ContentAsia November 2018 by ContentAsia

ISSUE SIX 2018

C Free & fair: Oona digs in THE

X FACTOR UK

NTENT Channels: 2018’s new, axed & repackaged

CHARMED

THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH

JAMES CORDEN

Plus: iQiyi boss Gong Yu, Facebook Watch in Asia, DramaFever (aka OTT roadkill), Nippon TV on being Kawaii & more

FBI

BULL

SIREN

The X Factor UK Charmed The Late Late show with James Corden FBI BULL Siren Blue Ant Entertainment

Here to Entertain

We gave them life. They aren’t giving it back. Humans New episodes | Mondays 21:00 BKK/JKT | 22:00HK www.asia.amc.com @amctvasia

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editor’snotecontents

Amid big-time China fever at this year’s Mipcom market, a bold public cry went out reminding the 13,800 industry execs gathered in Cannes of the imbalances in China’s media trade relationships with the rest of the world. The topic is raised frequently when companies draw their maps of biz in Asia. But few take their ire or their troubles public in a big way. Or they do, and then they scuttle away hoping the fallout won’t crush them. And then along came Frapa, a Netherlands-based organisation formed to protect the international community of format creators, distributors and producers, and which fights for the principles of freedom of expression and the right to fair trade. Frapa was clearly distressed at China being named Country of Honour for Mipcom. In an open letter to Mipcom organisers Reed Midem, the organisation said the honour had been bestowed “despite numerous IP theft claims by Chinese companies in recent years”. “When there is no free exchange of content, and one side does not recognise the inherent value of outside content creation, yet insists on selling and not buying, it can result in misunderstanding, confusion, distrust and bad busi-

what’s in this issue... What’s going on with... 4 DramaFever becomes OTT

roadkill in the great streaming race

6 iQiyi founder Gong Yu talks life-changers, led by AI

8 Indonesia’s broadcast police rate local content efforts

Man of the People

Watch list

The Real World Thailand is on its way to Facebook Watch in 2019 along with Asia-Pacific game show Confetti. The ultimate mission is less about becoming the next uber-commissioner than about creating experiences & communities, says Asia-Pac entertainment partnerships head, Saurabh Doshi.

Free & fair

Mobile streaming platform

PeopleTV has arrived in Asia

Oona went live on Telkom

ness practices that harm the entire industry,”

as part of entrepreneur Monty

Indonesia this year with big

Frapa’s letter said. Frapa also called for an

Ghai’s new bouquet of brands

hopes and broad dreams.

open dialogue with international stake-

ready and willing to fill gaps

Head of content partnerships,

holders, including China, “that might lead

in audience demand and

Dominique Ullman, talks about a

to open trade and resolution of serious infringement issues facing our community”. If Frapa’s Mipcom squeal fought for attention in a week of crazy, the message was not lost. So far though, there’s no sign that it has been heard in any loud and clear way by mainland officials and ex-

platform line ups.

Cast systems

new way of gathering, curating and presenting content.

Be the change

ecutives without whom the struggle can-

Singtel’s head of content &

not be won. Ultimately, will Frapa’s letter

ad sales, Anurag Dahiya, talks

to figure out a more viable

(or anyone else’s) make a difference?

about life at the forefront of

playbook. Malena Amzah looks

Optimistically, I say yes. But, as one old

creating a super-aggregator for

what major platforms in seven

China hand said: China honestly doesn’t

an OTT/streaming universe.

markets in Asia have added,

think it’s doing anything wrong.

axed and repackaged.

20 Editorial Director Janine Stein Assistant Editor Malena Amzah malena@contentasia.tv Research & Production CJ Yong cj@contentasia.tv Editorial Aqilah Yunus aqilah@contentasia.tv Design Rae Yong

Platforms in Asia are scrambling

INTERNATIONAL Associate Publisher (Americas, Europe) and VP, International Business Development Leah Gordon leah@contentasia.tv

What is ContentAsia?

ASIA Sales and Marketing Manager Masliana Masron mas@contentasia.tv

To receive your regular free copy of ContentAsia, please email i_want@contentasia.tv

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contentasia issue six, november 2018

what’sgoingonwith...

streaming/digital RIP DramaFever. RIP Super Deluxe. And the next question: What will AT&T/WarnerMedia do with its stake in Hooq? Korean/Asian streaming platform DramaFever just became roadkill in AT&T and its newly minted WarnerMedia’s grand plan to build a SVOD platform, anchored by HBO, scheduled to debut at the end of 2019. Another merger casualty is Turner Media’s short-form platform, Super Deluxe Studio, victim of duplication in the new portfolio. As AT&T/WarnerMedia continue to wade through products and services, the obvious next question for Asia – and the one we’re watching most closely – is what happens to Warner Bros Entertainment’s investment in Singapore-based streaming platform Hooq, which it owns with telco Singtel and Sony Pictures Television. The JV was established in January 2015. The platform now has a presence in the Philippines, Thailand, India, Indonesia and Singapore. Right now, the only answer to that question is that no one knows for sure. Singtel/Hooq’s ofﬁcial response is that Warner reviews each of its investments separately and that the U.S.-based behemoth is still very much on board with Hooq. Outside of that, rumours abound about a freeze on further investment in the platform by both Warner and Sony.

