8 NEWS & VIEWS
April 2015
Changing the way people across Asia view entertainment
SINGAPORE – A new joint-venture startup that will offer a regional over-the-top ( OTT ) video service has it sights set on bringing a whole new dimension to the way content is consumed across Asia .
Named HOOQ , the OTT service is offered by Singapore telco and pay-TV service provider Singtel , Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros Entertainment , and will deliver both Hollywood blockbusters and TV series , as well as popular local movie programmes .
One of the main reasons for the launch of HOOQ , is the inherent market potential for over-the-top ( OTT ) video in Asia , Peter Bithos , CEO of HOOQ , told APB .
“ Today , across developing markets , there is limited access to quality entertainment , streamed directly to the screen of one ’ s choice . It ’ s either illegal , comes at a high cost or is difficult to get . We aim to fix that [ with HOOQ ].
“ In addition , there is good market potential . According to research , market potential for OTT video in India , Indonesia , Thailand and the Philippines is expected to be more than US $ 1 billion by 2018 .
“ OTT also provides a much richer experience for consumers , and is the de facto model for content consumption for millennials , who make up a disporportionately
Broadcasters should speak up and ask their regulators for more frequencies
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should tell their regulators and governments why they need the frequencies , and to make that requirement known during the meeting in Geneva this November during WRC-15 . [ Broadcasters ] need to preserve their frequencies , otherwise there is no future for them .”
Lindsay Cornell , principal systems architect at BBC-UK , agreed . The best people to deliver the message to regulators and governments are the broadcasters in each and every country as spectrum is managed on a national basis .
He explained : “ The WRC sets the framework , but it ’ s the countries themselves that in the end make those decisions and it ’ s the representatives of those countries
HOOQ is a regional OTT service offered in Asia .
large fraction of the population in our key target markets .”
And the Philippines was HOOQ ’ s first port of call , as it was launched in late February , in partnership with Globe Telecom . By the first quarter of this year , HOOQ is expected to be rolled out across the Singtel Group ’ s Asian footprint .
As to how HOOQ differs from Singtel TV Go , another OTT service offered by Singtel , Bithos explained : “ The content offering on HOOQ complements that on Singtel TV Go , which provides catch-up for linear channels customers have signed up for on the Singtel TV service . HOOQ , on the other hand , does not carry linear channels , and has a wide range of movies and TV series .”
In the long term , 4K Ultra HD ( UHD ) could also be a possibility , Bithos revealed : “ 4K UHD is on the radar , as are a number of other exciting categories / add-ons from a content perspective .”
that go to the ITU conference . Broadcasters should talk to their regulators and government about the spectrum that they use , why and what they use it for , as well as the audience benefits and the value that that it brings .”
Keeping in mind that broadcasters are serving the public and regional broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific are serving over three million audiences , this allocation of spectrum makes it very important and crucial for the future broadcasting , emphasised Dr Javad Mottaghi , secretary-general of ABU .
Dr Mottaghi told APB : “ I do believe that regulators should understand the role of broadcasters in serving audiences , providing them with information and infotainment . And public broadcasting is the only
IP-based systems need further development
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and infrastructures aid broadcasters in achieving remote production ; utilise consumer infrastructure such as broadband to send content back without deploying satellite trucks ; and enable centralised support , monitoring and better use of resources .
“ IP can deliver savings and enable multiple-platform outputs that no other technologies can achieve ,” she concluded .
IP-based workflows are an inevitability , suggested Simon Fell , director of technology and innovation at the European Broadcasting Union ( EBU ).
Fell told APB : “ IP workflows give you the flexibility to deploy your content on many different platforms , and it gives you the ability to be flexible in growth terms , so that you can scale your facility later on . We need to have the end-toend IP solution so that we can have flexible capability in production .”
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The BBC-UK ’ s Dr Zheng
Yuan-Xing : “ IP can deliver savings and enable multiple-platform outputs that no other technologies can achieve .”
