4 December 2015

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Dec 4th. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

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Christopher Slaughter CEO	YouTube is apparently in the market for original content. Which sounds weird, since something like 300 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute. But it turns out that in order to make its paid, ad-free service Red (currently not available here) a going proposition, it needs something more than cute pet videos and PewDiePie. Something like… television, perhaps?
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The good news for the week is that the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference ended, in Geneva, without major damage to our industry’s ability to use the C-band frequencies which are the “backbone” of TV distribution in Asia. CASBAA and other satellite organizations issued an end-of-conference press release, applauding the “vision” of ITU member governments that “Satellite Spectrum is Central for Global Connectivity.”
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	According to sources, Naspers, Africa’s biggest company by market value, is planning to expand its video-streaming competitor to Netflix across three continents in 2016 while Samsung has agreed to include the service on its smart TVs. Naspers CEO Bob van Dijk is overseeing the expansion of ShowMax, which only launched in August this year. The move into online streaming is the latest evolution of a South African business that started as a newspaper publisher and is now an investor in emerging-market startups including Tencent and India’s Ibibo.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	As the CASBAA team is building the programme for the upcoming OTT Summit in Q1 2016, a number of programming biggies are expanding their OTT offerings around the world. Discovery just launched an authenticated TV everywhere app, Discovery Go, for the US market. It combines content from 9 US networks featuring aggregated access to live TV feeds and on-demand shows. Nickelodeon has teamed with MENA pay-TV operator OSN to offer Nickelodeon Play as an app. And in the UK, Disney just came out with DisneyLife which offers monthly subscribers a collection of Disney-owned movies, books, music and TV shows. Possibly by the time of the OTT Summit, there will be some announcements for Asia.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	There were a bunch of interesting developments on piracy lawsuits in the last week: The MPAA won a court order in New York to close down the “Movietube” network of websites. In Germany, the Supreme Court cleared the way for blocking of egregious pirate websites. Foxtel, in Australia, seems geared to launch that country’s first site-blocking petition early next year. But Sweden has gone in the other direction, with a court telling an ISP “nah… you can just go on transmitting all the pirate programming you want.” (Hey, it’s good money, right?) An appeal is likely there. In the USA, the case I mentioned last week that pits music firms and their agent Rightscorp against Cox Communications proceeds. The court ordered Cox to clean up their language — to stop using court documents to label the plaintiffs as extortionists, trolls, blackmailers or other similar terms of endearment.
Jane Buckthought Advertising Consultant	China accounted for one in every four new ad dollars spent worldwide over the last decade, while the US now spends less on advertising per head than it did ten years ago. Meanwhile, TV and internet were the only media to have gained share of global ad expenditure over the last ten years. Of the $519.6bn spent on advertising worldwide last year, television accounted for two in every five dollars, its share rising 4 percentage points since 2005.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	The quest for hi-tech Nirvana edges ever closer with the news from the US that DirecTV is planning to roll out 4k broadcasts from early 2016. There are plenty of 4K TVs on the market with figures likely to surpass 40% of US consumers owning UHD TVs after Christmas , but the selection of 4K content has been lacking. DirecTV says the technology required for 4K broadcasts is already in place, and wants to begin broadcasting in 4K before its competitors.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	… And staying with 4K, it seems there is a glut of pirated 4K content appearing on torrent sites who are rapidly adding 4K copies of movies and TV programmes. At this stage it’s thought the content has probably been ripped from Amazon or Netflix. Alarmingly the sheer volume being offered suggests pirates have had an encryption-breaking breakthrough. It’s still not clear what has made it possible for pirates to bypass content encryption, or what streaming sites can do to stop it. The cat and mouse game will run and run, with streaming sites working to secure their files… while pirates will attempt to circumvent security and continue to steal.
Anjan Mitra Executive Director, India	One really wonders what propels entrepreneurs in India to get into the business of broadcasting despite the fact that most licensed channels would admit their bottom-lines are scarlet; especially those in the news and current affairs category except some that are part of big corporate houses who are subsidising the losses from revenues from either other businesses or those earned from GECs in either Hindi or some major Indian languages. When critics say the entry level thresholds for a licence are still much low — about three years back MIB reviewed those norms for an upward revision — they do have a point, it seems. Telecom, I&B ministry to use broadcast airwaves for mobile services.
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	In Australia, the talk is media reform. The FTA industry has a packet of goodies they want, but the pay-TV industry is pushing for some modest reductions in the “anti-siphoning” (a stupid name if ever there was one) list of designated sports events that are reserved for FTA TV. The newish Minister of Communications is mulling the request, and in the meantime, Foxtel has pointed out that the Aussie list is longer than Methuselah’s beard, and many events on the list are never even picked up by the FTA networks, so if the list is trimmed a bit, nobody will really notice. Pay-TV Association ASTRA points out that the Australian system is unmatched anywhere else in the world (for complexity, intrusiveness and market-unfriendliness). For the time being, any movement seems to have been put on the back burner. But we haven’t heard the last of this.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Really, New York Times? TV May Be Bad For Your Brain…? I mean, there’s clickbait, and then there’s clickbait. Personally, I prefer the JAMA Psychiatry headline, Effect of Early Adult Patterns of Physical Activity and Television Viewing on Midlife Cognitive Function. Either way, though, it’s going to take YEARS of therapy to work through this.
Mark Lay Vice President, Singapore	The Paradox of Choice (TED Talk here) happens to me every time I go buy a pair of shoes and it’s now reeling its ugly head in the TV space. “An increasing number of TV viewers feel ‘overwhelmed’ by too many TV shows and too many TV platforms.” "Now, 51% say there are so many shows to choose from that it’s hard to know ‘where to start’”. The trend is up from 42% in 2014. This tells me that we are going to see a lot more TV recommendation engines in the future. Though for me the solution is simple: hand my wife the remote control…and always take her with me to the shoe store.
Christopher Slaughter CEO	Ratings… love ‘em or loathe ‘em, the industry can’t live without ’em. This week, in case you missed it, pop culture site Vulture.com ran a series of articles looking at all things measurement: The Ratings Game. Admittedly, some of these pieces are a little basic, but others, like How Hollywood Gossips About Netflix’s Hidden Ratings and Why The New Era of TV Ratings Means More of Your Favorite Shows Might Survive were actually rather insightful. Oh, and The Most Popular US TV Shows in 18 Countries Around the World was kinda fun, too.
Kevin Jennings Programme Director	As we head into the holiday season there’s a festive plethora of Christmas-themed TV ads doing the rounds. Some are more quirky than others but many are shamelessly designed to tug at the heart strings. Normally it’s the Brits who do very well in this area (in the UK John Lewis ads are synonymous with the Christmas season) but this year a contender for the most schmaltzy is the ad for the German supermarket chain Edeka. The ad has received a mixed response on social media with people thinking it is way too dark while other comments agree it hiighlights loneliness during the festive season. It has already received 30 million+ hits on YouTube – so if faking your own death is something you’re planning over the festive season then this one is for you. Bah humbug indeed.

