The Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) and CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets (CLSA) announced on 26 October the results of CLSAs independent assessment of the cost of pay-TV piracy in the Asia-Pacific region for 2004, conducted in collaboration with CASBAA and its member organizations.
The cost of pay television piracy in the Asia-Pacific region is predicted to rise 11 percent from US$874 million, as estimated in 2003, to US$970 million as estimated in 2004. The report reveals the impact of piracy across all sectors of the Asia-Pacific pay-TV industry, from platform operators to independent suppliers of programming.
This is the second annual Asia-Pacific Cost of Pay-TV Piracy Report covering all forms of cable and satellite pay-TV piracy and spanning Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The report highlights the impact of unlicensed pay television operators and illegal system subscribers on regional economies.
The cost to governments in lost taxes, license fees and other revenues is estimated to be at least US$152 million, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, who contributed to the report.
The cost of piracy in India (US$565 million) continues to dominate regional piracy numbers, contributing 58 percent of total revenue leakage. The Philippines (US$70 million) suffered a dramatic surge of 345 percent in net revenues lost to the industry driven primarily by a jump in the number of detected unauthorized cable subscribers as compared with the 2003 Report. The loss in Indonesia (US$21 million) soared by 183 percent.
Hong Kong (US$25 million loss) has suffered a 66 percent increase in revenues lost to pirated cable subscribers, but the piracy cost associated with satellite overspill has fallen by 16%, due in part to industry de-liberalization efforts (reported subscribers in Hong Kong have jumped 58% year on year), and in part through the success of anti-piracy measures undertaken by CASBAA on behalf of its members during the past 12 months.
Thailands loss (US$141 million) is up 23 percent year on year. The report concludes that 1.1 million subscribers access unlicensed pay television services in Thailand. Singapore and Vietnam experienced worsening situations, while Taiwans signal theft figures remain similar to 2003. Early indications suggest that efforts to counter a breach in the systems designed to counteract piracy in Malaysia during the third quarter of 2004 have been successful, providing a standout example for other regional markets. South Korea is the only market with no material piracy reported. Australia and China are not covered by the survey in 2004.
Yet again the results are alarming,” said Simon Twiston Davies, CEO of CASBAA. Pay-TV piracy in Asia-Pacific is not a matter of small-time individuals who make a part-time living from trading in pay-TV decoders and smart cards. The culprits have direct links to, and funding from, organized-crime syndicates investing large sums of money in breaking encryption systems and collecting illicit cable subscriptions. These characters are often involved in drug running and prostitution. In some markets these guys have relationships with terrorists. The offenders are far from nice people and the perception that pay-TV theft and the theft of other types of intellectual property rights is a victimless crime must be clearly rebutted,” added Mr. Twiston Davies.
The report clearly demonstrates the severity of the cost of piracy around the region, said Simon Dewhurst, Director and Head of Media & Entertainment Investment Banking at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. The governance and protection of intellectual property rights will play an increasingly important role in economic growth across Asia, and will continue to form one of the criteria used by the international investment community to determine which markets receive foreign direct investment. Government ministers must realize that pay-TV piracy presents a direct and high profile attack on efforts to promote a robust approach to intellectual property rights protection.
CLSA noted that the global pay-TV industry is larger than the global recording and filmed entertainment industries combined in terms of revenue. It is vital that all industry participants in Asia join forces to address the problems and overcome the challenges of piracy.
Piracy continues to undermine growth and investment across the regional pay-TV industry, in spite of the fact that the sector is expected to grow by up to 10 percent in 2005, emphasized Mr. Twiston Davies. That is why CASBAAs top priority is to stamp out pay-TV piracy. We will continue our work with governments, regulators, law enforcement bodies and industry players across Asia-Pacific to combat the problem, enact laws, and develop educational programmes that promote a vibrant multi-channel TV environment.
The second Asia-Pacific Cost of Pay-TV Piracy Report will be released at the CASBAA Convention 2004 held from 27-29 October 2004 in Hong Kong.
Megahertz Broadcast Systems, in conjunction with its partner company, Mideast Data Ltd, Doha, has won a major contract to build three turnkey Master Control areas and satellite upgrades for the Al Jazeera Sports Channel in Doha, Qatar.
Megahertz beat strong international competition to win the Al Jazeera contract, which was officially put out to tender earlier this year. The Al Jazeera Sports Channel was impressed by the companys highly competitive offer, the versatility of the equipment specified and the flexibility of Megahertz system solutions.
Each of the three Master Control areas will be equipped with sophisticated systems that incorporate a Thomson GVG Saturn, Pinnacle Thunder, DecoCast and Miranda Imagestore. The outputs from each area will be connected via fibre optic cables to an encoding area, where they will be encoded using Tandberg equipment. Megahertz is also supplying Al Jazeera with custom-built control room furniture, which will be designed and manufactured at the companys cabinet making facilities in the UK.
The project, which is currently underway, will be completed by the end of the year. Steve Hope, Megahertz Project Manager, says: The time frame for this project is particularly tight because all three of the Master Control areas have to be on-air ready by mid-November in order to fit in with Al Jazeeras broadcast requirements.
The Al Jazeera Sports Channel, a division of Al Jazeera News, was launched last year and has exclusive rights to a range of major international events, including the French Open Tennis Tournament. It also has broadcast rights to next year’s Australian Tennis Open.
