What pay-TV operators really think...

HBO retains top spot as best overall pay-TV channel in Asia Pacific, this year’s ContentAsia / Global Intelligence Alliance’s Asia-Pacific Pay-TV Operators Survey finds.

32% of pay-TV operators in the region chose the Singapore-based regional movie service as the “best channel in terms of programming quality, overall and within each category”.

Operators said HBO offered a good variety of quality content, good promotions and new releases. They also commented on HBO’s “very good” on-air promotions.

Weighted by number of subscribers, pay-TV operators put Discovery Channel in second place, with 15% of the vote. Operators’ comments about Discovery Channel included “very good programmes, educational, information, family oriented”.

On a one-operator-one-answer unweighted basis, HBO was ahead as Asia’s favourite channel all-round with 18% of the vote; 10% chose Star Movies and 8% chose National Geographic Channel.

In the movie category alone, HBO took 38% of the unweighted vote, followed by Star Movies with 18%.

AXN led the entertainment channels’ vote, with 13%, followed closely by Star World with 11%. Operators opinions in the entertainment category were more diverse than in any other genre.

Operators said AXN carried a good “balance between drama, movie, and reality shows” and was able to appeal to a “range of target audiences”.

Disney topped the kids channels list with 27% of cable operators’ votes and Discovery led the documentary vote.

CNBC was ahead in the business news category, with 36% of the vote, followed by Bloomberg with 19%. CNBC has “good programmes that cater to the Asian market,” one operator said. CNBC’s improvements have not gone unnoticed; In the biz category, the channel was recognised as having made the most impact in the last 12 months.

In the music category, MTV was the brand of choice. 38% of pay-TV operators put the Viacom brand at the top of their music TV lists, followed by Channel [V] with 28%.

Movies, entertainment and sports took top genre spots in this year’s survey. A third of operators picked movies as the genre with the highest appeal, a quarter voted for enterainment and 20% said sports was their top priority. Kids and documentary were 4th and 5th. News appeal appears to be on the wane, dropping from 4th spot last year to 6th this year.

Among pay-TV operators’ biggest beefs is the lack of Asian content and/or focus on some of the regional and international channels. Multi-channel bouquets from one brand also don’t go down equally well with every operator.

Then again, with the right marketing and sales support, it looks like pay-TV operators don’t mind a whole lot of services from one brand. HBO and AXN, both of which offer multiple services, got operators’ vote for best overall marketing and sales.

The report also looks at what pay-TV operators say about value-for-money, bundles and packages, and industry development, among other categories.

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About Global Intelligence Alliance

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