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| Multi-screen platform gaining traction in APAC |
| Posted: August 2011 | ||||||
 TOKYO – US-based online video service provider Hulu announced last month that it would enter the Japanese market later this year,
allowing Japanese subscribers to have access to a large selection of premium feature films and popular TV shows at any time, on four screens (TV, PC, mobile phone and tablet) and at one monthly price. As the online content service provider has stakeholders such as NBC Universal, News Corporation and The Walt Disney Company, Japan-based viewers may expect a wide choice of content offerings for the upcoming service. Although there is no fixed timetable, Hulu said it plans to penetrate the international markets. The company, however, must first clear the rights for each show or film in each specific geographic region — and this will take time. Hulu said it is encouraged by “how many content providers have already been working along these lines so that their programmes can be available over the Internet to a much larger, global audience”. But what makes Asia attractive for these kind of offerings? Analyst firm Frost & Sullivan’s Krisna Badiya, industry manager for ICT Practice, Asia Pacific, told APB that the Asia-Pacific consists of three of the top four countries with highest population. Hence, the region offers the most number of eyeballs from content developers’ perspective. Besides, the region has well over one billion online users (44% of the global online audience), though only 23.8% penetration (population) compared to over 53% in North America. “Most of the markets in the region are well poised for accelerated growth as there is much push to close the digital divide,” Badiya noted. There is also proliferation of portable devices across markets, bringing digital content close to users. As both fixed and wireless broadbands grow, users are likely to access content from multiple devices. (More than 50% of all users will choose to have both PC and mobile-device options for getting online.) Frost & Sullivan added that some governments in the Asia-Pacific are playing a catalyst’s role for content development/production and planning to develop their country as a media hub. As for the continued growth, Badiya said: “Considering the broadband status, there are huge potential for growth in the region. For example, China and India may boast over 500 million users and are likely to add new users much bigger than the current user base by 2015. Other emerging economies are not likely to stay far back either. Such growth in user base will continue to drive markets for digital content and services and to new opportunities around digital marketing.” So will these factors provide the needed push for the Asia-Pacific market to truly embrace online viewing and nix traditional TV? It would seem that the trend is heading in that direction, not only for Asia but also the rest of the world. In fact, IMS Research, in one of its studies, noted that personal entertainment experience has made a significant shift now that on-demand delivery of video is widely available worldwide and to an increasing number of connected devices. The firm even forecasts that come 2016, over-the-top (OTT) video services will generate US$16.4 billion and video-on-demand (VoD) services from pay-TV operators will generate another $14.7 billion, for a combined $31.1 billion in on-demand revenues. IMS said the growing penetration of fixed connected devices in consumers’ homes and increasingly acceptable bandwidth speeds are two vital factors enabling the delivery of on-demand services. The pay-TV set-top box will continue to deliver the majority of on-demand entertainment into homes, although fixed in-home devices such as connected TV sets and game consoles will increase their impact on on-demand viewing, the firm said. Anna Hunt, CE principal analyst at IMS Research, added: “Service and technology providers are finally delivering on the promise of video anywhere, anytime and to any device, which is exciting for consumers who are faced with an increasing amount of content to choose from. Pay-TV operators are aggressive in pursuing on-demand and multi-device initiatives in order to keep up with this trend and hedge against competition from OTT service providers.” Content producers going OTT Indeed, content producers, who initially deployed content to pay-TV platforms, are now exploring and forging pathways onto online via OTT and connected devices. One example is the ESPN Player, which is available globally. In Singapore, for instance, the broadcaster offers Mobile ESPN Live for mobile phone/device subscribers. Another OTT service provider will be Singapore broadcaster MediaCorp, which will deploy its service this year. Also fresh from its success in the UK, broadcaster the BBC is launching an international version of its VoD service, the iPlayer, for Apple iPad users. Subscribers outside the UK who pay a monthly subscription will get access to a range of current and classic programmes. And the spectre of the online TV platform gaining traction continues with the recent acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google. Assessing the deal, Paul Erickson, senior analyst, Consumer Electronics at IMS, said: “Motorola Mobility is one of the world’s top suppliers of pay-TV set-top boxes and has close relationships with a variety of large pay-TV operators worldwide. “Motorola’s pay-TV presence is strongest in North America, arguably the world’s most aggressive market for multi-screen applications and service deployment by pay-TV operators. Google’s aspirations to enter the living room are well known and this deal places the company squarely in the fold of the world’s most technologically aggressive cable-TV companies.” Erickson added: “With Google TV currently in search of market traction, this deal allows Google to get closer to the video arena from the services side, versus the consumer side. Also, it allows Google to have direct presence at the front line of the world’s most competitive market for deploying pay-TV applications to tablets and handsets.” The channel shift to online may also have an impact on IPTV services. Analyst and research firm Multimedia Research Group (MRG) reports that the global IPTV market will grow to $49 billion in service revenues and 113 million subscribers in 2015 — as multi-screen video usage drives wireless services to “new highs”. MRG added that IPTV operators are using integrated hybrid services (merging satellite, DTT, IPTV and OTT) both defensively and offensively, often using a combination of these to supplement their IPTV services in an integrated EPG. By offering integrated hybrid services, MRG said IPTV operators are able to offer additional integrated services not available on smart TV units. Vodafone Germany, for example, is offering IPTV and satellite, while using broadband to offer VoD. In Australia, Telstra is using DTT for linear TV and the customers’ broadband service to stream movies from its BigPond service. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites       
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