Hyun Park (left) and Sky Park

DramaFever’s sudden death on 16 October after nine-years came as a huge surprise to fans, some of whom had been charged their monthly

per episode. But that’s Netﬂix, which has skewed the market with its out-

subscriptions only days before. Many took to rival Rakuten Viki’s online

size purse. Outside of Netﬂix, Korean drama commands anywhere from

message boards venting about the drama-pocalypse. “I was in the mid-

US$8,000 to US$15,000+ per episode depending on the talent attached,

dle of an episode when that message popped up. I am soooo pissed!,”

and Korean rights holders have not been shy to milk every advantage.

one said. “I’m crying,” another added.

Not all of DramaFever was equally unwanted. WarnerMedia ditched

The shock announcement came six months after Warner Bros Entertain-

only the content and the brand along with about 20% of the team in-

ment named co-founders, brothers Suk Park and Hyun Park, co-heads of

volved in programming. The rest of the staffers are staying on to sup-

production and acquisitions for Korean drama TV series. The third found-

port the tech platform, which it seems AT&T/WarnerMedia like a whole

er, Seung Bak, exited in March this year, a month before the announce-

lot more than Beauty Inside, Scarlet Heart and Nirvana in Fire or anything

ment. For a while there, it looked like the company was committed to

else DramaFever programmers picked up or made.

Korean content. In their broadened roles, the Park brothers were respon-

Those most likely to beneﬁt from DramaFever’s exit are Asian-focused

sible for acquiring and producing TV content for the Korean market, as

streaming platforms – Rakuten’s Viki platform and KCP’s Kocowa (Kore-

well as licensing Korean formats for the U.S. and importing select Warner

an Content Wave) platform, which launched in the U.S. in the middle of

Bros Television formats, such as The Mentalist, into Korea.

last year backed by Korea’s big three broadcasters, MBC, KBS and SBS.

That, clearly, was not to be. By the time the decision to axe the brand

Both have a much broader selection of Korean and Asian titles than

was made, few in the industry were surprised, especially not since AT&T

Netﬂix. Viki’s free-tier titles include Kill Me Heal Me (Korea, 2015), My Un-

ﬂagged its priorities on 10 October with the announcement of its coming-

fortunate Boyfriend (MBC Korea, 2015) and All Out of Love (Hunan TV,

soon subscription OTT platform funded by, among other sources, “con-

China, 2018). Kocowa’s line up includes Bad Papa, Happy Together, The

solidating resources from sub-scale D2C efforts”.

Ghost Detective and Jang Geum, Oh My Grandma, all streaming only

Warner Bros Digital Networks, which operated DramaFever, said the

hours after their Korean debut.

decision to pull the plug was driven by business reasons (it didn’t say

All factors combined, DramaFever was operating in a more crowded

what these were), and the changing marketplace for K-drama content.

environment, with higher costs, estimates of fewer than 500,000 subscrib-

It’s true that the cost of acquiring K-drama rights has soared. Netﬂix,

ers paying US$4.99 a month, and, it seems, an inability to scale. As one

for instance, is said to have paid US$30 million for global rights (outside

industry observer says: “DramaFever may have been successful. But it

of Korea) for Studio Dragon’s 24-episode Mr Sunshine; so US$1.25 million

was just too small for AT&T”.

contentasia issue six, november 2018

L’ Invitation L’ Outsider TV5Monde Enjoy the best of French programming Subtitled in French, English, Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese Available in Asia-Pacific on cable, satellite, IPTV & OTT Find out more on asia.tv5monde.com Contact us on asia@tv5monde.org

what’sgoingonin...

china China will remain a multi-player online entertainment market, with AI driving massive transformation, says iQiyi boss Gong Yu. © V. Desjardins – Image & Co

Of all the things that could happen in China’s online video market, the emergence of a single all-powerful uber-player that has inhaled all competition is unlikely. The reason is that content producers and advertisers don’t favour a market with only one online content distribution platform. “There is a large diversity in content and user preferences that cannot be captured by one player only,” says Gong Yu, the founder and chief executive of online giant iQiyi, which has upwards of 66.2 million paying subscribers. At the same time, he believes further fragmentation is unlikely, “since the small and medium providers will not survive the high entry barriers of content costs, technology and user base”. The massive changes looming in entertainment will come from artiﬁcial intelligence (AI) used everywhere from choosing drama scripts to customer service. Speaking during this year’s Mipcom market in Cannes in October, Yu said AI technology was “re-shaping the future of the entertainment industry”. “In an AI enabled era, it will be as if each user has a smart personal assistant providing personalised recommendations and even bespoke content. Using machine learning to provide personalised services is a key trend going forward and will reshape the entertainment industry over the next 10 to 20 years much more so than the internet did over the past three decades,” he says.

Gong Yu, iQiyi

There’s not a sliver of entertainment that won’t be impacted, from script evaluation, casting, editing and box ofﬁce prediction to content tagging, thumbnail generation, monetisation and customer service.

iQiyi’s broad range of originals so far include drama series Tientsin Mystic and Burning Ice, variety shows Hot Blood Dance Crew and Clash Bots,

“AI tech can be applied to many aspects of online video,” he adds,

and feature ﬁlms Youth, The Pluto Moment and Blue Amber. Next year’s

including as a “guardian of IP” to identify audio and video ﬁngerprints

drama slate includes The City of Chaos, The Thunder, The Eight and The

and establish a copyright database.

Legend of the White Snake.

