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Tag: Vivek Couto

  • Indian Pay TV subscription to break Rs 10,000 crore barrier in 2016: MPA

    Indian Pay TV subscription to break Rs 10,000 crore barrier in 2016: MPA

    MUMBAI: It’s heartening news for many in the pay TV industry, the slow pace of digitalization, nothswithstanding.

    Subscription revenues for broadcasters in India from cable TV and DTH platforms are on course to cross the Rs 10,000 crore (US $1.5 billion) mark for by end 2016. That’s the prediction of Singapore-based industry research and analysis firm Media Partners Asia (MPA).

    On the whole, Asia Pacific Pay-TV And Broadband Markets 2016, predicts that
    India’s pay-TV industry is on course to generate $9.4 billion in sales this year.

    Of this, the pay TV channels will account for $4.9 billion in aggregate revenue in 2016, up 16 per cent year-on-year. (The rest of the $4.5 billion is revenue that accrues to cable TV and DTH, that is the platforms)

    The revenue mix is approximately 70:30, skewed in favor of ad sales. Maintaining strong future growth will require channel operators to manage several structural changes, including the increased importance of rural markets under BARC’s new TV measurement system, changing norms on channel pricing and the rise of OTT video services.

    Pay-TV channel advertising revenue should grow by 15 per cent this year, to reach US$3.4 billion, predicts MPA.

    Says MPA executive director Vivek Couto: “Future economic growth should remain strong, which will support solid gains in the pay-TV industry. Digitalising India’s 65 million analog subscribers remains a major opportunity for cable, DTH and other emerging pay-TV platforms. Digital cable has done well to attain a 30 per cent share in Phase III areas, which tend to be DTH strongholds. At the same time, changes in the distribution landscape, together with gaps in traditional pay-TV services, are fostering the growth of new platforms. While Reliance Industries has yet to unveil pricing and bundling plans for its broadband service R-Jio, the product could disrupt traditional pay-TV distribution in urban markets. Expanded TV ratings from BARC meanwhile, which gives a better picture of viewing in rural areas, has also helped Prasar Bharati’s Freedish gain traction in Phase III and Phase IV areas.”

    MPA says the future looks bright. The report says that India’s pay TV industry will grow sales at 9.a 2 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2016 and 2021 to reach $14.5 billion in revenue by 2021, increasing thereafter to $18 billion by 2025.

    Total pay-TV subscribers are forecast to grow from 152 million this year to 183 million by 2025. Pay-TV penetration, including multiple subs in a home, should remain stable over 2016-25 at 80 per cent of TV homes, although digital pay-TV subs are projected to grow from 93 million to 129 million over the same period. MPA forecasts that 70 per cent of India’s pay-TV base will be digitalized by 2025.

    Ongoing cable digitisation will help facilitate a gradual increase in pay-TV monthly ARPUs, from US$3.3 in 2016 to US$4.5 in 2025, although this will be offset by the 30 per cent share of pay-TV subs still accruing to analog by 2025. Cable will remain pay-TV’s largest platform but its share of pay-TV subscribers is expected to decline, from 68 per cent in 2016 to 60 per cent in 2025, as DTH attracts the majority of new subs.

  • Indian Pay TV subscription to break Rs 10,000 crore barrier in 2016: MPA

    Indian Pay TV subscription to break Rs 10,000 crore barrier in 2016: MPA

    MUMBAI: It’s heartening news for many in the pay TV industry, the slow pace of digitalization, nothswithstanding.

    Subscription revenues for broadcasters in India from cable TV and DTH platforms are on course to cross the Rs 10,000 crore (US $1.5 billion) mark for by end 2016. That’s the prediction of Singapore-based industry research and analysis firm Media Partners Asia (MPA).

    On the whole, Asia Pacific Pay-TV And Broadband Markets 2016, predicts that
    India’s pay-TV industry is on course to generate $9.4 billion in sales this year.

    Of this, the pay TV channels will account for $4.9 billion in aggregate revenue in 2016, up 16 per cent year-on-year. (The rest of the $4.5 billion is revenue that accrues to cable TV and DTH, that is the platforms)

    The revenue mix is approximately 70:30, skewed in favor of ad sales. Maintaining strong future growth will require channel operators to manage several structural changes, including the increased importance of rural markets under BARC’s new TV measurement system, changing norms on channel pricing and the rise of OTT video services.

    Pay-TV channel advertising revenue should grow by 15 per cent this year, to reach US$3.4 billion, predicts MPA.

