Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Interviews with Industry Leaders: Richard North and Alex Borthwick, RugbyPass

14/12/2019

The Pay-TV Innovation Forum is a global research programme for senior pay-TV and content executives, developed by NAGRA and MTM, and designed to catalyse growth and innovation across the global TV industry, at a time of tremendous change and disruption.

As part of the programme, we are publishing a series of interviews with leading TV industry executives from around the world to explore their views, perspectives and experiences of innovation. In this interview, Richard North, Chief Strategy Officer, and Alex Borthwick, Head of Subscription Sales and Marketing for RugbyPass, share their views on the future prospects for OTT sports streaming services, including challenges specific to APAC.

What key trends do you see shaping the APAC markets?

AB: The growth opportunities are greater here than in Western Europe: broadband and smartphone penetration is growing more quickly, and the OTT market is at an earlier stage of development. The prevalence of smartphones is also important: almost all OTT video is consumed through phones, whether watched directly or cast to a TV.

In addition, there is potential for major new players to enter these markets - as illustrated by Facebook's attempted acquisition of the Premier League rights in south east Asia (even though the deal ultimately fell through).

Where do you think the real value lies? In live coverage or on-demand content?

AB: Live is key, but on-demand content has a role as well. Consumers may miss the live match but still want to watch it, especially with European rugby matches that kick off at midnight (or later) Australia time. Consumers want the option to watch at a time that is convenient for them.

Is there a danger of similar levels of rights inflation in APAC to what we have seen in Europe?

AB: Tier 1 sports rights are very important to many of the telcos and pay-TV operators. If Singtel lost the rights to the Premier League, I cant imagine how much longer its business would remain sustainable. As a result, it is prepared to pay enormous amounts for these rights, offsetting the costs against profits from their mobile phone and broadband businesses.

In contrast, pure OTT players like us can only pay what we think rights are worth, because we dont have anything to offset those costs against.

To what degree is churn a major issue, and how are you dealing with it?

AB: Churn is always an issue. For example, we see significant drop-offs in our subscriber numbers at the end of the Six Nations.

Our response is to test and iterate our offer, so as to find the right balance between giving customers the flexibility they need, whilst maximising acquisition and minimising churn.

In general, customers want the flexibility of shorter packages. During the Heineken Cup last year we realized that we could triple uptake through the last few weeks of the competition by launching a weekly pass. This is great for acquisition, of course, but the majority of these customers churn off as soon as the season ended.

In contrast, we removed the weekly pass during the Autumn Internationals last year. The objective was to reduce churn, but we found that whilst people will buy the monthly pass, they are not happy because it is more expensive. We now think that it is actually more valuable to retain the weekly pass option, but just increase the price - people will pay because it gives them that flexibility.

How is the sports content industry having to adapt to drive engagement today?

RN: Many young consumers engage with their preferred sports through YouTube, Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. It is important that we drive user engagement here through (for example) highlights and clips. However, rugby has been one of the last sports to adapt to YouTube - partly due to cable TV rights owners worries about piracy, but also because rights ownership is so fragmented across territories.

It is vital that we adapt to this new environment, empowering individual content creators to produce rugby content on these platforms. We need to recognise that individuals creating cool content mashups in their bedroom can play a key role in driving engagement among younger fans. We must move away from a world where individual rights holders can shut these people down, learning instead how to support and harness their work to the benefit of the sport.

How big a challenge is piracy?

AB: Piracy does exist and nothing will completely eradicate it, but you can reduce the threat. The Premier League has invested in an office of piracy lawyers in Singapore, which is expensive but appears to be working.

We have less money to invest but can still make a big difference by focusing on getting our streams perfect. Rugby is predominantly watched by the expat community across Asia: for them, having a reliable, high quality feed is more important than saving money on a free but low quality feed.

What do you think is the future for subscription OTT sports in the next five years?

RN: We are in a transitional period before the larger scale aggregators consolidate and dominate the market.

Currently there are multiple players trying to exploit the growth in OTT, from the major telcos and pay-TV providers to a handful of specialist sports OTT providers, such as DAZN, who are trying to be the Netflix of Sport. Then there is another, highly fragmented layer of small, D2C and niche sport offerings.

As a result, the market is fragmented, which is not good for the consumer, who has to maintain multiple subscriptions, and not good for the OTT providers. These providers are all building their own technical and operation solution, which leads to unnecessary duplication. Almost all are losing money. Over the next few years we will see a consolidation in this landscape, with aggregators playing an increasingly important role in bringing the content together into bundles that work better fo
LINK: https://dtv.nagra.com/interviews-industry-leaders-richard-north-and-al...
See more stories from nagra

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

08/06/2026

SVG Sit-Down: FIFA's Oscar Sanchez and HBS's Paul King on Deploying 16 Production Teams in 16 World Cup Venues

The two execs discuss the goals and the challenges of building a huge multi-cult...

