Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) @ConnecTechAsia Show News - Day 3 | Page 22

22 THURSDAY
@ConnecTechAsia2018
28 June 2018
www.apb-news.com
Trends shaping paid-for video markets in APAC
BY DONATAS NEMURA
The pay-TV market in Asia-Pacific
continues to experience a chal-
lenging and transitional period.
Traditional pay-TV revenues in many
advanced markets are under pres-
sure, while emerging markets are
growing subscribers, but delivering
low ARPUs. The industry is being
increasingly disrupted by content
piracy, especially around live sports,
and impacted by low-cost over-the-
top (OTT) offerings, making it harder
for pay-TV companies to confidently
invest in the future.
These are the emerging findings
from the Pay-TV Innovation Forum,
launched in 2016 by NAGRA and
MTM, as a major international initi-
ative for senior pay-TV and content
executives to explore and catalyse
innovation across the industry. More
than 300 senior executives partici-
pated in workshops, interviews and
surveys last year, with even more
expected this year.
From our engagement with
pay-TV executives in Asia-Pacific this
year, it is clear that in order to thrive
in the changing environment, pay-TV
service providers will need to innovate
and adapt their business models and
technology platforms. Furthermore,
the dichotomy between pay-TV
and OTT is increasingly redundant,
because next-generation pay-TV
services, in many respects, will look
like an OTT service. As a result, we
refer to the future pay-TV and OTT
services collectively as paid-for video
services.
Going forward, 74% of Asia-
Pacific pay-TV executives believe that
innovation is a top priority for the
industry. They have also identified
five key trends shaping future paid-
for video offerings across the region:
1
Catering to OTT and mobile-
first users: With many markets in
Asia-Pacific seeing strong growth in
mobile video consumption and some
(such as Indonesia and India) being
mobile-first, paid-for video service
providers believe their product suite
needs to be increasingly designed
for OTT and mobile-first audiences.
2
Addressing the low-ARPU
segment: Pay-TV executives
see an opportunity to develop low-
cost content services supported
by innovative business models to
address a large population of low-
income consumers in Asia-Pacific
who currently cannot afford or do
not have the means to pay for a
video service.
3
Providing personalised, flex-
ible content packages: New
content offerings will have to reflect
changing consumer demand for
more personalised and flexible
content packages, including OTT
services featuring local and regional
content. Service providers will have
to increasingly offer customisable or
a la carte packages, as well as more
flexible bite-sized payment options,
such as weekly or even daily passes.
4
Adopting new business models:
Traditional pay-TV providers
in Asia-Pacific can look to newer
competitors for examples of business
model innovation to learn from. For
instance, some OTT subscription
video-on-demand (SVoD) services in
the region have recently expanded
into advertising video-on-demand
(AVoD), combining free and paid
services to develop a habit of using
their services more often. A number
of e-commerce companies have also
entered the video market, offering
Amazon Prime-style member-
ships and video bundles to their
customers.
5
Combating streaming piracy:
Streaming piracy has seen
significant growth in Asia-Pacific
over the past two years, fuelled by
the proliferation of illicit streaming
devices. Although some important
steps have been taken in addressing
piracy over the past year, industry
executives are calling for further
in dustr y-wide action and new
approaches to monitor, track and stop
the distribution of illegal content.
Please visit https://dtv.nagra.com/
paytvif to find out more about the
Forum and its activities.
Donatas Nemura is senior consultant at
MTM, a consulting firm.