Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) September 2015 Volume 32, Issue 7

The World’s Biggest Events are Delivered by iTX.
7
NEWS & VIEWS
September 2015
Sydney Lovely
Senior Vice President - Worldwide Research & Development
Grass Valley’s iTX Integrated Playout Platform
Operate more efficiently with Grass Valley playout
solutions. Visit www.grassvalley.com/playout.
Find out on Page 26
www.apb-news.com | SEPTEMBER 2015 | VOLUME 32 | ISSUE 7
NEWS & VIEWS
6
W O R L D I N B R I E F
MediaCorp to launch
HbbTV?
SINGAPORE – HbbTV-enabled
services provide an “attractive
enhancement” to linear broadcast
offerings, Anil Nihalani, head,
Connected Media, MediaCorp,
told APB. “ They provide the
opportunity for a wider variety
of interactive services and VoD
offerings within the broadcast
environment,” he said.
Yes to foreign content
BEIJING – China’s SAPPRFT has
approved foreign video content
under the new 2015 regulations
for streaming TV series and mov-
ies. Video sites will have to obtain
a screening or distribution licence
for each foreign TV show or film,
the regulator said.
Digital Audio/Video Solutions
LIVE BROADCAST
BASE STATION
3G/HD/SD
FIBER LINK
AUDIO
TSoIP
TALLY
INTERCOM
OBV
TWO-WAY PARTABLE
WWW.OPVISIONCOM.COM
NEW
CREATION
20
MANAGEMENT
24
DISTRIBUTION
30
X-PLATFORM
34
S Korea assigns 700MHz
bandwidth to five FTAs
by kamarul arifin a h
SEOUL – South Korea’s Ministry of
Science, ICT and Future Planning
(MSIP) has announced the distri-
bution of the 700MHz frequency
band (698-806MHz) to five ter-
restrial TV channels in the country.
At a committee meeting for fre-
quency policies under the Science,
ICT, Future Planning, Broadcast-
ing, and Communications Com-
mittee of South Korea’s National
Assembly last July, Choi Jae-you,
the Second Vice-Minister at the
MSIP, proposed that 108MHz of
spectrum in the 700MHz band to
be divided into: 40MHz for mobile
telecommunications; 30MHz for 4K
Ultra HD (UHD) TV broadcasting;
20MHz for the national disaster
safety communications network;
and 18MHz for guard bands.
The spectrum to be allocated
for 4K UHDTV broadcasting will
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has
acquired exclusive broadcast rights
for Spanish football league La Liga,
for the next five seasons.
La Liga fever
sets to spread
to China
South Korea has allocated spectrum in the 700MHz frequency band to five
free-to-air braodcasters, part of which will support 4K UHDTV broadcast in the
country.
be assigned to four more terres-
trial broadcast service providers
— KBS1, KBS2, MBC and SBS.
EBS already has this privilege.
The MSIP is also devising a
basic policy proposal such as
the introduction of 4K UHDTV
broadcasting services by terrestrial
broadcasting companies, and to
create a plan for auctioning off
the 40MHz designated for mobile
telecommunications before the
end of this year.
8 8
OTT SVoD winning over pay-TV viewers?
NEW YORK – Netflix, Hulu and
Amazon Prime Instant Video per-
haps represent merely the tip of
the iceberg, as over-the-top (OTT),
subscription video-on-demand
(SVoD) services continue to be
launched by non-traditional opera-
tors now eager for a slice of the
TV-viewing pie.
This emerging trend, in turn,
has created a conundrum for
pay-TV operators, who are having
to face the increasing prospects
of “cord-cutters”, or viewers who
cancel a pay-TV subscription in
favour of an alternative Internet-
based service.
For many viewers today, video
has become an integral part of the
viewing lifestyle, suggested Adriana
Waterson, Horowitz Research’s SVP
of Insights and Strategy.
She said: “The idea of an In-
ternet TV service, at a lower price
point and with more customisable
options, is an attractive prospect.”
According to Horowitz Re-
search’s new Multiplatform Content
& Services report, among Internet
8 8
T
he F
ut
ur
e of Br
oa
dc
a
s
t
i
s Peopl
e & T
ec
hnol
og
y
I
T
E us
e S
o Ca
s
t T
e
c
hnol
og
y f
or i
t
s ne
w Hi
g
he
r NI
T
E
C
Ce
r fic
a
t
e c
our
s
e i
n Br
oa
dc
a
s
t & Me
di
a T
e
c
hnol
og
y
www.
i
dea
l
s
y
s
.
c
om
BEIJING – A Spanish football craze
may about to be unleashed in Chi-
na, as state broadcaster China Cen-
tral Television (CCTV) has secured
the exclusive broadcast rights to
La Liga, Spain’s leading football
league, for the next five seasons.
The deal will reportedly cost
CCTV more than Є375 million
(US$407 million).
According to Javier Tebas,
president of the Spanish Football
League (LFP), the deal was closed
during his visit to China while ac-
companying Atletico Madrid, a
football club based in the Spanish
capital.
La Liga is contested by 20
teams, and features some of the
world’s most recognisable play-
ers, including Barcelona’s Leo
Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano
Ronaldo.
The 2015/16 season of La Liga
kicked off last month, and will con-
clude on May 15 next year.