Internet players and pay TV operators compete to lure audiences, but critics say the days of audiences paying subscription fees are numbered
VIVIENNE CHOW AND NAZVI CAREEM
UPDATED : Thursday, 31 March, 2016, 8:31am
The Netflix show Daredevils. The American OTT platform launched in Hong Kong earlier this year. Photo: Netflix
While Friday’s finale of ATV might be the end of an era for Hong Kong’s free television, pay TV and over the top internet players are waging a new war with new strategies to win over audiences.
Mainland Chinese OTT content provider LeEco is offering free TV sets for English Premier League fans who are willing to take out long-term subscriptions.
Pay-TV station Now TV, which also offers English Premier League under an agreement with LeEco, is forming a strategic partnership with Netflix to draw subscribers.
But critics say that as audiences can choose to watch TV content on various internet platforms free of charge, subscription-based content service providers face much tougher competition.
“Besides sports programmes, fewer people are willing to pay for content consumption,” said TV critic and industry insider Alex Pao Wai-chung.
“There’s little incentive for people to pay a subscription fee, as you can catch the content online on various other platforms for free with your own methods.”
LeEco’s strategy is to offer a free 40-inch television set to English Premier League subscribers who are willing to sign on for a two-year plan costing HK$1,690 per year.
If they opt for the super sports plan for two years at a cost of HK$2,490 per year, they will receive a 43-inch set.
The super sports plan includes access to LeEco’s newly secured English FA Cup and other international sporting events such as Major League Baseball, men and women’s China Super League and the Copa Libertadores soccer tournament in South America.
“The days of users having to pay for their own device have gone and we are trying to develop a content-led platform for our users,” said Cheng Yizhong, LeSports chief executive. “They only have to pay for the content and the device will be given free.”
Now TV on Wednesday also announced its partnership with Netflix, the American OTT platform that was launched in Hong Kong earlier this year.
Now TV subscribers will be able to watch Netflix content on TV sets instead of just computer screens or portable devices – if they subscribe to Netflix.
Loke Kheng Tham, PCCW’s executive vice-president of pay TV, said Now TV aimed at providing the “most complete” content offerings to customers on one platform.
Now TV has more than 180 channels and can be viewed on 1.3 million screens.
Anthony Fung Ying-him, director of the School of Journalism and Communication at Chinese University of Hong Kong, said pay TV faced a rough time amid a growing technology convergence.
He said the partnership between Now TV and Netflix would be mutually beneficial but in the long-run, OTT was the future rather than a pay-TV service with box attached to a TV set.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1932177/battle-hong-kong-viewers-heats-atv-fades-screen
