of the country’s largest ICT company NAVER, along with Japanese manga production company SHINE Partners, to launch Studio TooN, a new webtoon production company in South Korea as a joint venture of three companies.

With this new venture, TBS aims not only to enter the webtoon production business, but also to enhance its offering of content aimed at global audiences, by developing original webtoons with Japanese and Korean creators, and adapting them into TV dramas, anime and other content.

Studio TooN is the first group company established by TBS in South Korea and will be headed

by Keita Iwamoto, President of SHINE Partners. It is expected to begin operations in June 2022. Its main business will be the planning, development, production, and copyright management of webtoons.

(L-R) Keita Iwamoto (SHINE Partners), Takashi Sasaki (TBS Television), Kim Junkoo (NAVER WEBTOON).

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GoQuest Media licenses drama package deal to Disney+ Hotstar

Civil Servant

Global independent content distributor GoQuest Media has licensed a drama package deal to Disney+ Hotstar. This association sees Disney+ Hotstar acquire the Indian rights to three thrilling European dramas, Civil Servant and Debt to the Sea produced by Serbian telecommunications and cable TV operator Telekom Srbija and Traitor produced by multiservice provider Elisa Estonia and Estonian public broadcaster ERR. Vivek Lath, Managing Director of GoQuest Media said, “Spy dramas have enjoyed consistent success with Indian audiences on streaming platforms. Both Civil Servant and Traitor have the story, casting, and production brilliance to build a new fanbase in the country. Debt to the Sea is perfect for those who enjoy psychological thrillers with myths, murders, and family secrets set against a stunning seaside location like Montenegro. We are very excited that these exceptional Eastern European titles are now premiering in India and hope that Disney+ Hotstar audiences will enjoy them as much as we did.”

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TechStorm announces expansion partnership with Chunghwa Telecom TechStorm has announced further expansion in the Taiwanese market, striking a new partnership with Taiwan’s largest telecommunications company Chunghwa Telecom on its leading IPTV service Multimedia On Demand (MOD) and their OTT platform Hami Video.

The carriage deal will massively increase TechStorm’s reach in Taiwan and marks the first time the network’s content is available on TV locally, supported by Traditional Chinese subtitles. This launch comes off the back of the company’s steady stream of expansion announcements in Asia as well as plans to prepare for IPO by 2024.

centric entertainment. Starting June, viewers can look forward to tuning in to Making the Squad: FIFA Edition, the world’s first esports reality competition in Berlin, accompanied

by Traditional Chinese subtitles.

Airing every Friday at 9:00 p.m.

(Taiwan), ten of the most engaging FIFA streamers will not only be tested on their FIFA 21 gaming skills but also in a series of exciting and dynamic FIFA 21-inspired in-real-life (IRL) challenges.

TechStorm’s rapid growth in the past 2.5 years is a strong testimony to the content appetite and robust interest in its unique intersection of esports and tech-

ZEE5 Global announces slate of over 80 titles for 2022 ZEE5 Global unveiled its blockbuster content slate for 2022 with 80+ titles spanning Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, and Bengali.

The slate encompasses 40+ original shows and 40+ movies featuring an expansive gamut of genres.

The slate of Hindi originals includes the much-anticipated Forensic, Duranga – a romantic thriller, latest seasons of audience favourites like Abhay 3, Pitchers 2, Sunflower 2, Tripling 3, Never Kiss Your Best Friend 2 and Rangbaaz 3 amongst many more.

launched Anantham and Gaalivaana along with some of the most awaited shows and movies in Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, and Bengali like Nilamellam Ratham, Fingertip S2, Paper Rocket Recce Kinnerasaani, Yaar Anmulle Returns, Fuffad Ji, and Main Viyah Nahi Karona Tere Naal, Shikarpur, Raktakarabi and Swetkali. In line with the platform’s aim to offer unique and premium content to a wide variety of audiences, the high-voltage trailer of the 2022 content slate promises phenomenal and electrifying entertainment for viewers, satisfying their varied entertainment needs.

The platform will also feature the digital release of some of the biggest theatrical blockbusters like The Kashmir Files, Amitabh Bachchan’s Jhund and John Abraham’s Attack to name a few. The content slate also comprises a strong line-up of regionals, with the recently

July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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NEWS CONTENT

KBS and BBC Studios announce multi-year factual content deal BBC Studios and South Korea’s leading national broadcaster, Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) announced the renewal of their long-term partnership with a multi-year content deal which will allow KBS exclusive access to the first windowing of blue-chip Natural History titles in South Korea.

This renewal, which marks the 23rd year of partnership between BBC Studios and KBS, also includes a first look at other premium factual, across Science, Documentary, Arts, History and other unscripted content.

Kilimanjaro, Dynasties II returns – more captivating and compelling than ever, providing fresh insights into the secret lives of some of the most charismatic animals on the planet.

Dynasties II features surprising, dramatic, and heart-warming stories with iconic favourites, elephant and cheetah, as well as unearthing the stories of some unsung heroes of the animal kingdom, puma and hyena.

Planet Earth III will be the most ambitious Natural History landmark ever undertaken by the BBC. Combining the awe and wonder of the original Planet Earth, the new science and discoveries of Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II, and the immersive characterled storytelling of Dynasties, the series will take the Planet Earth experience to new heights.

Frozen Planet II will take audiences back to the wilderness of the Arctic and Antarctica. Ten years on from the original Frozen Planet, this series tells the complete story of the entire frozen quarter of our planet that’s locked in ice and blanketed in snow.

It is slated to broadcast in 2022 From Patagonia’s frozen Andes to the plains of Zambia, to sprawling grasslands in the shadow of Mount

Netflix announces interactive survival reality special ‘Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls’ World-renowned survival expert Bear Grylls and Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh plunge into “the

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

ultimate arena of wilderness” in this interactive special, premiering 8th July on Netflix. Together they’ll

adventure through some of the world’s most hostile terrain in Serbia— infamous for its wildfires, wetlands, water canyons, monster waterfalls and labyrinth of caves that will push them to the limits of human survival.

This dynamic duo will face surreal challenges along the way, all while viewers get to choose the course of the action. The interactive special Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls allows audiences to call the shots and be a part of the action by deciding the direction of the adventure.

Produced by Banijay Asia & The Natural Studios, Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls will bring the ultimate adventure reality to audiences globally when it premieres on 8th July on Netflix.

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Voot Studio and Deutsche Welle collaborate on exclusive content For the second year in a row, Voot’s brand solutions arm, Voot Studios partnered with German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Starting 17th June 2022, Voot will stream

Choices, exclusively for its users.

A seven-episode series starring encouraging mentors such as Padma Shri awardee Sakshi Malik, pathbreaker Prashasti Singh and

artistic director Ashley Lobo, Choices – Dare 2 Dream will showcase young Indians get challenged by these role models to live their fantasy life for a few days. The series aims to highlight the inspiring journey of these role models who with pure passion have created their path and pursued their calling outside of societal norms.