Some additional links you might be interested in:

Member News

FOX International Channels Wins in Top-Tier Categories at 2015 Asian Television Awards

Singapore, December 4, 2015 – The 20th Asian Television Awards, which were held on December 2 and 3, 2015, saw big wins for FOX International Channels (FIC) as it was given awards for several programs in top-tier categories, recognizing the network’s delivery of excellent original programming. FIC also gained Highly Commended recognition in the Cable & Satellite Network of the Year category for its significant wins. The prestige that these awards and commendation bestowed on FIC bolster the network’s position as the leading provider of outstanding content for viewers across Asia.

FIC brought home awards in three top-tier categories, with Route Awakening (National Geographic Channel Taiwan) winning Best Infotainment Programme, Nat Geo Covershot Maximum City (National Geographic Channel India) winning Best Reality Show, and Nick Baker winning Best Entertainment Presenter/Host for Nick Baker’s Eco Malaysia (National Geographic Channel Asia). Meanwhile, Roland Garros 2015 (French Open) (FOX Sports) and Kaylee Soh for Access 360 World Heritage – Venice (National Geographic Channel Asia) were given Highly Commended recognition in their nominated categories of Best Live Sports Coverage and Best Direction, respectively.

FIC Asia received nominations for 14 awards across multiple categories, with shows such as The Search for China’s Blue Hole (National Geographic Channel Taiwan) and Let’s Go Couchsurfing! (Star Chinese Channel Taiwan) leading the network’s batch of high-quality local programming produced in the region. These nominations serve as glowing recognition for FIC’s efforts to create entertaining programs that resonate with its viewers while delivering a diverse mix of content across Asia.

“We are honoured to have been recognized at this year’s Asian Television Awards for our slate of high-quality original programs. These awards serve as a reminder of the hard work and commitment that our teams put into producing local and regional shows that speak directly to our viewers and reflect their stories,” said Keertan Adyanthaya, EVP, Content & Communications for Asia Pacific & Middle East at FOX International Channels. “We are grateful to the panel of judges at the Asian Television Awards and are honoured to be in the company of such high-calibre and talented creative professionals.”