08/06/2026

SVG All-Stars: Judi Weiss, Senior Manager, Remote Operations (Studio), ESPN

This industry legend has been a road warrior since the early '90s and is, today, a lynchpin on College GameDay The sports-production industry continues to ...

08/06/2026

DAZN Extends Combat Sports Portfolio with EFC Partnership

DAZN has agreed a multi-year rights partnership with Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC), expanding its global combat sports portfolio. DAZN will broadcast EFC...

08/06/2026

Whitepaper: TVU Networks Tackles the Future of Sports Production

As fans move across broadcast, streaming, social, mobile and creator-led platforms, and they expect every angle, in real time, TVU Networks has released a new e...

08/06/2026

Infront Strengthens Diamond League Global Broadcast Network Through Spate of New Agreements

Infront has further strengthened the 2026 Diamond League's international bro...

08/06/2026

Grass Valley Appoints Sam Craig as Vice President, Global Pre-Sales

Grass Valley has announced the appointment of Sam Craig as Vice President, Global Pre-Sales. Based in the United States, Craig will lead Grass Valley's glob...

08/06/2026

SMPTE Announces Summer 2026 IP Networking and ST 2110 Course Lineup

SMPTE has announced its summer 2026 education lineup covering IP networking and SMPTE ST 2110, including two standalone courses, a 13-week boot camp, and a hand...

08/06/2026

Sportradar and Kalshi Announce Multi-Year Data and Infrastructure Partnership for Prediction Markets

Sportradar Group AG has announced a multi-year global agreement with Kalshi, a p...

08/06/2026

FIFA and Gamefam Launch FIFA World Cup 2026 Event on Roblox

FIFA and Gamefam have announced the launch of a FIFA World Cup 2026 event on Roblox, running June 5 through July 31, 2026. The event centers on FIFA Super Socce...

08/06/2026

Stanley Pup 2026: Fun Is the Goal When the Rescue-Dog Competition Returns for Year 3

A collaboration of NHL Productions, Monumental Sports, and Michael Levitt Produc...

08/06/2026

Bryce Adair, CBS Production Assistant, Dies in Car Crash at 31

CBS Sports production staffer Bryce Adair has died at the age of 31 after sustaining injuries during a car accident on Wednesday while in Ohio working the the P...

08/06/2026

Behind the Mic: Russell Wilson and Kyle Long Join CBS Sports The NFL Today

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...

08/06/2026

WMT Digital Launches Sports Customer Data Platform Built to Turn Fan Intelligence into Revenue

WMT Digital today announced the launch of WMT Fan Intelligence, designed to unif...

08/06/2026

Miami Heat Ink New Deal With WPLG Local 10, Join NBAs Growing OTA Crowd

The Heat are the seventh NBA team to air their games over-the-air next season...

08/06/2026

Paramount and UFC Expand Media Rights Partnership to Canada Beginning in 2027

Paramount and UFC have announced an expansion of their media rights partnership making Paramount the exclusive home of UFC Numbered Event main cards in Canada ...

08/06/2026

Qatar Football Association Deploys Virtual Advertising Technology for First Time with Sponix

The Qatar Football Association (QFA), in cooperation with Sponix and broadcaster...

08/06/2026

Project B Appoints HBS as Official Host Broadcaster for Global Basketball Circuit

Project B has announced the appointment of Host Broadcast Services (HBS) as Offi...

08/06/2026

Ohio State's Marco Fragale on the Growth of On-Campus B1G+ Productions and StudentU

The Buckeyes now produce and stream upwards of 200 sports events annually with a...

08/06/2026

Meet the New GLOW Ambassadors Leading Spotify's Global Pride Celebration

At Spotify, our commitment to the LGBTQIA community is year-round. Through GLOW, our global music program, we celebrate and amplify the contributions of queer ...

08/06/2026

GearExpo UK: Keyboard & Synth Update

Get Hands-on With Keyboard & Synth Brands GearExpo UK wouldn't be complete without some synth action, and we've got some of the industry's most ...

08/06/2026

IK Multimedia's ARC On-Ear gains IEM support

50 popular in-ear monitoring system profiles added The latest update for IK Multimedia's headphone-correction system has just arrived, and introduces ca...

08/06/2026

Audeze announce the MM-520

Manny Marroquin signature cans upgraded with SLAM Technology The flagship model in Audeze's Manny Marroquin Signature Series has just been treated to an...

08/06/2026

Air domain supremacy redefined - New counter UAS, space solutions and directional communications from Rohde & Schwarz debut at ILA

Air domain supremacy redefined - New counter UAS, space solutions and directiona...

08/06/2026

BBC announces Hercule, starring Edward Bluemel as Agatha Christie's legendary detective Hercule Poirot

he BBC and BritBox have announced that Edward Bluemel (We Might Regret This, My ...

