APB PANELLISTS
6 NEWS & VIEWS
October 2018
AVIA looks to grow and innovate video ecosystem in Asia
BY LOUIS BOSWELL
The decision to change the name of CASBAA to the Asia Video Industry Association ( AVIA ) was not taken lightly . Nor was it taken because we simply fancied a new name . CASBAA was established in 1991 and over the past 27 years , has been at the forefront of the advent of an entire industry — pay-TV .
However , over at least the past five years , the pay-TV industry has been changing , but it was becoming clear to many that CASBAA , the industry ’ s association , was not . It was therefore losing relevance .
When I was interviewing for the role of CEO of CASBAA at the end of last year , it was clear from the board that the association was in a parlous state and needed a new direction . I spent the first several months in the role talking to as many members as I could , asking why they were members , what they expected from an industry association and what direction they wanted CASBAA to go in .
What became abundantly clear was that members had lost patience for CASBAA as it was . They did not see the relevance , and they did not see the value as it was today . To many , CASBAA had long been synonymous with the annual CASBAA Convention , but that too had lost its way .
Moving to Macau had not been popular and the conference had become weaker and attendance had declined .
But while there may have been little sympathy with the current state of the association , almost everyone felt as I did , that there was a need for an industry association and there was a huge amount of pent-up goodwill towards us , if we could be relevant and provide value .
Relevance had to come from redefining the industry we represent . Some years ago the association had changed from the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia to simply CASBAA , but many members , myself included , did not get the memo .
And in any case , the association was still inextricably linked to only the pay- TV part of the industry . Having come from the pay-TV industry myself , and having spent the previous five years looking at how to expand beyond traditional pay-TV into over-the-top ( OTT ), I felt it was obvious that we had to represent the broader video industry .
If our biggest members were all looking outside of traditional pay-TV , how could we not ?
But before we started worrying about the semantics of a name change to reflect this , we had to clearly articulate what the association was here to do . The only way we were going to continue to exist was if we provided value to our members . The role of an industry association must be to make the industry stronger and healthier , and help its members to grow .
The first area to focus on was not difficult to identify because CASBAA was already doing it , and it was the one area where there was still respect for what CASBAA was doing — advocacy .
Clearly , when it comes to dealing with government regulators , it makes sense for the industry to speak as one , not as many , and CASBAA had been fulfilling that role for many years under the very capable leadership of John Medeiros .
What had changed though , was that one area of potential regulation that governments are increasingly grappling with — the world of streaming video services . And what was clear was that the whole industry wants governments to tread lightly in this area . This is as important for a company like Netflix , as it is for a Disney or an HBO .
So , as an association engaging with regulators , for the sake of our credibility on this issue , we have to represent both old and new . It was exactly because of this shared vision and the need to speak with one voice on behalf of the broader video industry that Netflix saw value in joining .
The second area was piracy . If we saw ourselves as a video association , clearly , piracy was the biggest single issue facing all of us . Some of our members are at the coalface of the problem , but piracy sucks revenue out of the entire ecosystem and so all parts of the industry are ultimately adversely affected .
A number of CASBAA members started an initiative called the Coalition Against Piracy in 2017 and it quickly gained traction under Neil Gane , who is bringing the fight to pirates through enforcement strategies , through disruption , and through outreach and education . So we have made the decision that the fight against piracy should become a central tenet of the entire association , while those at the coalface still do much of the heavy lifting from a financial perspective .
The third area where we decided we can add value to all our members was through insight — providing information , intelligence and education to our members , both through the written word in reports and articles , but also
❝ The role of an industry association must be to make the industry stronger and healthier , and help its members to grow .❞
through bringing members together , through committees as well as conferences and seminars . The success of the annual OTT Summit is an indication on the overall direction the industry is going in , and under our new guise , the CASBAA Convention has become the Asia Video Summit , with the remit of defining the state of the video industry in Asia in 2018 .
There has never been a more interesting time to be working in our industry . Interesting clearly does not mean easy though . But I believe the need for an industry association is greater today than it has ever been before . That industry association , though , must be relevant and provide value to members across the broad church that constitutes
Graham Stephens CTO Media City Development , Malaysia
APB PANELLISTS
Goh Kim Soon Senior Vice-President Broadcast Engineering Mediacorp
our industry today . So that is what we are now more focused on doing than ever before .
It does not matter if you are a linear broadcaster , a pay-TV platform , a native OTT company , a mobile telco , a satellite company , a technology provider , a research and data company , or another part of the industry . What is important is that you are part of the video ecosystem in Asia , looking to grow and to innovate , and that is why we have become the Asia Video Industry Association — to help you do exactly that .
Louis Boswell is CEO of the Asia Video Industry Association ( AVIA ), and an APB panellist .
Shad Hashmi
Vice-President , Digital Development , Global Markets & Operations , BBC Worldwide Asia