Tag: Media

Singapore – The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has announced two new key partnerships: audiobook platform Audible and global multimedia company KC Global Media (Singapore), in upbringing the local talent of the country by digital transformation strategies.

The recent partnership is in part with IMDA’s larger plans of expanding the country’s media ecosystem that envisions a rise of innovative content and new opportunities for international collaboration.

Audible will be responsible for providing audio development and production training through its program “Audible Accelerator”. Furthermore, they will be responsible for finding and identifying local original stories that will be tested on Audible’s services globally.

“We are thrilled to work with IMDA and to tap into Singapore’s rich talent pool. We want nothing less than to find unique individuals to tell groundbreaking stories that could only be expressed through the power of human voice and create the next great audio series,” said Karen Appathurai Wiggins, vice president for content at Audible Inc. APAC.

She added, “It is a nation ripe with artistic talent but the audio and spoken-word category is still emerging. We hope to develop the capabilities of the artistic talent who have faced challenges as a result of the pandemic, and lay a foundation to new creative pathways and opportunities in the audio content field.”

On the other hand, KC Global Media Singapore will be responsible for collaborating with local media companies to conceptualize original scripts that have a regional appeal to countries such as Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan. 

“Technology advancement evolves the way consumers digest content and sets new market trends. Despite the challenging times amidst the recent climate, our brand thrives on pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation. We are thrilled to partner with IMDA in rolling out initiatives targeting local talents to develop new formats, produce original content and make it available on all platforms,” said George Chien, president & CEO of KC Global Media Asia.

The new partnerships are launched under the umbrella of Capability Partnership Programme (CPP), which is expected to benefit 90 local media companies and over 700 media professionals in 2021 through job creation and opportunities for upskilling.

Singapore – As chief executives of their respective firms, CEOs are sure mentioned and displayed a lot on online media, and this year, DBS Bank’s Piyush Gupta emerged as the most visible CEO in local digital media in Singapore, according to a report by market intelligence firm CARMA ASIA. 

Gupta had the largest volume of online articles that mentioned him, amounting to 90 articles from the period of May to October this year. CEOs’ visibility, or frequency of mentions, was studied on both mainstream media – which are local online publications such as The Straits Times, The Business Times, and The New Paper – as well as on social media, particularly Twitter mentions.

Gupta retains the crown, being hailed in the same rank last year. Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines’ Goh Choon Phong received the highest social media engagement with 999 mentions. 

According to the report, Gupta outperformed other CEOs due to his frequent communication around DBS’ efforts to navigate the COVID-19 crisis. 

The report also looked into how ‘favorable’ the visibility of CEOs are on media, and for this strand, Wilmar International’s CEO Kuok Khoon Hong took the reigns.

Favorability was measured via an article’s disposition, such as whether a company appears in the headline, the tone of the sources inside the article, and the sentiment of the journalist and the media outlet. Meanwhile, the mood of Twitter mentions was determined via the tone of the messages as well as the type of emojis and GIFs placed.  

The report said Hong’s favorability in the media emanated from the depiction of Hong as resilient, financially sound, and supportive towards the community by giving away the company’s largest-ever S$7m donation as well as the firm’s acknowledgment that the business had continued to record positive performance in 2020.

Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines’ CEO Goh Choon Phong was commended for being the first to publicly address the news surrounding SIA including staff layoffs and pay cuts, as well as their rapid response to the backlash following new initiatives such as the ‘Flight To Nowhere.’ 

OCBC’s Samuel Tsien, Singtel’s Chua Sock Koong, UOB’s Wee Ee Cheong were also among the most visible CEOs with a total of 60, 40, and 22 articles respectively. These were due to their prompt responses to the COVID-19 crisis, assurance of the companies’ financial positions, and introduction of digital transformation initiatives to ensure their companies are able to weather the COVID storm.

CARMA ASIA’s Managing Director Andrew Nicholls spoke about the importance of CEOs being vocal in a time of crisis.