The partnership is in line with the platform’s efforts to strengthen its content offering and further cement Voot’s leadership in the AVOD ecosystem. With engaging content entertaining millions of its users, Voot continues to pave its way to emerge as the go-to destination for all things entertainment.

‘Mystery Duets’ set for Korean adaptation CAN’T STOP media announced that Korean production company Image9Coms has been commissioned to adapt Mystery Duets for MBN TV Group, in association with Korean Format expert Jinwoo Hwang’s Something Special. The show will air in a weekly primetime slot on MBN for 10 consecutive weeks during the summer.

This deal marks the second

international version of the format created and produced by Banijay France’s DMLS TV and follows the successful primetime launch on TF1 in France in 2021.

The shiny-floor entertainment show, which is distributed by CAN’T STOP media, had 20 territory development deals spanning countries from Brazil, India, the UK, Germany, and the US, in 2021.

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In Mystery Duets, the nation’s most famous singers and celebrities perform a duet without knowing with whom they will share the stage. They each repeat the song unaware of the other celebrity singing alongside them. It is only in the middle of the song that they discover each other’s identity as the screen between them rises. Viewers at home play along as one of the two performers’ identities are kept a secret.

July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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NEWS OTT

Optiminastic Media enters the entertainment industry with 4Dots Production Digital marketing agency Optiminastic Media is leveraging growth across the digital streaming OTT sector as it announced the launch of 4Dots Production, a full-fledged OTT production house. 4Dots Production will work closely with OTT, digital and social media platforms to create interesting and intriguing web shows for millennials across India and the world. The launch of 4Dots Production also marks Optiminastic Media’s foray into the digital entertainment industry.

4Dots Production will bring together some of the most talented, experienced and hands-on professionals from the Entertainment space and aims to create an engaging concept-oriented project that targets the millennial consumer. In a bid to become the go-to production house for web shows and a partner of choice for new-age media platforms, 4Dots Production aims to bridge the existing gaps in the current ecosystem with content that is immersive,

unique, fresh and first of its kind thus creating newer opportunities and engagement techniques for brands and platform custodians.

For its maiden project, 4Dots Production has partnered with director Arbaaz Afzal, DOP Nawaraj Thapa, Executive Producer Ganesh Kharal, Associate Director Aradhya Mahashilkar, and Writer Siddharth Goyel.

Australia’s SVOD service revenue to reach US$3.2B in 2026 Living up to its promise of making the Premier League more affordable, StarHub is excited to unveil Premier+, its latest over-thetop service on StarHub TV+ specially created for fans, who can catch the competition on any device, over any network. Premiere+ subscribers will enjoy an immersive Premier League viewing experience, delivered with many new features and unmatched

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

flexibility, while relishing all 380 Premier League “live” matches for the 2022/23 season starting 6 August.

StarHub will offer the Premier League competition for six seasons, having entered into an exclusive agreement with The Premier League earlier in 2022. At the best prices, StarHub is bringing Premier League to customers through dedicated Hub Premier

channels. To up the ante, select games will be aired in 4K Ultra HD. For the first time, customers will enjoy Premier League without contracts on StarHub. Unlocking access and value for customers – just like other StarHub TV+ passes, Premier+ can be accessed from any five registered devices and two simultaneous streams with a single subscription.

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NEWS PAY TV

KC Global Media expands its premium content offering on AXN Asia KC Global Media announced the licensing deal of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s latest theatrical releases exclusive to AXN Asia on Pay-TV, the leading English language general entertainment channel in Asia.

Territories include Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, and more.

Following their theatrical runs and home entertainment windows, fans will enjoy worldwide hits such as Venom:

Let There Be Carnage (opened at USD$90.1 million in the US, outgrossing the first Venom’s opening weekend and made USD$506 million worldwide), Spider-Man™: No Way Home™ (the 6th highest-grossing film of all time globally at USD$1.9 billion), Uncharted (currently the 4th highest-grossing video game adaptation worldwide, closing in on USD$400 million globally), Morbius (an introduction to the studio’s standalone genre characters from its Marvel canon), and the next

chapter in the original “Ghostbusters” universe, Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

AXN Asia launched the Pay-1 movies packagelineupwiththedebutofVenom: Let There Be Carnage on June 12.

HITS expands its reach in India with the launch on Airtel Digital TV Airtel Digital TV announced the launch of its new service - Airtel HITS HD. Featuring a selection of some of the most popular, iconic, and award-winning Hollywood television content from the 60s to the early 2000s, the channel is sure to take you on a lovely trip down memory lane.

array of genres, including sitcoms, adventure, family drama, and crime shows. Airtel digital TV subscribers can now enjoy a window to the best content ever produced for television in HD, like Diff’rent Strokes, Bewitched, Charmed, Bonanza, The Lucy Show,

Baywatch, The Bionic Woman, and Sherlock Holmes, among many others. These award-winning titles are sure to appeal to both those who remember the Golden Age of Hollywood and modern audiences.

HITS, the #1 classic TV channel in Asia that brings iconic series is launched on Airtel Digital TV, India on 20th May. Airtel HITS HD will be available on Channel 167 on Airtel Digital TV and will be aired in High Definition (HD) with English subtitles.

Airtel HITS HD pays tribute to high-quality classic and evergreen television shows from a wide

Now TV introduces new Android TV box ‘Now H1’ Now TV, the media entertainment arm of HKT, launched Now H1, a smart device that runs on the Android TV smart operating system and enables Now H1 users to enjoy a world of entertainment with Now TV movies, drama, sports and edutainment, as well as all their favourite personal apps from Google Play.

Being Hong Kong’s number one pay-TV operator, Now TV is constantly enhancing its service

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offering to provide the best content and viewing experience to customers. With the launch of Now H1, through Google Assistant, customers can easily control their Now TV, Now H1 and smart home devices – all with just their voice.

Smart device control3 is another highlight of Now H1. Google Assistant can operate smart devices that are linked to the same home via the Now H1 remote control. Now

TV customers can use it to activate their lights, air-conditioner, Now TV and even home security system.

Now TV customers can also download and access their favourite apps from Google Play. For customers’ added convenience, Now TV has handpicked leading entertainment apps and preloaded them on Now H1, such as HBO GO, ViuTV, Viu, Da Vinci Kids, Netflix, Red Bull TV, Bloomberg and Deutsche Welle.

July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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NEWS PLATFORMS

ABS-CBN, Kroma, and 917Ventures launch Philippines’ first ‘tradigital’ entertainment channel Content provider ABS-CBN, entertainment company KROMA, and corporate venture builder 917Ventures introduce “tradigital” viewing to Filipinos through PIE, the Philippines’ first real-time and multi-screen interactive channel that launched in May. PIE or Pinoy Interactive Entertainment offers Filipinos a digital upgrade to traditional media consumption habits by allowing them to watch TV shows, join all-day contests,

build a following, and even steer the storyline of a teleserye across multiple screens including TV sets, laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.

