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Tag: AVIA

  • Lionsgate Play eyeing collaborations to get ahead in Indian market: Rohit Jain

    Lionsgate Play eyeing collaborations to get ahead in Indian market: Rohit Jain

    KOLKATA: In December 2020, Hollywood studio Lionsgate rolled out its independent video streaming app Lionsgate Play here and later expanded its presence in Indonesia. Distribution, payment mechanism, flexible strategy around ARPU – will be the three key factors to make a significant presence in emerging markets in India, according to Lionsgate South Asia and networks- emerging markets Asia managing director Rohit Jain.

    Jain was speaking at Future of Video India 2021 organised by the Asia Video Industry Association. “Globally our view is that streaming is eventually going to settle into a three-tier structure which is no different from linear structure. Technologies will change and that makes it convenient for consumers to sort of watch content but the segmentation of customers and their behaviour don’t change,” he said.

    He further revealed that Lionsgate Play is looking to position itself around the mid-tier. While a large network might be looking at 250-300 million subscribers, it may target 70-75 million subscribers. The OTT platform currently has around 30 million subscriptions worldwide.

    “It is important to let go of the fixation around ARPU. It’s a very incomplete metric unless we look at volumes parallel to that,” Jain commented. Emerging markets like India have huge volume unlike markets like the UK, the US, the platforms don’t have to look at standalone metrics always, he detailed.

    In addition to that, distribution is a key factor in these emerging markets as they are more fragmented markets with mobile-first consumers. Jain stated that distribution has to be far more layered compared to developed markets as the platforms need to work on various factors like b2c app, devices, collaboration with telcos, aggregators.

    Lionsgate Play’s distribution strategy in India does not revolve around reach or access. The platform looks at how it can reach consumers as complementary services through collaborations – how the platforms come together, create data bundles, a-la-carte models etc.

    Additionally, a large part of consumers in these markets are not frequented with net banking, credit cards. Hence, the workaround payment mechanism also becomes far more complicated, Jain noted. “In a sense, these markets will teach you more than western markets,” he added.

    In terms of content strategy in India, the global ethos of cinema scale premium content, edgy, untold, provocative storytelling remains the same. Moreover, its content strategy is based on curated content rather than offering an ocean of content. Lionsgate Play is also looking at a well-rounded content slate for India focusing on multiple genres.

    “Global productions will have audiences but you can’t take away the value of local productions especially in India where local language content always has been very strong. There are multiple things we can do starting from dubbing. We localise our content across seven to eight languages in India. Local originals are also important. Everybody at the end of the day wants to watch local stars. That market will be 10X larger than Hollywood content,” Jain noted.

  • Industry heads see huge headroom for growth across TV & digital in India

    Industry heads see huge headroom for growth across TV & digital in India

    KOLKATA: At the Asia Video Industry Association’s (AVIA) recent Future of Video India conference, industry leaders remained upbeat about the potential for growth in India’s television landscape despite a painful 2020 which had seen a 25 per cent drop in TV advertising revenue.

    The conference opened with an overview of the Future of Video in India with Media Partners Asia (MPA) India VP Mihir Shah. With learnings from the last year and economic resurgence in certain sectors, MPA predicts that in the next five years, with every new incremental dollar in the region, India will have 35 per cent share, almost evenly divided between television and online video.

    While cable in general is going through a structural decline, pay-TV subscriptions will grow both in value and volume and continue to offer scale for the traditional media players. And with more than 60 online video services in India, the total addressable market will continue to expand.

    This local expansion is what Disney+ Hotstar president & head Sunil Rayan is eyeing, with the streamer’s next stage of growth primed at developing their product for India, with pricing and content made for the local market. As India is a mobile-first market which drives individual viewing, while OTT and TV is not a zero sum game, OTT content needs to be far more engaging for individual viewing. “Fundamentally, we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach for India because there are multiple Indias within India,” mentioned Rayan.

    The sentiment of diversity and positive co-existence among the platforms was echoed by Discovery Communications India south Asia MD Megha Tata. “India lives in several centuries at the same time,” she said, and this is not only the beauty and complexity of the market but also the opportunity to do more. While it is still a long way away before the demise of the TV, a differentiated content and product offering remains a key focus.

    “Content is king . . . distribution is god . . . that play of god and king will continue but differentiation of content will play a critical part in decision making,” added Tata.

