ContentAsia’s 20/20 interview asks those who have been in the industry in Asia for the past 10 years at least to look back – and forward – and tell us what they see. Louis Boswell, the general manager of AETN’s Asia joint venture, AETN All Asia Networks, talks about influences, small teams, listening (or not) to China, and the great Thai opportunity.
What do you think the biggest influence on Asia’s media industry in the past 10 years has been? “It is a close call between new trends in content and technology, but if forced to pick one I would have to choose technology. Streaming media on the internet, watching content on smartphones, iPods, iPads, there are more ways than ever to consume content and this is still just the beginning of a revolution. And in parallel, the venerable TV set gets stronger both with new technologies to supply it and more critically so many more service to pump through it.”
10 years ago, lots of companies said they were totally digital. What’s the biggest difference between what you remember as the digital of 2000 and your digital of today? “10 years ago, going or being digital was the be all and end all. Today it is HD, 3D, PVR, VOD, SVOD, and many more acronyms besides. It is still all digital but the difference is we are using the fact that we live in a digital world to innovate. 10 years ago we were simply in the ‘throw out our vinyl and buy CDs’ mindset. Now we realise digital is so much more than just squeezing four channels into where one had been.”
Of all the things we have known and been excited over in the past 10 years, what do you think has failed to live up to expectations? “Technology – HD. Still excited but it has certainly not yet justified our expectations, although that will likely change very soon. Country – China. China made it very clear a long time ago that foreign control of media was never on the cards, but we all chose to ignore, then ingratiate and then delude ourselves that the nice people in Beijing didn’t really mean it.”
What are the biggest operational differences you have seen over the past decade? “Scale and efficiency. You don’t need a million people to run a pay-television network anymore. It can and is effectively being done by really quite small teams of people.”
The forecasts that didn’t come true… Or the ones that came true but not in the way you expected. “The end of television, when everyone was frothing about You Tube.”
Is there anything that might have happened that didn’t (or hasn’t yet)? “So many things. HD again, progress against piracy, digitisation in Taiwan, real growth in Thailand, more media spend on pay-TV. But it will all happen.”
What would you do again in a nanosecond, even if no money was involved? “Localise our channels. We are only scratching the surface right now, but we are moving in the right direction. In 10 years’ time pay TV will look and feel different in every viable market around the region.”
What’s your take on social networks? “Social networks are now part of our landscape, and they will continue to evolve and develop. They are great means of communication and defining a community. But we need to remember they are not all-encompassing and we need to be careful about how we use them because most people still want to be friends with their friends, not with brands.”
What has been the biggest disappointment? “Thailand. It is such a great country, with incredible creativity and people love TV, but, despite that, legal pay TV is in a fraction of the country and piracy is rampant. Admittedly, pay TV is not Thailand’s biggest problem right now but the country needs to sort itself out from the top down. It could be a powerhouse.”
What are you still deeply unsure about? “How piracy can be defeated.”
The phrase you take with you into every biz dev meeting? “What is it going to cost us and what is the worst-case scenario?”
What do you think the costs of all the focus of speed and tech is? “I don’t think there is any real cost that we need to be concerned about. Speed and technology are essential in our business, as in many others. But I would say that with technology, we do spend too much time talking about how technology will be used, only to be told differently once we give that technology to the consumer.”
Crystal ball gaze for a moment…what do you think we will be talking about in 2020? “Probably the first Olympic Games in Africa or the Middle East, but other than that we will be talking about the things that we are talking about today, namely content anytime, anywhere through your pay TV subscription. We will reminisce about SD TV. iPad like devices will be ubiquitous and will be a major source of content consumption. 3D TV will be popular and glasses won’t be needed. The difference will be that while we talk about these things today, in 2020 they will be ubiquitous for many of us. So we will probably be spending more time talking about the trends which will shape our TV world in 2030, and I sincerely hope that by that time I am retired.”
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