On PIE, those in the audience are not just viewers but a well-engaged community that plays an active role in storytelling, game shows, and talk shows. Test broadcast of PIE started in May, and its brand of entertainment is available on YouTube.

Gusto TV launches in New Zealand Gusto TV is expanding its relationship with Samsung TV Plus with the latest launch in New Zealand. Gusto TV’s full roster of flavorful fare is now available via the TV Plus app as Samsung TV Plus rolls out in this territory for the first time.

Gusto TV is an international food channel with exceptional production values and sophisticated storytelling.

With hundreds of hours of proprietary content, Gusto TV offers a culturally diverse lineup that is a feast for the eyes and connects emotionally with

viewers. Gusto TV’s award-winning titles can be viewed in English,

Spanish and Mandarin across 160+ countries on 30+ different platforms.

Banijay Rights partners with Amagi to drive its FAST strategy worldwide Amagi, a global leader in cloudbased SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV, announced its partnership with Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of worldleading independent TV producer Banijay, to drive its Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (FAST) strategy worldwide. Amagi has facilitated channel creation, distribution and monetization for Banijay Rights

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

on key FAST platforms such as Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel, Freevee, LG Channels and more.

Banijay Rights has also sought to leverage the benefits of Amagi’s cutting-edge cloud-led innovations to amplify its reach and revenue in the FAST space. Amagi CLOUDPORT - one of the key solutions that Banijay Rights has availed - is a versatile

cloud-built channel playout and distribution solution, with its ability to centrally manage multi-country feeds and improve the efficiency of large broadcast operations. Other solutions such as Amagi THUNDERSTORM and Amagi PLANNER have been utilised by Banijay Rights for dynamic ad insertion and automated content scheduling, delivering a seamless ad and program experience to their viewers. facebook-f TVAPlusMag | twitter TVAsiaPLus | linkedin-in television-asia-plus

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NEWS TECHNOLOGY

TVU Remote commentator platform enables live, remote sports commentary over IP for Mediacorp

TVU Networks announced the first high-profile deployment of its TVU Remote Commentator cloud-based remote commentary platform in the Asia Pacific region. As the official sponsor of the 31st Southeast Asian Games and the technical partner of Mediacorp, TVU provided the solution TVU Remote Commentator, to enable live, remote commentary

with announcers in different countries, synchronized to furnish a natural, conversational effect.

At the SEA Games, the TVU Remote Commentator proved the ideal cloud platform for the collaboration of multiple commentators in multiple remote locations on a single production.

For the Philippines vs. TimorLeste men’s football match, for instance, Mediacorp created a live conversation between commentators at the IBC in Hanoi and Mediacorp TV headquarters in Singapore. Using TVU Remote Commentator, each announcer was able to see the live game video, hear each other’s commentary, and hear audio from the stadium - all live and in sync. The result was a discussion that was as easy and natural as if they’d been together at the event.

Commentators conducted remote commentator from Sydney using TVU Remote Commentator for several events, including the Women’s Synchro 10m Platform and Men’s Tanding.

beIN Asia Pacific selects Globecast for fully managed media services Globecast announced that renowned sports content provider beIN ASIA PACIFIC has selected Globecast to provide multifaceted media processing and delivery services to the sports provider’s Asia-Pacific division. beIN ASIA PACIFIC is part of beIN MEDIA GROUP and is headquartered in Singapore. It operates in 11 countries across the Asia-Pacific region – Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Singapore. beIN offers a comprehensive line-up of live sporting events through its channel, beIN SPORTS and live streaming app, beIN SPORTS CONNECT. With 15 facebook-f TVAPlusMag | twitter TVAsiaPLus | linkedin-in television-asia-plus

unique channel feeds, beIN offers fans extensive live sports coverage in Thai, Bahasa, Cantonese and English. beIN SPORTS is available on major pay-TV platforms in the region.

Globecast will be providing a wide range of services including cloud and on-prem playout, sports contribution

services and content management.

The company is also supplying satellite, fibre and IP streaming distribution. Globecast will also host the sports provider’s OTT platform for the region as well as provide the ability to create and distribute popup channels as and when required.

July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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PEOPLE

Samar Khan named CEO of Juggernaut Productions

IN10 Media Network has elevated Samar Khan as the CEO of its production house, Juggernaut Productions.

Khan has been associated with the production house’s OTT division since 2019 and has played a vital role in steering it. As CEO, he will continue to manage his responsibilities of designing and successfully in

addition

implementing to

creating

business world-class

strategies content.

Under Khan, Juggernaut Productions has created popular shows and movies like The Married Woman, Code M season 1, Illegal season 2, Raat Baaki Hai, and many more for some of the leading OTT platforms in India. The upcoming shows are Code M season 2, and Avrodh season 2. He has also produced Regiment Diaries seasons 1,

Sameer Khan, CEO Juggernaut Productions

2, and 3 for the network’s flagship channel EPIC. Khan has a rich experience in writing, directing & producing high-quality and value-creating content for films, television, and OTT. In the past, he has been associated with companies like NDTV, Red Chillies Entertainment, UTV, and Discovery India among others.

Khan the

12

will

continue

network’s

MD

July 2022 Television Asia Plus

to

report Aditya

to Pittie.

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Astro announces Tunku Ali Redhauddin as new Chairman

The Board of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad (Astro) announced Tunku Ali Redhauddin Ibni Tuanku Muhriz who currently serves as Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board to succeed Tun Zaki Tun Azmi as the new Chairman of Astro effective 23 June 2022.

Tunku Ali Redhauddin said, “I am honoured to be appointed by the Astro Board as its new Chairman.

Astro is a leading Malaysian brand whose name is synonymous with great content and entertainment, delivered using innovative technology. I look forward to working with the Board and management on the next step of Astro’s journey as we continue to solidify our position in the industry, with our customers at the core. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Tun Zaki Tun Azmi for his leadership and contribution to the Group over the years.”

Tunku Ali, Astro Chairman

Tunku Ali holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History and Social & Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge as well as a Masters in Public Administration from the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. In 2013, he was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and as an Asia 21 Young Leader by the Asia Society.

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

13

C-SUITE

AVIA’s Coalition Against Piracy makes progress in the fight against video piracy

By Monina Eugenio

The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) has been leading the way in the fight against piracy with its Coalition Against Piracy (CAP), a group that provides insights into the video industry via reports and conferences that aims to support a vibrant video industry.

Leading the way in AVIA’s fight against piracy is newly-appointed CAP General Manager, Matthew Cheetham who took over the role from Aaron Herps in February. A qualified lawyer specialising in intellectual property, particularly in copyright protection, Matthew has over 20 years of experience working in the region for some of the largest content producers in the world.

CAP’s key focus in 2022 As the newly-appointed GM of CAP, Matthew said that CAP has a comprehensive enforcement strategy built around four key pillars: Collaboration, research and technology, enforcement and disruption, and engagement and outreach. He said, “Data underpins CAP’s enforcement strategy and determines its focus we need to know what the problems are to address them.”

