FEATURES
Spoiled for choice
03 November 2014
3 November 2014: "We are always looking at new ways to enhance the breadth and depth of our offering. In addition, it is important to not only provide wider choices of content but to also improve accessibility to content across multiple platforms." Lin Shu Fen, Head of Entertainment and SmartLife, StarHub, Singapore.Asia's young audiences are spoiled for choice – and that's not only because they're screened-up to the max and swiping to their heart’s content. Riding parents' commitment to wholesome entertainment environments and education, pay-TV platforms everywhere have created robust children’s packs of up to 15 channels. For most of them now, the linear job is pretty much done. At least for basic tiers.Will they never again add anything else without dropping something to make space? Platforms are not saying never, but it's clear that adding kids channels in the current environment is going to take a truly unique angle and a lot of persuading. The biggest opportunity now seems to be in premium value-add options, high levels of interactivity and emerging over-the-top (OTT) players.WHAT PLATFORMS SAY ABOUT THEIR KIDS OFFERING...Children's channels on Malaysia's most powerful platform have enjoyed double-digit growth in total reach for the past two consecutive years across all platforms – education, entertainment and edutainment. Data released by Astro shows that eight out of 10 Malay children have watched Astro TVIQ, nine out of 10 Chinese kids have watched Astro Xiao Tai Yang, and nine out 10 Indian kids have watched Astro Chutti TV.Astro's current position is that its young audiences are fully served on basic packs, with additional content available on on-demand services such as Astro Best and VOD.In the Philippines, direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV provider Cignal TV is open to adding kids channels to its current bouquet of seven third-party linear chan...
3 November 2014: "We are always looking at new ways to enhance the breadth and depth of our offering. In addition, it is important to not only provide wider choices of content but to also improve accessibility to content across multiple platforms." Lin Shu Fen, Head of Entertainment and SmartLife, StarHub, Singapore.Asia's young audiences are spoiled for choice – and that's not only because they're screened-up to the max and swiping to their heart’s content. Riding parents' commitment to wholesome entertainment environments and education, pay-TV platforms everywhere have created robust children’s packs of up to 15 channels. For most of them now, the linear job is pretty much done. At least for basic tiers.Will they never again add anything else without dropping something to make space? Platforms are not saying never, but it's clear that adding kids channels in the current environment is going to take a truly unique angle and a lot of persuading. The biggest opportunity now seems to be in premium value-add options, high levels of interactivity and emerging over-the-top (OTT) players.WHAT PLATFORMS SAY ABOUT THEIR KIDS OFFERING...Children's channels on Malaysia's most powerful platform have enjoyed double-digit growth in total reach for the past two consecutive years across all platforms – education, entertainment and edutainment. Data released by Astro shows that eight out of 10 Malay children have watched Astro TVIQ, nine out of 10 Chinese kids have watched Astro Xiao Tai Yang, and nine out 10 Indian kids have watched Astro Chutti TV.Astro's current position is that its young audiences are fully served on basic packs, with additional content available on on-demand services such as Astro Best and VOD.In the Philippines, direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV provider Cignal TV is open to adding kids channels to its current bouquet of seven third-party linear channels (Disney XD, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Animax, Disney Junior, Toonami, Nickelodeon). The platform says it is also looking at adding on demand and over-the-top options, plus anything else that comes along to drive engagement."Kids play a big role in content choice so we always consider this market in every initiative. This is evident in the channel viewership rankings – kids channels come out in the top 10," says Cignal's head of channel management and marketing, Guido Xavier R. Zaballero.In Indonesia, leading satellite pay-TV platform Indovision's young audiences, from babies to teens, are now fully served, says Julio Sanjaya,general manager, PT MNC SkyVision Tbk/Indovision.Sanjaya says the next step will be continual improvement on the kids offerings, starting with the addition of new channel ZooMoo. Global channel ZooMoo launched in Asia in April this year with a 24-hour linear channel, a TVanywhere streamed channel and a synchronised secondscreen app. Content is 100% original and either created by sister production houses or commissioned from independent producers. ZooMoo launched on Indovision in August this year. Sanjaya says ZooMoo adds "a lot more interaction between the target audience and the channel they watch". He adds that ZooMoo also completes the subscription package and the platform's commitment to offering quality shows for the whole family.Kids-based on-demand options are being considered for the next round of content/tech enhancements. Indovision offers VOD for other audience segments. "For the time being, targeting kids with on-demand services is not urgent, yet we are keen to see this as good opportunity," Sanjaya says, adding that "young audiences are pretty important because they are related to one of our visions – educating the nation. We are working on this segment seriously and will gradually add what’s necessary based on subscribers' needs".In Singapore, telco SingTel added Nickelodeon and Disney Channel to its Mio TV line up in the past 18 months. Head of content, Anurag Dahiya, says the Mio team "will continue to regularly review our content offering and make changes that benefit our customers".StarHub, Singapore's