The Asian Television Awards celebrated its 20th year with the live broadcast of an awards ceremony that spanned two evenings held at the Suntec Convention Centre in Singapore. For 20 years, it has recognized the achievements and excellence of Asia’s best and most successful professionals in television, including the most creative content producers and most successful broadcasters. This prestigious awards ceremony is managed by Contineo Media, which publishes the regional television, film and content trade publication Television Asia Plus.

For a summary of FIC’s awards and nominations, please see appendix.
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About FOX International Channels

FOX International Channels (FIC) is 21st Century FOX’s international multi-media business. We develop, produce and distribute 300+ wholly- and majority-owned entertainment, sports, factual and movie channels in 45 languages across Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. FIC’s core channel brands include FOX, FOX Sports, FOX Life, FOX+ and National Geographic Channel. FIC’s movie channels include FOX Movies, FOX Movies Premium and SCM (formerly Star Chinese Movies). Our non-linear brands include FOX Play, FOX Play+ and Nat Geo Play. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high- definition extensions, reach over 1.8 billion cumulative households worldwide. In addition, FIC owns and operates two production studios and produces thousands of local programming hours for its wholly owned channels and third parties. In operation since: August 14, 1993.

For media inquiries, please contact:

FOX International Channels – Asia
Kelly Jang | Director, Marketing & Communications
Tel: +852 2621 8875 | Email: Kelly.Jang@fox.com

FOX International Channels – Asia
Gladys Lau | Assistant Manager, Marketing & Communications
Tel: +852 2621 8782 | Email: Gladys.Lau@fox.com

APPENDIX
Awards & Nominations Summary

Awards won by FIC at the Asian Television Awards 2015:
• Highly Commended in Cable & Satellite Network of the Year category
FOX International Channels Asia

• Best Infotainment Programme
Route Awakening
National Geographic Channel Taiwan
Director: Chang Soh Kiak & Tan Chih Chong
Produced by Sitting in Pictures Pte Ltd

• Best Reality Show
Nat Geo Covershot Maximum City
National Geographic Channel India
Produced by Fremantle India Television Production Pvt Ltd

• Best Entertainment Presenter/Host
Nick Baker
Nick Baker’s Eco Malaysia
National Geographic Channel Asia
Produced by Beach House Pictures & Chemical Media

• Highly Commended in Best Direction category
Access 360 World Heritage – Venice
Director: Kaylee Soh
National Geographic Channel Asia
Produced by Infocus Asia Pte Ltd

• Highly Commended in Best Live Sports Coverage category
Roland Garros 2015 (French Open)
FOX Sports
Nominations received by FIC at the Asian Television Awards 2015:

• Best Cinematography
Life Mein Ek Baar Season 3
FOX Life India
Cinematographers: Srinivas G Naidu, Kiran Prakash Patankar, Jitendra Shantaram Khaire & Anoop Kumar Singh
Produced by Ink Pen Media Pvt Ltd

• Best Natural History or Wildlife Programme
Access 360 World Heritage – Galapagos
National Geographic Channel Asia
Produced by Infocus Asia Pte Ltd

• Best Natural History or Wildlife Programme
The Search for China’s Blue Hole
National Geographic Channel Taiwan
Produced by Story Farm Productions

• Best Infotainment Programme
Nick Baker’s Eco Malaysia
National Geographic Channel Asia
Produced by Beach House Pictures & Chemical Media

• Best Live Sports Coverage
Formula One – Monaco
FOX Sports

• Best Sports Programme
FOX Sports Central
FOX Sports

• Best Lifestyle Programme
Let’s Go Couchsurfing!
Star Chinese Channel Taiwan
Produced by SunShine International Media Production Co., Ltd

• Best Actor in a Leading Role
Tong Da-Wei
Tiger Mom
New Classics Media Corporation

• Best Actress in a Leading Role
Zhao Wei
Tiger Mom
New Classics Media Corporation

LeTV acquires China rights for Into the Badlands

4 Dec, 2015 – Entertainment One (eOne) has licensed AMC’s martial arts drama Into the Badlands to LeTV for its online streaming service in China.

Based loosely on the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West, the post-apocalyptic drama will launch on LeTV’s streaming video services in early 2016. It stars Daniel Wu as ruthless warrior, Sunny, and Aramis Knight (The Dark Knight Rises) as a young boy called MK who embark on a spiritual odyssey across a dangerous land.

