This year’s APOS (Asia Pacific Video Operators Summit) by Media Partners Asia (MPA) wrapped last night with a few clear messages.

FOX Networks Group (FNG) Asia president, Zubin Gandevia, is in plus mode, adding angles to an ecosystem built up over the past two and a half decades and subtracting nothing except, perhaps, the fear that has wracked a traditional subscription video industry in decline.

A new version of the pay-TV environment is emerging – and, in the kinds of deals programmers will sign for their content, it looks pretty much the same as it used to, in the old days.

By the time APOS wraps on 27 April, a major question will be answered: Will Hong Kong Cable TV parent, i-Cable Communications, renew its pay-TV licence or not? The platform has been given an extended deadline, until Wednesday, 26 April, to make a decision.

When Korean formats producers and creators took to the stage at the MIP TV market in Cannes this month, it was with a brave face against a background of anti-Korean devastation across China that has decimated their most lucrative foreign licensing/production market ever.

Vietnam, Thailand and China lead Asia’s formats market this year. The three markets account for a combined share of 49% (102 titles) of the total 208 shows on air, in production or commissioned for broadcast in 2017/2018, according to ContentAsia’s Formats Outlook for Q1 2017.