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As global reach and expansion becomes an
increasingly important issue for broadcasters,
the Asia Pacific region is growing in
significance. The sheer size of the market means
that the area has enormous potential. I believe
that one of the most important questions that
broadcasters should be asking at the moment
is how to maximise the potential of this market.
The area presents fantastic prospects for
entertainment and sport transmissions, in
addition to a wealth of opportunities in the
corporate market. The technology is already in
place for theAsian broadcast boom to develop.
The question is – will businesses be ready to
realise this potential?
By 2006, it is expected that theAsian television
market will be worth $36 billion – with the bulk
of value concentrated in just threemarkets: Japan
($2.1 billion), China ($700 million) and India
($500 million). Consider this, along with the
sheer diversity of the Asian broadcast markets,
and it’s clear to see why the area has become
such a key focus for international broadcasters.
The demand for European programming, such
as sporting events and soap operas, is growing,
whilst there is a greater need than ever before
for Asian content to be transported globally. It
is estimated that there are around a billion TV
homes in Asia and Australasia. Furthermore,
the population of the area is becoming ever
more affluent. China, for example, has the
world’s largest population, the fastest-
expanding economy on the globe – and an
increasingly capitalist outlook. India,
meanwhile, is benefiting from the provision of
cheap outsourced services to the west. And
even Japan’s 10-year economic downturn has
not prevented it from developing world-class
expertise in areas such as high-definition TV
(HDTV), which is now being exported to
markets such as the US.
As a result of this economic growth, the average
household income in the Asia Pacific region is
continuing to rise. Consequently, viewers in
the area have become a more attractive target
both for advertisers and for paid-for services.
According to Reach, a specialist in broadcast
and satellite communications, just 10 million
from a potential billion TVs are digitised - so
the scope for growth is huge.
Market de-regulation is also amajor driver within
the area. India, which has around 500million TV
viewers, has recently finished issuing direct-to-
home licences and approved the introduction of
the so-called “conditional access system”, which
unskilled operators can easily book, transmit and
receive transmissions from and to anywhere in
the network, whether in the studio or out on
location. The uplink system is so compact it can
often be flown out as excess baggage and bolted
to the roof of a hire car in under an hour.Areporter
and camera crewcan operate it without needing a
technician, and it can be used for broadcast of
digital video or radio, high and low speed data
transmission, IP file streaming or wide/local area
network connections.
This is just one example of an increasing number
of broadcast technologies that are coming onto
the market. It is this technology that is opening
up the possibilities in Asia. This equipment
essentially removes up-front costs, making it
easy for start-ups and new market entrants to
get up and running with minimum investment.
The corporate challenge
This technology has been harnessed in places
such as Europe and the US to do a lot more
than simply benefit broadcasters. As the
industry moves from a broadcast to a multicast
environment, encompassing narrowband,
broadband and digital television, an increasing
number of video-related technologies are being
adopted by companies. Corporates – including
Hallmark – have not been slow to pick up on
the fact that it is almost as cheap and easy to set
up your own branded television station as it is
to advertise on the networks.
When we entered theAsia Pacific market at the
beginning of this year, one of our first
customers was not a broadcaster – but Software
Technology Parks of India (STPI), a division
of the Indian government. The contract, to
transport IP traffic into thirteen locations across
the country, was typical of an increasing number
of deals that are seeing companies employ
“broadcast-like” technologies either to improve
communications or extend their businesses.
Coming of age
TheAsia Pacificmarket is in a relatively youthful
stage, and the blurring of boundaries between
corporate and broadcasting applications poses
an interesting question: might it not be possible
for traditional brands to out-gun traditional
broadcasters in the fight for broadcast market
share? The latest technologies are opening up
new opportunities, and companies beginning to
realise these in both the broadcast and corporate
domain. If this level of interest and investment
is sustained, theAsia Pacific looks set to become
a new centre of innovation and development for
the industry as a whole.
promotes consumer choice by allowing people to
pay for the channels they watch.
Bringing it to life
The situation withinAsia at the moment is rich in
potential–yetcrucially,thisstillneedstobebrought
to fruition.Anumber of foreign broadcasters have
already started to make significant inroads -
Hallmark recently launched a Hong-Kong based
English language channel into the region. It is my
firmbelief that the real enabler for broadcasters in
many cases is likely to be technology.
Asia Pacific poses some formidable challenges
in terms of sheer size – both in markets and
geography. Cultural diversity is also another
key consideration. The easiest way to overcome
these is using cheap, far-reaching technology.
Until recently, this has not been available. Now
that it is, the possibilities are endless, and
businesses and broadcasters alike need to act
quickly and shrewdly in order to establish
themselves as key players within the market. It
is now possible to reach the wholeAsia Pacific
region cost-effectively through satellites such
as Intelsat 902 at 62 degrees east. At BT
Broadcast Services, we are also gradually
extending fibre networks across the area.
Ingeneral, the cost of terrestrial fibre links toHong
Kong andSingapore have fallen to the pointwhere
broadcasters can cover the Asian market without
need for a play-out centre in the region, greatly
reducing the outlay for new entrants.
Every opportunity to drive revenue must be
exploited at this critical time, and broadcasters
have realised that it is not all one-way traffic
into Asia Pacific. Many Asian channels are
using today’s low satellite costs to reach
expatriate audiences in the west. The Philippine
national broadcaster ABS CBN, for example,
transmits via satellite to EutelsatAB3 to provide
coverage in Europe. Soon it will be possible to
transmit from virtually anywhere, thanks to a
new mobile satellite transmission network –
BT SatNet, which is already being used in
Europe and America by organisations such as
CNBC Europe and the BBC - and which is
due for launch in Asia Pacific this autumn.
This complete end-to-end service could
revolutionise the way live news and events can
be transmittedby reducinguplink costs, increasing
flexibility and cutting response times for
broadcasters. Booking satellite capacity, locating
and configuring the satellite, initiating and ending
transmissions and even configuring single or
multiple receive sites is all done automatically, so
Asia-Pacific - the next
broadcasting frontier?
Certainly an opportunity exists, says
Mark Smith
,
Managing Director of AIB member BT Broadcast Services.
Who’s going to stake their claim and who will reap the rewards?