“We’re delighted to partner with LeTV, one of the largest online platforms in China, to bring this blockbuster series to the Chinese audience,” said Ben Bishop, regional sales director, eOne.

Malaysia: Astro retains DTH exclusivity… for now

4 Dec, 2015 – Malaysia’s government has renewed its exclusivity agreement with Measat Broadcast, which operates the Astro pay-TV operation in the country.

The new agreement runs until the end of February 2017.

The need for a re-assessment came about because of the need to migrate Measat/Astro’s existing Broadcast Licence to the newly created Content Applications Service Provider Individual Licence.

SeaChange Sheds its Tech Legacy

SeaChange International said revenues on new products climbed in Q3 as the multiscreen video specialist continued to shed most of its financial reliance on older, legacy products and technologies.

“We continue to grow our new product revenue, while effectively managing the decline in our legacy revenue, which now accounts for just 3% of our total revenue,” CEO Jay Samit said Thursday on the company’s earnings call. “We are delighted that the significant declines in our legacy product revenue which have impacted our results over the last few years are now largely behind us.”

MIB grants Star licences for Maa TV channels; issues 9 more licences

3 Dec, 2015 – The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) has granted new licences to Star India for its four Maa TV Network channels.

Consequently, Maa TV, Maa Movies, Maa Music and Maa Gold have now formally come under Star’s fold. The 21st Century Fox-owned company had acquired Maa TV’s broadcast business for $375 million in February.

With Maa TV Network thus ceasing operations, the old licences under the company will be surrendered to the MIB, said a source close to the development.

HGTV Asia-Pacific orders “House Hunters Asia”

3 Dec, 2015 – Scripps Networks Interactive-owned net HGTV is celebrating its one-year anniversary in Asia-Pacific with the channel’s first long-form original production.

Produced by Endemol Shine, House Hunters Asia is to follow prospective real estate buyers from across Asia on their search for a new place to call home. The 6 x 30-minute program is based on the U.S. format House Hunters (pictured) and will be filmed in Singapore and Malaysia beginning in January.

MTV Wins Best Entertainment (one-off/annual) Award at Asian Television Awards 2015

SINGAPORE, 3 DECEMBER 2015 – MTV, the world’s biggest youth entertainment brand took home the Best Entertainment (One-off/Annual) Award at the Asian Television Awards held last night at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre for its music programme, MTV Music Evolution 2015. The show took place at the historic Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park in Manila, the Philippines to a live audience of over 22,000 fans and was recorded live in May this year for global telecast under the MTV World Stage global series to an international audience of more than three-quarters of a billion households in over 160 countries.

“What an incredible honour to receive this recognition from the industry! When we created MTV Music Evolution, we wanted to create a narrative about the evolution of a music genre. It was amazing to see how we helped create history by bringing together iconic and contemporary music acts – international and local – onto a single stage to do just that. We share this award with all our partners, especially the Tourism Promotions Board in the Philippines, who was with us right from the start of concept development. And we’ll aim to keep creating the most talked about live music events,” said Paras Sharma, Vice President of MTV & Digital Media, Viacom International Media Networks Asia.

MTV Music Evolution featured a stellar line-up of international and local acts who took to the stage in celebration of iconic and contemporary hip-hop music. Through explosive performances by Naughty by Nature, YG, Apl.de.ap, DJ Cash Money, and the Philippines’ own Gloc-9 and Abra, MTV Music Evolution 2015 showcased the way that hip hop has shaken up the music scene throughout the years – taking the music genre to whole new levels for a live audience.

MTV Music Evolution is a live music event that brings to life the evolution of a music genre and enables young people to experience and discover how music styles and sounds have evolved over the years. MTV Music Evolution marked its inauguration 2015 edition with a feature on hip hop, showcasing iconic and contemporary hip hop acts from both international and local music scenes on a single stage, while featuring the best of Philippine music and culture to international youth audiences. The concert was one of many exciting events under the Visit the Philippines Year (VPY) 2015 campaign by the Tourism Promotions Board of the Philippine Department of Tourism. Globally, MTV has a successful history of partnering with Tourism Boards to create compelling and engaging youth experiences. For more information, visit www.mtvmusicevo.com.

Hi res images of MTV Music Evolution 2015 can be downloaded from HERE.

Launched in 1996, Asian Television Awards is the Asian TV industry’s most significant and celebrated event, recognising excellence in programming, production and performance. This year, it celebrates its 20th anniversary.