    This focus on local content is also what drives content platforms. Netflix India VP content Monika Shergill shared that premium storytelling was a new space in India, as Indian audiences were open to experimentation and yet gravitating towards highly local tastes. “Our job and our passion is to find the best stories . . . the biggest stories . . . the untold stories from India and to become the service of choice for Indians in India . . . and in different parts of the world,” shared Shergill.

    For Zee5 Hindi Originals head Nimisha Pandey, the initial focus was on building volume, though it has now shifted to adding to the variety and scaling up the content offering. She, too, has realised the need to up the game on the regional market for the next set of growth. “There is so much demand that there is much hope for everyone to grow their businesses,” said Pandey.

    As the market where the next billion consumers of video will come from, Zee5 Global chief business officer Archana Anand summed it up best when she said, “It is the decade of video.”

  • AVIA appoints Celeste Campbell-Pitt as a new chief policy officer

    AVIA appoints Celeste Campbell-Pitt as a new chief policy officer

    KOLKATA: The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) has appointed a new chief policy officer to be based in its Singapore office, a first for the role. Celeste Campbell-Pitt will join AVIA on 3 May, and work with the current chief policy officer John Medeiros, who will retire after the transition period. 

    Medeiros, who is based in Hong Kong, and joined the Association then known as CASBAA, in 2005 as ice president of government relations and regulatory affairs, has been chief policy officer since 2013.

    AVIA’s key focus has been to represent the combined positions of its members and engage in constructive dialogue with governments so they may better understand the curated video industry. The chief policy officer spearheads this goal, developing and executing policy initiatives relevant to the video industry, in consultation with and on behalf of AVIA member companies. According to AVIA, the role has evolved over the years and  become a lot more critical as regulatory policies continue to develop alongside the sweeping changes the video industry has seen in recent years.

    “This role is critical for AVIA and we have taken a long time to find the right person.  While taking over from John who has made the role his own will be no easy task, I am delighted that we have found Celeste who has such a passion for the industry and a clear vision for how to build and develop the role,” AVIA CEO Louis Boswell said.

    Campbell-Pitt comes with over twenty years of business and legal experience in the media and entertainment industry across both Europe and Asia. Before joining AVIA, she was consulting with various global media and technology companies as well as private equity firms that were looking to expand into the Asia Pacific region.

    Campbell-Pitt was previously the vice president and head of Business Development and Advertising Sales at Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, after her stint at Endemol Shine Asia Group as the director and head of Commercial and Operations. She has also held senior legal counsel positions in international media companies including Star, Turner, and Channel Four in the UK.

  • AVIA announces governance framework for online curated content services

    AVIA announces governance framework for online curated content services

    KOLKATA: The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) has announced the publication of the governance framework for online curated content (OCC) services (hereafter referred to as the “Governance Framework”). The governance framework delivers concrete commitments and standards in order to deepen discussions with APAC regulators and empower consumers in the region.

    OCC services are online video streaming services, which offer a fully curated content catalogue. Their unique characteristics distinguish them from other online video services, such as social media and user-generated content, as well as pay TV and broadcast TV. OCC services are operated by professional media companies and have suitable technology at their disposal to more effectively ensure controls and take responsibility for the content they distribute. These services stand ready and available for dialogue with governments, to help build a positive and growing content ecosystem.

    OCC services are transforming the way that content is created and consumed in Asia and around the world, expanding markets and options for creators and empowering consumers to safely view the professional content they select whenever, wherever and on whichever device they choose.

    A recent YouGov survey of consumers in five Asian markets found that there is a high expectation (62 per cent) that OCC service providers curate their content well with ratings and advisories, but an even higher expectation (77 per cent) that final content control is put in consumers’ hands. A large preponderance of consumers (77 per cent) also believed parental controls or content filters are an important attribute of OCC services.

    The new governance framework is designed to meet those expectations. Within its provisions, the framework proposes various industry actions that include robust systems of control by way of parental control features, program ratings, advisories, and consumer feedback mechanisms. It also proposes a notification process overseen by the regulator to ensure accountability, and formal industry-regulator consultations to continue to improve the framework.

    Importantly, the survey found that viewers have high expectations for access to the content they seek. The survey found that in reaction to government censorship, 80 per cent of streaming viewer customers would revert to piracy, cancellation or reduction of their use of legal services.

