Tag: Netflix

IPTV to drive growth of global pay-TV market

MUMBAI: The worldwide pay-TV market is expected to have grown five per cent in 2014, surpassing 924.4 million subscribers. “IPTV is expected to grow a market leading 14 per cent in 2014, followed by satellite TV platform at seven per cent. The growth rates of cable and terrestrial TV platforms are expected to slow to around three per cent,” said ABI Research VP and practice director of core forecasting Jake Saunders.

Global cable TV market growth is driven by the Asian-Pacific and Latin American markets. A combination of the two regions is likely to add over 13 million subscribers in 2014 while the cable TV market in North America is expected to decline approximately one per cent in 2014. In 3Q 2014, major cable TV operators in North America lost over 400,000 TV customers, although cable companies are doing well in broadband.

Video streaming services such as Netflix and TiVo, which cost less than $10 in monthly fees are attractive alternatives for pay-TV customers. Traditional pay-TV operators are now trying to compete with these services by developing their own video-streaming products or by integrating these services in their existing services. Online video service Netflix has agreed to deals with some of the pay-TV operators in Europe to offer its streaming service to European broadband customers. Canadian companies such as Cogeco, Rogers Communications, and Shaw Communications also recently announced deals to offer Netflix’s video streaming service to their own broadband customers.

Bundled packages help pay-TV operators try to reduce churn. In addition, HD channels, advanced PVR services and premium content such as sport content contribute to increased ARPU. “The worldwide HD subscriber base is growing on all pay-TV platforms. Approximately 57 per cent of total pay-TV subscribers will be HD subscribers by 2019. ABI Research forecasts the global pay-TV market will generate $324 billion in service revenues by 2019,” added industry analyst Khin Sandi Lynn.

February 16, 2015
Netflix launches service in Cuba

MUMBAI: Netflix, the Internet film and TV subscription service, will offer a broad range of great global entertainment to Cuban consumers as Internet access improves and credit and debit cards become more widely available.

Starting 9 February, people in Cuba with Internet connections and access to international payment methods will be able to subscribe to Netflix and instantly watch a curated selection of popular movies and TV shows.

Among the premium and unique Netflix series available will be the Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning series House of Cards and Orange is the New Black; the global adventure Marco Polo, kids shows like DreamWorks Animation’s All Hail King Julien and The Adventures of Puss in Boots and Academy Award-nominated original documentaries including Virunga and The Square. Netflix will also offer a wide range of films, series and kids programming, as it does throughout Latin America.

“We are delighted to finally be able to offer Netflix to the people of Cuba, connecting them with stories they will love from all over the world. Cuba has great filmmakers and a robust arts culture and one day we hope to be able to bring their work to our global audience of over 57 million members,” said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings.

Since launching its online service in 2007, Netflix has revolutionized the way people enjoy entertainment. With a constantly improving user experience, advanced personalization technology and a curated selection of films and TV series, members are able to create their own viewing experience and can easily discover new favorites, while reconnecting with popular characters and stories.

Netflix began offering its service in Latin America in 2011 and now counts over five million members, enjoying millions of hours of films and TV series for a low monthly price.

February 10, 2015
Online presence, a must for TV channels, says PepperMedia’s Radhakrishnan Ramachandran

MUMBAI: Narendra Modi dreams of a ‘Digital India’ as do many others who are working towards achieving the same goal. One of them is PepperMedia founder and CEO Radhakrishnan Ramachandran.

Ramachandran entered the digital space almost 15 years ago, when it was in its nascent stage. With the launch of India Syndicate, which was later followed by iStream.com, Ramachandran has seen the online video segment grow from scratch in India.

“With iStream.com, we ventured into the world of online video segment with Youtube and established a good platform. Through this initiative we helped the likes of MTV and Colors launch their channels on Youtube. We also worked on MSN videos and Yahoo for Yahoo Cricket. We had raised $5 million from SAIF for launching istream.com as a VOD play. However, had to shut it down in 2013 since the second round of funding didn’t happen. ,” recalls Ramachandran, adding he didn’t lose faith in the medium and went on to launch his third venture, an MCN, (PepperMedia) with personal financial backing.

