Top Analysts Talk Asian Media Trends

SINGAPORE: Analysts from Ovum, Nielsen, Kantar Media, Ernst & Young and IHS Technology talked about the role of telcos, digital transformation, emerging technologies and other factors reshaping the media landscape in the opening session at the Asia TV Forum pre-market conference today in Singapore.

The panel, moderated by A+E Networks’ deputy managing director for the Asia Pacific, Prem Kamath, featured Ed Barton, a partner at Ovum; Craig Johnson, managing director for media at Nielsen; Nick Burfitt, managing director for the Asia Pacific at Kantar Media; Ashish Pherwani, a partner at Ernst & Young (EY); and Ben Keen, chief analyst and VP at IHS Technology.

The discussion opened with Kamath asking the panelists about the increasing role being played by telecom operators in Asian media and the implication that has for traditional pay-TV operators.

“I’m not sure the word telco is even going to have that much meaning,” said IHS’s Keen. “They are operators offering multiple services.” A perfect example, he said, is AT&T. “I don’t think telco is a meaningful definition any longer…. The definitions are blurring. They are all just operators.”

EY’s Pherwani noted that telcos have a certain customer base, making them “one more affiliate channel” for content owners. He added that content owners need to look beyond the 30- or 60-minute slot given how media consumption is changing.

Ovum’s Barton talked about telcos being involved in lucrative rights acquisitions, such as BT Sports and EPL, to boost its broadband offering. “It’s a much more complex and fluid situation than just looking at pay-TV subscriptions. We need to look at it in the overall context of the managed services proposition into the household in general.”

Nielsen’s Johnson said he believes that moving forward, telcos will start to question if they want to be in the entertainment business and may look at the assets they already have. “We’re starting to work with telcos around their rich data sets. They’re finding other ways to monetize, rather than going into entertainment and becoming pay-TV operators.”

Kantar’s Burfitt noted, “The new TV is total video. All of these platforms, whether they are legacy telcos or legacy pay-TV operators, they all have to be in the space of offering total video so people can watch where they want, when they want.”

In terms of content consumption, Burfitt said that “traditional TV content is still robust. Live viewing still takes up the majority of TV minutes. Some of that is now being time-shifted. Absolutely, viewing is changing, but I personally don’t believe the hype going on at the moment. It’s not happening as fast as some of the newer players claim.”

IHS’s Keen agreed that live TV is still dominant, but pointed to the “explosive growth” of video platforms on Facebook and Snapchat, which he said both rival YouTube in global delivery of video consumption.

“Traditional TV is alive and well,” said Nielsen’s Johnson. “Sports rights, news are driving traditional TV.” He added that advertisers haven’t quite figured out how to monetize new video platforms. “Once this happens, I’m sure we’ll see an acceleration of money being spent on these [new video] platforms.”

Ovum’s Barton added that changing consumption habits are more prevalent among younger demos: “that’s the scary thing for the industry. What happens when the younger audiences grow up? Are their habits going to change to something looking vaguely like ours?”

EY’s Pherwani noted that another factor relating to millennials and viewing is “the cost of the experience” given the high prices for broadband access in markets like India.

IHS’s Keen added that it’s no surprise that cord-cutting is happening in the U.S. given that the price of a triple-play package is considerably more than broadband plus two or three OTT platforms.

The analysts agreed that it’s a good time for content creators, but noted that windowing has created a wealth of additional challenges for distributors.

They were also bullish on 4K, with IHS’s Keen noting that shipments of 4K sets are rising. OTT services are leading the charge on the 4K front, Keen said.

In terms of VR, Ovum’s Barton said that it’s still just “niche, technology enthusiasts” buying the viewing gear, and content is largely being developing by gaming companies and adult-entertainment providers.

Nielsen’s Johnson said that the gaming industry, in particular, is pushing VR, “but I don’t think it’s going to be as big as the industry is hyping at the moment.”

A+E’s Kamath asked about the outlook for AVOD. EY’s Pherwani said that bundling with broadband is key, as is piracy management. He also noted that content platforms need to be more flexible with pricing models.

Nielsen’s Johnson is expecting AVOD prospects to improve with more catch-up services and targeted advertising.