    An effective governance framework, rather than heavy regulation, is therefore critical for this dynamic sector providing an accountable framework for legal content consumption. It is designed to encourage growth of the OCC sector, and ensure the progressive adoption of higher standards by a greater number of curated service operators.

    AVIA CEO Louis Boswell said, “OCC industry leaders have already demonstrated their commitment to responsibility and ensuring accountability. This framework will help guide our members, and hopefully governments, to act in good faith and closely collaborate as this nascent sector continues to evolve. And, more importantly, it will give consumers confidence in the content provided by the OCC sector without the need for burdensome regulation on top.”

    The concept for the governance framework grew from initial discussions at the ASEAN Telecom Regulators Council dialogue, held in Bangkok in September 2017. This forum brought together both regulators as well as industry in dialogue, to create pan-ASEAN solutions. The initial output from this was the subscription video-on-demand industry content code for ASEAN. Similar content codes have also been released in India and Taiwan, creating room for a region-wide framework that puts forward guiding principles for the industry.

    AVIA has put these principles forward in the spirit of continued dialogue and engagement between industry, government, civil society and consumer groups. AVIA members look forward to discussing with governments how policy and regulation can be developed to benefit consumers across the Asia-Pacific region and help grow the region’s creative industries.

  • AVIA hosts the Satellite Industry Forum focusing on video in the satellite world

    AVIA hosts the Satellite Industry Forum focusing on video in the satellite world

    KOLKATA: The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) will be hosting this year’s Satellite Industry Forum (SIF) as a virtual conference, taking place over two days, from 24 – 25 September, 9.30am – 11.30am (SGT).

    As Asia’s leading satellite conference, the theme of Video in the Satellite World will look at the key conversations driving the industry today, with industry leaders sharing their thoughts on The State of the Satellite Industry with the Impact of COVID-19, a view on Asia with the outcomes from WRC-19, and weighing the Bear vs Bull Case for 5G. There will also be much conversations on the coming year, as we look at Satellite Financing and what to watch for in 2021, if it will truly become the landmark year for 4K UHD, and what will Drive Global Growth for the industry in the next decade.

    Speaking at the Industry Leaders Talk will be Christophe Cazes, CEO of Eutelsat Asia. In this opening panel, Cazes will be sharing his perspectives and predictions on the satellite industry over the course of the coming year.

    “Satellite industry in Asia has been undergoing a big transformation with the emergence of new players and the launch or investment in satellites of new generation. The COVID-19 situation will either be a catalyst or a disruptor of these trends,” said Cazes.

     This year, the conference will also be taking a look at Women in Satellite, a predominantly male industry, for a conversation on their perspectives, challenges and ideas for putting together best practices to strengthen gender equality both in the sector and within our organisations, as well as their perspectives on what the industry might look like in the coming year. This panel will bring together  KISPE Space strategic business manager Anita Bernie; SES Networks SVP global government Nicole Robinson; EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA) secretary general Aarti Holla-Maini; Mynaric USA  president Tina Ghataore.

    “I’ve seen a small shift in women being invited to speak at satellite forums – and not just on topics related to diversity in the industry – but clearly more needs to be done. I look forward to the day when I’m invited to speak and I see around me panelists reflecting both gender and cultural diversity,” commented Ghataore.

    Other key speakers joining the Satellite Industry Forum this year include:

    Marc Halbfinger, CEO, PCCW Global

     Yew Weng Soo, VP sales and market development, SES Video, SES

    Terry Bleakley, regional VP, Asia Pacific, Intelsat

    Shakunt Malhotra, MD, Asia, Globecast

    Roger Tong, CEO, AsiaSat

     Lon Levin, president and CEO, GEOshare

    Alvaro Sanchez, CEO, Integrasys

    Paul Estey, EVP, Customer Relations and Advisor to CEO, Maxar Technologies

     Mark Dankberg, CEO, ViaSat

    The Satellite Industry Forum aims to deliver as close an experience as possible to a physical event. All delegates will be able to enjoy a full event platform which will include access to the live conference sessions, virtual networking opportunities as well as meeting rooms to connect and engage with industry peers during the conference. All sessions will also be available for catch-up viewing on demand after the live event. 