Alongside the rise of AI everything, Yu forecasts the continued shift in

A few days after his appearance in Cannes, Yu’s team in Shanghai

China’s online video market from the current heavy reliance on acquired

unveiled the platform’s 2019 content strategy, with more than 200 new

premium content driving advertising and subscription revenue towards

shows across a range of genres, including movies, drama and animation.

original premium content.

Also on next year’s slate is a new season of music reality show, The

The move into iQiyi originals is already wildly successful; iQiyi’s costume

Rap of China, and another season of Idol Producer, along with a new

drama, The Story of Yanxi Palace, co-produced with Huanyu Film Works,

focus on shorter drama series of 12 episodes and the ﬁrst drama series

had been streamed more than 15 billion times by the time the 70-epi-

designed to be watched in portrait mode on smart phones. ”We strongly

sode series ﬁnale aired on 4 October this year, iQiyi says. The Qing Dy-

believe that watching content in portrait mode on a phone will soon

nasty tale of scheming concubines and palace intrigue has been sold to

become a mainstream method of content consumption,” Yu says, high-

more than 70 countries/regions.

lighting his company-wide emphasis on constant innovation.

Yu outlined three key beneﬁts of originals: greater differentiation be-

At the same time, the platform scrapped its view count feature in fa-

tween platforms, greater control of content costs, and more ways to

vour of an AI-driven “heat index” video evaluation system – an innova-

monetise, including advertising seamlessly embedded into content to

tion designed to combat click farming and view distortion.

“facilitate a more natural viewing experience”. Plus, he added, original

Yu believes AI will drive diverse viewing. “The proliferation of AI is sure to

IP has long-term value and can be monetised across several windows,

result in a signiﬁcantly more diverse forms of content consumption,” he

ultimately returning to the paid-content online library.

says. And that can only be good.

contentasia issue six, november 2018

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what’sgoingonwith...

rules & regulations Indonesia’s broadcasting authorities are ﬁerce taskmasters when it comes to grading what they see as quality content. And they’re not happy... •

•

TV Programme Quality Index

KPI's standard

Cultural/Tourism Programme Quality Index

Kompas TV

TVRI

Cultural/Tourism

3.33

Talkshow

3.22

Religion

3.15

MNCTV Indosiar RTV Trans TV

News

3.04

Kids

tvOne

2.95

Variety

iNews TV

2.68

Soap operas

Trans 7

2.36

Infotainment

Metro TV

2.25 0

0.5

1.5

2.5

NET.

3.5

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

Source: Indonesia Broadcasting Commission (KPI), survey period: April-June 2018

Indonesia’s broadcast watchdog, Indonesia Broadcasting Commission

while still below the three-point threshold, was less bad than in the ﬁrst

(KPI), has looked at the country’s television programming – and found at

three months of the year.

least half of it wanting. The special place in the ofﬁcial television dog-box was reserved for free-TV broadcaster Antv, which scored worst in the latest rankings.

By KPI standards, the quality of kids shows dipped dramatically during the second quarter of this year. News was singled out for special criticism, despite an improved score

Among other comments, KPI criticised the appetite for a “less inspir-

in the second quarter. In addition to noting a Jakarta/Java-centric slant

ing” celebrity focus in infotainment, variety shows and soap operas, and

to TV news, chairman of the Central KPI, Yuliandre Darwis, said there was

encouraged broadcasters to focus on inspirational stars with healthy life-

too little “positive news that builds optimism” and suggested that broad-

styles and harmonious households.

casters focus on “the achievements of regional heads and innovations in

The genres that made the grade during the three months from April to June this year were cultural/tourism, talkshow, religion and news. The category with the best overall score was cultural/tourism, with a score of 3.33 of a max four points. Kompas TV topped the cultural/tourism charts, followed by state-owned public broadcast TV network, Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI), and MNCTV in third place. Almost all broadcasters passed muster on religious programming, led by tvOne. MetroTV and TVRI tied for second place, followed by RCTI and RTV, which tied for third spot. The other four bad-boy genres – children, soap operas, variety and infotainment – fell short of KPI’s minimum standards of three points. If there is a bright side, it’s that the overall average score for all eight,

public services” that are not being reported in a balanced way. Indonesia’s top news provider from April to June was TVRI, with a score of 3.35, followed by TransTV, Kompas TV, SCTV and NET. Metro TV placed ﬁrst for talkshows, followed by TVRI, Trans7 and RTV. In addition to urging broadcasters to up their grades, KPI is also pushing for a closer relationship with the local advertising industry, signing an MoU to strengthen cooperation with the Indonesian Advertising Company Association. KPI’s logic is this: “This collaboration is to encourage the improvement of the quality of television broadcast programmes while encouraging advertisers to place their advertisements on quality shows based on the results of the quality survey of TV broadcast programmes conducted by KPI.”

contentasia issue six, november 2018

sponsoredcontent

Innovation is the key to the pay-TV industry’s long-term growth By Stéphane Le Dreau – SVP Sales APAC at NAGRA

months, with a particular focus on developing their core propositions

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particularly Asia-Pacific and Latin America, piracy is such

Establish more diverse multiscreen pay-TV propositions: 89%

a problem that it threatens the long-term sustainability of pay-TV and OTT services and unless we start taking

Stéphane Le Dreau, Senior Vice President and General Manager Asia Pacific, NAGRA

of the executives we surveyed for the research agreed that delivering a seamless and personal consumer experience will be key, especially in light of increased churn and cord

