CASBAA Convention Opens in Hong Kong

HONG KONG: The CASBAA Convention opened in Hong Kong yesterday as delegates from across the region's multichannel landscape convened to discuss how digital is reshaping the business, with a lineup of keynotes that included Lionsgate's Jon Feltheimer and Youku Tudou's Victor Koo.

The theme of this year's conference is "Beyond the Box," looking at how pay-TV companies must adapt to the new nonlinear, on-demand era. "The more we hold on to the business models of today, the more we open the door to change makers and entrepreneurs of the future," said Jon Feltheimer, CEO of Lionsgate, in his address, adding that companies must know how to "accommodate the disruptive consumer." Jim Samples, president of international at Scripps Networks Interactive, told delegates: "Whilst technology has changed, what hasn’t changed is understanding the consumer and knowing what they want." Samples also discussed the importance of "local but scalable content" for Scripps' channels in the region.

Other sessions during the day tackled news content, the issue of piracy and mobile video consumption. Capping off the day was a session with Victor Koo, CEO of Chinese online streaming behemoth Youku Tudou, which yesterday announced a deal with Endemol for a local version of Big Brother.

“Like any good story, the narrative of today’s CASBAA Convention had a beginning, middle and end; we started with the globalization and delivery of content, before moving on to content localization in Asia," said Christopher Slaughter, CEO of CASBAA. "We then took a look at evolving business models and adapting to the growth of mobile before wrapping up with a focus on the success of one of the most prominent Asia video providers. Navigating the territory beyond linear TV offers our members a tremendous business opportunity and we hope today’s sessions gave our members food for thought."

Read TV AsiaPac's CASBAA edition, which features a special report on pay-TV programming strategies, here.