    Says MPA executive director Vivek Couto: “Future economic growth should remain strong, which will support solid gains in the pay-TV industry. Digitalising India’s 65 million analog subscribers remains a major opportunity for cable, DTH and other emerging pay-TV platforms. Digital cable has done well to attain a 30 per cent share in Phase III areas, which tend to be DTH strongholds. At the same time, changes in the distribution landscape, together with gaps in traditional pay-TV services, are fostering the growth of new platforms. While Reliance Industries has yet to unveil pricing and bundling plans for its broadband service R-Jio, the product could disrupt traditional pay-TV distribution in urban markets. Expanded TV ratings from BARC meanwhile, which gives a better picture of viewing in rural areas, has also helped Prasar Bharati’s Freedish gain traction in Phase III and Phase IV areas.”

    MPA says the future looks bright. The report says that India’s pay TV industry will grow sales at 9.a 2 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2016 and 2021 to reach $14.5 billion in revenue by 2021, increasing thereafter to $18 billion by 2025.

    Total pay-TV subscribers are forecast to grow from 152 million this year to 183 million by 2025. Pay-TV penetration, including multiple subs in a home, should remain stable over 2016-25 at 80 per cent of TV homes, although digital pay-TV subs are projected to grow from 93 million to 129 million over the same period. MPA forecasts that 70 per cent of India’s pay-TV base will be digitalized by 2025.

    Ongoing cable digitisation will help facilitate a gradual increase in pay-TV monthly ARPUs, from US$3.3 in 2016 to US$4.5 in 2025, although this will be offset by the 30 per cent share of pay-TV subs still accruing to analog by 2025. Cable will remain pay-TV’s largest platform but its share of pay-TV subscribers is expected to decline, from 68 per cent in 2016 to 60 per cent in 2025, as DTH attracts the majority of new subs.

  • MPA: APAC pay TV growth to slowdown 2016-2025

    MPA: APAC pay TV growth to slowdown 2016-2025

    MUMBAI: Slowdown. After years of dizzying speedy growth, the Asia-Pacific pay-TV industry is expected to grow at a very sedate average 5.8 per cent annually between 2016 and 2021, says leading industry analyst Media Partners Asia (MPA in its new report Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets, published today.

    MPA projects pay-TV industry sales across 18 major markets in APAC to climb from $54 billion in 2016 to US$72 billion by 2021, rising thereafter to US $81 billion by 2025. The pace of pay-TV subscriber and revenue growth is slowing however, weakened by an economic slowdown and increasing competition from both legal and illegal alternatives. Pay-TV subscriber growth has declined or substantially decelerated in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in particular.

    At the same time however, India and Korea remain two of the region’s largest and most scalable pay-TV opportunities. Revenue growth will also accelerate in Australia and the Philippines, largely thanks to subscriber growth.

    However, MPA analysts have lowered subscriber growth forecasts across much of Southeast Asia, especially for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, although ARPU (average revenue per user) should remain resilient in both Malaysia and Singapore.

    The pay-TV industry in China, meanwhile, remains the largest in the region and is becoming increasingly digitalized. Pay-TV growth opportunities for broadcasters are limited however, due to increasing regulation as well as competition from free and paid online video services.

    Elsewhere in the region, subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) services have had a negligible impact on pay-TV so far, despite the global launch of Netflix earlier this year, in addition to increasing competition among lower-priced regional and local SVOD services.

    Most pay-TV subscribers downgrading or canceling pay-TV services are moving instead to illegal services, as well as to free, ad-supported options across both TV and online video.

    At the same time, more pay-TV operators are rolling out connected set-top boxes that can incorporate OTT video services. In addition, some operators (telcos in particular) are aggressively hard-bundling video content, including pay-TV channels, with high-speed broadband. This is helping drive subscriber growth, especially in a number of Southeast Asian markets.

    Commenting on the report, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said:

    “Pay-TV providers are increasingly focused on repackaging and re-pricing both linear and on-demand services. Local and regional Asian programming is also becoming increasingly important. At the same time, sports, kids, infotainment and Hollywood movies will remain mainstays of the pay-TV bundle, although channels offering Hollywood TV series are being disrupted by both legal and illegal OTT. Few pay-TV operators have been able to capture or monetize large-scale online video viewing so far, although early results in Hong Kong and Korea are encouraging. The goal is driving the next cycle of customer growth and consumer spend. Pay-TV user interfaces and data analytics are improving, although often too slowly to effectively compete with legal and illegal OTT rivals. Increasingly, viable pay-TV operators will become drivers and targets for M&A and consolidation, as the worlds of pay-TV, broadband and OTT collide and converge in the wider context of media and telecoms.”