According to Matthew, each year, CAP undertakes consumer surveys in nine countries in the APAC region to identify where and how consumers are accessing illegal content online. Matthew said that based on CAP’s 2022 surveys, they know that online content continues to be pirated at high rates in the region, while access via illegal sites and apps continues to rate highly. Consumers are also using social media and messaging platforms to access

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

Matthew Cheetham , AVIA CAP General Manager

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pirated content online. Matthew said that these are among the key issues that CAP will focus on for 2022.

Site blocking is key Matthew said that in today’s borderless world, many of the most popular sites and apps accessed in

Accelerating efforts in stopping piracy

the region are located outside of Asia, that’s why

In March, CAP celebrated a win as the Singapore

“Being based in Asia allows CAP to interact directly with

High Court granted an Order blocking 30 illegal

industries, particularly intermediaries, and governments

streaming sites and close to 150 associated domains

in the region,” Matthew shared. Another key part

responsible for the distribution of illegally streamed

of CAP’s enforcement strategy is to work with local

content

industry and governments in the region, whether via

in

Singapore.

Meanwhile,

Indonesia

is

leading the way in site blocking, with the total number of sites blocked in the country topping 3,500.

“Experience

has

shown

that

one

of

the

best

site blocking is key in combating piracy threats.

direct and regular communication, about issues of concern or via public seminars to discuss issues and how they can work together to best address them.

He

added,

“With

borders

reopening,

CAP

has

strategies in addressing online piracy is to attack at

seminars planned with local partners in Indonesia,

its source, and one of the most effective methods

Thailand, and the Philippines in the coming months.”

is via blocking of sites that infringe copyright, or more simply, site blocking,” Matthew said. The GM noted that illegal sites themselves can be difficult to shut down as they are more often than not located in the country where users are accessing in Asia.

Final thoughts While online piracy affects everyone in the content ecosystem, Matthew said that working together with stakeholders

Matthew said that blocking overcomes the issue by

from broadcasters to streaming platforms allows them

ensuring that users cannot access sites from the country

to pool knowledge and resources to combat piracy.

in which the courts or government have determined it is infringing copyright and should be blocked.

Matthew earlier noted that piracy runs rampant on messaging platforms and CAP is working closely

He added, “There are several countries in Asia that

with several social media and technology companies

already employ site blocking, with varying levels of

to address the accessing of illegal content through

effectiveness.” This year, Matthew said CAP is focused

their platforms. He added, “Many big technology

on increasing the regularity of its blocking actions in those

companies, notably Google and Meta, have made

countries that already employ it. They’re also working

significant strides in this area and CAP engages

with counties that do not have efficient and cost-effective

regularly and effectively with both. However, there is

site blocking regimes in play to ensure that they do so.

still work to do, particularly on unregulated platforms.”

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C-SUITE

SPOTV is serving up world-class sporting content

By Monina Eugenio

Eclat Media Group’s SPOTV is making significant progress as it continues to expand in Southeast Asia. The payTV channel, which specialises in broadcasting sporting content, recently announced several key distribution deals with Asian pay-TV partners Now TV in Hong Kong, First Media in Indonesia, and Cignal TV in the Philippines.

working through our affiliates,” Rubin shared. “We also send presenters and social media influencers on-site to provide behind-the-scenes insights in local languages.”

Rubin hopes that SPOTV can grow its market presence by making its content relevant to the audience.

Speaking about SPOTV’s rapid growth in the region, Rubin Zhong, Chief Content Strategy Officer at SPOTV shared, “Given that we managed to put this project together in four months, from bidding for the content rights in July 2021 to launching the channel in October 2021, and then securing affiliates across eight Asian territories, I think we have had a great start.”

SPOTV’s acquisition strategy is geared towards appealing to the unique palate of Southeast Asian sports fans, Rubin said. For instance, the MotoGP is a property that has a huge following in key markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand; while Badminton World Federation (BWF) events are keenly watched.

“We then go on a localisation drive by providing localised commentary for BWF events and MotoGP races to our audience, either through remote commentary means or

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

Rubin Zhong, Chief Content Strategy Officer at SPOTV

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Betting on homegrown sports content Rubin said that they are true believers in Asian homegrown content. For instance, the Japanese Volleyball League or V.League Japan has become a property that has attracted rave reviews from SPOTV’s audience and affiliates and that they are looking to add on more such content.

“Asian sports fans tend to overlook the fact that the best sporting action can be found in their backyard,” Rubin noted. Citing the recent Olympic results as an example, South Korea’s women’s volleyball team finished a creditable fourth place while Japan’s women’s basketball team finished with a silver medal and Japan’s men’s volleyball team were quarter finalists. Rubin added, “We are more than happy to place our bets on the growth of Asian sports as a pillar of our content strategy.”

In addition to acquiring content, Rubin said that SPOTV is looking into content production onsite events and original productions on a local level to widen its content offerings and portfolio.

and the Philippines, and the OTT platform streams both live and on-demand events shown on the sports network’s pay-TV linear channels, SPOTV and SPOTV2.

Rubin revealed that in the coming months, SPOTV is looking to add to the footprint of SPOTV NOW. He shared that the platform is an extension of its linear channels, providing MotoGP second screen options and BWF non-TV court coverage, for instance.

Rubin added that they will be looking to add more relevant features to SPOTV NOW and built it into an engaging and credible digital media platform.

From pay-TV to digital media Apart from SPOTV’s distribution deals with its Asian pay-TV partners, the regional sports network has also branched out to digital media with the launch of SPOTV NOW in March 2022. Currently, the mobile app is available in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore,

Home of robust sporting content Aside from airing the MotoGP and BWF events, SPOTV is also home to key sporting events such as The Open and the Wimbledon Championships. Rubin noted that these two events are critical content to the SPOTV lineup. He said, “Tennis and golf speak to an audience that is willing to pay to watch premium sports properties, and thus these two world-class sporting events serve to maintain our relevance to our affiliates and subscriber base.”

Rubin added that for Wimbledon, SPOTV will be receiving all 22 dedicated feeds, including the World Feed and the outside court coverage, from AELTC broadcast on SPOTV’s linear channels and OTT platform, which shows their commitment to showcasing the most prestigious events to SPOTV’s audience in the region.

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COVER STORY

Asian pay-TV operators betting big on aggregation, content, and OTT to linear integration

by Monina Eugenio

Asia’s vibrant pay-TV sector is showing positive signs of growth. Halfway into 2022, several pay-TV platforms have made significant announcements indicating that there is no slowing down for the sector.

Many pay-tv providers across Asia are making progress by providing world-class content or improved services.

While this is good news, a recent forecast indicated that the market is expected to see sluggish growth in terms of revenue from US$62.5 billion to US64.7 billion in 2021 and 2026, respectively.