Talking about the plans ahead, Ramachandaran says, “The next 12-18 months, our focus will be on Youtube because nobody else has been able to crack the model. Of course, we have Netflix and Hulu aboard but in India, it is only Youtube, which has been able to successfully monetise and hence we will focus on that.”

In the online video segment, where monetisation is the biggest challenge, consumption pattern has changed over the years. Making revenue with plans in place, a startup focused on creating original online video content and building video solutions for brands and media entities, aims to marry content and technology. To achieve the same, PepperMedia recently appointed Milind Naik as its director of technology.

“If you are looking at building a sustainable business model in the MCN space, technology is one of the core accelerators. It will play a key role in simplifying the model for brand managers, by helping them analyse the impact of their video campaigns on platforms like Youtube,” says Ramachandran. He adds, “Our team is building tools, which will help brands monetise.”

The startup is looking at enhancing the MCN model by bringing together TV networks, celebrities, content creators and brands.

“We are powering TV networks on the digital world as we offer them end-to-end solutions and have revenue sharing deal with them. We hope to rope in celebs and create content with them for the virtual world. Content creators are someone, who have the talent to become stars online across languages and platforms,” Ramachandran says.

He further draws concern over the critical issue of getting brands associated with the entire network. “There are two business models – one, the more views you get on Youtube, the more money you get out of it. Second, can we also have a premium model where you can get brands to marry with the content? So, that will be the primary area of focus,” he informs.

For instance, in July 2014, the company had partnered with fashion retail major Megamart to launch an online reality show for designers. Titled ‘Megamart Fashion Designer of the Year,’ the show aimed at discovering the top talent in the fashion designing space in the country.

Being part of the online video ecosystem for a long time now, Ramachandran believes that it is the company’s job to lure brands to open their minds and their purses. “It would mean building tools that would help brands build engaged audiences and monitor their influence metrics. It would also mean creating customised decks for brands that would help them analyse the impact of their video campaigns on platforms like YouTube,” he states.

Nonetheless, he is happy that things have changed and continue to move towards a better phase. Recalling earlier days, Ramachandaran says, “In 2008-2009, it was very difficult to convince TV channels to put their content online. But today most of them have their own video-on-demand platforms. Its good to know that they have realised if they don’t take this route, there is bound to be trouble in the future.”

Citing the example of the West, Ramachandaran believes that over the coming years, the number of people watching content on television will also decrease. “As more and more people consume content on mobile, especially regional content, VoD needs to be on everyone’s game plan and need to tweak their strategy to suit the consumer,” he advises.

Though there is a huge gap between the West and India’s online monetisation system, there is hope as investors are showing interest in the transparent medium. To build sustainable and monetisable concepts, products and global audiences, the year 2015 will play an important role in PepperMedia’s future plans. “If we get brands on board and have the best technology to do so, then MCN will soon go through a purple patch in our country too,” he concludes.

January 20, 2015
MPA report values Asia Pacific online video revenue opportunity at $12 billion by 2020

MUMBAI: A research report published by Media Partners Asia (MPA) indicates that the total market for online video services across 13 countries in Asia Pacific will grow from $3.5 billion in net revenues in 2014 to reach $12.4 billion by 2020, representing an average annual growth of 23.5 per cent. Advertising will contribute more than 80 per cent to the online video pie by 2020 with the subscription revenue opportunity, largely driven by subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms, growing from less than $700 million in 2014 to more than $2.3 billion by 2020.

The report, entitled ‘Asia Pacific Online Video Distribution 2015’, evaluates the commercial distribution of legal over-the-top (OTT) video services in 13 markets with historical data and forecasts plus profiles of key OTT platforms.

Commenting on the report, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “The market for the legal consumption of OTT services in Asia Pacific is at an early stage with monetisation models nascent in most countries. As barriers to entry reduce and broadband penetration increases, more disruptors are emerging and host of new platforms are proliferating, though business models are not always scalable and issues such as piracy; content; and platform operation remain problematic. This is especially true in a number of Asian markets where piracy is significant and the limited scale of OTT video revenues are not commensurate with content costs.”

