The Channel | 2002 | September

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4 Global Brief
Afghanistan - radio collaboration
TV from Germany
Bloomberg expands newsgathering
BBC World Service set for more
Joint HIV media campaign
New international channels planned
Dubai Media City is becoming
increasingly important as a regional
centre for international channels. We
look behind the scenes
We’ve heard all the doom and gloom
stories for a year or more now. But is
it true that no media company is
spending? Fiona Scholes finds out
The AIB - focus of
international broadcasting
What exactly is the Association for
International Broadcasting. We
explain the who, why and what
AIB Global Media
Business conference 2003
Advance information about the AIB’s
second international conference,
scheduled for 29-30 April in London
AIB membership grows
Two more leading companies enroll
Radio newsgathering
Is the future freelance for more
radio broadcasters? Henry Pierse
thinks it’s the way forward
True asset management
From tape to subtitles, commercials
to schedules - life’s complicated for
the broadcaster, so how can asset
management systems help?
Transparency
How can you protect increasingly
valuable content? Matt Burgess
offers one way forward
Editorial Contents
Measure your market
There’s an enormous audience for cross-border broadcasting out there. If you can supply
the equipment that broadcasters need, you’re on to something really big. So why is
confidence still so lacking?
In this issue of The Channel, international consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers say
that everything is coming up roses – across the entertainment and media sector, it’s
spend, spend, spend. But recent evidence indicates that the money may not have been
spent wisely.
Take the UK domestic example of ITV Digital. Huge sums were invested in this new
digital TV service, great revenues were anticipated, but – the viewers didn’t materialise,
and the whole thing ended in tears, especially for the football clubs who had banked on
huge a new revenue stream. The project was based on the buzz word “digital”, but as
with other buzz words like “dotcom”, buzz was all that happened. Too many false
assumptions were made.
On the international scene at the moment, the long-established satellite operator AsiaSat
reports only a “marginal profit”, despite a “soft” market in recent times. Meanwhile
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp - which has reported a loss of US$6.3 billion - is thinking
of buying loss-making Italian pay-TV company Telpiu, from loss-makingVivendi, which
may be merged with loss-making giant Liberty (down some US$5 billion). And as regards
assets, one source reckons that some US$110 billion has been written off media company
values in the past 12 months, following revaluation.
Looking at new technologies, our report from BroadcastAsia indicates that the spread
of digital TV in Asia may be much slower than anticipated. Digital radio is likewise not
making the hoped-for revolution. In the mobile telephone industry, once expanding
exponentially, a recently-released research paper advises operators to totally abandon
3G.
The audience is there. The ideas for new technology are there. But it is proving hard to
put the two together. IBC will once again this year assemble an amazing range of new
equipment, but will the broadcasters buy it? The answer is probably yes, they will, but
at a much slower rate than manufacturers would like. The audience is the ultimate arbiter
– if they get better services, they may be prepared to pay up. Or not. Can the public
actually distinguish digital from analogue? Do they actually want all the clever add-on
services? The costs passed on the audience are high, and resistance is serious.
This isn’t going to be solved quickly. But two thoughts emerge from this issue of The
Channel. Rational service-oriented mergers and restructuring such as that between France
Telecom and satellite operators Eutelsat, EuropeStar and Stellat could improve services
and cut costs. And all companies and broadcasters could think carefully about managing
their assets more prudently.
With care the markets can be found and exploited successfully. The emphasis must be
on thinking things through and making haste slowly. Remember the carpenters’ adage
when using expensive wood: “Measure twice and cut once”.
Better still, come to the AIB’s conference in London next year, get the latest information
and opinions from all corners of the industry, and only then cut your wood.
Published by The Association for International Broadcasting
a non-profit making company limited by guarantee and registered in England
© The Association for International Broadcasting September 2002
The Channel - ISSN 1477-8718
Editor Tom Walters
Managing Editor Simon Spanswick
Editorial Office PO Box 4440, Walton, CO14 8BX, UK Tel +44 1255 676 996
Advertising MMM
Tel +44 20 8992 7073
The Association
for International
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