The current state of Asia’s pay-tv industry GlobalData’s Senior Telecom Analyst Deepa Dhingra attributes this sluggish growth to the continued decline in cable TV subscriptions and a drop in average spend per pay-tv account. According to the analyst, payTV services are experiencing strong competition from OTT services. He said, “Competitive pricing strategies and discounts offered by pay-TV operators to compete with OTT service providers will hit revenue growth in the market throughout the period.”

Pay-tv operators have been strengthening their content proposition by incorporating OTT offerings into their pay-TV packages, noted Deepa. For instance, Foxtel in Australia offers pay-TV service bundles with OTT services like Netflix. Meanwhile, in South Korea, LGU+ offers a free subscription to Netflix with multiplay bundles that include fixed broadband, pay-TV and mobile services.

multiplay bundles inclusive of broadband pay-TV services to reduce churn and improve revenue-generating units.

Betting on aggregation with Now H1 HKT’s Now TV is looking forward to continued growth as its installed base reached 1.373 million at the end of December 2021. The pay-TV service has been Hong Kong’s top pay-TV operator for 10 consecutive years with a stable market share.

Derek Choi, Managing Director of HKT Home, said that they are constantly enhancing their service to provide a better experience to customers. “While Now TV is the perfect entertainment solution for families, we have expanded our reach to the younger segment through the launch of a new streaming service, Now E, in 2018.” According to Derek, the one-stop entertainment platform allows viewers to enjoy their favourite content

In terms of subscriptions, Deepa said that China and India account for the biggest pay-TV markets due to the size of the countries. He noted, however, that if you look at the pay-TV household penetration to understand the most developed pay-TV markets, he said that South Korea recorded an estimated pay-TV household penetration of 175% at the end of 2021, followed by China with 116%.

Deepa said, “The major driver of the higher adoption levels of pay-TV services in these countries is the focus on the development of broadband infrastructure, which supports the delivery of IPTV services.” He stressed that telecom services providers have been focused on the deployment of FTTH/B networks in many APAC countries to stimulate the adoption of IPTV services by promoting

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Derek Choi, Managing Director of HKT Home

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aim to build an open platform architecture to form a cooperative system where this Home ecosystem can play an orchestrator role to provide peace of mind for customers by ensuring that smart service is happening seamlessly, securely, and reliably,” Derek added.

anytime, anywhere. Popular among millennials, Derek said that they’ve seen a surge in total revenue, with Now E showing a significant increase of 56% in 2021.

In May, Now TV launched Now H1, a new set-top box powered by Android TV that has both IPTV and Android TV capabilities that gives viewers access to Now TV’s content while Android TV opens doors to the world of apps where customers can download their favourite ones. “We believe aggregation is key,” Derek said. “By aggregating both features and adding built-in Google Assistant to Now H1, viewers will enter a world of possibilities beyond traditional TV where the sky is the limit, which will undoubtedly, create a positive impact on our business.”

Now TV has been exploring other business opportunities for growth. According to Derek, HKT has been taking the lead in offering smart home solutions and services by leveraging it’s trusted and established presence within customers’ homes. “We

As Hong Kong’s top pay-TV operator, Now TV has partnered with international content providers to deliver sports, entertainment, kids and educational content around the world for its customers. And as Hong Kong’s home of sports, the brand is enriching its sports portfolio by bringing another three years of Premier League, as well as securing rights for top sporting events like F1, UFC and Tennis grand slams. They have also expanded into education by introducing STEM content, as well as a partnership with learning platform Snapask to launch Now TV’s on-demand tutorial services.

Delivering relevant and entertaining content to Filipinos Cignal TV, one of the Philippines’ top pay-TV providers, is forecast to end 2022 to exceed 4.1 million subscribers through its Cignal Prepaid and value-brand SatLite.

While pay-tv penetration remains low in the Philippines, rural areas in the country are still a good source of subscribers, according to Cignal TV Senior Vice President - Chief Revenue Officer, Guido R. Zaballero.

Guido said that Cignal TV is continuously improving its content selection to provide a better experience and increase the chances of upselling. He added, “Apart from making sure our channel lineup is competitive, we also have exclusive channels such as the NBA, PBA Rush, and Varsity Channel, as well as a farmhouse of quality original content from Cignal Entertainment.” He also added that they’ve bundled Cignal Play with their postpaid plans and prepaid loads, giving even more value to subscriptions as customers can enjoy content on their mobile devices.

Speaking about the growth opportunities, Guido said that many areas in the Philippines continue to be untapped, given the country’s geographical landscape.

He earlier noted that pay-tv penetration is still low in rural areas where even mobile data may be unstable.

He added, “A substantial segment of the country cannot afford OTT or have trouble with available payment options. The majority of Filipinos are uncarded and are looking for friendlier payment facilities.”

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COVER STORY

Meanwhile, in terms of content, news and live sports remain relevant as Filipinos need to be informed, while sports provide thrill and excitement to the audience, regardless of demographic, especially during the pandemic.

Guido said, “Having a vast distribution network, convenient payment options, and unceasingly improving content selection in both DTH and Cignal Play contribute significantly to continuous revenue and subscriber growth.”

Guido R. Zaballero, Cignal TV Senior Vice President - Chief Revenue Officer

A pioneer in OTT and linear integration Singaporean pay-TV provider StarHub is guided by its DARE+ five-year transformation roadmap which has been moving towards “infinity play” where they offer an infinite continuum of OTT streaming entertainment, connectivity, and cloud gaming and digital solutions.

Johan Buse, Chief, Consumer Business Group at StarHub explained, “We believe in the massive growth potential of OTT streaming and that customers should be able to access their favourite programmes on any mobile device, anytime and anywhere–essentially returning control to the viewer.”

OTT streaming services and counting, including popular providers such as Disney+, Netflix, and Viu. Johan said that the public’s response to StarHub TV+ has been positive, as it simplifies content exploration and discovery while providing on-demand programme replays and highlights typical not offered on broadcast channels.

A testament to this is StarHub’s positive numbers.

As of 31 March 2022, the platform’s Entertainment subscribers grew by 74,000 year-on-year and 6,000 quarter-on-quarter, helped by OTT propositions.

What’s more, StarHub’s segment revenue rose 3.9% year-on-year to $47.2 million from $45.4 million for the same period. “Spurred onward by this barometer of customer satisfaction, we will continue striving to remain as our customer’s trusted brand and offer them the best viewing experience,” added Johan.

Speaking about StarHub’s opportunities for growth, Johan revealed that the company is aiming to drive richer customer lifetime value through their Infinity Play Vision.

Likewise, they also see room for growth in sports content.

This year, StarHub has secured several major sports properties such as the Australian Open and French Open.

In February, StarHub announced an exclusive partnership with the Premier League, which sees them presenting the competition for the next six seasons in Singapore.

