Impact of digital technologies on broadcasters in Asia

Impact of digital technologies on broadcasters in Asia

Broadcasters around the world are adapting to the challenges and opportunities presented by new digital technologies.

The advances in communications networks, devices, apps and services as well as content production technologies have rapidly changed how audio-visual content is both produced and consumed. These advances have enabled entry from new suppliers of video and TV content, and brought together new forms of content that compete for our attention.

However, despite these shifts the fundamental business model of TV broadcasting remains the same: broadcasters and online video services providers attract audiences by creating (or acquiring) compelling content. They then aggregate and distribute that content in a way that engages audiences in an ongoing way.

Against this background Facebook commissioned Frontier Economics to assess the competitive interplay between traditional broadcasters and online video service providers in Asia.

Our report finds no consistent evidence of the growth of online video service providers negatively affecting traditional broadcasters, with a number of traditional broadcasters adapting to the challenges arising from the growth of digital technologies.

Digital disruption has provided a challenge, but has also provided an opportunity for broadcasters to develop existing, and build new, strategies. One of the reasons online video service providers in Asia have had no consistent, clear impact on traditional broadcasters is that a number of the latter have adapted to change. Our review identified four main ways in which successful broadcasters have adapted to the presence of new technology in the sector. They have:

  1. Broadened their content offering, whether by expanding their channel portfolio, offering content online, or investing in new and exclusive content.
  2. Deepened their engagement with consumers, through use of social networks, offering clips, or partnering with video-sharing platforms.
  3. Adapted their advertising propositions by investing in targeted ads, which are often deployed during on-demand programming.
  4. Offered new digital services, whether by licensing their content to independent online video service providers or offering digital customer loyalty schemes to increase engagement with their viewers.

You can read the full report here.

Frontier regularly advises clients on digital topics. For more information please contact media@frontier-economics.com, or call +44 (0)20 7031 7000.