“Meanwhile, large scale global digital brands (from YouTube to Netflix) are expanding rapidly in a number of Asian markets or readying to launch in key territories over 2015 and 2016. Major local and regional television companies are also in the early stages of launching a number of large scale advertising and subscription based OTT platforms, anchored to local, Asian and Hollywood content while telecom operators are either moving upstream into content and OTT services or providing a crucial link for the ecosystem,” he added.

Key takeouts from the report include:

•   Infrastructure. Fixed broadband subscribers reached 325.3 million in 2014 across Asia Pacific, equivalent to an average household penetration rate of 36 per cent. By 2020, MPA projections indicate that this penetration level will reach 40 per cent as fixed broadband subs grow to 403.5 million mobile broadband will grow rapidly, expanding at CAGR of 15 per cent over 2014 and 2020 to reach almost 2 billion subs by 2020 (58 per cent penetration of population) versus 866 million (26 per cent penetration) in 2014.

•   OTT Video Consumption. Active Asia Pacific OTT video subscribers reached 594 million in 2014, according to MPA. China accounted for more 85 per cent of the market size in 2014 and will represent 80 per cent by 2020. Ex-China, the largest markets in 2014 were Korea; India; Japan; and Hong Kong. By 2020, MPA projections indicate that active OTT video customers will reach 977 million. By 2020, in Asia ex-China, India will emerge as the second largest market, followed by Korea, Japan and Hong Kong. In Southeast Asia, Malaysia will be joined by Indonesia and the Philippines as market leaders.

The market for subscription-based OTT video reached 75.3 million active subscribers in 2014 and is expected to reach 225 million by 2020. China will be the largest contributor, driven by internet-enabled TV and set-top box platforms and online video companies offering premium services. Japan, Korea, India and Australia will emerge as material opportunities, powered by SVOD but India will trend towards more a freemium-oriented model.

•   Industry economics. MPA divides industry monetization models into distinct segments:

o    SVOD. In terms of SVOD revenue across OTT platforms, the largest markets in Asia Pacific by 2020 will be Japan; China; Korea; and Australia. New Zealand and India will lead the next best placed group of geographies. MPA projections indicate that total SVOD-based OTT revenues in Asia Pacific will grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent between 2014 and 2020, growing from $953 million in 2014 to more than $2.3 billion by 2020.

o    Online video and OTT advertising. Asia Pacific online video advertising exceeded US$3.7 billion in net terms in 2014, up 35 per cent year-on-year. The largest markets for online video advertising in 2014 were, by far, China and Japan, followed by Australia, India and Korea. By 2020, the total Asia Pacific online vide advertising pie is expected to grow to $10 billion, a CAGR of 18 per cent from 2014, with China dominant, followed by Japan and Australia. India will gain increasing scale and overtake Korea while Indonesia will be the clear leader in Southeast Asia.

OTT video advertising revenue, a subset of the online video advertising pie, reached $2.1 billion in 2014, up 43 per cent year-on-year from a low base, and almost entirely driven by China. This pie, is projected by MPA to expand to $5.5 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of ~18 per cent. China will be the largest contributor with India, Korea and Indonesia starting to become gradually significant over time.

January 13, 2015
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings believes free-to-air TV will be extinct by 2030

NEW DELHI: At a time when Prasar Bharati CEO has said Doordarshan’s future lies in Freedish, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said that “the age of broadcast TV will probably last until 2030.”

Speaking at a Netflix event in Mexico City, Hastings compared broadcast television to the horse and cart and said it will simply be a ‘casualty of evolution’. “It’s kind of like the horse, you know, the horse was good until we had the car,” he commented. Hastings has expressed his thoughts on the death of linear TV before, predicting in April 2013 that it would be replaced by online TV.

The current model of TV programming distribution will be broken and non-existent within the next decade and a half, he further said.

