Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) August 2015 Volume 32, Issue 6

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NEWS & VIEWS
August 2015
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF REVENUE
SECURITY FOR ULTRA HD VIDEO?
Find out on Page 28
www.apb-news.com
NEWS & VIEWS
W O R L D I N B R I E F
S Korea saves spectrum
for terrestrial TV
SEOUL – South Korea’s Minis-
try of Science, ICT and Future
Planning (MSIP) will distribute
the 700MHz frequency band
to five terrestrial TV channels.
MSIP’s Second Vice-Minister
Choi Jae-you also proposed that
the Korean government assign
the 30MHz frequency band to
four more terrestrial broadcast
service providers for 4K UHD TV
broadcasting.
Debating BCC’s future
LONDON – The UK government
has issued a consultation ‘Green
Paper’, setting out the topics for
debate as part of the process to
review the BBC’s Royal Charter
to ensure it remains a valued
public broadcaster. Questions
about what the BBC should be
trying to achieve in an age where
consumer choice is now far more
extensive than it has been, needs
to be asked, said John Whitting­
dale, Secretary of State for Cul-
ture, Media and Sport.
2020 Olympics will spur
8K TV shipments
TOKYO – With Tokyo 2020 Olym-
pics to be broadcast in 8K by
Japanese broadcasters, research
firm IHS has predicted that global
shipments of 8K TVs are likely to
rise from 2,700 in 2015 to 911,000
in 2019, with the biggest inhibitor
to the growth being consumer
screen-sized preferences.
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CREATION
14
MANAGEMENT
18
DISTRIBUTION
| AUGUST 2015
22
| VOLUME 32
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X-PLATFORM
ISSUE 6
26
FreeviewPlus offers NZ
a unified TV experience
by shawn liew
AUCKLAND – Television New Zealand (TVNZ), Mãori
Television, and MediaWorks have taken the next step
towards offerings viewers in New Zealand access to
content when and where they want it.
Launched last month, FreeviewPlus New Zealand
is an HbbTV-powered service that brings together
broadcast content from more than 19 live channels
FreeviewPlus New Zealand is an HbbTV-powered service
that brings together broadcast content from more than
19 live channels and on-demand content from the three
NZ broadcasters.
and on-demand content from the three NZ broad-
casters.
New Zealanders are big viewers of both video-on-
demand (VoD) content and free-to-air (FTA) television,
with TV remaining the dominant screen, was the as-
sessment of Tom Cotter, CIPO of Mediaworks.
Cotter told APB: “We know people are still drawn
to the biggest screen in the house — the ‘home
cinema’ experience — and viewers are increasingly
telling us they’d like to be able to find their favourite
shows all in one place.
“For the first time, we’re bringing FTA TV and VoD
together in the same place — your TV. FreeviewPlus
enables viewers to move seamlessly between the
Freeview channels and related on-demand services.”
FreeviewPlus New Zealand can be accessed via a
set-top box costing around NZ$150 (about US$99), or
through the Freeview app on smart TVs from brands
such as Panasonic, LG and Sony.
Essentially, FreeviewPlus New Zealand is about
making content easily available to viewers, said Kevin
Kenrick, CEO of TVNZ. He added: “We are increas-
ingly agnostic about how our content is consumed
but passionate about ensuring that people can get it
free-to-view when and where they want it — which,
8 8
TV still most efficient way to communicate
by kamarul arifin a h
BANGKOK – The key regula-
tory policy issue in broadcasting
is the availability of frequencies to
enable over-the-air (OTA), free-
to-access media services, declared
Dr Amal Punchihewa, director
of technology at the Asia-Pacific
Broadcasting Union (ABU).
Speaking at last month’s ASEAN
Broadcasting Regulation Forum
in Bangkok, Thailand, Dr Amal
reminded regulators and delegates
that broadcasting remains the most
efficient way of communicating
with the masses, and offers infor-
mation, especially through OTA
and free-to-access services, to au-
diences without any discrimination.
ABU members are spread
across 50 countries in Asia-Pacific.
Only five countries have opposed
further release of frequencies for
other services after the completion
of the digitisation process; four
8 8
South Korea’s SBS and China’s Anhui
TV will co-produce a Chinese version
of The Law of the Jungle, a South
Korean reality-documentary show.
S Korea and
China in joint
production
SEOUL – South Korean broad-
caster Seoul Broadcasting System
(SBS) has partnered with China’s
direct-to-home operator Anhui
Television and Chinese producer
and distributor IPCN, to produce
two reality shows.
SBS and Anhui TV will co-
produce a Chinese version of The
Law of the Jungle, a South Korean
reality-documentary show.
SBS announced: “We will put
our best producers and staff on
the Chinese version of The Law of
the Jungle, build an efficient pro-
duction system, so it can serve as
a new success model for content
exchange between South Korea
and China.”
The Korean broadcaster will
also work with IPCN to produce a
third season of the reality TV show
Supernanny, which originated in
the UK, and which chronicles par-
ents struggling with their children’s
behaviour.
Supernanny’s first two seasons
were orginally aired on CCTV2.
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