biggest platform with 535,000 subscribers in mid-2014 says its Kids Basic Tier covers a comprehensive range of channels that catering to children of all ages and growing stages from infants to tweens. StarHub says more than 80% of these channels are available on the StarHub TV Anywhere platform, providing multi-screen experiences wherever audiences are.Kids add-on channels provide supplementary content, such as Chinese enrichment with Rediffusion TV, Chinese infotainment with momokids Asia, and interactive wildlife channel ZooMoo."We are always looking at new ways to enhance the breadth and depth of our offering. In addition, it is important to not only provide wider choices of content but to also improve accessibility to content across multiple platforms," says Lin Shu Fen, StarHub's head of entertainment and SmartLife.In North Asia, Japan's J:Com says its young audiences are fully served, while in Taiwan, pay-TV platform Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) says new channels will "probably not" be added to the analogue package because of capacity issues. However, the operator is looking at strengthening the kids offering on its digital platform."We do feel the need to strengthen the genre on our digital line-up," says Peter Pan, TBC’s senior vice president of content and ad sales. These are most likely to be full linear channels; TBC does not currently offer on demand services.J:Com says its young audiences are fully served with seven linear channels (AT-X HD!, Animax HD, Kids Station HD, Cartoon Network HD, Disney Channel HD, Disney XD, Disney Junior) and one VOD package (Baby TV).WHAT'S TRENDINGThe biggest shifts in young audiences' video consumption involve multiscreen usage, which adds second-screen engagement to the linear experience. And not necessarily in that order. The second-screen is often the first screen for young viewers in terms of content discovery, with linear following. Platforms point out that young audiences' viewing habits are part of a broad shift among all audiences to multiple screens and that this will only increase as smart-device penetration rises. Social networking platforms, such as Line in Japan, are a popular way for young audiences to spend time.In Singapore, StarHub's Lin says multi-screen take up among young audiences is driven in part by the "digital nanny" phenomenon, where parents rely more on technology to occupy and entertain their children.In Malaysia, Astro says the new multi-screen generation actively seeks content information before or while watching TV programmes.Astro also notes that young audiences prefer watching short-form content on their mobiles. This is because mobile devices are less regulated by parents, and therefore more private and discreet. Astro says content has to be tailor-made to address this shorter attention span.StarHub's Lin sees on-demand content for kids as a category with high growth potential. "Currently, kids titles make up a smaller portion of our on-demand catalogue. However, we see this is as a growing segment and will certainly add more titles as the demand increases," she says.Innovative services are driving take up. "We are also seeing new innovative channels such as ZooMoo, a kids wildlife channel that uses a fully synchronised second-screen app to let viewers collect animals featured on the TV screen and bring them to life on their tablet or smart phone. The second-screen app also gives kids the opportunity to learn at their own pace. As a result, the tablet becomes an extension of the channel, enhancing the viewing experience," Lin says.Education is a strong driver. Singapore's Rediffusion TV, for instance, is a subscription video on-demand (SVOD) channel that offers Chinese enrichment programmes for primary one to six students. The Rediffusion TV syllabus is curated by Eduplus Language Centre and mirrors lessons taught in Singapore schools, allowing students to continue their Chinese education at home. For a monthly subscription, parents can choose from a range of lessons categorised according to education levels.Astro's education channels, customised with tutorials to help students with the exams, are particularly well-received, the platform says. Astro makes education videos from Tutor TV and TVIQ channels available online, including on YouTube. This includes bite-size informative fillers as well as long-format videos for more intensive revision. Astro is also planning to offer mobile videos for exam revision on the go. Since launch, more than 1.3 million students have watched Astro Tutor TV (SPM) channel, which offers tutorials for Malaysia’s major exam. One of the Tutor TV channels (UPSR exam) has seen total viewership surge from 616,000 to 1.6 million.Astro hit the genre out of the park with Oh My English!. The series had 3.6 million viewers in season one, 5.2 million in season two, and 2.7 million and 2.5 million for two special telemovies. Oh My English! also continues to be popular on social media, with 616,000 Facebook fans, 82,000 followers on Twitter and 13 million YouTube views.While there have been no major shifts in kids viewing in the Philippines, Cignal's Zaballero says "we have noticed though that one of the channels that is viewed frequently on OTT is for kids".In Japan, J:Com says on-demand kids content is important and that the platform's focus is on a TV Everywhere strategy that delivers programing on demand to tablets and smart phones. It is this, the platform adds, that has value for its subscribers and will increase satisfaction levels. Among kids as, indeed, it will among everyone else."Young audiences are pretty important because they are related to one of our visions – educating the nation." Julio Sanjaya, General Manager, PT. MNC SkyVision, Indonesia."We feel the need to strengthen the kids genre on our digital line-up.” Peter Pan, Senior Vice President, Content and Sales, Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC), Taiwan."We will continue to regularly review our content offering." Anurag Dahiya Head of Content, SingTel Mio TV, Singapore.