    Ex-China, which remains a utility-oriented and highly regulated pay-TV market, Asia Pacific added 9.6 million net new pay-TV customers last year, the slowest pace of growth since 1997-98. MPA analysts project a spike to 10.4 million net additions ex-China this year, driven by government-mandated cable digitalization in India. Subscriber growth should decelerate again from next year onwards, moderating to between 4 million to 8 million net adds per annum between 2018 and 2022.

    Including China, MPA sees total pay-TV subscribers in Asia Pacific growing from 567 million in 2016 to 764 million by 2025. Adjusted for multiple connections in a household, pay-TV penetration in Asia Pacific will grow from 55 per cent of TV households in 2016 to 61 per cent by 2025.

    Digital pay-TV penetration in Asia Pacific will increase from 80 per cent of pay-TV subs in 2016 to 91 per cent by 2025, as pay-TV networks in most markets go 90-100 per cent digital, with the exception of India (70 per cent) and Pakistan (32 per cent) in the 18 markets covered in the report. HD penetration of digital pay-TV subs in Asia Pacific will grow from 30 per cent in 2016 to 46 per cent in 2025.

    The fastest growing segment within the Asia Pacific pay-TV industry over 2016-21 will be value-added services (VAS), driven by VOD, as revenues climb at an 11 per cent CAGR over the next five years. Australia, China, Japan and Korea will be the biggest markets for VOD revenue growth. Malaysia will lead amongst smaller markets.

    In standout pay-TV markets such as India and Korea, pay-TV subscription revenue growth will be driven by high volumes and a level of ARPU upside (partially offset by price competition). Higher yields will also boost subscription revenue growth in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

    Pay-TV advertising will expand from US$11.6 billion in spend in 2016 to US$16.2 billion by 2021, with growth driven by markets with high levels of pay-TV penetration such as India and Korea, along with China. Meanwhile, pay-TV ad spend in Australia, Japan and Taiwan will remain material, although growth in each of these markets will soften. Malaysia and the Philippines will remain the standout markets for pay-TV advertising in Southeast Asia.

  • MPA: APAC pay TV growth to slowdown 2016-2025

    MPA: APAC pay TV growth to slowdown 2016-2025

    MUMBAI: Slowdown. After years of dizzying speedy growth, the Asia-Pacific pay-TV industry is expected to grow at a very sedate average 5.8 per cent annually between 2016 and 2021, says leading industry analyst Media Partners Asia (MPA in its new report Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets, published today.

    MPA projects pay-TV industry sales across 18 major markets in APAC to climb from $54 billion in 2016 to US$72 billion by 2021, rising thereafter to US $81 billion by 2025. The pace of pay-TV subscriber and revenue growth is slowing however, weakened by an economic slowdown and increasing competition from both legal and illegal alternatives. Pay-TV subscriber growth has declined or substantially decelerated in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in particular.

    At the same time however, India and Korea remain two of the region’s largest and most scalable pay-TV opportunities. Revenue growth will also accelerate in Australia and the Philippines, largely thanks to subscriber growth.

    However, MPA analysts have lowered subscriber growth forecasts across much of Southeast Asia, especially for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, although ARPU (average revenue per user) should remain resilient in both Malaysia and Singapore.

    The pay-TV industry in China, meanwhile, remains the largest in the region and is becoming increasingly digitalized. Pay-TV growth opportunities for broadcasters are limited however, due to increasing regulation as well as competition from free and paid online video services.

    Elsewhere in the region, subscription-based video-on-demand (SVOD) services have had a negligible impact on pay-TV so far, despite the global launch of Netflix earlier this year, in addition to increasing competition among lower-priced regional and local SVOD services.

    Most pay-TV subscribers downgrading or canceling pay-TV services are moving instead to illegal services, as well as to free, ad-supported options across both TV and online video.

    At the same time, more pay-TV operators are rolling out connected set-top boxes that can incorporate OTT video services. In addition, some operators (telcos in particular) are aggressively hard-bundling video content, including pay-TV channels, with high-speed broadband. This is helping drive subscriber growth, especially in a number of Southeast Asian markets.