08/06/2026

Sam Craig Joins Grass Valley as VP, Global Presales

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/06/2026

SMPTE Sets Course Lineup With ST 2110, IP Networking Focus

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/06/2026

Glensound puts practical audio connectivity centre stage...

Dante interfaces, intercom and control systems for modern AV environments Glensound will showcase a focused range of networked audio and intercom solutions fo...

08/06/2026

Bminty and T18 celebrates the channel s 1st anniversary -...

Bminty is proud to celebrate the first anniversary of T18, the new free national French DTT channel launched on June 6, 2025. This symbolic milestone also marks...

08/06/2026

DaVinci Resolve Used For Global Collaboration on Tony Foster Documentary

DaVinci Resolve Used For Global Collaboration on Tony Foster Documentary Brie Clayton June 8, 2026 0 Comments DaVinci Resolve Studio and Blackmagic Cl...

08/06/2026

New York Cracks Down on AI Bots

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/06/2026

Sky introduces Real Time feature on Sky Glass and Sky Stream to bring fans closer to the World Cup action

Plus, 20% off TVs ahead of kick-offMonday 8 June 2026 Sky introduces Real Time...

08/06/2026

FOX Secures Live NFL Game Package in Mexico Starting in Fall 2026

FOX Secures Live NFL Game Package in Mexico Starting in Fall 2026 Agreement Features Thursday Night Football, Sunday Games Package, Thanksgiving Day Games, al...

08/06/2026

FOX One, FOX Sports and Indeed Name Austin Franklin and Kevin Akoto as FOX One Chief World Cup Watchers

FOX One, FOX Sports and Indeed Name Austin Franklin and Kevin Akoto as FOX One C...

08/06/2026

Hamburg Open. Hamburg. 14-15 January 2026

Meet us on the show floor Stand #286310 Discover Nara, the media management tool used by major facilities including Harbor and Molinare. Nara v2 introduces re...

08/06/2026

Micro Salon. Paris. 5-6 February 2026

L'art de l'Image dans Reflet dans un diamant mort' Une conversation avec le directeur de la photographie Manuel Dacosse, SBC et l' talonneur Pe...

08/06/2026

HPA Tech Retreat. Rancho Mirage. 15-19 February 2026

Embracing today's modern media workflows: FilmLight presents Nara 2.0, with FilmLight API Designed to support the growing demands of today's production ...

08/06/2026

Beyond the prompt: Colour grading in the age of AI. Berlin. 18 February 2026

Moderated by Andy Minuth, FilmLight's Colour Workflow Specialist Wednesday 18 February 6:00pm / Doors open 7:00pm / Presentation in German 8:00pm / Drin...

08/06/2026

Modern workflow simplified: FilmLight presents Nara and Daylight with FilmLight API. London. 14 April 2026

Join us on April 14 at 10:00am for a technical roundtable with the Filmlight dev...

08/06/2026

The Fundamentals of Coding and Machine-Assisted Development. London. Various

You're invited to FLAPI Classroom The fundamentals of coding and machine-assisted development These sessions will help you build the skills needed to cre...

08/06/2026

Colour Masterclass at MELS. Montreal. 9 May 2026

With Sylvain Canaux (St Louis, Paris) and J r me Cloutier (MELS, Montreal) Wednesday 6 May Pick your time: 1:00PM / 5:00PM Note: The presentation will be hel...

08/06/2026

Simplify your workflows with FLAPI. Los Angeles. 9 June 2026

FilmLight, 1107 N El Centro Ave, Los Angeles Doors open at 3:30pm Join the FilmLight team on June 9th at 4pm to learn how FilmLight products and APIs can stre...

08/06/2026

The Creators List launched to Help Brands Connect With Top Creators In Cannes

The Creators List launched to Help Brands Connect With Top Creators In CannesThe curated directory launched by Tubefilter, Comscore, Whalar Group and Gospel Sta...

08/06/2026

It's almost kick off time! RT KIDS show Total Football returns for a second season with a brand new co-host

Irish YouTube star DavidMC joins Aisling O'Reilly to tackle all things socce...

07/06/2026

Decksaver's Sping 2026 Drop

Company introduce 21 new protective covers Decksaver have just announced their Sping 2026 Drop, which sees a total of 21 new models added to their ever-grow...

07/06/2026

How to Recreate the Star Trek TNG jump to warp in After Effects

How to Recreate the Star Trek TNG jump to warp in After Effects Graham Quince June 7, 2026 0 Comments In 1987, John Knoll at ILM had to use labor-inte...

07/06/2026

Filming Coffee Communities with Blackmagic PYXIS

Filming Coffee Communities with Blackmagic PYXIS Brie Clayton June 7, 2026 0 Comments Remote travel, fast setups and hard sun shaped this documentary ...

07/06/2026

NVIDIA and Doosan Group Collaborate to Advance Physical AI and AI Factory Infrastructure

NVIDIA and Doosan Group are expanding their collaboration to advance new opportu...