“In a period that has shaken confidence, the pressure on CEOs to provide guidance and reassurance to shareholders, employees, and customers has intensified.” 

Sydney, Australia – Tech giant Microsoft recently signed an exclusive deal with Australia-based immersive media company Imagine Room to launch the first Mixed Reality Capture studio in the country.

With features that include 106 cameras to capture holographic and 3D-video performance, the studio establishes immersive experiences for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and spatial computing. Furthermore, the studio’s capabilities also host applications that are suitable for modern capture of human performance, which can be used for brand marketing applications.

For Paul Wiley, chief operating officer at Imagine Room Group, the recent collaboration means solving the issue of providing more authentic human experiences in terms of storytelling and virtual engagements.

“Our Microsoft-powered stage will move the needle in terms of how Australian producers think about shooting content and storytelling. COVID-19 made virtual engagements and platforms ubiquitous and Volumetric Capture solves many long-standing problems associated with adding authentic human performance into these environments. We are currently collaborating with cross-sector businesses and taking pre-bookings ahead of the studio’s launch at the end of year,” Wiley said.

David Whitaker, executive chair of Imagine Room Group added, “This agreement with Microsoft opens up significant opportunities for partnerships from enterprise training to film production and content marketing. We see massive growth potential across mixed and virtual reality headsets, mobile-first activations, 5G-powered browser AR, and immersive media production. Our unique studio will be a massive boon for the Australian content sector.”

First launched in 2018, Imagine Room aims to provide interactive media partnerships across Australia by means of their AR/VR immersive content and platforms.

https://youtu.be/ykwL0RoZM_8

“We are delighted to partner with Imagine Room to bring this technology to the Australian market. Paul and his team really impressed us with their vision for the future of content production. We share their passion for volumetric content and immersive experiences as a means to engage and connect people more deeply,” Steve Sullivan, general manager of Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture Studios stated.

Manila, Philippines – In a new study about the online content viewing behavior of Filipinos, it was found that 49% of Filipinos online admit to using streaming piracy websites or torrent sites. The results also showed that the numbers spike to about 53% within the 25-34 age demographic.

Commissioned by the Asia Video Industry Association’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) and conducted by YouGov, the survey found that out of the 49% who do use streaming piracy websites or torrent sites, 47% of consumers who accessed them have cancelled their subscriptions to both local and international content services.

In comparison to neighboring countries Malaysia and Indonesia, who have seen a decline in online piracy over the past year, online piracy in the Philippines is rising. Indonesia’s YouGov survey showed a 55% reduction in Indonesians accessing piracy services while Malaysia’s found a 64% decline. 

This decline in both Malaysia and Indonesia is due to the government’s proactive piracy site blocking initiatives which has helped in the reduction of online piracy. 

Currently, the Philippine government is looking into doing the same. A bill before the Philippine Senate (Bill #497) entitled the ‘Online Infringement Act’ proposes a regulatory site blocking mechanism which would empower the authorities to ensure that ISPs take “reasonable steps to disable access to sites whenever these sites are reported to be infringing copyright or facilitating copyright infringement.”

The survey results showed that the majority of Filipinos think that these initiatives will deter the rise in online piracy with 53% of them agreeing that a “government order or law for ISPs to block piracy websites” would be the most effective.

According to Atty Teodoro Pascua, Deputy Director General, Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), Filipino consumers should not patronize pirated content because of its risks and consequences. 

“The wide variety of legal services in the Philippines which provide premium entertainment content are reliable and importantly are legal. The piracy alternatives fund crime groups, put consumers at risk of malware infection and are unreliable. Piracy only benefits the criminal organizations who are behind these illegal websites.”

Neil Gane, the General Manager of AVIA’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) also commented, encouraging the legal consumption of content.

“We are confident that Indonesia and Malaysia will rise to become market leaders in video IP protection in the region, as a result of their site-blocking strategies. We are also confident that other countries in Asia, such as the Philippines, will take note and follow suit, boosting the growth of legal consumption of Filipino and international content.”