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pay-TV. In this third year of research, it’s clear that there is still much to be

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providers (65%) have already improved their portfolios over the past twelve

agnostic model and the evolution away from traditional pay-TV or OTT. Instead we will see a transition into a paid-for-video market where the content source is fundamentally irrelevant to the consumer. Evolve beyond the owned set-top box: As content is now available through a gamut of sources, there is a growing need to move beyond the traditional value proposition. Pay-TV executives recognise this, and believe that network infrastructure and billing relationships, rather than proprietary set-top boxes, are now the gateway into the consumers’ lives. A growing focus on diversification, particularly connectivity: Adjacent services – including mobile and fixed line connectivity – present real opportunities for the industry as they create a means to become more embedded within consumers’ mindsets. Smart home and advanced adver-

Source: MTM analysis of pay-TV service provider portfolios in Asia Pacific, EMEA, Latin America, and North America (n=226, 42 countries, like-for-like)

tising solutions have particular potential, and 41% and 36% of executives respectively already recognise these areas as strategically important. There’s no denying the global pay-TV industry continues to be highly disrupted. However, unlike previous research conducted by the Pay-TV Innovation Forum, the 2018 results appear to show we’re at a turning point. While the industry recognises significant global pressures, steps are being taken to ensure it remains competitively viable to secure its future in the long term. And, with the worldwide pay-TV industry expected to reach $295bn revenue value by 2022, it’s vital that we take steps to ensure its value for the global economy and the workforce it supports. For more information on the Pay-TV Innovation Forum and to review the full 2018 findings, including regional breakdowns, download the report on

Key: Commercial attractiveness / Strategic importance

contentasia issue six,november 2018

Low

High

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what’sgoingonwith...

Watch list Picture by Shawn Ha / ContentAsia Summit 2018

The Real World Thailand is on its way to Facebook Watch in 2019 along with Asia-Paciﬁc game show Confetti. The ultimate mission is less about becoming the next uber-commissioner than about creating experiences & communities, says entertainment partnerships head, Saurabh Doshi. A Thai reboot of MTV’s vintage reality series, The Real World, is headed for

medium business ideas come from Thailand, where broadcasters are

Facebook Watch in spring 2019, following an Asia-Paciﬁc adaptation of

happily streaming content and building communities. “Across Asia there

interactive game show format, Confetti, slated for a year-end premiere.

is so much learning. We’ve been talking about it for a long time... now

The new long-form shows – Facebook’s ﬁrst commissions for Asia – are part

the time is right,” he says.

of the global Facebook Watch rollout announced at the end of August.

Doshi talks about Facebook Watch as more than a video destination or

Why Thailand, one of only three country versions Facebook has com-

a repository of video content – or, indeed, more than another mega-com-

missioned? The other two are Mexico and the U.S. An enthusiastic audi-

missioner of premium shows or outlet for linear channels. Commissioned/

ence, for one. More than 51 million people in Thailand use Facebook

funded content is actually a very small part of Watch, he says. “We are a

every month. One of the top videos from this year – the cave rescue

social network, that’s our DNA,” he says. “Videos can be really passive...

of a Thai football team – has 26 million views. At one point during the

Our video strategy is about making the whole experience more meaningful,

dramatic rescue, a Thai Navy Seals video had 700,000 concurrent views.

more interesting and engaging,” he adds.

“That’s what the platform stands for, bringing people together,” says Sau-

While Facebook continues to test sports streaming, such as with LaLiga

rabh Doshi, Facebook’s Asia-Paciﬁc head of entertainment partnerships.

in India, Doshi says “the bigger thing to understand is that we think of

Thailand also has the diversity and social complexity likely to make com-

content as something that can bring people closer together”.

pelling content for young audiences. Who knew, for instance, that there

“If you walk across the street and see a lot of bars and you know peo-

are something like 18 ways to deﬁne gender identity? It’s the stuff The Real

ple are just watching together and cheering for that sporting action...

World relished in its early years... and perhaps plans to do again in the re-

you probably don’t even know who is sitting next to you, but you are to-

boot, co-produced by MTV Studios and Bunim/Murray Productions.

gether cheering. That’s the moment we want to create on the platform.”

The new shows are part of Facebook’s expanded entertainment focus in Asia, starting with Doshi’s appointment earlier this year.

“Streaming live sports is not the game. Actually the game is ‘how can you create a whole Watch party around it?’. And how can you bring

Doshi says the region is one of Facebook’s fastest growing and most

people closer and let them interact and chat and have meaningful con-

diverse, with the kinds of learnings that, for instance, drove the launch of

nections. That’s the way we’re thinking of content. And so, whether it’s

the platform’s Marketplace and have shaped the global product. The

live streaming or sports or anything else, the bottom line is about having

Marketplace idea came from Indonesia, where “we saw people organi-

that kind of experience on the platform and whatever content drives

cally trading on the platform and exchanging stuff”. Many small and

that experience.”

contentasia issue six, november 2018

Thema A Canal+ Group company Insight TV

Stingray Festival 4K Stingray Now 4K The next music video revolution Stingray Ambience 4K

Meet us at Asia Video Summit, Hong Kong 29th October – 1st November Alexandre Bac : alexandre@thematv.com • Arnaud Verlhac : arnaud@thematv.com www.thematv. com

MEET US AT ASIA VIDEO SUMMIT, HONG KONG 29TH OCTOBER - 1ST NOVEMBER Alexandre Bac : alexandre@thematv.com • Arnaud Verlhac : arnaud@thematv.com

www.thematv.com

channelslaunches

Man of the People

People Now hosts Jeremy Parsons and Andrea Boehlke

PeopleTV has arrived in Asia as part of Monty Ghai’s new bouquet of brands ready and willing to fill gaps in audience demand and platform line ups. U.S.-based PeopleTV rolled out in Asia Pacific for the first time earlier this

cused on news/business news, factual, lifestyle and kids, curated for Asian

month, adding Hollywood celebrity to a linear lifestyle/entertainment

audiences. In other words, Ghai says, everything outside of the high-stakes

space populated by E!, Lifetime, Discovery’s TLC and BBC Lifestyle.

movies, drama, sports spaces.