    Commenting on the report, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said:

    “Pay-TV providers are increasingly focused on repackaging and re-pricing both linear and on-demand services. Local and regional Asian programming is also becoming increasingly important. At the same time, sports, kids, infotainment and Hollywood movies will remain mainstays of the pay-TV bundle, although channels offering Hollywood TV series are being disrupted by both legal and illegal OTT. Few pay-TV operators have been able to capture or monetize large-scale online video viewing so far, although early results in Hong Kong and Korea are encouraging. The goal is driving the next cycle of customer growth and consumer spend. Pay-TV user interfaces and data analytics are improving, although often too slowly to effectively compete with legal and illegal OTT rivals. Increasingly, viable pay-TV operators will become drivers and targets for M&A and consolidation, as the worlds of pay-TV, broadband and OTT collide and converge in the wider context of media and telecoms.”

    Ex-China, which remains a utility-oriented and highly regulated pay-TV market, Asia Pacific added 9.6 million net new pay-TV customers last year, the slowest pace of growth since 1997-98. MPA analysts project a spike to 10.4 million net additions ex-China this year, driven by government-mandated cable digitalization in India. Subscriber growth should decelerate again from next year onwards, moderating to between 4 million to 8 million net adds per annum between 2018 and 2022.

    Including China, MPA sees total pay-TV subscribers in Asia Pacific growing from 567 million in 2016 to 764 million by 2025. Adjusted for multiple connections in a household, pay-TV penetration in Asia Pacific will grow from 55 per cent of TV households in 2016 to 61 per cent by 2025.

    Digital pay-TV penetration in Asia Pacific will increase from 80 per cent of pay-TV subs in 2016 to 91 per cent by 2025, as pay-TV networks in most markets go 90-100 per cent digital, with the exception of India (70 per cent) and Pakistan (32 per cent) in the 18 markets covered in the report. HD penetration of digital pay-TV subs in Asia Pacific will grow from 30 per cent in 2016 to 46 per cent in 2025.

    The fastest growing segment within the Asia Pacific pay-TV industry over 2016-21 will be value-added services (VAS), driven by VOD, as revenues climb at an 11 per cent CAGR over the next five years. Australia, China, Japan and Korea will be the biggest markets for VOD revenue growth. Malaysia will lead amongst smaller markets.

    In standout pay-TV markets such as India and Korea, pay-TV subscription revenue growth will be driven by high volumes and a level of ARPU upside (partially offset by price competition). Higher yields will also boost subscription revenue growth in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

    Pay-TV advertising will expand from US$11.6 billion in spend in 2016 to US$16.2 billion by 2021, with growth driven by markets with high levels of pay-TV penetration such as India and Korea, along with China. Meanwhile, pay-TV ad spend in Australia, Japan and Taiwan will remain material, although growth in each of these markets will soften. Malaysia and the Philippines will remain the standout markets for pay-TV advertising in Southeast Asia.

  • APOS 2016: Netflix’s Hastings and Sarandos talk Asia and India

    APOS 2016: Netflix’s Hastings and Sarandos talk Asia and India

    BALI: How many subscribers has Netflix managed to get in India after its launch a 100 days ago? Netflix co-founder and CEO  Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos were unwilling to give out any numbers during the opening session at APOS in Bali yesterday. “It’s too early in the day,” they said. “But we have had a great start. Out of the new 6.7 million (67 lakh) members in the latest quarter, 4.51  million  (45.1 lakh) are from international. We have a long term strategy for the region.” 

    Estimates are that more than half a million (5 lakh) of that came from India during the free trial period and of that about 50,000 have gone ahead and subscribed to the service.

    Hastings and Sarandos were interviewed by Media Partners Asia executive director Vivek Couto. 

    Hastings admitted the streaming service was just about beginning in its Asian and Indian journey. “Netflix has barely been optimized. It’s an ongoing process of delivery to Asia. We are far below the number of languages we need to support. We support 21 languages; YouTube is over 50. We’re building out partnerships, the network infrastructure and in particular the content. We are just continuing to learn as we go along.”

    He pointed out to how Netflix worked it out in Brazil. “We didn’t do very well in the beginning there. We spoke with our members, corrected the issues one by one. Now we are doing well in Brazil.”

    Sarandos highlighted that Netflix has learned its lessons and “we are doing originals faster in Asia than in earlier markets. We are doing a film in Korea called Okja under director Joon Ho Bong, a film in Cambodia by Angelina Jolie and original TV series in Japan.” The Bong film according to iMDB is slated to be completed by 2017 and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton and Lilly Collins, apart from a Korean cast.

