Upset electrifies HK pay-tv
When the Hong Kong government awarded five new licences four years ago, it looked as if the still fledgling pay-television market was going to be transformed into one of those action dramas so popular among local audiences. But the initial excitement proved misplaced. Several new entrants later pulled out, blaming tough operating conditions. However, in recent weeks there have been signs the long-awaited battle may be about to begin. In a surprise upset, incumbent operator i-Cable lost its exclusive rights to broadcast two popular sports channels, ESPN and Star Sports, to NOW Broadband TV, the pay-TV service operated by PCCW, Hong Kong’s dominant fixed-line telecommunications company. The move has substantially strengthened PCCW’s attempt to be one of the first telecoms companies in the region seriously to challenge an incumbent cable TV operator. Until the launch of NOW in September last year, none of the companies that had entered Hong Kong’s pay-TV industry after liberalisation in 2000 had proven a threat to i-Cable, which previously controlled the market in a duopoly with the much smaller iTV, a unit of former fixed-line provider Cable Wireless HKT. Instead, the market is littered with casualties. News Corp’s Star TV, the UK’s Yes Television and Taiwan’s TV Plus have withdrawn, reflecting the overwhelming strength of i-Cable, controlled by Hong Kong ports-to-property conglomerate Wharf. About half of Hong Kong’s 2m households watch pay-TV, with i-Cable claiming about 670,000 subscribers and PCCW’s NOW 300,000. Smaller players including ExTV, backed by TVB, Hong Kong’s main broadcaster, and City Telecom, another broadband TV provider, account for the remainder. Since it was founded in 1993, i-Cable has faced little competition thanks to strong content. The company provides close to 80 in-house and international channels, ranging from news and sports to movies. Prior to its launch, most Hong Kong homes could only receive four channels from the territory’s two free-to-air stations. “Now PCCW has the opportunity to be a viable pay-TV operator because it has got ESPN. It’s a real pain for i-Cable,” said Vivek Couto, analyst at Media Partners Asia, an industry research and consulting firm. PCCW launched NOW, which is carried via the company’s established Netvigator broadband network, in an attempt to boost broadband subscribers further and offset a decline in its share of the fixed-line market. With the broadband infrastructure already built and by initially keeping spending on programming low, NOW was able to post strong user growth by giving away set-top boxes, providing free installation and offering several free channels on top of an à la carte menu for its broadband subscribers. But as content costs increase, NOW will have to find ways to lift its average revenue per user, which is estimated to be about HK$100 (US$13) for paid users, compared with i-Cable’s HK$218, analysts say. PCCW declined to confirm what it paid for the ESPN and Star Sports rights, but analysts estimate the cost at about HK$140m per year. The company was also reported to have bid HK$640m for a three-year exclusive deal to broadcast English Premier League content in Hong Kong, but it lost out to i-Cable, which paid HK$800m. The price paid by i-Cable was much higher than expected by analysts, but was seen as a crucial move to retain market share given the popularity of English football in Hong Kong, where soccer gambling has just been legalised. Analysts believe i-Cable’s strong soccer content, which also includes the 2006 World Cup and the Spanish Primera Liga, should allow it to hold off NOW’s challenge, at least for the time being. I-Cable is also ahead on local news, with a 24-hour dedicated channel - although according to some newspapers, PCCW is in talks with ATV, Hong Kong’s number two free-to-air broadcaster, for a similar service. I-Cable reacted to PCCW’s ESPN/Star Sports win by revamping its soccer programming and introducing a specialised betting channel. However, at the same time, it dismissed the competitive threat posed by NOW. “We grew up in competition. We have been competing with TVB from the first day we were in the industry. The market has always been tough and it is not necessarily becoming any tougher,” says SK Chan, the company’s spokesperson. However, analysts expect competition to heat up further. This should eventually force down subscriber fees, though bidding for content could remain aggressive. Compared with other Asian countries such as Taiwan and South Korea where penetration rates are about 80 per cent, analysts say Hong Kong’s pay-TV market, which only covers 50 per cent of households, still has room to grow.