The channel, part of a region-wide bouquet distributed by Singapore-

“Viewers will ﬁnd big sporting events, big movies, regardless of the net-

based brandwith, debuted on StarHub in Singapore on 5 October with a

work they’re on,” Ghai says. Other genres? Not so much. “In terms of other

six-hour block looped around the clock and a regional road map starting

genres, such as factual and lifestyle, especially in the on-demand uni-

at South and Southeast Asia and then moving across to North Asia, and

verse, it becomes harder to ﬁnd programmes to watch among the 20,000

Australia/New Zealand. The linear channel runs alongside on-demand

thumbnails out there,” he says. “In the on-demand space, brands matter”.

access and a plan to roll out a direct-to-consumer platforms with operator billing. brandwith founder/CEO, Monty Ghai, who in past lives worked for BBC,

So far, brandwith’s slate includes CuriosityStream (factual), PeopleTV (lifestyle), Reuters TV (news) and Cheddar (tech/business news). Ghai says other channels are in the pipeline.

Viacom and CNBC in Asia, says his 18-month-old company is curating in-

None of brandwith’s channels have had feet on the ground in Asia in

ternational programming for Asia-based audiences – particularly younger

the past, although the U.S. services are widely available online, on You-

audiences.

Tube and via direct subscriptions to U.S. platforms.

PeopleTV in Asia focuses on celebrity and food. Original production

PeopleTV’s roll out comes a little over a month since Ghai launched Cu-

may follow. But Ghai is not rushing to add local celebs to Hollywood fare.

riosityStream, also on StarHub, ﬁlling a factual gap that opened up with

“There is a demand in Asia for Hollywood-related information,” he says.

Discovery/Scripps two-phase exit from the platform in June and August.

PeopleTV’s Asia schedule has been cherry-picked from the two-year-old

Ghai believes 30% of viewers in Asia, like elsewhere in the world, are

U.S. service’s playlist. Content includes half-hour prime-time entertainment

hard-core factual fans, and that a gap opened up a long time before

news magazine, Chatter, which promises trending moments in celebrity and

Discovery and StarHub failed to agree on renewal rates. Factual, he says,

entertainment news; Lola Ogunnaike’s Couch Surﬁng, which follows stars

headed into the reality/entertainment space years ago, largely abandon-

back through the big, small and embarrassing moments of their careers;

ing a base who didn’t want to go there with them.

and The Jess Cagle Interview, in-depth interviews with Hollywood A-listers hosted by People and Entertainment Weekly editorial director Jess Cagle. PeopleTV is part of brandwith’s plan to build a video service bundle fo-

“What happened to those factual subs who wanted and were paying for a factual tier and weren’t getting what they wanted?” That’s the gap. And that’s where he’s headed.

contentasia issue six, november 2018

ORIGINAL CONTENT WITH AN ASIAN PERSPECTIVE

Original content with an asian perspective Get real Once reguee Tapestry The heard of asean Visit us at MIPCOM 2018, Singapore Pavilion (Booth P-1.C16/ P-1.D15) Contentdistribution.mediacorp.sg Content_dist@mediacorp.com.sg

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platformsmobile

Picture by Shawn Ha

Free & fair Mobile streaming platform Oona went live on Telkom Indonesia this year with a wide-ranging bundle of free channels/curated playlists, total usage/data transparency for content partners, a revenue-share proposition and points-based incentives to view commercials, and a simple user-friendly interface. This is, the platform thinks, “the future of free-to-air TV on mobile”. Head of content partnerships, Dominique Ullman, talks about a new way of gathering, curating and presenting programming. 14

contentasia issue six, november 2018

Hits Movies The best movies All in One Place Asia’s basics Movies Channel Service Linear. HD.OTT www.hitsmovies.tv Rewind A Rewind Networks Presentation

platformsmobile

Five weeks into Oona’s launch in Indonesia, platform founder Christophe Hochart was at the Mipcom content market in Cannes talking about what he’s doing – “I compete with piracy using free content, free data and the opportunity to win prizes” – and counting his gains: 1.3 million registered users, soaring daily/monthly unique users, 18 minutes average viewing time per session, clicking on an average eight 30-second ads to win points/coins, 700 merchants participating in a advertising/incentive scheme, a new deal for airport/passenger access with free wi-fi, and plans to raise funds by the end of this year to accelerate growth. Hochart is angling for landings beyond Indonesia, leveraging the learnings and the content partnerships forged in his maiden market. Mexico is on the radar, along with the Philippines, India, China... 85% of

