The Asia Video Summit marked a successful return to Hong Kong, with
almost 300 delegates attending the conference in person and virtually.
Left to Right:
Louis Boswell, CEO, AVIA, Henry Tan, Special Adviser, Astro & Chairman,
Astro Awani, Vivek Couto, Executive Director, Media Partners Asia
Hosted by the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), the Summit
conversations centred around the key themes of ‘_The Making of Korea and
the Model for Who’s Next?’, ‘Video at the Crossroads’, ‘Technology
Taking Over’, ‘The State of Video 2023’ _and_ ‘The Advance of
Advertising’_, with a special opening session to set the stage, led by
Henry Tan, Special Adviser, Astro & Chairman, Astro Awani and Vivek
Couto, Executive Director, Media Partners Asia with Louis Boswell, CEO,
AVIA.
While recognising there are many important and challenging issues
evolving in the industry, the mood was upbeat across the two-day summit.
The conversation with Couto and Tan touched upon much of this and while
recognising the importance of advertising on premium video which was
growing, Tan also added that there was no better business than long term
subscription, even if for now the mantra of streaming companies was to
give the consumer full flexibility.
Discussing how Korea had generated such success in ‘_How The Wave Was
Launched’_, Peter Choe, CEO Blintn said that the Korean “export mindset”
had been a key factor while Hyun Park, Producer and Advisor, Studio
Dragon, said that the Koreans were very good at changing their style of
storytelling to capture the market. However, the most important was to
understand what the consumer wants, and that’s what Korea has become so
good at, added Jeeyoung Lee, GM, Korea, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Left to Right:
John Medeiros, Senior Consultant, AVIA, Prof Pirongrong Ramasoota,
Commissioner, The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications
Commission (NBTC), Thailand, Birathon Kasemsri Na Ayudhaya, Chief
Content Strategy, Investment & Partnership Officer, CP Group and True
Corporation
This focus on content continued with local experts on Chinese and Thai
entertainment. In both markets, a good ecosystem of support and
incentives was welcomed to nurture local talent. Cooperation within the
region could possibly push growth across Asian markets, said Desmond
Chan, Deputy GM, Legal and International Operations, TVB. There was
particular optimism around the prospects for Thai content, and while
recognizing this, Prof. Pirongrong Ramasoota, Commissioner, The National
Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, Thailand, stressed the
importance of “light-touch governance” to allow “industry players to be
more creative and innovative with their content.”
With the shift from linear to digital advertising, the time for CTV
(Connected TV) could also be upon us as “CTV is here to stay and will
continue to grow. Dollars follow eyeballs. . . premium content with
quality will actually earn more credible trust for our brands,” opined
Douglas Choy, GM of Inventory Development, The Trade Desk. Gavin Buxton,
MD Asia, Magnite, added that collaboration was key in terms of cross
measurement to take CTV onwards, with audience and ad experience being
the key driver behind that.
Closing off the Summit with a positive outlook, Alexandre Muller, MD
APAC, TV5MONDE, said that Asia was where there were growth and
opportunities for the video industry. “There are definitely challenges
but people are excited because we are looking for solutions,” said Roger
Tong, CEO, AsiaSat. “The bright spot is the diversity that we are
seeing. . . There is so much diversity that it allows us to be more
creative and if we maintain our creativity in solving the problems, then
we will be able to perform better,” concluded Tong.
