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
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/09/2026
Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...
29/09/2026
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch
Brie Clayton September 28, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's portable design and dynamic range...
29/09/2026
Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...
29/09/2026
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 28 Berklee alumni and faculty earned nominations across 20 categories this ye...
29/09/2026
Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop Now in its fifth year, the series brings together artists, industry leaders, and s...
29/09/2026
We tend to think we live in a digital world, with hopes and fears around artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, data centres and the next big technolo...
29/09/2026
Today, in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Apple relea...
29/09/2026
Final Cut Camera, the professional filming app for iPhone, receives a major upda...
29/09/2026
RT lyric fm is proud to announce the annual Choirs for Christmas competition callout. Warm up those vocal chords and join us on RT lyric fm for a celebration ...
28/09/2026
The NHL has announced Adobe as an Official Creative, Marketing and AI Partner beginning with the 2026-27 season. The partnership will provide the league and its...
28/09/2026
MultiDyne will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (October 5-7, Dubai Exhibition Centre), showcasing an expanded technology portfolio following its June 2026 acquisition of...
28/09/2026
ARRI and HONOR have announced the HONOR Magic9 Pro Max, a flagship smartphone carrying ARRI branding on the device and packaging as the first product-level expr...
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.