We don’t want to be a third party... we want to provide technology, an application that enables content providers to connect directly with their users.” Dominique Ullman Head of Content Partnerships Global Accounts, Oona

content will remain the same regardless of where the service goes, he says. The other 15% will be local. A majority of local operations will be held by a domestic partner, while Hochart will retain full ownership of Oona’s IP and tech. A few weeks earlier, Oona’s content partnerships head, Dominique Ullman, spoke at the ContentAsia Summit in Singapore about curating

Oona’s interface supports its low-to-no intervention philosophy. All the channels/playlists are presented in a carousel at the top of the screen. “We’ve put all the channels on the same level, all have the same chance to be discovered by users as they scroll,” Ullman says.

content for mobile audiences in Indonesia. The job, he told delegates,

At the end of August this year, Oona had 115 channels, including Out-

was less about his involvement in choosing what goes onto the plat-

door, a bouquet of brands from Omni Channels Asia and its partner-

form than about connecting customers and content in an ecosystem

ship with U.S.-based channels provider TV4 Entertainment, all3media’s

that also works for telcos and media/agencies/advertisers.

lifestyle channel Inside Outside, and a bundle of channels reformatted

Oona doesn’t see itself as a third party, standing between users and product. In fact, Ullman says, “we don’t want to be a third party”.

from YouTube. In other words, newer channels either sidelined by mainstream platforms or not being given the hearing they would like.

What does he want? “We want to provide technology, an applica-

Few of the services known and loved from decades in the tradition-

tion that enables content providers to connect directly with their users.”

al pay-TV space are on board so far, although there are some ‘best

With full control of what they put up – or take down – and when. This

of’ channels with short-form content from high-profile global provid-

control is driven by high levels of transparency, which give program-

ers. Freely admitting the difficulty Oona has had in bulking up its big-

mers full insight into what’s working and what’s not, with the freedom

brand presence, Ullman says he understands the challenges in shift-

to switch out shows at will. In other words, there’s none of the current

ing to a whole new model after so long. “It’s very difficult for them to

model where channels go through pay-TV operators selling bundles of

just change their mindset and change their business model,” he adds.

channels to users, with all the pricing pressure that involves, and then

“When we go to them and say, ‘okay guys, now we’re going to give

not freely sharing data that allows channels to fine-tune their product.

you revenue but only on advertising’, this is completely new for them

The revenue piece is critical. Oona is free to consumers and doesn’t

and they don’t want to upset their other clients. We completely under-

pay for content. “We don’t ask people to pay, but someone has to

stand that”.

pay somewhere,” Ullman says, adding that the company has en-

In gathering little-known channel brands for Asia, Ullman says he’s

gaged in “a lot of discussion” with media agencies and marketers try-

presenting alternatives that Indonesian viewers have never had ac-

ing to shape a viable revenue model that does not depend on pushing

cess to before. “That’s a very good learning path for us because we

advertising to users. Oona has partnered with GroupM in Indonesia

learned that while we didn’t think that some channels could be so suc-

and with SpotX in for mid- and pre-roll advertising.

cessful, they are. We have one linear channel called Cowboy Channel

Ullman reminds me that this is not his first rodeo. “I’ve been in this business for quite a while... users don’t want to have advertising in the mid-

with movies from the 1950s and 1960s that is in the top 10 in terms of viewership,” he says.

dle of their viewing,” he says. The model being tested in Indonesia turns

As the platform digs in and data starts flowing, attitudes are slowly

the interaction from push to pull, sweetened by rewards such as product

softening. “Suddenly they’re seeing that it works, and they’re see their

vouchers and discounts. The more users click on the ad thumbnails that

competitors coming in. And they see advertising coming...”

appear in the corner of their screens, the more points they earn, and the

Oona’s content management system gives providers full control of

more rewards they get. “It’s always the users who decide whether they

their channel and user data, along with the choice of display, pre-roll

want to watch advertising or not,” Ullman says, adding that the rewards

or mid-roll advertising, and insights into revenue earned. “They own

system was developed in response to agencies’ doubts about the wis-

their dashboard,” Ullman says, “and they can see minute-by-minute

dom of asking consumers to request commercials.

what’s working and what isn’t”. – Janine Stein

contentasia issue six, november 2018

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Picture by Shawn Ha / ContentAsia Summit 2018

what’sgoingonwith...

Cast systems

Singtel’s app platform for Singapore, Cast, is a growing force of linear streaming, subscription bundles, catch up, in-house packs, third-party apps, sports services... The telco’s head of content and ad sales, Anurag Dahiya, talks about life at the forefront of creating a super-aggregator. Singapore telco Singtel has, in the past year or so, bulked up and got

a decent ARPU for. That’s really what we’ve been trying to do.” Is it work-

skinny, tackled a future in OTT without losing learnings from its pay-TV

ing? “A lot of our hypotheses have been validated in what we’ve seen so

past, ﬂowed with the stream and swum against the tide, waged war

far. You will see more and more of those skinny models and a lot of linear

against friction and worshipped at the altar of simplicity, and wrestled

content coming through,” Dahiya says.

with ARPU erosion and low pricing that is the hallmark of app-based services – all under the banner of uber-aggregator app Cast.

