I REFER to the warning against the Government in Friday's report
('Regional pay-TV group slams cross-carriage ruling') by the Cable
& Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (Casbaa) for
introducing new rules that require pay-TV providers to share
exclusive content.
Casbaa warned that given Singapore's small market, content
owners may well choose not to sell their products here since the
new rules on cross-carriage would mean lower profits.
Casbaa forgets that for years, these same content providers
seemed happy to court Singapore Cablevision/StarHub when it was a
monopoly.
Why should the association complain now that its members have
two pay-TV providers to negotiate with?
The Media Development Authority's (MDA) decision to revise its
rules about the competition between the two local telcos here will
ultimately benefit the consumer.
The MDA revision is also long overdue.
Content, unlike voice calls, is not a commodity.
Crazy bidding between carriers for premier content had resulted
in only one big winner - the content providers.
I can understand the grievances of some Casbaa members over the
loss of their leverage to ask for the sky.
Casbaa's members should also examine the positive growth of the
Singapore market. Content providers can now potentially reach an
audience of almost five million compared to 3.5 million when pay-TV
was launched in Singapore in 1995.
As they know, media is entertainment as well as a vehicle for
advertising dollars.
It would not be wise for content providers to bypass an audience
with one of the highest GDP per capita incomes in the world.
Toh Cheng Seong