As for the BBC , the success of the Glasgow trial has the British public broadcaster eyeing 4K UHD as a key consideration in the development of its next-generation IP broadcast system , Dr Zheng revealed .
“ I think we need to consider HDR ( High Dynamic Range ) as well as 4K UHD as a whole package in offering the next generation of high-quality UHD viewing experience . Due to its high bitrate , the transitional broadcast infrastructure will find it very challenging to cope — therefore IP offers a good alternative solution .”
She concluded : “ Yes , IP is definitely the way we are going and we are actively working with the industry to further develop its applications for broadcast systems .”
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during the ABU Digital Symposium held in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia , last month .
She said : “ As this trial involved new technologies such as 4K UHD as well as IP , engineers needed to possess a unique skillset in both technological elements .
“ So even for our R & D department , where we have a lot of specialised engineers , it was still challenging ( to find technically sound engineers in 4K and IP ), and if we were to move to a larger scale of events in the future , we really need to build on our skillsets .”
Dr Zheng also lamented the lack of standardisation for both 4K UHD and IP which makes systems integration a “ big challenge ” because a single vendor solution cannot be relied upon .
She continued : “ Furthermore , the lack of mature products in the market also meant that trial engineers had to produce the codes themselves , which eventually left little time for system integration tests . This is not scalable , and we have to wait for the rest of the industry to play catch-up .”
Concurring with Dr Zheng , Fintan McKiernan , CEO of Ideal Systems , believes that the current availability of broadcast equipment for an all-IP workflow is not “ comprehensive enough ” to replicate what presently takes place in a baseband broadcast system . He added : “ I think we have to see a lot more development and innovation from manufacturers in order to be able to replicate today ’ s baseband workflow in an IP-based workflow .”
However , Dr Zheng was quick to point out that IP-based workflows
platform that can reach across the nation to billions of audiences and talk to them constantly .”
The ability to reach audiences with free-to-air ( FTA ) TV is at stake , cautioned Simon Fell , director of technology and innovation at the European Broadcasting Union ( EBU ), warning of the risk of transitioning to “ pay-TV operations or some sort of pay-mechanism ” should the spectrum for FTA terrestrial digital TV go unprotected .
Broadcasters need more spectrum , was the blunt assessment of Kanit Sunchatavirul , assistant to
The benefits IP-based broadcast systems can deliver
According to the BBC , IP-based broadcast systems can deliver a range of benefits to both the broadcast industry and audiences . These include : n More flexible ways of working : This is true particularly for live events , as broadcasters can effectively move their entire production facilities to a central location , sending only the critical staff needed to capture complex , live outside broadcasts . n Increasing output : With central production facilities , broadcasters can increase on-the-ground operations using a fraction of the manpower currently required to scale up large multi-camera productions , such as major sporting events and music festivals n New forms of content : IP technologies allow more production data and metadata to be sent alongside video and audio feeds . New forms of content could take advantage of this information to provide richer , more interactive and more personal ways of telling stories to audiences .
The ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium 2015 highlighted the importance of spectrum to broadcasters as WRC-15 takes place this November . chairman of National Broadcasting Commission ( NBC ), Thailand , seeing that countries in South-east Asia are still in digital adolescence .
“ Our region is different from Europe . In Thailand , we are still at the beginning of our transition from analogue to digital . We still need some time for the transition , and that means we need more spectrum , because we need to simulcast analogue and digital services together ,” Sunchatavirul appealed .
With each individual country taking its own approach due to the
different market requirements and conditions , Dr Ahmad Zaki , group general manager of engineering television networks at Media Prima , proposed a way forward for Malaysia .
Speaking in one of the conference sessions at the ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium , Dr Zaki underlined : “ After an extensive amount of research , I am not able to find a National Spectrum Policy for Malaysia . Should this be the case , I urge the relevant Malaysian authorities to implement one , just like Singapore , the UK and the US .”