CASBAA
Future of Media in the New Global Economy
The global economic crisis has added new and unprecendented pressures to the media industry.
Already reeling from the pace of change brought by the Internet, media companies around the world now face further economic pressures.
What will happen and what can media companies do?
I look forward to moderating an event in Hong Kong on this topic that includes quite a few media heavy-hitters.
Organized by the Society of Publishers in Asia, the event starts with a keynote by Marcel Fenez, head of the global entertainment and media practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Marcel will: “Share his insights and global findings on the impact of the downturn on media: Will digital migration accelerate? How do you manage in this environment? What are the short and long-term strategies for future success?”
I will then moderate a discussion on the future of media with these panelists (Click on their names for more details):
- Thierry Halbroth, senior Creative Director at McCann Worldgroup
- Christine Brendle, MD‐Asia, Dow Jones Consumer Media Group
- Edmund Lee, Partner, Advisory Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Michelle Kristula‐Green, President of Leo Burnett Asia Pacific
What would you like to hear from them? Any good ideas for questions very welcome.
Hope to see you there!
“The Future of Media Outlook in the New Global Economy”
Foreign Correspondents’ Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong
12:00pm – 2:30pm, 1st April 2009 (Wednesday)SOPA Members: HK$375
Members of Supporting Partners: HK$425
Non‐Members: HK$475Book via: mail@sopasia.com or (852) 2572 2100
Popularity: 3% [?]
CASBAA Horror Show: Marcopoto meets Palin
Playing a disturbingly realistic Joker, Steve Marcopoto, president and MD of Turner Broadcasting in Asia, awarded Sarah Palin look-alike Christine Fellowes, MD of Comcast, with first prize for frightening costume at the CASBAA ball last night.
A good time was had by all (Apart from the Sarah Palin’s moose, who got shot on stage.)
Popularity: 5% [?]
CASBAA: Bill Roedy of MTV International
Running notes from on stage interview of Bill Roedy, CEO and Chairman MTV International.
LOCALIZATION
“MTV launched into localized content ‘back before it was cool’”.
“At the time, this was controversial because of opening local offices, transponders and all the expense. Now the local strategy has hooked us into many centers of cool around the world.”
“Our aim it to take elements from all channels and connect them to the rest of the world. There are many common elements about how our audience dresses, dates, eats and their music tastes. That said, there are a lot fewer global music stars now.”
CRISIS
“This is a global recession. I was not here in 1929, but 1980/81, 91 and 2001 we recovered strongly. In our business there are some recession-proof aspects. With cable TV subscriptions can go up because people want to stay home.”
Crisis plans for MTV:
1- Focus on the long term
2- Plan for it to be longer than it is.
3- Communicate with employees constantly
4- Energize your employees (redo the bonus structure)
5- There are competitive opportunities in tough times.
“There is a media ladder of where the pain hits first. It starts with print then radio, local television, broadcast television and then cable, Internet and digital.”
AIDS and CLIMATE CHANGE
“Television is often blamed for a lot of things, but by getting involved in issues TV can be a really good thing.”
Two goals of MTV’s AIDS efforts:
1- Arm audience with knowledge of how to protect themselves.
2- Discrimination: It is about humanity and equality.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Marcopoto, Millenials and Stunning Complacency
Stunning complacency shown by pay TV industry executives following a great panel by Steve Marcopoto, the Hong Kong-based president of Turner Broadcasting System Asia.
Steve’s panel featured four high school students talking about their media consumption habits and afterwards the audience was polled to find out whether they thought Asia’s pay TV industry was doing enough to attract those young viewers.
The students described how they often actively fight against the industry to watch TV and access media, but 92 percent of those present said they thought the Pay TV industry was doing enough to attract young people. (Note: Discussion below whether the vote in fact went the opposite way. Seeking clarification, but still not yet received it.)
By definition they are Asia’s leading TV executives so this conclusion was incredible given the devastating indictment of media companies delivered by the the high school students (Details below and on video with Steve)
Who are Millenials?
- Largest generation in America 83mn vs 74mn Babyboomers. They are also the largest consumer group in countries like China and India.
- Optimistic
- Globally focussed
- Digital natives who grew up online
- Like to consume media anywhere, on any device at any time.
- They accept ad-supported media as a reasonable cost for quality content.
- Seek many more services from mobile phones. (”Why can’t I order my Starbucks coffee before I get to the shop?”)
- Ready to invest in home entertainment devices.
- In BRIC countries they are among the largest group of consumers and they want more choice.
Funny footnote at the end of the PwC film featured non-millenials. A series of “older” consumers were interviewed and spoke about how they like to read newspapers and watch scheduled TV . Conclusion by PwC: “Older consumers will maintain habits that support traditional media.”
