30 January, 2014

Welcome to News Views, CASBAA’s news round-up culled from sources across the industry for the week ending Jan 30th. Curated by CASBAA, News Views keeps you in the loop. We always value your feedback, so tell us what you think!

John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	The FIFA World Cup is still five months off, but it’s already making news. In Thailand, an administrative court judge gave preliminary views that the NBTC does not have the right to usurp FIFA’s 2005 contract with RS Broadcasting by ordering all 64 World Cup matches broadcast on free-to-air TV. Assuming the full court follows (which is usually the case), only the 22 games required by the contract will be broadcast free-to-air. In Singapore, the local press has started to notice that there’s still no agreement for carriage of the World Cup matches on any Singapore platform. The press article notes correctly that it will be ever-harder as time passes for any broadcaster to monetize World Cup broadcast rights using advertising, and so consumers will foot the bill. (Thank you, cross-carriage regime — which makes telcos unwilling to subsidize exclusive rights acquisition.)
Christopher Slaughter CEO	We didn’t put anything in last week’s News Views about Charter’s bid for Time Warner Cable in the US, because we kind of figured if you missed the story, you were either hibernating, or stuck in a cave somewhere with no Internet coverage. But the saga continues, the newest twist being a side-deal reportedly being cut between Charter and Comcast to divvy up Time Warner Cable’s assets if the sale goes through.
Sara Madera Director, Member Relations & Marketing	Even though they say technology is bringing us together, the Super Bowl doesn’t want us too close. If you are attending the big game, you won’t be able to stream plays online or via the app. The NFL has decided to block these sites becasue they suck up too much bandwidth. No small screen instant replays for Super Bowl fans, but maybe no black outs either?
John Medeiros Chief Policy Officer	A perceptive observer notes that Indian regulatory bodies seem to be in a hurry to pressure-cook regulations that would be better left to simmer on the back burner for a bit. Examples cited: TRAI’s insistence on a 12-minute ad limitation and MIB’s introduction of guidelines for audience measurement agencies in January, likely to produce a ratings vacuum for months, until the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) gears up to produce its own ratings.
Desmond Chung Associate Director, PR & Communications	Figure skating, especially in the US, needs a shot in the arm – or in this case, another whack on the knee. Ever since its popularity peaked during the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan fiasco, the glamorous sport of sequins and sparkles has been in a ratings death-spiral. Perhaps what the sport needs now are more skaters with bigger personalities rather than more triple salchows….and an Olympic gold probably wouldn’t hurt either!
Mandy Wu Regulatory Assistant	After trying for years to coerce Taiwan’s MSOs into speeding up cable digitization, the NCC is now offering carrots, as well as sticks. A new subsidy program is designed to speed digital rollout – useful where cable rates and packages are still so highly regulated there’s no incentive for cable operators to upgrade their analog boxes.
	CASBAA wishes you a prosperous and happy year of the horse!