Apart from its content, Johan said that StarHub’s focus is to drive differentiated, immersive viewing experiences for customers. In the following season of the Premier League, StarHub will be introducing Party Watch, an innovative new feature that allows viewers to remotely sync up with other friends subscribed to the Premier League package and lets them watch and discuss the match in real-time.

Johan shared that one of the trends that they observed was time and place-shifting; where consumers want to playback shows that they missed and stream content uninterrupted from one device to another. To meet the change in consumers’ viewing habits, StarHub made sweeping changes in 2020 when it became the first in Singapore to integrate OTT and linear into a single entertainment platform through StarHub TV+.

In just two years, StarHub has become a super OTT aggregator, home to Singapore’s largest library of 11

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Johan Buse announces Premier League prices on StarHub

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ABACUS MEDIA RIGHTS CONTENT SHOWCASE

ABACUS MEDIA RIGHTS

Deadline

Pulse

Duration: 4 x 60’

Duration: 6 x 60’

Production company: Clapperboard Studios

Production company: Media Musketeers

Genre: Drama Series - Thriller

Genre: Drama Series

Synopsis: When Natalie Varga (Charlie Murphy – Halo, Peaky Blinders) stands accused of murdering her husband, disgraced investigative journalist James Alden (James D’Arcy – Red Election, Agent Carter) finds himself captivated by the case. It’s a crime perfectly designed to cause a press-feeding frenzy – the gruesome murder of businessman George Varga.

Synopsis: A world created by the visionary Oscar, Palme d’Or and BAFTA-winning VFX team behind Skyfall, Harry Potter, Fargo, The Dark Knight Rises, Kick-Ass, The Bourne Ultimatum and Tomb Raider.

Bluewater Safari

The Fire Within

Duration: Series 1 & 2 – 20 x 60’

Duration: Series 1 x 81’

Production company: EQ Media Group

Production company: Brian Leith Productions/Bonne Pioche Television/Titan Films

Genre: Documentary

Synopsis: Underwater Cinematographer and explorer Dean Cropp is joined by a crew of young adventurers to follow in his father’s footsteps on an expedition into the most remote, pristine, and beautiful parts of The Coral Sea off Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

Dean is following in the footsteps of his father Ben Cropp who made over 150 nature/adventure documentaries. 50 years on, Dean will journey to many of the same locations that his Dad explored to see what has changed and what’s stayed the same -while making amazing discoveries of his own.

Contact Details: Abacus Media Rights www.abacusmediarights.com

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Survival is not just a game in this sci-fi, horror, original survival thriller. Can the modern human race survive without the technology that defines our way of life today…

Genre: Documentary

Synopsis: A feature-length documentary about the legendary French volcanologists, Maurice and Katia Krafft. Written, directed and narrated by legendary German filmmaker, Werner Herzog.

Mt. Unzen, Kyushu, Japan. At 3:18 p.m., on June 3rd 1991, a pyroclastic flow – a cloud of superheated gases and particles – descended at over 100mph from the peak of the volcano, consuming everything in its path.

Executive Attending: Pooja Nirmal Kant (Sales Consultant – Asia)

July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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BEYOND RIGHTS CONTENT SHOWCASE

BEYOND RIGHTS

End of The Rope

Loot

Duration: 6 x 60’

Duration: 8 x 60’

Commissioned by: Science, US & UKTV

Commissioned by: SBS, Australia

Production company: Big Coat Media Genre: Reality / Obs-Doc

Production company: EQ Media Rights Genre: History

Hanging around is all part of the job!

Tomb raiders, trafficking and blood treasure

Captivating characters and breath-taking visuals combine with amazing engineering, edge-of-your-seat repair challenges and fascinating science in this exclusive peek into the high-octane world of rope access technicians.

Loot is a fascinating investigation into how the trade in stolen antiquitiesandarthasbecomeamajorsourceofincomeforcriminal syndicates, gangs, and terrorists across the globe. For example, when ISIS controlled Syria and northern Iraq, it’s estimated that each year the Islamic terror organisation pocketed US $150-200 million from the illicit trade in stolen artefacts. However, as the coveted merchandise produced by this illicit activity adorns the walls of the fabulously wealthy and occupies podiums in the world’s greatest museums, nobody wants to talk about it.

When America’s hardest-to-reach structures need repair, there are few people with the courage and expertise to handle the job. Enter elite rope access technician, Trask Bradbury.

Europe’s Greatest Train Journeys

Nina & Olga

Duration: 6 x 60’

Duration: 52 x 7’

Production company: Pernel Media

Commissioned by: CB, Canal Plus, France Genre: Travel & Adventure

A glorious guide to some of the continent’s hidden gems Each episode in this sumptuous travel series showcases one of Europe’s most extraordinary train journeys, highlighting beautiful natural landscapes, local heritage, regional cultures and, of course, the sheer ease and joy of this fast and eco-friendly mode of transport. It also successfully reveals some of Europe’s hidden gems while offering a whole new level of armchair escapism.

Production company: Enanimation & Mondo TV Producciones Canarias, in partnership with Rai Ragazzai Commissioned by: RaiYoYo / RaiPlay

Genre: Kids (Age 4-7) Adventures with Nina and her fabulous fluffy friend, Olga the Cloud Inspired by Olga the Cloud, the internationally best-selling, classic book series by Nicoletta Costa, Nina & Olga follows six-year-old Nina as she begins school, alongside her classmate Teo, and their very special friend Olga – a light young cloud. Together they embark on numerous adventures, learning about the events and challenges of everyday life and how to understand and manage their still unknown emotions.

Contact Details: Joanne Azzopardi, Beynod Rights’ EVP Sales for Asia

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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PRIME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP CONTENT SHOWCASE

PRIME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

Runes

Hollywood News Feed

Duration: 26x22’

Duration: 52x15’/year

Synopsis: Runes tells the story of 12-year-old William, heir to the throne of Normandy. After the death of his father, William seeks refuge in the village of Baligan, incognito as a peasant boy called Hugo. After stumbling upon a cave, he discovers ancient runes that unleash mysterious magic and a terrible threat, Loki, God of chaos.

Synopsis: Walk with the stars on the red carpet every week as Hollywood News Feed takes you front and centre into the world of glitz, glamour, and entertainment! With every episode shot in high definition, we want to know: Are you ready for your close-up? News Feed utilizes exclusive archival and paparazzi footage with high production values that keep viewers tuned in and salivating for more!

Monsters, The Enemy Within

Me The People

Duration: 1x56

Duration: 1x76’

Synopsis: Monsters have existed since the dawn of time throughout every culture, race, and religion. From city-eating giants such as Godzilla and King Kong to the pop-culture creatures from Gremlins or Hellboy, and even the xenomorphic terror from the Alien saga.

Synopsis: Me The People explores how wedge politics on key divisive issues is giving rise to a new kind of populist leader. They are disruptors with a new playbook. They are loved by some, challenged by others, dividing the electorate. But are they really expressing the will of the people?

