Pay-TV penetration is as low as three per cent in Indonesia, five per cent in Thailand and 10 per cent in Vietnam, compared with 70 per cent in Hong Kong, 50 per cent in Singapore and 90 per cent in Korea and Taiwan.
Nguyen Hanh, president, Q.net Entertainment & Communication, said: “There are 88 million people in Vietnam, and we just cover 10 per cent. There is lots of potential for the remaining 90 per cent, especially with localised content.”
Paul Robinson, CEO of Kidsco, argued that kids channels could play a part in expanding pay-TV penetration, pointing out that that children's channels were attractive environments for brands.
“Localisation of language is also important, having both local languages and English for our international content. We have started to do co-production with local production houses in markets like Malaysia on recycling animation,” said Robinson.
Piracy remains a big problem in Indonesia and Thailand, said the panel, but their governments are becoming more serious about fighting against it and respecting intellectual property rights.
However, in Vietnam, there is a fear that the authorities are restricting foreign channel providers to protect the local industry.
However, in Vietnam, there is a fear that the authorities are restricting foreign channel providers to protect the local industry.
“There is nothing wrong with protecting the domestic market, but Vietnam is still more open to pay-TV than markets like China."
She added that local dramas were the key revenue drivers. "Our products are still not perfect," she concluded. "We need raise our level of programme quality with foreign partners, as not every director can go overseas for training.”