Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) @ConnecTechAsia Show News - Day 3 | Page 18

18 THURSDAY
28 June 2018
@ConnecTechAsia2018
www.apb-news.com
TV is still the main media in SE Asia
BY JIRATHITI ROCHANANOND
In South-east Asia, most countries
are facing the disruption of media
technology, where the Internet is
changing the media landscape.
Interactive features on mobile
devices are driving audiences to
use them as they watch TV, lead-
ing to lower TV ratings during
commercial breaks. The Internet
is also impacting the magazine
and newspaper industries by 50%-
70%, and some are already closed.
How can we go along with
the Internet and interactive wave?
We have to understand that
consumers are still watching TV
as the main media (more than
50%); more and more people are
converting their TV sets to bigger
screens above 55 inches. They do
so because they want to have a
better viewing experience, which
small mobile devices are unable
to provide.
TV is still at the centre of
everyone’s home, but we have
to adapt with new technology
trends. The best method to watch
live linear channels is via satellite
direct-to-home (DTH), while the
online platforms will be more
ideal for video-on-demand (VoD)
services, whereby the audience
can choose their preferred content
and have sufficient time to load
the content.
There are certain groups of au-
diences who are satisfied watching
programmes on TV because they
do not want to select their content
style by themselves. This is similar
with radio where the DJ chooses
the song to play, instead of the
listeners picking their own song.
The challenge is, how can we
create interactivity on mobile
so our audiences will be able
to watch TV while using mobile
devices as a second screen? Spon-
sorship is one of the solutions to
address this issue, and can be tied
in with these activities.
There is a saying that children
and the younger generation do
not want to watch TV. But in reali-
ty, if we look carefully, there is less-
er content available for children,
teenagers and the young genera-
tion on TV. The reason is because
for kids content, the revenue
from sponsorship is reduced by
half. Hence, it is not an attractive
proposition for TV channels to be
producing children’s programmes.
Viewers will go for the best
content if we broadcast them on
TV only. More importantly, if the
content is not available online,
viewers will then have to come
back to catch the programme on
TV. However, if the programme is
available on both media, then they
might not go for TV.
Surprisingly, in some countries
in South-east Asia, most of the
content are delivered across both
TV and online platforms, giving
viewers a choice to not watch from
TV. TV content should do the same
like movies, where viewers are
unable to catch the movie online
prior to cinema release. However,
movie companies are releasing
trailers online, as a tool to attract
viewers to the thea