Event Preview: CASBAA

HONG KONG: The CASBAA Convention, which takes place in Hong Kong next week, features a lineup that includes Turner’s Gerhard Zeiler, FOXTEL’s Richard Freudenstein and panels covering topics such as OTT, online piracy and the growth opportunities in Indonesia.

As the major international channel brands rushed to launch in Asia at the dawn of the region’s pay-TV industry, companies had an inkling of the challenges they’d face as they tried to build successful, profitable businesses. Nevertheless, the thinking on the part of many operators was fairly straightforward: enter the market with a single-language feed—often uplinked from the U.S.—and try to sell platforms on the concept that Asian viewers wanted channel brands that American and European audiences had already embraced

Today, while the market no longer has that wild-west feel of the ’90s, the business is far more complicated. Localizing is not just about delivering market-specific subtitles; schedules, advertising and programming need to be tailored to speak directly to audiences in India, Singapore, Korea, the Philippines and more. Indeed, the theme for the annual CASBAA Convention this year reflects the importance of understanding that you can’t afford to just have an “Asia strategy” anymore. “There is no such thing as that one homogenous Asia-Pac market,” says Simon Twiston Davies, the CEO of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasters Association of Asia (CASBAA). “It is a mosaic of 18 markets,” he says, referencing the CASBAA Convention theme of “18 Reasons Why.”

The conference schedule kicks off on Tuesday with the Talking TV session featuring Gerhard Zeiler, the president of Turner Broadcasting System International, followed by The Biggest Winner? session with Electus chairman Ben Silverman. Later, AMC/Sundance Channel Global’s Bruce Tuchman, Dragongate’s William Pfeiffer and HBO Asia’s Jonathan Spink will participate in a panel hosted by FremantleMedia’s Ian Hogg, with introductory remarks provided by A+E Networks’ Sean Cohan. The afternoon sessions, meanwhile, will touch on social TV, advertising and over-the-top television.

Highlights of the Wednesday sessions include conversations with FOXTEL’s Richard Freudenstein and DIRECTV’s Derek Chang and panels on online piracy, sports programming, catch-up TV and tablets. There will also be a session devoted exclusively to Indonesia. The day wraps with a panel called The Top Slot, in which senior executives from Astro, FOXTEL, J:COM, PCCW, True Visions and Videocon 2dh will talk about the key issues facing pay-TV operators in the region.

Click here for more about CASBAA Convention 2012.