Genre: Kids Animation

Genre: Celebrity entertainment news

Genre: Cultural Documentary

With testimonies from Hollywood’s leading horror directors, this film gives a comprehensive insight into the history of monsters, often shrouded beneath codes and conspiracies that represent the collective anxiety of humankind.

Genre: Cultural Documentary

PRIME Entertainment Group Joséphine Brun, Sales Manager - j.brun@primeeg.com www.primeeg.com

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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FEATURE STORY

5 Crucial features OTT providers will need in the coming years

By Markus Hejdenberg, Head of Product Management, Accedo

Technological innovation and shifts in viewing behaviour has led to the massive boom in the OTT market in the last decade. A report from Juniper Research concludes that the number of active on-demand subscriptions will increase by 65% from 2020 to 2025. The market is extremely fast moving and if video providers want to stay competitive, they need to look ahead at what to focus on next. Here we outline the key features we think will be crucial for OTT in the years ahead.

In-car entertainment In-car entertainment for passengers is nothing new but with the emergence of autonomous vehicles, there will be a shift in what people spend their time doing while travelling. The idea that drivers may no longer be required to control the car has led to manufacturers focusing more on how to entertain them while on the move. It is likely that video consumption will be the ‘go-to’ activity. Car manufacturers are already coming out with bigger connected screens for this purpose.

Audiences consuming video while travelling in autonomous vehicles give OTT providers another means to distribute content to increase reach and engagement. However, delivering reliable, quality service in this way is not without its difficulties. 5G connectivity is expected to address many of the technical issues associated with providing a seamless, low latency streaming experience while on the move.

Augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) will keep transforming the video streaming landscape by creating new ways for audiences to engage and interact. Up until recently, gaming has been the primary usage area for this kind of technology but going forward, it will become just as central for video, fitness, sports viewing, shopping, socializing and more. The continued roll-out of 5G will be particularly significant for enabling this new technology as it brings much more bandwidth, something that is important for these types of services.

At the same time, the VR headsets on the market are not yet at the point of mass adoption. This is partly due to a lack of content, leading to poor take-up, inadequate investment and high consumer costs. However, with a bit of time and better headsets or glasses, we will certainly see offerings that are better suited for the masses going forward.

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AR glasses are likely to be a ‘companion device’ to supplement, enhance and individualize the user’s experience.

Even if all viewers are watching the same content, they will individually decide what supplementary information or experience they want. One family member may want to see additional metadata for the video stream while another is more interested in detailed information about the show being watched, such as location or presenters.

of years. COVID and prolonged periods of lockdown and social distancing have certainly accelerated adoption but social watching has all the capacity of going from something nice-to-have to a must-have feature–even in a world post the pandemic. A recent report from TDG highlights that both current users and non-users of social watching express interest in these kinds of functionalities, whether they are forced to socially distance themselves or not.

Behaviour-based recommendations

As a result, we are likely to see social watching expand to become a mainstream added-value feature across more areas of video streaming. Sports viewing is an obvious contender because of the very nature of how fans tend to interact with one another. Social watching can also be hugely enhanced and supplemented

by AR when headsets or glasses are mass adopted.

Most video services base their recommendations on previously watched content. Recommendation engines tend to be quite blunt and most do not do a good enough job of bringing significant value for money to the user. People are multi-faceted and existing structures don’t take this into account. This apparent oversight is due to many reasons, but the main factor is the lack of data to build more precise prediction models.

So why isn’t this data available? Current VOD services have too small a catalogue without consistency over time which complicates matters. Too few users also make it challenging to create reliable patterns on which to base recommendations. OTT providers need to build better recommendation engines that leverage the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning to understand user behaviour. Better recommendation engines will bring value for money to the user at the same time as improving user engagement and retaining customers.

Social watching Social watching allows viewers to watch the same content from different locations while interacting with each other.

Some video providers already offer co-watching functions and it has certainly gained popularity over the past couple

Features powering the future It will be interesting to see how each of these key interlinked areas develops in the coming years. Whether or not we are in the golden age of OTT streaming is still out for debate but the one thing we do know is that we are entering an exciting time for video providers and users alike. It is also certain that 5G is going to play an important role in enabling many of these features.

About the author: As Head of Product Sales and Marketing, Markus Hejdenberg is responsible for the sales and marketing strategy for Accedo One, the company’s cloud platform for creating, delivering, and monetizing video experiences.

Having previously been Head of Product at Accedo, Markus

Markus Hejdenberg

has a good understanding of the solution, the challenges faced by customers, and the product roadmap.

Markus has extensive experience initiating and managing commercial companies in various sectors of the entertainment industry. Prior to joining Accedo in 2014, Markus was CEO for a startup company offering streaming services for iOS, Android, and web.

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POST EVENT: FOV INDIA

Future of Video India: The future of video in India is bright, as video becomes increasingly democratized and consumers have it all

The Asia Video Industry Association held its third Future of Video India virtual conference on April 29 with much optimism as industry leaders remained bullish on India’s long-term view, after its fifth straight quarter of economic expansion, with all-round economic recovery and an economic rebound that is much broaderbased and across multiple sectors.

Mihir Shah, Vice President, India, Media Partners Asia, opened the conference with an outlook on India’s video market, which showed a sharp rebound in the TV advertising market, after a depressed 2020. The market grew 37% last year and stood at U$S3.8 billion. While the broader Pay-TV industry continued to see a lot of pressure, Free to Air revenues have surged, and the pandemic has resulted in the rapid adoption and consumption of Connected TV, especially in the urban centres. With a Total Video Market worth US$12 billion and growing at 9% CAGR in the next 5 years to US$20 billion, the AVOD market was also predicted to remain buoyant and triple in the next five years, with SVOD tripling as well.

This optimism for the market continued with the keynote conversation with Sunil Rayan, Head, Disney+ Hotstar India. With the mission to make the streamer as accessible to as many people as possible, Disney+ Hotstar India had made a significant shift to an SVOD offering while maintaining their freemium ad-supported model, which continued to be much larger than SVOD. “We’ve had significant growth in the SVOD side. But India is a highly price sensitive market . . . and AVOD gives scale . . . so we are always trying to balance the two,” said Rayan. Their content offering had also evolved

into ‘cricket plus entertainment’, with a shift both in investment and quality of entertainment that is digitally native. Rayan was also of the view that the streaming market was highly vibrant, and there was certainly room for multiple operators. However, as the ecosystem developed, the content needed to be targeted at specific audiences, and while consolidation was already happening, it will continue to evolve.

Megha Tata, Managing Director, South Asia, Warner Bros. Discovery, was also positive about the outlook for both linear TV and OTT. “There are multiple scenarios which are evolving in the country . . . each India needs to be catered to in a different way,” said Tata. This was also not just about pricing and product but also content. “It’s not an ‘either or’ market yet, but an ‘and’ market, both can survive and will survive,” added Tata.

