Free-to-air broadcasters can help meet the fierce competition from satellite and cable television by relying on the quality of their content and the trust they have built up with viewers over the years, the ABU annual General Assembly in Almaty, Kazakhstan, has heard.
Other ways to maintain their edge include offering their material on a wide range of platforms, providing fast, accurate news and making good use of their archival material, senior broadcasters told the assembly.
The three-day assembly closed today, ending eight days of meetings attended by more than 300 participants from 94 organisations.
In a wide-ranging discussion on the growing challenges facing free-to-air broadcasters, participants noted that young people were showing a strong preference for the Internet over television.
Providing interactive content and making it available on several platforms would help address this issue, the assembly heard. There was widespread agreement that quality programming remained essential in the new media environment.
K S Sarma, the Chief Executive Officer of Indias national broadcasting corporation, Prasar Bharati, described the trust of the audience as a valuable asset.
Other speakers urged free-to-air broadcasters to make full use of new technologies and platforms, using the best possible content, rather than becoming passive players while pay-TV channels seized the initiative.
The ABU President, Katsuji Ebisawa, who is also president of Japans national Broadcaster NHK, said that in the face of increasing competition, the ABU could help minimise the information gap among its members by exchanging information and conducting other joint activities.
On another issue, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced plans for cooperation with the ABU through the establishment of an Asia-Pacific Broadcast Initiative. The two organisations have agreed to explore the feasibility of a competition in the region for broadcasters to produce documentaries on development issues.