    Sarandos added that Netflix was making content for Asia, which would then travel around the world on its various country services. “Bollywood movies is also what we are looking to do, but they are a couple of years down the line,” said Sarandos. “ We will do movies the world watches. We will work with local producers. Imagine the traction it would get with our 81 million and expanding global members.”

    Hastings stressed the way forward for the company was to get global rights to all the originals that Netflix produced and also those it licensed from third party suppliers. “We did that with How to Get away with Murder. And we will do it with what ever we produce from now onwards. I regret not having the global rights to the House of Cards,”

    Great content and its easy delivery with a great user experience was what Netflix was consistently focused on,  both Sarandos and Hastings emphasised. Said Hastings: “We have 1,700 engineers who do nothing but ensure Netflix works. Our goal is that it becomes a must-have purchase just like the iPhone is, ” he explained. “Offer a great service at a consistent price.”

    Regulating or censoring Netflix content was something that both Sarandos and Hastings were not in favour of. “We offer greater freedom for story tellers,” said Sarandos. “The art is finding that balance with local authorities. For the most part the internet is not as highly regulated as broadcast. There’s no passive viewing on Netflix. Regulators have found that to be a differentiating factor between broadcast and Netflix. There are pins in place to ensure that adults are watching. Children are protected. For the most part, governments are okay otherwise they know that viewers will go for pirated content.”

    Hastings pointed that Netflix was going to persist with China where it does not yet have a presence. “Apple took six years to get in there. We are going to continue our attempts and discussions,” he added. “Great rewards can follow great patience.”

    He was pretty confident of Netflix’s continuous march forward, despite competition from Amazon and other local players in various countries it has launched. “Our focus is on streaming perfectly without any buffering, not competition,”  he said. “The loss of  pay TV is understated. Pay TV is steady at 100 million (10 crore) . We are in over half US households and growing. HBO  has grown. What is understated is that consumers are willing to pay for content.”

  • APOS 2016: Netflix’s Hastings and Sarandos talk Asia and India

    APOS 2016: Netflix’s Hastings and Sarandos talk Asia and India

    BALI: How many subscribers has Netflix managed to get in India after its launch a 100 days ago? Netflix co-founder and CEO  Reed Hastings and chief content officer Ted Sarandos were unwilling to give out any numbers during the opening session at APOS in Bali yesterday. “It’s too early in the day,” they said. “But we have had a great start. Out of the new 6.7 million (67 lakh) members in the latest quarter, 4.51  million  (45.1 lakh) are from international. We have a long term strategy for the region.” 

    Estimates are that more than half a million (5 lakh) of that came from India during the free trial period and of that about 50,000 have gone ahead and subscribed to the service.

    Hastings and Sarandos were interviewed by Media Partners Asia executive director Vivek Couto. 

    Hastings admitted the streaming service was just about beginning in its Asian and Indian journey. “Netflix has barely been optimized. It’s an ongoing process of delivery to Asia. We are far below the number of languages we need to support. We support 21 languages; YouTube is over 50. We’re building out partnerships, the network infrastructure and in particular the content. We are just continuing to learn as we go along.”

    He pointed out to how Netflix worked it out in Brazil. “We didn’t do very well in the beginning there. We spoke with our members, corrected the issues one by one. Now we are doing well in Brazil.”

    Sarandos highlighted that Netflix has learned its lessons and “we are doing originals faster in Asia than in earlier markets. We are doing a film in Korea called Okja under director Joon Ho Bong, a film in Cambodia by Angelina Jolie and original TV series in Japan.” The Bong film according to iMDB is slated to be completed by 2017 and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton and Lilly Collins, apart from a Korean cast.

    Sarandos added that Netflix was making content for Asia, which would then travel around the world on its various country services. “Bollywood movies is also what we are looking to do, but they are a couple of years down the line,” said Sarandos. “ We will do movies the world watches. We will work with local producers. Imagine the traction it would get with our 81 million and expanding global members.”

    Hastings stressed the way forward for the company was to get global rights to all the originals that Netflix produced and also those it licensed from third party suppliers. “We did that with How to Get away with Murder. And we will do it with what ever we produce from now onwards. I regret not having the global rights to the House of Cards,”

    Great content and its easy delivery with a great user experience was what Netflix was consistently focused on,  both Sarandos and Hastings emphasised. Said Hastings: “We have 1,700 engineers who do nothing but ensure Netflix works. Our goal is that it becomes a must-have purchase just like the iPhone is, ” he explained. “Offer a great service at a consistent price.”

