NEAL ROMANEK: Where are the big centres of media innovation in APAC? VENU IYENGAR: APAC has thriving centres in every major country, with some like Singapore emerging as regional hubs. India is rising as a new centre due to its educated, technically skilled and abundant workforce. At Planetcast, we’re building media solutions and services from India for the rest of the world. We have over 100 people in our software team, which means we’re more able than many western companies in the country to develop bespoke solutions. ALISON PAVITT: The transition to cloud- and IP-based workflows accelerated during the pandemic, and while it’s clear there’s a trend for mobile-first and OTT in certain areas, linear TV channels still hold their own as destination collective viewing experiences and vital revenue-generating services for broadcasters and media companies. As elsewhere, landmark sports events are one of the key drivers for this. Popular streaming services are investing heavily in territories like India – a multilingual country – where they’re financing content in local languages to attract customers. KEVIN DOWD: North Asian countries, including China, have built out significant infrastructure such as nationwide fibre backbones and 5G-supporting, reliable, high- speed broadcasts up to 4K. Overall, networks have improved dramatically over the last 30 years, which has allowed a significant upgrade in broadcast quality and a proliferation of new channels. Networks are less reliable in SE Asia and Indochina – with the exception of Malaysia, Singapore and major cities like Bangkok and Manila.
NEAL ROMANEK: How much and in what cases do Asian countries rely on western investment and tech solutions?
PAUL SHEN: We’ve seen lots of innovation in China and India. In these markets, the majority of broadcasters depend on the domestic market and investment. They adopt a lot of tech solutions from the western world, but both have healthy domestic technology solutions. ALISON PAVITT: It’s interesting to discern reliance and preference. Certain locally designed solutions offer the functionality that a territory needs at an attractive price, while sometimes a solution designed for an international market has a richer feature set which ticks more boxes. Where western companies can work better together is in ensuring we’re visible, listening to the market and sharing knowledge and experience of deploying cloud and IP tech. VENU IYENGAR: APAC companies looking to grow beyond their local markets are benefitting from western investment. Given the current global atmosphere, however, investors are seeking options with lower risk levels. They need to have
confidence in these companies. Western investments in APAC-based companies that are on a firm footing locally, such as ours, are fuelling expansion into the US, Europe and beyond.
KEVIN DOWD: Companies providing wireless remote production solutions have performed especially well in
recent years. This is more true post-pandemic, as major events like the Olympics and the Asian Games return to the region. There’s still weakness in local broadcast equipment manufacturing, which allows US and European companies access to a major developing market. Opportunities abound in building out IP infrastructures to support large production centres and region-wide broadcasters.
“ONE OFTHE BIGGEST POST- COVID CONTENT TRENDS HAS BEEN INCREASED CROSS-CULTURAL CONSUMPTION”
@feedzinesocial
Powered by FlippingBook