How much will people pay? That’s a tough one. Consumers are stacking one or two apps, replacing a S$40/US$29 or S$50/US$36 ARPU with 10% or

The ultimate goal is a foothold in OTT, says Anurag Dahiya, Singtel’s

20% of that. “There’s a huge ARPU erosion and that’s one area where we

head of content and advertising sales. “The whole objective with Cast is

need to start thinking about redeploying some of our learnings from pay

to have a presence in the OTT space, which is clearly where consumers

television,” he says. “On the one hand we are teaching consumers that

are moving,” he says. There’s an important ‘but’ to that quest. “In doing

they can cut their bill very signiﬁcantly by being on just one or two apps.

that, we didn’t want to lose all the lessons that we’ve gathered over the

But the reality is that we’ve got used to a certain ARPU level and that feeds

last 10 or 11 years of being a pay-TV provider in Singapore,” Dahiya says.

the whole content ecosystem.”

Those learnings include an appetite for content on-demand running

Buffets instead of a la carte, could be the answer, with simple pricing/

alongside linear as either a lean-back experience or as a background to

packaging and seamless integration. Technically, that’s a whole lot easier

household life. “There’s something in us which wants to go and switch on

said than done. For one, most apps are designed for B2C, which makes

a TV as we enter our apartments and leave it on as we do other things,”

them less-than-ideal contributors to an integrated buffet environment.

he adds. Cast’s skinny bundles are “our effort to go in and address that

That struggle takes place against an impossible-to-beat benchmark

need at the same time as acquiring more on-demand content”. One of

set by piracy. “However low the subscription fees, we’re never going to

the skinny bundles, Variety Plus, for instance, offers 26 linear entertainment

be zero, which is what piracy is” he says, having long let go of expecting

channels and catch-up for S$14.90/US$11 a month with no contract.

miracles. “I don’t think piracy can be eliminated entirely. But we can bring

“We don’t want to neglect linear,” Dahiya says. “Our view is that linear

it down to manageable levels where it’s not upending the whole system.”

is not dead or in any danger of dying any time soon. But a lot of value has

Meanwhile, Cast as an uber-app remains a work in progress, including

to be added to the experience. Whether it is in terms of the amount of

tech solutions such as using 4G to authenticate users and ditching the

catch-up or in terms of discovering content within linear,” he says. The aim

username/password requirement. “The journey is not by any means ﬁn-

is “neat packages that appeal to our consumers that they’re willing to pay

ished, Dahiya says, adding: “I’d say it’s just getting started.”

contentasia issue six, november 2018

Documentaries, Streaming and On Demand Dive deep into 1,800+ shows across science, history, technology, nature, health, human interest and more. Launched by Discovery Communications founder and media visionary John Hendricks, CuriosityStream is the award-winning streaming and on demand destination where viewers can journey through our world and beyond. Our immersive experiences feature experts from all fields of inquiry, stunning visuals, and unrivaled storytelling to demystify science, history, technology, nature, health, human interest and more. With over 1,800 documentary features and series, including exclusive originals, CuriosityStream is available on most devices and platforms in over 160 countries worldwide. Exclusive content from the world’s best filmmakers Curated collections handpicked by our experts New films and series added weekly

Documentaries, Streaming and On Demand For more information, email monty@brandwith.tv Dive deep into 1,800+ shows across science, history, technology, nature, health, human interest and more.

Launched by Discovery Communications founder and media visionary John Hendricks, CuriosityStream is the award-winning streaming and on demand destination where viewers can journey through our world and beyond. Our immersive experiences feature experts from all fields of inquiry, stunning visuals, and unrivaled storytelling to demystify science, history, technology, nature, health, human interest and more. With over 1,800 documentary features and series, including exclusive originals, CuriosityStream is available on most devices and platforms in over 160 countries worldwide.

Exclusive content from the world’s best filmmakers

Curated collections handpicked by our experts

For more information, email monty@brandwith.tv

New films and series added weekly

platformspackaging

Be the change

Platforms in Asia are scrambling to figure out a more viable playbook. Malena Amzah looks what major platforms in seven markets in Asia added and axed. Platform

New channels launched since January 2018

Package adjustments overview in 2018

No. of subscribers 2018

No. of subscribers 2017

Hong Kong

i-Cable/ Cable TV

• March: Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Fox Sports 3, Fox Movies, Fox Family Movies, Fox Action Movies, Fox, FX, Fox Life, Star Chinese Movies, SCM Legend, BabyTV, Sky News, Fox News • April: Yo Yo TV, Fix & Foxi, Pet Club TV, ducktv, Da Vinci • May: Live News HD • June: Nick Jr., DreamWorks, Boomerang • July: ZooMoo • Sep: beIN Sports 1, beIN Sports 2

• March: Smart Kids Pack launched @ HK88/ US$11 monthly • April: HD Basic Pack dropped five channels (HMC, Animax, NHK World Premium, Channel Blue & Naughty Girls) • Oct: Happy Family/Basic Pack dropped two channels (Cine P, TLC); Cable DIY bundle dropped three channels (Phoenix HK Channel, Fashion TV, Nat Geo People)

833,000 end June 2018

889,000 end June 2017

Hong Kong

Now TV/ PCCW

• Jan: Fight Sports • August: beIN Sports 1, beIN Sports 2 • July: beIN – Now Sports 2 (rebranded) • Sep: beIN Sports Max 1, beIN SPORTS Max 2, beIN SPORTS Max 3

Sports Genre: Added UEFA Champions League (Sep), Serie A (Aug), Ligue 1 (Aug), MLS (Aug), Fight Sports (Jan)

1,343,000 end June 2018

1,302,000 end June 2017

Indonesia

MNC Vision (formerly Indovision)