    Regulating or censoring Netflix content was something that both Sarandos and Hastings were not in favour of. “We offer greater freedom for story tellers,” said Sarandos. “The art is finding that balance with local authorities. For the most part the internet is not as highly regulated as broadcast. There’s no passive viewing on Netflix. Regulators have found that to be a differentiating factor between broadcast and Netflix. There are pins in place to ensure that adults are watching. Children are protected. For the most part, governments are okay otherwise they know that viewers will go for pirated content.”

    Hastings pointed that Netflix was going to persist with China where it does not yet have a presence. “Apple took six years to get in there. We are going to continue our attempts and discussions,” he added. “Great rewards can follow great patience.”

    He was pretty confident of Netflix’s continuous march forward, despite competition from Amazon and other local players in various countries it has launched. “Our focus is on streaming perfectly without any buffering, not competition,”  he said. “The loss of  pay TV is understated. Pay TV is steady at 100 million (10 crore) . We are in over half US households and growing. HBO  has grown. What is understated is that consumers are willing to pay for content.”

  • MPA forecasts Asia Pacific online video opportunity at US$35 billion by 2021

    MPA forecasts Asia Pacific online video opportunity at US$35 billion by 2021

    MUMBAI: According to a report by Media Partners Asia (MPA), Asia Pacific online video revenue is expected to reach US$35 billion by 2021, an average annual growth of 22 per cent from US$13 billion in 2016.

    China will remain the largest market, accounting for 76 per cent of Asia Pacific online video revenue by 2021. Japan, Australia, Korea and India will also be significant, in aggregate accounting for 17 per cent of regional online video revenue by 2021. 

    The report, entitled Asia Pacific Online Video Distribution, covers 14 markets, tracking the growth of advertising and subscription-based online video, as well as mobile and fixed broadband.

    Commenting on the report findings, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “The growth of broadband, combined with slow but progressive change in content licensing, is driving demand for online video services. However, the distribution of driver local content online is modest, especially outside of China, India and Korea. This is evident in Southeast Asia, where broadband penetration is growing rapidly but from a low base in most markets. Telecom operators in these markets are investing in broadband networks and integrating with online video platforms to help drive subscriptions. This allows online video operators to utilize carrier billing, overcoming market limitations in payment infrastructure. It’s a bet to drive online video consumption in the short term and ARPUs in the long term.”

    Online video advertising accounted for less than 15 per cent of Asia Pacific digital ad spend in 2015. This share will grow to 22 per cent by 2021. Online video ad sales will reach approximately US$22 billion by 2021 versus US$9 billion in 2016, a 19 per cent CAGR. China will represent more than 70 per cent of the online video advertising pie by 2021.

    In the online subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) segment, MPA expects total paying customers to grow from 177 million by 2016 to 360 million by 2021, with China contributing the majority. SVOD revenue will reach US$13 billion by 2021, a 28 per cent CAGR from US$3.7 billion in 2016.

    China will again contribute the majority, representing more than 80 per cent by 2021. The Southeast Asia SVOD opportunity will grow rapidly but from a low base, representing about US$200 million in revenue by 2021.

    Asia Pacific fixed broadband subs will reach 345 million in 2016, and grow to 425 million by 2021. Average broadband household penetration will grow from 35 per cent in 2016 to 41 percent in 2021. Mobile broadband will reach 79 per cent of the Asia Pacific population by 2021, versus 46 per cent in 2016.

  • MPA forecasts Asia Pacific online video opportunity at US$35 billion by 2021

    MPA forecasts Asia Pacific online video opportunity at US$35 billion by 2021

    MUMBAI: According to a report by Media Partners Asia (MPA), Asia Pacific online video revenue is expected to reach US$35 billion by 2021, an average annual growth of 22 per cent from US$13 billion in 2016.

    China will remain the largest market, accounting for 76 per cent of Asia Pacific online video revenue by 2021. Japan, Australia, Korea and India will also be significant, in aggregate accounting for 17 per cent of regional online video revenue by 2021. 

    The report, entitled Asia Pacific Online Video Distribution, covers 14 markets, tracking the growth of advertising and subscription-based online video, as well as mobile and fixed broadband.

    Commenting on the report findings, MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “The growth of broadband, combined with slow but progressive change in content licensing, is driving demand for online video services. However, the distribution of driver local content online is modest, especially outside of China, India and Korea. This is evident in Southeast Asia, where broadband penetration is growing rapidly but from a low base in most markets. Telecom operators in these markets are investing in broadband networks and integrating with online video platforms to help drive subscriptions. This allows online video operators to utilize carrier billing, overcoming market limitations in payment infrastructure. It’s a bet to drive online video consumption in the short term and ARPUs in the long term.”