Verbatims from Steve’s four students from Hong Kong International School:
While the PWC survey found 32% of Millenials prefer to watch TV on Internet, all four members of the panel said they preferred watching on the net over a television screen.
TELEVISION
- “I never like to watch TV on the TV because you can’t multitask and chat with friends at the same time.”
- “I follow US TV, like Desperate Housewives, which we can’t get in Hong Kong, so I watch it online.”
- “I watch a lot of TV shows on Tudou and Megavideo, but generally I get there via another site, like Surfthechannel
MOBILE?
- “If I hear about a new TV episode while in cafeteria from a friend, I will go home and watch it on TV instead of look at it on my mobile.”
PIRACY?
- “I like Hulu and would use it, but they don’t let me watch it here in Hong Kong.”
PAY FOR CONTENT?
- “I only buy music from iTunes, not TV programs.”
- “I use iTunes as a secondary source, if people cannot find it online in peer-to-peer for some reason.”
- “I mainly watch TV downloaded from torrents with limewire.”
- “If they sold the series for less than HK$500, I would buy it. You pay for cable on a monthly basis and it is not that expensive, but if you buy individual episodes, it gets very expensive. This is unreasonable.”
NEWS?
- “I browse the titles, but don’t look at the stories.”
- “I follow CNN.com and the big aggreggators. There is too much bias in blogs to trust them. I mainly just stick to the major outlets.”
SOCIAL NETWORKING
- “I only use Hotmail to see if I have messages sent from Facebook.”
- Each have 500 to 700 friends on Facebook.
- “The good thing about reading something sent over Facebook is that your friend recommended it.”
Popularity: 4% [?]
Asian Media: Cheeriness at CASBAA Amid the Crisis
Anyone eager for a little cheeriness amid the financial maelstrom would have found a relatively high level of optimism at this morning’s panel on media investment at the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia convention.
Moderated by May Lee of Lotus Media House, the panelists fought the perception that Asia and the world are sinking.
Chris Halpin, Director Providence Equity
How does it look out there?
When we look across the landscape now, there is tremendous value. We went from a situation where capital was plentiful to one where it is more valuable. That is good for us.
Where are things looking good in Asian media?
Advertising companies in China. Common wisdom used to be that these companies were all going to the moon, so they became way too expensive. Air Media and Focus Media are now trading below any sense of their fundamental value. Given the macro picture in China, things are looking particularly good. In just 18 months China has gone from a momentum play to a value play. In Southeast Asia, we are very big believers in growth of middle class driving up the value of media. We were more worried about inflation.
Who benefits?
This is a moment in time when it is hard to have a view on value, with markets going up and down by 14 percent in a day. Investment will have to come from funds like Providence Equity or sovereign funds.
Reality check
When you go out in Asia, people are still spending and investing. There are real opportunities when you get out of the panic in money centers like Hong Kong and go to meet real operators. The level of consumer loan leverage in Asia is nothing compared to Europe and the US. There is not a need for consumers in Asia to de-leverage.
Marcel Fenez, global managing partner, Entertainment and Media practice
What is happening out there?
For a long time there was an oversupply of cash, driving up the price of assets. Asset prices our now dropping, which creates new opportunities.
Where are the deals to be done?
There were a lot of hasty deals done in the last few years. Some of those deals might be worth looking at right now. They were based on business plans that don’t work right now and may unravel. Hedge funds are likely looking to close out their positions, so there are bargains out there.
Reality Check
Whatever headline writers like to put on their stories, there is still growth in this region. Headline writers please take note: 10 percent growth is still growth. In most of world, consumers spend 6 percent of their disposable income on media. In Asia, that figure is still only 3 percent, so there is plenty of room to grow.
Jeanette Chan, partner Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison
What is happening?
We still see deals being done and it is a good time for a correction. Deals were getting done so quickly that it is good to have a breather.
Where to look for deals?
Check out who had pre-IPO convertible bonds. The listings likely won’t happen and the capital calls at hedge funds might force people to sell. This is happening in Taiwan where regulations are less stringent. This downturn will also spur governments to relax regulations to increase opportunities. Korea just announced they will allow media cross-ownership. Taiwan is looking to see what ways they can encourage the media sector.
Who else benefits from the present situation?
This is also a good time for media companies themselves to go out and find companies that could provide useful technology.
Popularity: 3% [?]
CASBAA Liveblog - Running Notes
Attending the CASBAA annual convention on Cable and Satellite industry in Asia. Some notes from today, the first day. Will update periodically.
UPDATE: Follow conference on Twitter, David Wolf is also updating with the #casbaa tag.
Marcel Fenez of PwC
Asia’s pay tv had 17 percent growth last year to 300 million subscribers, 62 million of whom have digital TV.