• April: MNC Channel, RCTI (HD) • June: Jak TV

Says no major adjustments have been made this year

Undisclosed

2.5 million end Dec 2017

• Aug: Hello (entertainment) • Sep: Zee Tamil HD (Tamil entertainment), Colors Tamil HD (Tamil entertainment) • Oct: Naura (Muslim lifestyle), Astro Citra HD (HD mirror of Citra SD, a Malay/Asian movie service)

• Launched Tamil Samrat Pack in Sep for Astro Superpack Plus subscribers: RM10/month for Astro Family Pack, Value Pack, and Starter Pack; RM6/ month for Astro Super Pack and Super Pack Lite subscribers; RM3/month for Astro Super Pack Plus subscribers • Axed six-year old telenovela Astro Bella in October

5.635 million end July 2018

5.262 million end July 2017

Post-paid plans 790 and 830 were stopped in January this year

2 million end July 2018

1.8 million end July 2017 About 575,000 end July 2017

Country

Malaysia

Astro

Philippines

Cignal

• Jan: H2 • June: eGG Network, beIN Sports 1, 2 and 3 (started as a la carte channels in June and shifted into the sports package in Sept)

SkyCable

• Jan: Liga PH SD/HD, a Filipino commercial sports cable channel/FTA digital TV channel • Feb: Discovery Channel HD, Animal Planet HD • Apr: Metro TV HD, a lifestyle channel from ABS-CBN’s first multi-platform lifestyle brand Metro • June: Oras ng Himala, a channel dedicated to religious programming, Mandarin edutainment Miao Mi

No major adjustments

About 600,000 end July 2018

Singtel

• March: Pesona (Indonesian entertainment), Citra Drama (Indonesian drama) • Sep: HGTV (lifestyle), Asian Food Channel/AFC, Food Network • Oct: e-Le (in-house service offering Chinese/Asian entertainment and lifestyle) and TEN Cricket

• March: Dropped Turner’s Toonami/Toonami On Demand, Mezzo Live, Trace Sports Stars • April: dropped Showcase, !nsert, Bioskop Indonesia • July: dropped three Fox Asia’s on-demand “play” services (Fox Sports Play, Fox Movies Play, SCM Play), Channel [V] Taiwan, Eurosport, Eleven Sports 1 & 2 • Aug: dropped ASN • Oct: dropped Eve and Discovery Kids

387,000 end June 2018

404,000 end June 2017

StarHub

• Jan: GuangXi Television (free view channel) • July: Colors Tamil HD, GEM HD, Travelxp HD, Fight Sports HD • Aug: Gusto TV HD (food), Makeful HD (lifestyle), CuriosityStream HD (factual) • Sep: TVB Jade (Cantonese, became a 24-hour channel from a 12-hour service) • Oct: HITS Movies HD, PeopleTV HD. Corresponding catch-up channels for GEM HD, Gusto TV HD, Makeful HD, Travel XP HD, CuriosityStream HD and PeopleTV HD rolled out alongside the linear services

• Turner’s Toonami/On Demand and Fox’s three on demand “play” services (Fox Sports Play, Fox Movies Play, SCM Play) were dropped in March • Qiang Dang Yu Le Pack: inclusion of Hub Drama First (previously an SVOD a la carte add-on) • Sports: added Fight Sports HD, UEFA Champions League, UEGA Europa League, Carabao Cup and English Football League at no additional cost; cessation of ASN HD, Eurosport and Setanta Sports • Thangam Migai Pack: added Colors Tamil HD • Idaman Pack: added tvN Movies bundle (tvN Movies HD & tvN Movies VOD HD); cessation of Hub Dunia Sinema VOD • Education/Basic: dropped Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TLC, Discovery Asia • Lifestyle/Basic: dropped Discovery Science, AFC, Travel Channel, Food Network, HGTV

438,000 end June 2018

477,000 end June 2017

Thailand

TrueVisions

• June: In-house channel TrueVisions 4K, offering 4K coverage of the World Cup, for True’s Gold and Platinum subscribers @ THB2,000/US$61 installation fee, and THB1,000/US$31 deposit for the box. The channel carried on after the World Cup with sports and documentaries in 4K

• Launched Enjoy Extra Movies pack offering Fox Action Movies, True Film HD2, Warner TV @ THB199/US$6 monthly • Launched Enjoy Extra Kids offering Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD @ THB199/US$6 monthly • Offered Channel 100 to Platinum/Gold subs, allowing access to select programmes from nine channels on one screen

4 million end June 2018

4.1 million end June 2017

Vietnam

VTV Cab

• April: ITB TV Channels package (Box Movie 1, Happy Kids, Hollywood Classic, Dr. FIT, Woman, Planet Earth), Blue Ant Entertainment, Blue Ant Extreme, KIX, History, BabyTV and Fox HD

Dropped Qnet channels in April, including BBC World, Cartoon Network, Discovery Channel, Disney, Fox Movies, Fox Sports, HBO and Max

1,926,937 end July 2018

2,125,999 end July 2017

Philippines

Singapore

Source: Platforms, financial reports

contentasia issue six, november 2018

Telling you what’s going on in Asia and what it all means. On the ground in Asia. All day. Every day.

NTENT

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ContentAsia November 2018

Articles inside

DramaFever becomes OTT

iQiyi founder Gong Yu talks life-changers, led by AI