We've just found out (better late than never, I guess) that Singapore's new cross-carriage regulations apply too to in-house self-produced, "we're putting together channels tailor-made for our subscribers" channels and services. Huh? So much for product innovation.
For the moment, we're trying hard to get our heads around the concept of building unique services for your own subscribers and then being forced to supply them (and pay for the privilege of doing so, if our intelligence is correct) to the competition.
If I was the competition, I would just sit there and wait, wouldn't you? Why spend time and money making anything good for little or no apparent benefit? Unless, of course, there's magic in the implementation (which hasn't been announced yet).
And all this time we thought that the regulations really did apply to only those third-party channels with "exclusive" contracts. I guess we were wrong. Or being too literal. To us, it seems like a fully fledged and concerted effort to commoditise content.
Right now, here's what we're thinking: why, as a programmer (and that includes programmers of in-house channels at pay-TV platforms), spend money on anything special in an effort to build a robust, rounded, coherent, well-packaged and balanced product?
The one platform isn't going to pay you anything extra, the other one isn't either... interesting business model. Am dying to hear more...
But am even more impatient to hear how the new regulations are going to be implemented. We hear there might be a related announcement next week, although the Media Development Authority says it is studying all the results of its industry consultation and will make announcements over the next two months. Either way, our eyes are peeled.
We will, of course, keep you posted.
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