S\u00c3O PAULO: The 24th\u00a0edition of ABTA Expo & Conference opened yesterday with reassuring messages from government representatives and expressions of cautious optimism by channel and platform executives about the health of Brazil\u2019s pay-TV business.<\/p>\n
Oscar Sim\u00f5es, the president of ABTA, the Brazilian pay-TV association, said that the Brazilian market is going through \u201ca moment of stabilization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe contraction of the subscriber base bottomed out in November, with a drop of 0.9 percent,\u201d he said. \u201cThen [the rate of decline slowed down] in January and February with 0.5 percent, in March and April with 0.3 percent, and now we see a rate of about 0.2 percent. This trend clearly signals stabilization of the subscriber base losses and after that, with the improvement of the economic environment, the base should start growing again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sim\u00f5es said that pay-TV executives are more optimistic than skeptical and cautiously \u201cwaiting for opportunities.\u201d According to him, one of the variables that prevented a steeper drop in subscribers (only 2 percent compared to 3.8 percent of the GDP) is because people turn to home entertainment in times of crisis. \u201cInstead of going out for dinner and movie theaters, people entertain friends watching movies together at home.\u201d In addition to that, Sim\u00f5es says that people appreciate\u00a0more and more \u201cthe diversity and the quality of the product.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, CVA Solutions published a study of 5,000 triple-play subscribers (broadband internet, pay TV and landlines) around Brazil. According to the study, \u201c75.9 percent said that they would change pay-TV package brands if it were simpler, especially if cheaper, and 11.5 percent said that they have already canceled pay TV in favor of free TV and Netflix.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sim\u00f5es said that he \u201cdidn\u2019t understand the study’s parameters and that no official data shows such numbers.\u201d He added that the cord-cutting moves seen in the United States have not been happening in Brazil and he asked CVA for more information about the study.<\/p>\n
Bernardo Winik, retail officer at telco giant Oi, also questioned the study. Oi was the only group that saw an increase in customers in the most recent report from telco regulator Anatel: a rise of 5,600, or 0.5 percent, in April. Currently, the group has 1.2 million subscribers and its performance, according to the company, is due to their Oi Total package, responsible for 70 percent of Oi TV sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cOperations-wise, life continues\u2014all indicators are better than last year\u2019s and the years before that. My budget hasn\u2019t changed,\u201d he said in an implied reference to the fact that the operator was forced to seek bankruptcy protection from creditors on 65 billion reais ($19 billion) in debt after restructuring talks broke down ahead of the imminent maturation of a 231 million euro-denominated bond last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a negotiation process between banks and creditors,” Winik continued. \u201cWe, on the retail side, are focusing on our clients and all of our investments this year [still] stand.\u201d Winik announced prepaid options for pay-TV customers and new combos with 15Mb broadband and the option to pay for extra speed.<\/p>\n
At the formal opening panel, government reps tried to give some reassurance that the regulations are consistent and the environment is safe for investment. Jo\u00e3o Rezende, president at Anatel, said that \u201cthe agency always worked to encourage the sector\u2019s progress and that the sector is vital to the country.\u201d Manoel Rangel, executive director at Ancine, had a similar message.<\/p>\n
Telecommunications Secretary Andr\u00e9 Borges, who worked previously as an attorney for Am\u00e9rica M\u00f3vil and Oi, mentioned the legal asymmetry created by the fact that OTTs are not taxed as SeACs (or Conditional Access Service, in the Brazilian acronym for pay-TV channels).<\/p>\n
Marcelo Carelo, Minister of Culture, pointed to the fact that pay-TV\u2019s national programming helps people’s sense of belonging to a nation as wide as Brazil. He recalled that when he lived in Mexico City, as a diplomat from Itamaraty, watching Brazilian programming \u201ccomforted his soul,\u201d after a day speaking Spanish. \u201cWe have to find ways to foster the industry without losing sight of the needs of the consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a separate press conference to announce new technologies like 4K and DOCSIS 3.1, the president of the Am\u00e9rica M\u00f3vil group in Brazil, Jos\u00e9 Ant\u00f4nio Felix, said that if the government was really concerned about fostering the industry, it wouldn\u2019t tax it so heavily, it would create symmetry in competition, and it would preserve contracts and legal security. About 60 percent of our expenses are taxes. That goes against digital inclusion, telecommunications strengthening and a good environment for investments in infrastructure and technology. This is a capital-intensive sector. What other sector invested more than 30 billion reais (US$9.25 billion) in the last three years in Brazil?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
S\u00c3O PAULO: The 24th edition of ABTA Expo & Conference opened yesterday with reassuring messages from government representatives and expressions of cautious optimism by channel and platform executives about the health of Brazil\u2019s pay-TV business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[303],"class_list":["post-3035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-abta-2016"],"yoast_head":"\n