  • Innovation is key in this age of constant change and disruption

    Innovation is key in this age of constant change and disruption

    MUMBAI: The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) welcomedover 180 delegates to the first Satellite Industry Forum (SIF) in Singapore since its rebrand from Casbaa in August 2018. On Monday, CEO Louis Boswell reiterated the importance of AVIA’s continued focus and support of the satellite industry in this period of great change and disruption, particularly in the areas of policy and regulation.

    SIFbrought togethermany of the mostinfluential leaders of the industry this year to discuss critical issues including regulatory discussions at WRC19, the raging spectrum wars among satellite operators, pricing, demand & supply, and the latest in “Newspace” activities.

    The need for innovation in order to stay relevant was a main point for keynote speaker, Steve Collar, CEO of SES. In his opening address, Steve said that“customers demand high quality video everywhere, anytime and on any screen. Satellite operators can play key roles in the digital era especially in integrating satellite with the Cloud andsupporting applications that will create more experience and value for the customers.”

    Pricing is still a challenge for the industry with overcapacity and increasing pressure on costs and this therefore increases the pressing need for innovation.  MitsutoshiAkao, Group President of Global Business Group of SKY Perfect JSAT noted that the “Asia region is a very tough market, so in order to survive, we need more cost-effective satellitesand that is one of the reasons we have launched a newhigh-throughput satellite.”

    The other prominent discussion of the day centred around spectrum wars. “Spectrum should be allocated to services that make highest and best use of it”, said Steve Collar. Chen Xun, EVP of APT Satellite added that a “C-band frequency war is inevitable. The industry has to fight harder to protect it especially in Asia where C-band is most viable.”  

    In the closing C-Suite panel,Lon Levin, President & CEO of GEOsharepredicted that “5G and the Internet of Things will happen faster than we are planning for.  This will be a great opportunity for satellite operators, many of which are already seeing an increase in data transmission business.  To take full advantage of the future flood of 5G needs, the satellite industry must develop ground segments that facilitate the transmission of 5G such that the choice between terrestrial and satellite becomes irrelevant.”

    Jim Simpson, CEO of Saturn Satellite Networks, advised that “in this era of dynamic change, the satellite industry needs to evaluate what it does best – delivering large amounts of capacity into areas without substantial terrestrial infrastructure, leveraging commercial electronics and taking advantage of economics and advancements, and focusing on market needs.”

    The Satellite Industry Forum was supported byAsiaSat, China Satellite Communications, Eutelsat, GEOshare, Hughes Network Systems, ILS, Integrasys, Marsh, Maxar, Newtec, NorthTelecom, Saturn Satellite Networks, SES, SpaceBridge, SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation and SpaceX.
     

  • Bullish predictions for the Video Industry in India fuelled by VOD services but also for linear TV

    Bullish predictions for the Video Industry in India fuelled by VOD services but also for linear TV

    MUMBAI: The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) yesterday held a one-day conference, The Future of Video India 2019, with leading industry experts discussing the growth and prospects of the video industry in India.

    The story of the conference was that despite disruption, fragmentation and a need for consistent and credible measurement across TV and digital streaming services, the video industry in India today is in great heath and is only getting stronger.

    Romil Ramgarhia, the COO of BARC India started the day by painting a picture of growing time spent watching television and with 100m households still without TV, organic growth of TV uptake of all sorts would continue.  Ashish Bhasin, CEO Greater South and Chairman and CEO India for Dentsu Aegis Network later corroborated this and said all media will continue to grow in India over the next 3-4 years.

    While TV may be growing, the uptake of streaming video services is exploding with the lowest mobile data costs in the world and enormous growth of smart phone adoption still to happen, speakers throughout the day agreed we are on the cusp of an enormous wave of digital growth.  Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and MD of Viacom18 in his keynote session predicted digital video growth would be shaped by three things – technology, culture and e-commerce.

    The digital video landscape is dynamic and changing and both Gaurav Gandhi, Country GM of Amazon Prime Video and Akash Banerji, Head of Advertising VOD for Viacom18 Digital Ventures agreed that fragmentation was an opportunity more than a problem, and the move from 1 television screen per household to 3-4 screens provides a new addressable market for VOD services.  Tarun Katial, CEO of ZEE5 pointed out that streaming services were not content to be only on the small screen and wanted to be able to grow consumption over TV as a device.