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Asia’s Next Top Model Announces Leading Cast

DECEMBER 2, 2015 – HONG KONG – The highly-rated reality competition series Asia’s Next Top Model (AsNTM) on StarWorld, FOX International Channels’ (FIC) leading TV entertainment destination for chic and stylish women, is back with season 4. Filming has begun with a talented celebrity cast, consisting of Cindy Bishop as host, Kelly Tandiono as model mentor and Yu Tsai as Creative Director. In addition to mentoring and helping the new group of contestants grow into world-class modelling professionals, the three celebrities will make up the judging panel each week along with renowned guest judges throughout the season.

With over 20 years experience in the modelling and entertainment industry, Cindy is set to bring a new level of expertise, energy and glamour to the show as this season’s host. Originally from Thailand, Cindy was the 1996 winner of Miss Thailand World. Since then, the versitle 5’10” actress and model has dominated the fashion and media scene, gracing covers of magazines and runways as well has film and television screens across Asia. She has been the face of numerous prominent global brands; was a top VJ for Channel [V], Asia’s leading music channel; and is one of the most sought-after hosts in the region for both live events and television. Cindy has also starred in many local movies and television dramas, such Gossip Girl Thailand and The O.C. Thailand based on the popular US series, and has a role in the upcoming Hollywood film All I See is You set to come out in 2016.

The stylish and acclaimed model Kelly Tandiono will serve the role of mentor for this season, helping the contestants prepare physically, mentally and emotionally for the tough competition and career challenges ahead. Her talent and experience in film will help the contestants bring drama to their signature runway looks and nail acting challenges. Kelly has won a variety of different modelling awards, including being named the Prestige’s “It Girl” 2013, The Style Makers Award 2012, and Elle Magazine Model of the Year 2011. In addition to her modelling credentials, Kelly has successfully expanded her career onto the silver screen, having been named Best Actress at the Royal Bali International Film Festival in 2014.
Famed photographer and director Yu Tsai will serve as Creative Director this season, bringing with him international experience and his discerning taste for high fashion. Yu Tsai’s career sits at the top of fashion game, having been creative consultant on America’s Next Top Model Cycles 20, 21 and 22 as well as having photographed an extensive list of A-list celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Anne Hathaway, Katy Perry and Sarah Jessica Parker. His eye for potential and talent coupled with his signature “tough love” personality will undoubtedly push this season’s model hopefuls to bring out their best in the competition.

Commenting on this season’s cast, Sam Gollestani, FOX International Channels’ Executive Producer of Asia’s Next Top Model said, “Between Cindy, Kelly and Yu Tsai, the experience and expertise they collectively bring to the table are without a doubt going to push this new season of Asia’s Next Top Model up another level. Not only will their extensive knowledge help transform our contestants like we have never seen before, but they are each highly captivating on-air personalities and have fascinating backstories themselves. I can’t wait for AsNTM fans to get to know them and to share the stories of their journeys alongside our contestants’.”

Asia’s Next Top Model Season 4 will premiere on StarWorld Asia in the first half of 2016. For news about the show, including when Season 4’s contestants will be revealed, please visit http://www.asias-next-top-model.com/ and follow AsNTM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To follow this this year’s cast on social media:

Cindy Bishop
Instagram: cindysirinya
Twitter: @cindysirinya

Kelly Tandiono
Instagram: Kelly_Tandiono
FB: Kelly Tandiono
Twitter: @kellytandiono

Yu Tsai
Instagram: YuTsai88
FB: Yu Tsai Photo
Twitter: @yutsai

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Discovery Wins Big at Asian Television Awards

3 Dec, 2015 – SINGAPORE — Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific was the big winner at the 20th Asian Television Awards in Singapore.

Discovery won Cable & Satellite channel of the year and Cable & Satellite Network of the yearbesides best documentary series for “Abalone Wars 3”, best natural history or wildlife programme for “Revealed: Rann of Kutch”, and Tong Yi-Jian and Liu Shi-Chuan receiving best cinematography for “The Minority.”

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Christopher Slaughter

CEO

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Kevin Jennings

Programme Director

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Jane Buckthought

Advertising Consultant

Kevin Jennings

Programme Director

Kevin Jennings

Programme Director

Anjan Mitra

Executive Director, India

John Medeiros

Chief Policy Officer

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Mark Lay

Vice President, Singapore

Christopher Slaughter

CEO

Kevin Jennings

Programme Director