TV broadcasters attending the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council gathering in Kuala Lumpur this week praised DTH transmissions, and said the business was not as yet under threat from OTT players.

But there are concerns that the glory days where there was a constant demand from new channel launches might be ending. David Weiland, EVP/BBC Asia, said no one has time to watch 300 or 400 channels and that broadcasters ultimately will reduce the amount of programming they offer. He added that the BBC’s direct costs in terms of bandwidth leasing had fallen, as broadcasters discard the 400+ channel transmission models.

Another speaker, Minoru Yonezawa, executive officer/pay TV business unit at JSat, also sees no immediate threat to its television audience from OTT, with one reason being that Japan’s aging population is less likely to switch to OTT.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, DTH/Satellite, OTT