    And while it is clear that India’s love affair with video was only deepening, the business model behind streaming video services still has room to change and evolve.  Ad supported services are likely to be dominant but Sunil Lulla, the Group CEO of Balaji Telefilms pointed out that ad free subscription is entirely viable and there is enough scale for subscription to be very meaningful in India, especially where supported by strong content investments.

    Shantanu Sirohi, COO Interactive Avenues at IPGMediabrands and Ashok Venkatramani, Managing Director ZEE Media were very clear that advertisers were not giving up on digital and moving spends back to linear TV.  However, as Ashish Bhasin pointed out, advertising dollars will continue to grow across all services but growth on digital video was far ahead of ad growth on TV, which itself was still expected to be respectable 12-15% CAGR over the coming 5 years.

    The Future of Video India 2019 was supported by sponsors Accedo, Contentwise, Discovery India, Hansen Technologies, SES, Viacom18 and Vindicia.

  • AVIA announces new members

    AVIA announces new members

    MUMBAI: The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) today announced that Netflix has joined as a Patron member, alongside Globe Telecom as a Corporate member, strengthening the mandate of the Association to represent the interests of companies across the broader video industry in Asia.

    Additionally, in joining AVIA, Netflix has increased their role in supporting the industry by committing to becoming a Steering Committee member for the Coalition Against Piracy (CAP); piracy being one of the central pillars of the newly refocused Association.

    CAP is at the forefront of fighting piracy through enforcement, disruption of intermediaries in the piracy chain, along with government and consumer outreach. AVIA is also a supporter of Globe’s ‘Play it Right’ campaign to discourage video piracy.

    “As we create new forms of content, this is an opportunity for Globe to enhance synergy with other key stakeholders in the global entertainment industry”, said Globe President and CEO, Ernest Cu. “Through AVIA we will ensure that our customers get the full benefit of our partnerships. In addition, this will help strengthen our advocacy of protecting original content providers against piracy.”

    Louis Bowell, AVIA CEO, further stated that “It is clear that whatever part of the video industry you come from, there are concerns about the growing threat from video piracy and there is a need to have farsighted policies to foster growth. I am delighted that we will be able to work together with Netflix and Globe Telecom on these crucial issues for our industry”.

    AVIA is open to companies who care about the future of the video industry in Asia Pacific and want to be part of a community of like-minded, responsible companies who work to make it stronger and healthier. Please visit www.asiavia.org for information on how to join.

  • Casbaa becomes the Asia Video Industry Association

    Casbaa becomes the Asia Video Industry Association

    MUMBAI: At an Extraordinary General Meeting of members today, Casbaa overwhelmingly approved the adoption of a new constitution and new name. Casbaa will now be known as the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) and have a new mandate to represent the interests of companies across the broader video industry. The principal objective of AVIA is to make the video industry and ecosystem in Asia Pacific stronger and healthier.

    Specifically, the Association will be focused on three main goals: to be the interlocutor for the video industry with governments across the Asia Pacific region; to be dedicated to reducing video piracy and creating a more sustainable business environment within which established and new video companies can innovate and grow; and to be a leading source of insight into the video industry through publications and reports as well as seminars and conferences.

    Speaking about the changes, Louis Boswell, the CEO of AVIA said “As an industry Association we need to reach out to all parts of the video ecosystem and we need to embrace change. Our role must be to try and create a better environment for our members to grow their businesses and at the same time provide insight into how
    the industry is changing”.

    As part of the change, AVIA will actively seek to broaden its membership and interests it represents to include video on demand companies and telcos for whom video is playing an increasingly important role. On the back of these changes two new companies have joined AVIA: Toolbox, the leading provider of ‘TV everywhere’ services in Latin America that is now reaching out to Asia; and the popular streaming service Netflix.

    AVIA is also re-introducing a category for smaller companies and start-ups  to become members, and making it clear that all employees of member companies are members. The voting entitlements of different member categories have also been amended to take account of their respective contributions.

    Speaking about the new association, President of Turner Asia Pacific, Ricky Ow said “The change allows AVIA to be a better representation of the video ecosystem and members should rightfully expect our industry organisation to have its core focus
    on key industry issues. I believe these changes are a huge step in the right direction to keeping AVIA at the forefront of the video industry in Asia and will serve it well for many years to come”.