Hastings told reporters that he thinks the current system where television channels are grouped into free-to-air network television and premium cable channels is becoming obsolete.

Recent data suggests Netflix makes up more than a third of all internet traffic in North America during peak periods. That’s far more than any other source, and an indication of the type of heft that the once upstart company now has in the content game.

Netflix no longer breaks out its Canadian subscriber numbers separately, but boasts more than 34 million households in the United States— comparable to the reach of many television networks.

To keep up with that growth and pay for exclusive content like Orange Is the New Black, the company recently announced a price increase of between $1 and $2 a month for new customers.

The company showed off its disruptive influence in the industry in the summer in a testy exchange between a Netflix executive and the CRTC, which was demanding that the company hand over reams of subscriber data — something the company says it has no legal obligation to do.

That exchange came as the regulator was looking into changing the rules on “bundling” cable whereby customers are forced to pay for packages of channels — as opposed to picking and choosing the ones they want.

Although Netflix is the giant of the streaming space, others exist. Earlier this year Rogers and Shaw launched Shomi, a streaming service that’s meant to rival Netflix.

Ratings company, Nielsen, is going to start tracking Netflix viewing in its ratings numbers, something it hasn’t done before.

Although Netflix likes to boast about the popularity of its shows, Hastings downplayed the significance of Nielsen’s move because, by the company’s own admission, it will not include mobile usage.

“It’s not very relevant,” Hastings said and added, “There’s so much viewing that happens on a mobile phone or an iPad that (the new ratings]) won’t capture.”

November 29, 2014
BroadcastAsia2015 Unveils New TV Everywhere! Zone

MUMBAI: BroadcastAsia2015, slated for 2 – 5 June 2015 will unveil its new TV Everywhere! Zone as increasing consumer expectations place new challenges on the industry to provide more convenient and reliable access to content. With the proliferation of digital devices and today’s ever-changing market of always-on connectivity, content broadcasters are starting to look beyond TV to stream and monetise their content.

This brings the launch of the new zone, which will be a key attraction at BroadcastAsia2015 and will explore the entire value chain of non-linear broadcasting.

Need for new technologies driven by shift in consumer demands

Recent years have witnessed a dramatic increase in competition in the broadcast industry as providers continue to develop new technologies in meeting consumer demands, to offer a social, personalised and flexible TV and video experience. With the evolution of linear channel brands already underway in Asia, the region continues to grow at an exponential rate and is witnessing an increasing number of traditional broadcasters entering the IPTV, OTT space. This is also emphasised by the growth and influence of aggregated services, such as Netflix, Hulu, AmazonPrime, YouTube and Apple TV.

The recent Multiscreen TV & Video Forecasts report published by Digital TV Research reveals that the number of viewers watching TV and video content on multiple screens will climb from 5.60 billion in 2010 to 11.32 billion by 2020, with TV sets’ share of total viewers falling from 73 per cent to 42 per cent during this same period.

The report also predicts that by 2020, 3.98 billion people will watch content via a PC or laptop over a fixed broadband connection, an increase of 80 per cent on 2013; and smartphones viewers will reach 1.53 billion, triple the number in 2013. Tablet viewers will amount to 1.10 billion by 2020, an impressive five times the 2013 total.

“There is continuous interest in the broadcast industry especially in the areas of OTT, second screen, non-linear broadcasting and social media – all to meet consumers’ demands and enhance users’ experience. BroadcastAsia is already fuelling this space in Asia and with the introduction of our new TV Everywhere!, we hope to bring together even more case studies on how new entrants are adapting to competition, and how incumbents are maturing their offerings to differentiate themselves amongst competitors,” says Mr. Calvin Koh, Assistant Project Director of BroadcastAsia, from organiser Singapore Exhibition Services.

International collaboration

Regional broadcasting regulators play a vital role in helping to shape the future of the industry, as highlighted by the support shown from the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand (NBTC). This symposium initiated and jointly implemented an initiative aimed at studying the trends and market analysis in the broadcasting industry while promoting international cooperation among policy makers, regulators, and Asia’s industry players.