But how the share of wallet would play out continued to be an evolution every day. Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, added that the holy grail was to create habit in your consumers. “Real estate on the phone is small, real estate in the mind is even smaller,” said Rakshit.

Sharing her views on the road ahead, Tata also pointed out that revenue and monetization today was still coming from linear, and funding all the investment that was needed in digital. “We need to take care of them now or there is no future,” said Tata.

The future was certainly going to be made brighter with the advent of 5G, as the session’s panellists spoke about the challenges that 5G alleviated and the opportunities it presented.

Manoj Gurnani, CTO & Head of Strategy, India, Nokia, shared that a

new generation of technology was going to bring more capabilities and more efficiencies. With 5G bringing on fixed wireless capabilities, it was going to be a great enabler, which would lead to the enhancement of the quality of experience. Mahendra Nath Vyas, Executive Director, Planetcast Media Services, also added that while AR/VR and gaming were the future technology that would ride on the 5G networks, there was also a huge opportunity to unlock content creation in remote areas with 5G. However, content creation in itself had also evolved with OTT. Nimisha Pandey, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Originals, ZEE5, shared that OTT had enabled the content creators and the entire ecosystem to create content for small taste clusters, with the decision making no longer based on the mass audience. The biggest challenge faced by content creators now was the need to evolve at the pace that the audience was evolving, as audiences were evolving too fast and keeping in synch with the pace was the biggest challenge. Ultimately, Pandey also believed that it all began with a great story, and it was important to give value to both passion and craft.

Avinash Kaul, CEO, Network18, Managing Director, A+E Networks TV18, summed up the optimism for the industry in his closing keynote.

With video now having been democratized, consumers have never had it better. And with the online video ecosystem having opened up, funding and content had also poured in, with money coming into the ecosystem from all sources. With greater investment in technology and data, content was also getting shaped because of analytics and there was also a new future for data-driven companies to tap into funding. All of this would have led to better content all around, and even tailored content for cohorts of audiences. From a consumer’s point of view, it was now utopian. “The future of video has always been bright and will continue to shine brighter and brighter,” said Kaul.

The Future of Video India is generously supported by Bharucha & Partners, Brightcove, Google Cloud, Netflix, Synamedia and Xandr.

A version of this story appears on www.tva.onscreenasia.com.

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POST EVENT: EPIC GAMES

Epic Games users in a new era of virtual production, in-camera visual effects in Asia Epic Games in partnership with creative production platform, disguise, launched its inaugural Virtual Production Summit on May 19 which featured the cutting-edge work of studios such as AUX Media in Singapore, 3Particle in Malaysia, and V2 Indonesia who are leveraging the technology to transform their live events, film, and production workflows.

In Asia and worldwide, creators and industry professionals are fast adopting real-time across their production workflows, and for a multitude of content. This has bearings on projects at every stage of the creative lifecycle — from ideation and conceptualization to location scouting, and even production design and final-frame visual effects.

Singapore-based AUX Media leveraged the real-time capabilities of the Unreal Engine and disguise to develop live, interactive visual effects for Mediacorp’s Star Awards Ceremony 2022. This was conceptualized and brought to life within the confines of the studio’s xR stage, with an accompanying green screen that enabled developers to superimpose visual effects and other celebrities remotely, and in real-time. Not only did this produce a captivating end result; but it also enabled production teams to capture more authentic and genuine reactions and responses from the actors. Post-production workflows were also minimized to bring the show to audiences much faster than before — all of which would not have been possible in traditional set-ups.

Malaysia’s first xR studio, 3Particle, has also leveraged real-time technologies and xR stages to create futuristic new environments in music videos for local bands IMAGI and MADAM, and world-class virtual performances for Alan Walker. The ability to shoot and combine these hyper-realistic scenes has been revolutionary for the industry; enabling producers and directors to make creative decisions on the fly, and bring concepts to shoot much faster, without the need to travel to various places just to shoot onlocation. This has huge bearings on the production timeline — resulting in significant time, cost and resource savings for all teams involved.

Moving forward, the xR Stage Malaysia by 3Particle will work closely with localbased creatives, Experiential Design Team (EDT), to explore contentbased tech collaboration for the M&E industry, both in Malaysia and abroad.

This will be underpinned by the Unreal Engine’s real-time 3D workflows, as seen in projects such as Metahuman Raya, Arvena and Silau Maya Alun.

EDT is a personalized team that is plugged into the future, with xR at its core. Led by Fariz Hanapiah, Creative Tech Director, EDT’s work leverages Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) across different communication touchpoints, to help its clients increase customer engagement through AR/ VR enterprise tools. And through it all, EDT is here to help clients create a seamless customer experience in their offline to online journey.

Across the border, Indonesia’s first immersive xR studio, V2 Indonesia, is changing the game for virtual events with real-time software. In October 2021, the audio-visual (AV) specialized studio made its foray into xR in the hopes of value-adding to its current offerings for business industrial and consumer clients, and powering immersive hybrid events of the future.

The company has since embarked on its first xR project with Indonesian Bethel Church (otherwise known as GBI PRJ), a house of worship located in Jakarta. Within GBI PRJ, V2 has built a xR studio with a LED volume of 17x5m, which is underpinned by disguise software and allows the church to accommodate as many as 1000 members per worship session.

Beyond this, V2 is also working with one of Indonesia’s largest Youtubers to build a podcast studio equipped with xR technology. The company hopes that xR will equip

art creatives, TV media, advertising agencies and content creators to further unleash their creativity and produce cutting-edge quality content.

Epic Games is committed to empowering studios and creators across ASEAN to support the growing demand for virtual production and ICVFX. To date, it has supported over 1600 creators and teams across 89 countries, through its Epic MegaGrants (EMG) program — a US$100 million fund designed to actively foster success in the developer and creator community.

In Asia, this number is currently at 47, with animation studios like Malaysia’s Streamline Media Group, AeonSparx Interactive Sdn Bhd, and Ammobox Studios as recipients of the grant. Epic also plans to expand this network of support for ASEAN creators through several schemes and initiatives to be launched later this year, such as regional iterations of its Women Creators’ Program and Unreal Shorts Challenges for Southeast Asia.

“Virtual production is absolutely the future for the media and entertainment sector—whether that is for film and television production, advertisements, broadcast or live events. It is rapidly shaping the way we create, and the speed and scale at which creators can bring their ideas to life, and ASEAN is well-positioned to capture this demand,” shared Dean Reinhard, Evangelist and Technical Account Manager, Southeast Asia at Epic Games. “We’re already seeing great use cases come out of the region, with studios like AUX Media, 3Particle and V2 blazing the path forward! Epic is thrilled to be doing what we can to support Southeast Asian creators, and we’re excited to see what’s ahead for the future of ASEAN media and entertainment.”

A version of this story appears on www.tva.onscreenasia.com. facebook-f TVAPlusMag | twitter TVAsiaPLus | linkedin-in television-asia-plus

July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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July 2022 Television Asia Plus

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