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Monopoly to end, move to share popular TV content

By B.K. SIDHU
bksidhu@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: A policy directive to ensure certain types of popular content, such as some live sports, is not bought on an exclusive basis by any television station in the country is expected to be issued soon, according to industry sources.

This may pave the way for joint bidding for live sports content by all the players or, if only one player bids for it, the concept of sharing popular content with all the players will be possible.

The policy directive will be issued by Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and this directive may change the way the industry bids for content in the pay-TV industry.

Sources said the directive was expected to be issued in a few days.

“The whole idea of the policy directive is to address the concerns and comments made by the industry players, who claim that only one broadcaster gets all the exclusive content and that allows them to keep their market dominance and the exclusivity blocks the prospects for new entrants,” a source said.

It added that there was an “exhaustive list of popular content'' from football to select badminton games that fell under the policy directive. The directive is being done with the cooperation of industry players, including the incumbent, but it is not known how the content owners will react to this.

Last November Rais had said that the country could do away with monopoly in the pay-TV broadcasting sector. He then said that amendments had been made to the Communications and Multimedia Act to allow for competition.

This can also potentially mean that cut-throat bidding wars for exclusive distribution of premium television content such as live sports and Hollywood movies may be a thing of the past.

With the next season of Barclay's Premier League (BPL) bidding coming up, it will be interesting to see how the players are going to bid for the content which, for a long time, has been the domain of the country's biggest pay-TV operator, Astro. BPL is one of the most popular sporting events with one of the widest viewership in the world.

The local pay-TV scene has also seen the entry of many new players.

Besides Astro, the country now has IPTV players such as Telekom Malaysia Bhd and REDtone International Bhd. Maxis Bhd will also enter the market in the middle of the year and Asian Broadcasting Network (ABN) is the new digital cable operator that hopes to launch its services also by mid-year.

“The minister has been listening to the industry grouses and the directive should set the tone for a more equitable sharing concept,'' said the source.

Though there may be more players offering pay-TV services now, the challenge is still whether all the operators want to work together to buy exclusive content and share the cost. But, there again, will the content providers want to offer one country price for all the stations or will it only work exclusively with one or two broadcasters?

“But the directive is nothing new as many regulators all over the world have done it,'' added the source.

What the Government is doing is similar to what Singapore did two years ago when the republic's Media Development Authority made it mandatory for the two pay-TV operators to carry each other's content.

The regulation came about after much public outcry over the bidding rights to the English Premier League in 2010, which Singapore Telecommunications secured for its IPTV service, mio TV. However, the incumbent pay-TV operator, StarHub, had long held the rights to broadcast the popular football league but now both must cross-carry each other's content.