Healthy industry response to new feature area

With the opportunity to reach key buyers from the industry, confirmed participants include major players from across the world and region, such as Ali Corp, Aveco, Brightcove, Montage Tech, Quick Play, SPB TV and Vimond among others. TV Everywhere! will place a
focus on the following technologies:

• Authentication
• Archive Management
• Content Delivery Network
• Connected / Hybrid TV

• Delivery
• Integration
• Ingest
• Interactive TV Apps

• Monetisation
• Network & Device Management
• Playout Automation
• Storage / Security
• Workflow Glue Application

“Clearly the media industry is in transformation with consumers being able to access content across multi-screens, fuelling unprecedented demand for online video content. The investments being made in bringing TV Everywhere solutions to market is a strong sign that broadcasters and content owners are moving up the adoption curve,” says Mr. Dennis Rose, Senior Vice President, Asia-Pacific and Japan, Brightcove.

“For those who want to launch and capitalise the TV Everywhere business model, Brightcove’s powerful suite of cloud based online video streaming, trans-coding and monetisation solutions deliver compelling consumer experiences that work across every screen,” he adds.

BroadcastAsia2015, Asia’s definitive exhibition and knowledge platform for the international broadcasting, film and digital multimedia industry, will showcase the newest innovations and cutting edge technologies in 4K / UHD, NextGen Broadcasting – OTT / Hybrid / LTE / IP / Broadband / Cloud, Multi-Platform Streaming, Professional Audio and more.

The BroadcastAsia2015 International Conference and Creative Content Production Conference 2015 will bring together thought leaders and like-minded professionals from the broadcasting and media arenas to share business strategies for future broadcasting and content production.

Both exhibition and conferences will be held alongside CommunicAsia2015 and EnterpriseIT2015 in Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands.

November 11, 2014
Netflix adapting ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ into an original series

MUMBAI: The subscription streaming service Netflix has announced yet another original TV series based on the ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ books written by Lemony Snicket, the pen name of author Lemony Snicket

It has acquired the rights to the 13 best-selling novels published from 1999 to 2006.

Netflix is producing the project and currently looking for a director and will move forward from there.

Paramount Television, the TV arm of Paramount will produce the series in association with Netflix. Handler will serve as an executive producer.

‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ tells the tale of orphaned children Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire at the hands of the villainous Count Olaf, as they face trials and tribulations, misfortunes and an evil uncle in search of their fortune, all in their quest to uncover the secret of their parents’ death. More than 65 million copies have been sold in the series, which has been translated into 43 languages and spawned board games, card games, video games and albums.

‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ is just the latest property to be adapted into a series. Other titles to be adaptation include ‘Archie’, ‘In the Heat of the Night’, ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Big’.

November 6, 2014
Murdoch wants media to unite against Amazon and Netflix

NEW DELHI: Media magnate Rupert Murdoch has called for a cooperative media response to challenger streaming services Amazon and Netflix.

He said during a technology conference by his flagship Wall Street Journal at Laguna Beach that the media industry needs its own competitor to these giants.

“As an industry, we need a competitor – a serious competitor – to Netflix and Amazon,” Murdoch said and added, “I think we are all on the same page.”

21st Century Fox, which he chairs, is one of the partners in Hulu, a rival to Netflix, alongside Disney and NBCUniversal. Last year, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar left abruptly for a new video startup, Vessel, backed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Talking of HBO’s new streaming service Murdoch said it would be difficult for HBO to launch a standalone service while negotiating with cable companies. “They do not want to get into conflict with them, so they’re really only aiming at the moment at the 10 million people who don’t get cable.”

Murdoch briefly addressed 21st Century Fox’s failed bid for Time Warner over the summer. “We felt that we needed more critical mass and content and this was a wonderful marriage and fit,” he said.

Given that the panel was entitled “Bets Won and Lost,” the conversation turned to one of Murdoch’s most notable failed investments, the $580 million purchase of MySpace that ended with the sale of the social media site for $35 million. The mogul reiterated, as he has many times, what happened.

