3 September 2014: This year's ContentAsia Summit takes place at a strange time in Asia's television/video entertainment/channels/platforms industry. There's only a little money (or a lot spread very thin) in what seems to be the most logical move forward into online/mobile/everywhere/multiscreen. Going back is not an option. Standing still for a while and waiting to learn from others' trials and errors? Maybe. Slowly and cautiously forward, launching channels with unique concepts, putting more energy into content brands, and hoping like hell that platforms get the distribution and the technology right? Could work too. Maybe. Except where it doesn't and legit customers are left hanging on while customer service tells them how valuable they are and how important their calls are. Lowering margins and making brave, bold, great big investments in local content? Many will say channels haven't gone far enough by half, but some are doing more than others and, for regional programmers at least, consumer brands seem to be doing the most. Or not. Multi Channel Networks (MCN)? Love them, but it's too early in Asia to tell who will live/prosper/disappear. What's the next big media breakthrough for Asia? The thing that goes pop and will continue to crackle over the next five or 10 years? If it's out there and it's legal, I'm not hearing it from enough people. Or maybe I haven't listened hard enough? What I think I should be hearing is all about major spend on content to build great big wonderful local libraries with long lifespans. What is clear today is that a very very attractive option going forward is illegal. But here's the thing. Pirate platforms are not only gaining ground because they're free. Many of them work. The interface on the most popular ones is intuitive. Users don't need to speak the language or read the characters to get around. These guys get what viewers want: an easy way in and an effortless way to stay in. It's so depressing. Insiders tell me the worst piracy in Asia has nothing to do with Hollywood, although the studios continue to make the most noise. Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Indonesia... bad, bad and even more bad.Between this rock and hard place are all the subscription dollars exiting the Asian market in search of uncensored content from other parts of the world not easily available in Asia. A lot of money is going on VPNs. That's money that might stay at home – or rather, come home again – with good enough reason. Is enough money being invested into the kind of local content that would redirect spend, that will build valuable collections of IP that mean, no matter what the platform, there will be content to spread across it? Many say not nearly enough. This year's ContentAsia Summit was programmed against this backdrop. If a New Next Big Thing isn't clear, I have stuck with the Big Thing that has been our Big Thing since the day we opened. For all none of us know about the future, here's a bet I'm willing to make. The Big Thing, now, next and forever, will always be Great Stories. As for the "Well Told" part of our theme this year, we've gone to the best. If anyone can, they can.Issue Three 2014