AVIA holds inaugural Asia Video Summit
November 5, 2018
The first Asia Video Summit was held by the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), from 29 October to 1 November. After two years in Macau, the main conference for the industry association returned to Hong Kong and witnessed a surge, both in the number of attendees as well as the level of debate and engagement amongst key industry executives.
The Summit was opened by Dr Bernard Chan, Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR Government who stated that “the (Association’s) rebrand truly reflects the changing broadcasting landscape worldwide. AVIA’s new mission and scope of membership to encompass the broader video industry is surely a move in the right direction to fully align itself with the technological innovations and increasing pervasiveness of Internet media”.
Attended by over 500 participants from over 145 countries, and with over 90 speakers, the Summit included a Policy Roundtable with regulators and government officials from around the region who engaged in conversations about piracy, online falsehoods and light-touch OTT regulations; the Patron’s Dinner which brought together the leadership of AVIA’s leading companies; the main two day conference, assessing the state of the video industry at the end of 2018; and the 5G Seminar, discussing the impact 5G is likely to have on the video industry.
The Asia Video Summit was designed to explore the opportunities and the challenges, the disruption and the consolidation, the success stories and the ability to embrace change across the video industry.
In his opening address, AVIA CEO, Louis Boswell, emphasised the central role the Association played in consulting with governments and regulators on behalf of the industry, fighting video piracy – the single biggest problem the industry faces today – and providing insight through conferences, reports and committees. Throughout the Summit, the themes of recalibration, collaboration and how to adapt to changing business models ran through many of the presentations and panel discussions.
Sompan Charumilinda, Executive Vice Chairman of True Visions Group was recognised for his services to the video industry by way of the inaugural Distinguished Achievement Award. Khun Sompan has been a pioneer and top executive in Thailand’s pay TV industry since its inception. He served AVIA’s predecessor, CASBAA, on the Board of Directors from 2006 to 2017, and as Chairman of the Board in 2016, actively promoting CASBAA’s members’ interests both in Thailand and across the region throughout his tenure.
AVIA would like to thank the Asia Video Summit 2018’s Lead Sponsor, Create Hong Kong, along with our other Sponsors, 21st Century Fox, A+E Networks Asia, Accedo, APT Satellite, AsiaSat, ASTRO, Australia Channel, BBC Studios, Brightcove, Cisco, ContentWise, dataxu, Discovery Networks Asia Pacific, FOX Networks Group Asia, France 24, Friend MTS, Google, HBO Asia, InvestHK, INVIDI Technologies, Leyard, MarkMonitor, MEASAT UHD, NAGRA, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Qvest Media, SES, SPI International, SpotX, STAR India, Tencent, True Visions, Turner, TV5MONDE, Viaccess-Orca, Viacom International Media Networks, Vindicia, Viu, WarnerMedia and WebTVAsia.