“We just messed it up,” Murdoch recalled, saying that he helped install a layer of bureaucracy that hindered the growth of the site. “It was a series of expensive, lost opportunities.”

November 5, 2014
Leonardo DiCaprio partners with Netflix for release of documentary on endangered gorillas

NEW DELHI: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his Appian Way Productions shingle have partnered with Netflix for the release of Virunga, a documentary about endangered gorillas on the Congo that the digital network acquired exclusive subscription-video rights to in July.

DiCaprio will serve as an executive producer on the film, which is slated for release on 7 November in theatres in New York and Los Angeles and in all territories where Netflix is available.

In a review earlier this year at Tribeca, the Variety magazine called it a “rousing, must-see work, filmed amid flying bullets and racist conspirators, provides a dramatic front-row seat to a struggle whose moral integrity proves no guarantee against the superior firepower of greed and corruption.”

“Films like ‘Virunga’ are powerful stories that are a window into the incredible cultural and natural diversity of our world, the forces that are threatening to destroy it, and the people who are fighting to protect it,” said DiCaprio, who is himself an environmental activist.

“Partnering with Netflix on this film is an exciting opportunity to inform and inspire individuals to engage on this topic,” he added.

Directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, the film follows an embattled team of park rangers and the endangered mountain gorillas they protect as they are caught in the crossfire of poachers, militia and industry in Africa’s oldest national park.

“Leo intuitively understands that there is nothing like the power of film to reach people’s hearts and minds,” said Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos.

“With Virunga, we’ll work with Leo to introduce viewers around the world to an incredible, gripping story that will have audiences guessing right up until the final act.”

October 18, 2014
Amazon’s cloud service, the preferred choice by media industry, says Amit Sharma

MUMBAI: Striving to be Earth’s most consumer-centric company, Amazon.com is a place where customers can virtually discover anything they want to buy online. To prove their consumer-centeredness, the online retail giant in 2006 launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) exposing key infrastructure services to businesses in the form of web services, more commonly known as cloud computing.

Even as a web service, Amazon is as well received and popular as its e-tailer form with clients ranging from MNCs to online agencies and news broadcasters.

Talking about the base strategy of the company at Broadcast India conference, Amazon Internet Services’ solution architect Amit Sharma said “Focus on content development, leave the infrastructure management to us.”

The company’s global clientele includes; Netflix, IMDB, Discovery Communications, Samsung, NASA while Hungama, NDTV, DigiCable, India Today Group, Sony among others joined them from India.

According to Sharma, the company has around 8000 customers in India. “AWS Cloud is a preferred choice by the media industry,” he adds.

With the rise of the online medium, everything from music to movies and TV shows have shifted online. The old hardware storage has been replaced almost completely by internet, tapes have been replaced by servers and the companies have gone digital. With these paradigm changes happening in the online world, AWS provides a platform for better web services to the company, Sharma opines.

The company mainly handles issues getting all the content online to provide easy access.

“Netflix runs almost 100 per cent of its online videos on AWS. In order to transfer the entire library of Netflix to AWS, we used around 1200 servers,” Sharma reveals.

Similarly AWS provides solutions to problems including; reducing IT cost for new applications, for user profiling, websites and website hosting, business applications, backup and recovery, disaster recovery, data archive, high performance computing, mobile services, digital marketing, game development and digital media.

Book My Show, uses AWS to analyse users that visit the site while Hungama was looking to reduced 33 per cent monthly costs using AWS.

The company provides a highly reliable, scalable, low-cost infrastructure platform in the cloud that has helped a number of enterprises, government and startup customers businesses in 190 countries around the world. AWS offers over 30 different services, including Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS).

Available to customers from data center locations in the US, Brazil, Europe, Japan, Singapore and Australia, the company is planning to expand further and open a data centre in India.

Recently, software giant Microsoft had said it will set up three data centres in India, offering commercial cloud services, to tap what it estimates is a $2 trillion opportunity. These data centres are expected to be set up by the end of 2015.

October 16, 2014