    Online video advertising accounted for less than 15 per cent of Asia Pacific digital ad spend in 2015. This share will grow to 22 per cent by 2021. Online video ad sales will reach approximately US$22 billion by 2021 versus US$9 billion in 2016, a 19 per cent CAGR. China will represent more than 70 per cent of the online video advertising pie by 2021.

    In the online subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) segment, MPA expects total paying customers to grow from 177 million by 2016 to 360 million by 2021, with China contributing the majority. SVOD revenue will reach US$13 billion by 2021, a 28 per cent CAGR from US$3.7 billion in 2016.

    China will again contribute the majority, representing more than 80 per cent by 2021. The Southeast Asia SVOD opportunity will grow rapidly but from a low base, representing about US$200 million in revenue by 2021.

    Asia Pacific fixed broadband subs will reach 345 million in 2016, and grow to 425 million by 2021. Average broadband household penetration will grow from 35 per cent in 2016 to 41 percent in 2021. Mobile broadband will reach 79 per cent of the Asia Pacific population by 2021, versus 46 per cent in 2016.

  • Change in investor mindset needed for MSOs to chart growth path

    Change in investor mindset needed for MSOs to chart growth path

    GOA: While the direct-to-home (DTH) sector has managed to attract investment from private investors because of its growth, the cable industry will be able to do so only if multi-system operators (MSOs) add broadband to their services.

     

    This was the general consensus of a session on ‘Investing in Digital assets – Gems and long bets’ at the ongoing Indian Digital Operators Summit (IDOS) 2015 organised by Indiantelevision.com and Media Partners Asia.

     

    HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt Ltd director of analyst telecoms, media and Internet Rajiv Sharma said that DTH had gained as it has shown growth in terms of average revenue per user (ARPU), and innovation.

     

    While the stocks of cable industry initially went down, a reading of the figures of both cable and DTH showed that there was some recovery towards the end of the year. “The MSOs have not matched up to expectations, partly because of MSO-local cable operator problems,” Sharma said.

     

    In the session moderated by Castle Media ED Vynsley Fernandes, Sharma said that broadband can be the catalyst, which can bring in growth but only one or two MSOs have entered the broadband space.

     

    “The scale of growth is directly linked to attracting investments. If LCOs (local cable operators) can show that they own subscribers, they will get investment,” Sharma said. However, he was quick to add that broadband infrastructure and broadband compliant STBs (set top boxes) would help.

     

    Asked about collaborations, Sharma said that the media can learn a lot from telecom where networking and collaborations led to the government thinking in terms of letting them sell or share spectrum. “Telecoms focus on revenues to share, while the cable industry wants finance for set top boxes,” he said.

     

    Replying to a question about the slow growth of broadband in the country, he said, “Anything that is wireline will grow slowly whereas wireless will grow much faster. The consumer is willing to pay but it is for the government to facilitate this.”

     

    Sharma also added that the quality of management, profitability and network will attract investments. He regretted that the cable industry had failed to learn any lessons from the first two phases of the Digital Addressable Systems (DAS).

     

    Concurring with Sharma, MPA executive director Vivek Couto added, “Investors reward growth and DTH did exactly that.” However, he was of the opinion that the last mile operator (LMO) will consolidate under the Headend In The Sky (HITS) platform and that may change the situation. “The results will begin to show in the three to four years,” he said.

     

    Referring to NXT Digital, which was prepared to offer funding, he said that LMOs may now come forward.

     

    Couto added that while organized MSOs were doing well, investment in broadband in the short term would bring in benefits in the long term.

     

    In reply to a question, he said that India was the only country where content generation was growing. “But in all this, the cable industry was feeling lost,” he opined.

     

    Indiantelevision.com founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari had the last word when he said that the mindset of investors had to change as few MSOs in India could today afford the kind of growth their counterparts had shown in foreign countries.

     

    In another session, Maharashtra Cable Operators Foundation president Arvind Prabhoo and Sagar E-Technologies executive director Sudhish Kumar agreed that the cable industry had to organise itself better if it was to attract investments and grow in the digital era.

     

    Prabhoo said he had succeeded to an extent in this by getting the LCOs to be seen as the last mile operator (LMO). In an example of how the LMOs can grow, he said, “30 LMOs in Nagpur have joined together to form an MSME and were not prepared to invest in other LMOs,” he said.

