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.