瓜分香港付费电视市场
在4年之前，正值香港政府发放5份新的付费电视经营牌照之际，人们曾满心期望：新兴的付费电视市场会像香港观众所热衷的动作片那么火爆。
最初的热情很快便烟消云散。数家新的运营商以经营条件恶劣为由退出了市场。然而在最近几个星期，人们期盼已久的竞争格局似乎终于开始出现。
原有的运营商有线宽频（i-Cable）出人意料地遭到挫折，让NOW宽频电视夺走了ESPN和卫视体育（Star Sports）这两个热门体育频道的独家转播权。NOW宽频电视是由香港占主导地位的固网电信运营商电讯盈科（PCCW）经营的付费电视服务。
此举大大加强了电讯盈科的竞争地位。作为一家电信运营商，电讯盈科有意率先正式挑战原有的有线电视运营商。
直到去年9月NOW宽频电视问世之前，在2000年行业开放竞争以后进入香港付费电视业的运营商中，还没有一家对有线宽频构成威胁。此前，香港的有线电视业由有线宽频与规模小得多的iTV两家瓜分。iTV是前固网运营商大东电报局香港电讯（Cable Wireless HKT）下属的一个部门。
市场反而留下了不少牺牲品。新闻集团（News Corp）的卫视、英国的Yes电视、以及台湾的TV Plus，都经不住有线宽频的压倒性实力而先后偃旗息鼓。有线宽频是由香港港口及房地产集团九龙仓（Wharf）控制的。
香港200万住户中，有大约一半收看付费电视。有线宽频声称拥有67万用户，电讯盈科的NOW声称拥有30万用户。规模较小的运营商则占据剩余的市场份额，这些运营商包括由香港主要广播公司无线电视（TVB）支持的ExTV，以及另一家宽带电视提供商城市电讯（City Telecom）。
自1993年成立以来，有线宽频一直借助充实的内容而很少面临竞争。该公司提供近80个自己制作的频道和国际频道，内容从新闻、体育到电影无所不包。在有线宽频开通服务之前，多数香港家庭只能从两家免费电视台收看4个频道的电视节目。
媒体研究及咨询公司亚洲传媒伙伴（Media Partners Asia）分析师维卫克?库托(Vivek Couto)说：“电讯盈科现在有望成为成功的付费电视运营商，因为它得到了ESPN。此举触及了有线宽频的痛处。”
电讯盈科推出NOW宽频电视，是为了进一步提高宽带用户人数，并补偿其固网电信服务市场份额的下降。NOW服务提供的节目，是由电讯盈科已经建成到位的网上行（Netvigator）宽带网承载的。
由于宽带基础设施已经建成，并在初期阶段能够控制节目开支，因此NOW宽频电视能够通过免费提供机顶盒、免费安装，以及在宽带订户的点选服务之外免费奉送数个频道等举措，实现用户数目的强劲增长。
但随着节目成本增加，NOW宽频电视将不得不想办法提高每家用户的平均营业收入。分析师们说，NOW目前每家付费用户的营业收入估计约为100港元（合13美元），而有线宽频的每户营收为218港元。
电讯盈科不愿确认它为ESPN和卫视体育转播权所付出的代价，但据分析师们估计，此笔代价约在每年1.4亿港元上下。
据悉，该公司也曾为3年期的英格兰超级足球联赛香港独家转播权投标6.4亿港元，但却输给了投标8亿港元的有线宽频。
有线宽频的投标价格远高于分析师们的预期，但鉴于英国足球在香港的受欢迎程度，以及足球博彩在香港刚刚获得合法化，这一价格被认为体现了有线宽频为保住市场份额而志在必得的决心。
分析师们认为，有线宽频在足球节目方面的强大实力（包括2006年世界杯和西班牙甲级联赛的转播权），将使它能够顶住NOW的挑战，至少暂时会是如此。
有线宽频以其24小时的新闻频道，在本地新闻方面也处于领先地位。不过，根据某些报纸的报道，电讯盈科正与香港排名第二的免费电视台亚洲电视（ATV）洽谈，准备推出类似的服务。
针对ESPN/卫视体育频道被电讯盈科夺走，有线宽频调整了自己的足球节目，并开通了足球博彩专门频道。与此同时，该公司表示不在乎NOW宽频电视所构成的竞争威胁。
“我们是在竞争中发展壮大的。从开业的第一天起，我们就一直在与无线电视竞争。市场一向就是严峻的，现在未必变得更加严峻，”该公司的发言人SK Chan说。
然而分析师们预计，市场竞争将进一步激化。最终，这将压低用户所付的费用，而内容方面的较劲仍会继续争持。
在亚洲其他一些国家和地区，如台湾和韩国，付费电视的渗透率已经达到大约80%。分析师们指出，相比之下，香港付费电视的渗透率只有50%，所以仍有增长空间。
