Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) October 2015 Volume 32, Issue 8

turn to page 33
NEWS & VIEWS
October 2015
www.apb-news.com | OCTOBER 2015
NEWS & VIEWS
6
W O R L D I N B R I E F
SBS-LG 4K transmission
SEOUL – South Korean broad-
caster SBS recently partnered
with LG Electronics for the “first”
live, over-the-air broadcast of
4K UHD signals using technol-
ogies behind the ATSC 3.0 TV
broadcast standard. SBS and
LG successfully demonstrated
transmission and reception of
4K UHD and HD mobile signals
simultaneously in a single 6MHz
channel.
Telcos eye TV space
HERTFORDSHIRE – Traditional
operators will need to keep an
eye on telcos’ rising interest
in the TV space, according to
Future­source. In Western Europe
particularly, there were 27 mil-
lion IPTV households in 2014,
15% of all TV households. IPTV
is also expected to outperform
both cable and satellite by 2019
which will continue to register
decline in subscription numbers.
Astro on upward growth
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian
pay-TV operator Astro has re-
ported consolidated revenues
of RM2.7 billion (US$630 million)
for the first six months of the
financial year ending 31 January
2016, with a growth rate of 4%
year-on-year. In the same period,
Astro added 426,000 net cus-
tomers, aided by its free pack-
age, Njoi, which generated a
58% year-on-year improvement.
CREATION
18
MANAGEMENT
22
DISTRIBUTION
26
StarHub evolves its
multi-screen strategy
by shawn liew
SINGAPORE – As media consump-
tion habits continue to evolve,
the onus is firmly on TV service
providers to adapt to increasingly
demanding audiences and their
needs.
While providing the most com-
pelling content remains one of the
most effective methods in retaining
eyeballs, deviating from traditional
tried-and-tested business models
may reap unexpected but welcome
results.
For Singapore pay-TV operator
StarHub, the next step in its evolu-
tion comes in the form of StarHub
Go, a new online streaming service
that does not require consumers
to have an existing pay-TV sub-
scription.
It is also the continuation of
a journey that began as early
as 2012, as Lin Shu Fen, head
of Entertainment & SmartLife,
StarHub Go is a new online streaming service offered by Singapore pay-TV
operator StarHub, and does not require consumers to have an existing pay-TV
subscription with it. One of the first to partner StarHub is HBO Asia that has
made its own standalone OTT service, HBO Go, available on StarHub Go.
StarHub, explained to APB: “In to-
day’s highly connected Singapore,
consumers are increasingly access-
ing digital content across multiple
devices.
“We recognised this trend back
in 2012, when we started evolv-
ing the multi-screen experience
for our pay-TV subscribers with
StarHub TV Anywhere, which ena-
bled customers to watch selected
subscribed channels on-the-go.
8 8
|
7
VOLUME 32 | ISSUE 8
X-PLATFORM
30
TVB ties up with
CMC, Warner Bros
for film projects
H O N G KO N G – Te l e v i s i o n
Broadcasts (TVB) will be partner-
ing China Media Capital (CMC)
and Warner Bros Entertainment
to develop and produce a slate of
Chinese-language films, including
global tentpoles for distribution in
China and internationally.
A tentpole is a programme or
movie that supports the financial
performance of a movie studio or
TV network.
Li Ruigang, founding chair-
man of CMC, and Kevin Tsujihara,
chairman and CEO of Warner
Bros, announced the formation
of a new joint venture — Flagship
Entertainment Group — that will
aim to capitalise on China’s rapidly
growing film market and increasing
demand for high-quality domestic
movies.
EBU, VRT & partners embark on the road to IP
AMSTERDAM – Many stakeholders in the
broadcast industry believe that IP-based live
broadcast production will become a reality.
The only question, according to Felix Poulin,
senior project manager, Networked Media
Production, Technology & Innovation, European
Broadcasting Union (EBU), is: “When will it hap-
pen?”
Poulin, during last month’s IBC Show in
Amsterdam, where the EBU was showcasing the
LiveIP Project, a multi-vendor system integration
to demonstrate IP-based live broadcast produc-
tion using open standards, said: “The key thing
that we want to highlight is a proof-of-concept
to show that IP-based live broadcast production
is possible, featuring key functionalities such as
clean switching and redundancy.”
The LiveIP Project is a collaboration between
T
he I
dea
l
S
ol
u on f
or Mobi
l
e
Ne
ws a
nd S
por
t
s
Bond up t
o e
i
g
ht ne
t
wor
k c
onne
c ons
i
nc
l
udi
ng 3G/
4G/
L
T
E
,
Wi
-
F
i
,
E
t
he
r
ne
t a
nd por
t
a
bl
e s
a
t
e
l
l
i
t
e
VRT Sandbox, an international joint platform
for “collaborative innovation” put together by
Belgium public broadcaster VRT, the EBU and
digital research centre iMinds, and supported
by 10 technology partners — Axon, Dwesam,
EVS, Genelec, Grass Valley, Lawo, LSB, Nevion,
Tektronix and Trilogy.
Collectively, these vendors were utilising
8 8