How BroadcastAsia is fueling the social TV industry in Asia and beyond

By Natan Edelsburg 

Screen Shot 2014-07-07 at 10.02.13 PMI recently returned from a trip to Singapore to attend, cover and participate in BroadcastAsia for the second time. In the last few years, the trade show and conference has made a huge investment in creating content around social TV. This included presentations from Twitter, Nielsen and social TV experts like SAM’s James Neufeld. To learn more about television in the region and why BroadcastAsia has invested in the social TV industry we spoke with Lindy Wee the Director of PR & Conferences for Singapore Exhibition Services, the company that produces BroadcastAsia.

Wee has been an integral part of Singapore Exhibition Services (SES) since she joined the company in 1983. She is responsible for upholding the depth and breadth of the conference and workshop topics held alongside SES’s extensive portfolio of trade exhibitions.

Lindy Wee Photo (alternative)Lost Remote: How did BroadcastAsia go this year?
Lindy Wee:
BroadcastAsia has been growing year on year, and 2014 was no exception. We saw an increase in, not only numbers, but more importantly, the quality of delegates, as well as visitors at the show this year. There is continuous interest in the broadcast space especially in the areas of OTT, second screen, non-linear broadcasting and social media – all to meet consumers’ demands and enhancing users’ experience. This year, we saw an increasing number of primary industry leaders from broadcasters, channels, content providers and content aggregators gathering at the BroadcastAsia International Conference hungry for knowledge and practical insights into overcoming the key challenges in the market.
LR: Why was it important to have a track in the conference about social TV?
Wee: Social TV plays an instrumental role in the future of TV. We see viewers and revenues eroding, and traditional broadcasting offerings and services are no longer enough to keep the viewers “glued”. Social TV is an important tool to meet the two primary business needs of broadcasters today – Drawing eyeballs, and growing revenues. However, it is not simple to carry out a successful campaign in order to achieve these goals, and the return of investment is not immediately obvious. The BroadcastAsia team, along with key industry partners, believe that it is crucial to spotlight case studies of broadcasters who have successfully utilised Social TV strategies to build viewer loyalty, enable content to go viral, drive revenue and at the same time, provide interactivity amongst viewers.

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LR: How is the Asian Broadcast market different than the US?
Wee: The Asian broadcasting space is more fragmented compared to what we observe in the US. Different countries in Asia have different broadcasting regulations, practices, and standards. Their respective markets are also at different stages of development, where access to broadband connections is not uniform, even within a single country. Asia also has numerous traditions, values and preferences – each unique from the other. Asia cannot be seen as a single market, hence a single unifying strategy approach cannot be used to capture this diverse yet huge market.
LR: What are the plans for next year?
Wee: 2015 will be an interesting year ahead. As Asia continues to grow at an exponential rate, we will see an increasingly number of traditional broadcasters entering the IPTV, OTT space. We look forward to bringing together even more case studies on how new entrants are adapting to competition, and how incumbents are maturing their offerings to differentiate themselves amongst competitors.
LR: Anything else?
Wee: 
We would like to thank all our supporting organisations, exhibitors, visitors, members of the media, speakers and delegates for playing an integral role in making BroadcastAsia a continual success. We look forward to working with them in making the show even more successful in 2015!

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