the sky , providing edge caching to any local network and helping to reduce network traffic .”

Some of Mathur ’ s views were echoed by John Lee , CTO of South Korea ’ s CJ Hellovision , who identified trends such as space-shifting , where the proliferation of media devices means consumers can access content whenever and wherever they want ; content-shifting , which is creating a rise in demand for short-form and high-quality content ; and time-shifting , which represents non-linear viewing , where serialised content is encouragng

viewing in bulk .

OTT is changing the landscape of content creation and consumption , Lee added , as he discussed the challenge of overcoming cordcutting in South Korea . With OTT facing fewer entry barriers than pay-TV , OTT can potentially offer more openness and expandability of the market , Lee suggested . However , while South Korea may have one of the highest OTT access rates in the region , paid OTT subscriber ratio stands at a mere 5 %, he pointed out .

Asia-Pacific ’ s pay-TV industry

is going through a challenging and transitional period , driven by the rise of consumer demand for cheaper and more personalised content packages , the transition to IP-based delivery infrastructure and the persistent threat of piracy , according to Nagra , who recently released findings from the Pay-TV Innovation Forum 2017 which addresses the region ’ s pay-TV market .

The Pay-TV Innovation Forum is a new global research programme Nagra set up with research consultancy firm MTM .

The multi-device environment

is accelerating as people demand to watch content on any device of their choice , said Stéphane Le Dreau , general manager , Southeast Asia . “ Some of the questions the industry has to ask itself include : As the end-user market continues to evolve , are current subscription models outdated ?” he told APB .

Service providers , he advised , need to make use of intelligent analytic tools to know who their customers are , and what they want . “ The personalisation of TV means they are buying only what

they want to watch . How do you convert annoymous viewers into paid subscribers ?”

Le Dreau also predicted an increase in the embrace of IP in the pure-life distribution of services . This , in turn , places the issue of how content is protected into the spotlight . “ Content used to be well protected in a controlled environment ,” he said . “ Piracy streaming is relatively rampant in Asia-Pacific and operators need to be able to identify quickly where the illegal IP streaming is coming from , and to put a stop to it .”