Join the world’s news broadcasters on Portugal’s Algarve coast for two days of debate and discussion, plus the INSI General Assembly on Wednesday 17 November.
Digital short-wave will revolutionise cross-border broadcasts and will initiate a world-wide renaissance of radio. This was the opinion of the Director General of Deutsche Welle, Mr Erik Bettermann, during a panel discussion at Münchner Medientage. Mr Bettermann, the head of the German international broadcaster and instigator of the event was not the only one to present an optimistic prediction of a Digital Global Radio development: The other panel specialists also emphasised the advantages of digitalisation in the so-called AM range, i.e. short-, medium- and long-wave.
The discussion was chaired by Peter Senger, Director of Distribution at Deutsche Welle and Chairman of the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium; and next to Erik Bettermann, BBC representative Mike Cronk, Dan D’Aversa of RTL Group and Phil Laven of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) were also participating in the debate.
Senger outlined the advantages of digital short-wave as follows: The world-wide accepted DRM standard provided an excellent audio-quality comparable to FM. In addition, the search for frequencies was obsolete, as the station identification tuned in to the designated frequency and automatically switched to the best one. In parallel, it allows for the sending of accompanying programme information such as text messages.
On top of everything, digital transmission technology saves a lot of energy and costs compared to the analogue one, Senger said. This would open up enormous opportunities, especially for international broadcasters.
For several years, DW like many other broadcasters has noted that listeners migrated from short-wave to FM or other new distribution channels in digital quality, said Bettermann. Deutsche Welle had to stay abreast of these changes. According to test transmissions being operated by Deutsche Welle, we anticipate large area coverage in almost FM quality without interference such as jitters, induced power-noise or fading, the General Director stated. At the same time, not only stationery indoor reception, but also mobile reception in cars and with small portable devices is possible.
Admittedly listeners would need new receivers. As a consequence, the real challenge for the DRM consortium would be to achieve successful implementation, said Technical Director of the EBU, Mr. Philip Laven. The timetable for the introduction of digital services in the AM bands would in fact be set by broadcasters, but the speed of the transition to digital will be set by consumers, stressed Laven.
Dan DAversa of RTL Group sees the chance to develop pan-European coverage and that RTL Group would try to ensure that low-cost DRM receivers will be on sale in time for Christmas 2005.
Mike Cronk stated that the BBC had invested heavily in DRM and that they were now developing a detailed strategy for its initial deployment, probably into Europe, in 2005. According to Cronk, DRM offered the unique combination of wide area short-wave coverage and FM usability and quality.
As a consequence of using this digital medium, continuous direct delivery to the audience avoiding political or other regulatory obstacles will be possible.
Bettermann, having also stressed the aspect of the impossibility to censor short-wave and, focussing on European implementation, announced that Deutsche Welle would gradually switch off its analogue short-wave transmissions. A pre-condition would be the world-wide availability of DRM receivers.
South Africas official broadcaster SABC has decided to shelve its Great South Africans series, modelled on the BBCs Great Britons, after controversy arose when viewers chose white supremacists, convicted fraudsters and cheating sportsmen among the top 100. Were going back to the drawing board on this one, SABC Group CEO Peter Matlare said and stressed that SABC needed to ensure the broadest possible participation in the nomination and voting process. Viewers cast their votes by telephone, texting and e-mail all of which are mainly accessible to South Africas white citizens. Instead of celebrating South Africas national unity, the series has uncovered the nations enduring division.
The SABC also announced that it is embarking on a gradual process of updating its corporate identity platforms across the country. Included in this process is the modernising of its corporate logo, updating of signage in all regional offices around the country, freshening up the corporate brand on-air imagery, cleaning up stationery specifications, updating livery on vehicles, as well as improving public entrance experiences. This follows closely on recent brand television and radio commercials launched by the SABC as it continues to strive to deliver its public service mandate to the people of South Africa, and promote South African consciousness.
According to the The Digital Radio Development Bureaus latest Five-Year DAB Digital Radio Forecast, UK digital radio sales are set to boom:
13 million cumulative units by 2008
Annual market value nearly £500 million by 2008
Household penetration 29% by 2008
By 2008, the forecast predicts there will be more than 13 million DAB digital radios in UK homes, up from around one million at the end of 2004. This represents an increase of 1200%. The annual market value in 2008 is expected to be almost £500 million across all product segments. The 2004 market value is anticipated to be around £90 million. This represents an increase of 448%.
The biggest growth is expected to come in products such as boomboxes, hi-fi systems and clock radios, with sales of new memory radios also expected to grow over the five-year period. Hi-fi systems see the biggest growth with annual volume jumping from 62,000 in 2004 to 952,000 in 2008. One of the biggest stories to emerge over the next few years will be an increase in the number of people listening to DAB digital radio in their cars. This, it is expected, will result largely from an increase in factory line-fit by major car manufacturers.
The Five Year Forecast has been produced by the DRDB and Digital One, (the national commercial DAB digital radio multiplex operator) and independently audited. The figures within the forecast have the backing of many leading manufacturers, including Sony, Philips, Sharp, JVC and Sanyo who believe them to be a credible set of achievable targets.