     

    He added that if investors put in money to help create model services, there will be a major change in the next six months or so. “If cable operators offer other services through their STBs, there will be a churn in the industry,” he said.

     

    Kumar, who has a headend in Bangalore, lamented that finance was a major problem. “One STB cost around Rs 1500, but some of the larger MSOs sell boxes for around Rs 1000 and this forced others to sell at lower rates, which in turn results in a loss,” he said.

     

    Emphasising on the fact that MSOs were not concentrating on marketing, he said that if they did, it would help in consolidating the industry.

     

    Citing his own example, he said that he had not lost a single LMO despite having had ups and downs in his company because of the faith reposed in the company.

  • Digital penetration of pay-TV subs in APAC to reach 90% by 2023: MPA

    Digital penetration of pay-TV subs in APAC to reach 90% by 2023: MPA

    MUMBAI: The Asia-Pacific pay-TV industry will grow at a 6.6 per cent average annual rate from 2014 to 2019, according to a new report, Asia Pacific Pay-TV & Broadband Markets, released by Media Partners Asia (MPA).

     

    MPA projects industry sales to climb from $52 billion in 2014 to $72 billion by 2019 and to $84 billion by 2023. Despite robust growth, the region’s pay-TV industry is under pressure however, as the pace of both subscriber and revenue growth decelerates.

     

    In Southeast Asia, a significant slowdown in Indonesia and Thailand will apply the brakes to regional momentum, partially offset by significant expansion in the Philippines and decent gains in Malaysia.

     

    Revenue growth will be at its most robust and scalable in large territories such as India, Korea and China as well as smaller markets such as Hong Kong and the Philippines. Australia will offer much improved subscriber momentum, although revenue expansion will lag.

     

    Ex-China, which remains a utility oriented and highly regulated pay-TV market, Asia added10.8 million net new pay-TV customers in 2014, slower than the 11.2 million added in 2013 and significantly slower than the average 15-18 million net additions that occurred between 2008-11.

     

    MPA projections indicate a spike in net additions will occur in 2016, due to India’s next phase of cable digitalization, with a steady deceleration likely to follow. Including China, MPA sees total pay-TV subscribers in Asia-Pacific growing from 500 million 2014 to 598 million by 2023.

     

    Adjusted for multiple connections in a household, pay-TV penetration of TV households will grow from 54 per cent in 2014 to 61 per cent by 2023. In Asia ex-China, adjusted pay-TV penetration is expected to grow from 55 per cent to 60 per cent over the same period.

     

    Digital penetration of pay-TV subs in Asia-Pacific will increase from 70 per cent in 2014 to 90 per cent by 2023 as all major pay-TV markets covered in the report go 100 per cent digital except for India (70 per cent),Pakistan (32 per cent), Sri Lanka (94 per cent), and Thailand (53 per cent).

     

    HD penetration of total digital pay-TV subs will grow from 24 per cent to 44 per cent over the same period, with penetration between 50-90 per cent in Australia, China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore.

     

    Over 2014-19, value-added services (VAS), driven by VOD, will be the fastest growing segment for Asia’s pay-TV industry, as revenues climb at a 13.2 per cent CAGR from 2014-19.Key market drivers of VOD include Australia, China, Japan and Korea, while Malaysia and Hong Kong lead amongst smaller markets.

     

    MPA projects that authenticated TV Everywhere (TVE) services will not generate meaningful revenue but remain a churn reducer in most markets.

     

    In standout pay-TV markets such as India and Korea, a combinationof high volume and a level of ARPU upside (partially off set by price competition), inaggregate, will drive subscription revenue growth. Higher yields will also boost growth in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

     

    According to MPA, pay-TV advertising will grow from $10 billion in 2014 to $14.3 billion by 2019, with growth driven by high base markets such as India and Korea along with China. Australia, Japan and Taiwan will remain material, although growth in each of these markets will soften.

     

    The pay-TV ad opportunity in Southeast Asia will remain under-exploited, partially due to limited penetration in most markets, but also because of poor execution.

     

    MPA executive director Vivek Couto said, “Pay-TV operators are striving to either reignite growth or sustain existing momentum with a new cycle of value creation. A number of operators are repackaging products with improved price points (i.e. Australia), tiering (i.e. Hong Kong) and slimmer, low-ARPU packs (i.e. Philippines). Most players have invested to enhance programme windows and offer more VOD. Others are climbing the curve of product innovation with all-HD platforms, with more local and Asian content, as well as live sports, a key mainstay for pay-TV.”