DISTRIBUTION, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS
Digital TV migration in doubt
Kenya’s Communications Commission is being taken to court over the plan to start digital switch-over on 31 December this year. The Consumer Federation of Kenya says that Kenya is being “irrational” in rushing to beat the global switch-over date of 2015, according to its secretary-general, Stephen Mutoro. The government had announced that analogue TV would end in Nairobi at the end of the year in the first stage of a national phased switch-over programme.
While many countries have left their capital cities – generally the places with the highest populations – until last, Kenya adopted a different strategy. It wanted to use Nairobi as a test-bed to see what problems occurred and then make sure they didn’t occur elsewhere in the country.
Despite the government waiving import duties on set top boxes, the cost of the devices to enable viewers to watch digital TV remains high and often well beyond the average viewer in the country at around KSh6,000 (US$70). The average salary of someone working in the hospitality industry in Kenya is KSh54,500 a year. "We find the government's move not only unreasonable but expensive to consumers, most of whom do not have surplus funds to purchase the required set-boxes to shift to digital television frequency signals," said Mutoro.
As AIB has observed in the past, digital switch over remains a considerable challenge in many African and Asian countries and the 2015 deadline is unlikely to be met. We’ll be watching the Kenyan court case, due to be heard on Monday 17 December in Nairobi. AIB members receive specialist briefings about digital switchover and many other topics from Africa and around the world in confidential, member-only market intelligence briefings. Contact us for details of membership and the benefits its brings.

BBC adds Indonesian platform
Three BBC channels are to be carried on the new Indonesian pay-TV platform max3 that launched in May. BBC Entertainment, BBC Lifestyle and BBC World News will be part of the channel line-up on the fledgling platform that is operated by Biznet Networks. Other international channels include a range of Discovery and A&E properties, NatGeo, MTV, Luxe TV and Fashion TV. International news channels Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Channel News Asia, CNNI, DW-TV, France 24, KBS World and RT are also available.

Burma to get VoA
Audiences in Burma will soon be able to watch Voice of America television programmes on the Sky Net DTH platform. Burmese-language news, English-language education, information and entertainment programmes will be available on the new VOA Asia TV channel. The line-up includes popular VOA music programmes, as well as science shows and the English language news magazine programme "On Assignment", which showcases VOA reporting from around the world and lets front-line journalists share their experiences from the field.
VOA director David Ensor thanked the government of Burma, BBG officials and the Sky Net management team for helping to arrange what he called an "historic event." Ensor said he was "excited about the potential for expanding VOA's audience," and hoped viewers and listeners would communicate to VOA reporters, anchors and producers what they would like to see and hear. Earlier this year, Voice of America signed an agreement that allows state-run radio and television in Burma to air VOA English teaching programmes.

Vietnam postpones regulations, again
Vietnam has again postponed the introduction of new regulations for pay-TV channels. Due to be implemented on 15 November, the regulations would have proved an immense barrier to operating in Vietnam for channels from abroad. Mandatory subtitling and dubbing carried out by a local company were among the main requirements of the proposed regulation.
AIB, along with other industry organisations, had been lobbying hard against the regulation and is in regular contact with the Vietnamese authorities. This is one of a number of regulatory affairs where AIB supports its members. For details of how AIB can help your company, contact us.

PEOPLE
Amitabh Srivastava has been appointed Regional Head, South Asia by AIB. He will lead the AIB's work in the region, building membership among broadcasters in the area, and supporting AIB members operating in India and surrounding countries.
Jeff Zucker will become the next president of CNN Worldwide in January. Formerly the president and CEO of NBC Universal, Zucker will be responsible for all 23 branded news and information services from the CNN stable.
Sally Habbershaw has been appointed to the new position of VP, International Programming, Production and Operations at A+E Networks. Based in A+E Networks’ New York headquarters, Habbershaw reports to Christian Murphy, SVP International Programming & Marketing.  Habbershaw manages the international programming, research and operations teams and oversees A+E Networks programme catalogue.  Working alongside A+E Networks Channel Partners around the globe, Sally will lead a team that will continue to drive ratings success and facilitate the launch of new channel brands.
James Ng is the new Sales Director for the Asia Pacific region for automated playout solutions company OASYS. Mike Kenna joins OASYS as Sales Director EMEA.