Why Asia remains a good market for Pay TV:
- Home to 3 billion people
- 5 of largest 10 cities in the world
- 20 percent of global GDP (and rising as rest of the world comes down)
Alex Arena of PCCW
IPTV platforms have not yet been put together in a plug and play format for operators, so each company must build it themselves. As for the expansion of PCCW’s IPTV business, this will not come in terms of channels, but the way in which audiences use and interact with TV. Timeshifting and interactive functions.
Paul Mitchell of Microsoft
- Successful media needs to give an emotional connection.
- Content is king, but only if it reaches the audience. Content will seek the maximum distribution and distribution networks will seek the maximum content. Branding new users as pirates will not help.
Darren Childs, managing director of BBC Worldwide’s channel business
With multi-platform viewing, channels lose a level of control but this does
not mean the end of the channel. Channels become trusted editors across
many channels and platforms.
While adults are happy to access TV shows from any source, they want a
walled-garden approach for their children, re-enforcing the umbrella
effect of a trusted brand.
A new media does not exclude an old one. Even as BBC’s iPlayer gets 21 million views in some months, the viewership of the BBC’s television products has increased.
Online TV is still a land grab with little sign of revenue sources.
- Time release and premium channels cannot exist. If they want to watch it now, they will find a way to do so. If you do not provide it, they will do it in a way that does not benefit you.
- Content is no longer exclusive. If you can monetize content, make a partnership.
- Single fixed peak viewing time no longer a valid model. New devices and new media do not change what people want to watch. Catch up services have meant people don’t just have to sit at home to get key moments of what is going on.
- Net must be thrown very wide to catch potential competitors. Mobile phone companies and websites are now competitors to the television industry. They are, however, actually frenemies. YouTube might have tons of illegal content, but YouTube also has a huge number of deals with established broadcasters.
Wide screen TVs are on the way. Instead of 16:9 it could rise to 21:9. Audiences love it.
Impressive iPlayer demo. The pmotto: Making the unmissable unmissable.
iPlayer has 1.4 million users per week. The users are man around 40 with full time job and wife but no children. Uses the iPlayer at home. Specific usage habits: Goes for specific programs, not for browsing. He cannot be bothered to download programs, preferring lower quality streaming for increased convenience. He does sometimes skip linear TV to watch on the iPlayer.
He goes through the BBC home page to get to the service, not through the iPlayer, which shows that the BBC remains foremost on his mind, not the iPlayer brand. Lack of completeness of iPlayer catalog annoys users.
3- conclusions
1- Linear TV channels are here to stay as the core piece of media consumption. The core will remain the linear TV channel brands.
2- Do not be frightened by the changes, they can be seen as tremendous opportunities.
3- Digital is a way of building audiences and developing a relationship.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Simon Twiston Davies
As CEO of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia, Simon Twiston Davies represents the interests of the pay-TV industry and related telecoms and new media companies in 15 markets across the region.
Twiston Davies joined CASBAA in 2001 after working as CEO of Kagan Asia Media and before that as a Hong Kong-based analyst specializing in regional broadcast and telecoms industries. Twiston Davies moved to Asia in 1987 from Canada, where he was a journalist.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Twiston Davies: Asia TV Weathers Crisis, Goes Digital
Caught up with Simon Twiston Davies, CEO of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia, for his assessment of Asia’s pay TV industry on the eve of the annual CASBAA convention here in Hong Kong. I will liveblog next week’s convention.
Good news for TV in Asia:
- Advertising revenue remains stable (for now).
Historically:
- Subscription revenue tends to grow in line with economies, but even in a slowdown pay TV subscriptions - like mobile phones - are one of the last items people stop paying. Traditionally, the cable TV business is not too badly hit in a downturn.
Strongest pay TV companies:
- The best positioned companies are those relying more on subscription revenue and less on the whims of advertiser-based revenue.
Digital transition will bolster the industry:
- Asia is moving into the top tier of digital broadcasting on a global basis. From virtually no digital TV three years ago, Asia now has 60 million digital TV households of the 300 million hooked up to pay TV.
Advantages of digital:
- Greater transparency for reporting consumer actions
- Virtually impossible to pirate
- New ways to sell content. In addition to pay-per-view, digital offers infinite ways of bundling channels and services (broadband and mobile services).
In conclusion, while braced for the economic downturn, Twiston Davies said Asia’s pay TV industry is well positioned and digitization will help.
Looking to the future, Twiston Davies expects Asia’s heavy digitization will also give the region a greater role in shaping the development of digital television on a global basis.
Popularity: 4% [?]
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Thomas Crampton was a correspondent for the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times for more than a decade, reporting from five continents, writing a column on Asia and covering Asian politics, economics and culture. Currently based in Hong Kong, he writes here about China, the Internet and New Media seen from Asia, while also advising companies on digital communication strategies. For more information click here...
