Hong Kong’s OTT internet TV boom may be hard to sustain, despite growth in digital advertising
Not enough revenue to sustain many players in the market, say industry figures
Despite an apparent growth in spending on digital advertising, Hong Kong’s market might have trouble sustaining the over-the-top (OTT) internet boom that is hoped to make a difference to the TV landscape.
Data showed last year saw a 36 per cent increase in advertiser spending in interactive and mobile media after discounts, from HK$8 million in 2014 to last year’s HK$10.9 million, according to data compiled by media agency PHD.
Ad spend on interactive and mobile accounted for 25 per cent of the total in 2015, the same percentage as ad spend on television, where 20 per cent of it went to TVB.
Ray Wong, chief executive officer of PHD, said with the arrival of new players, more people were expected to switch on to TV again, but digital advertising would not be enough to sustain that many players in the internet television OTT market.
“The digital world offers a lot of options and there’s always a cheaper way to reach a wide audience,” Wong said. “But Hong Kong’s market is too small to support so many OTT platforms. OTT cannot replace traditional free-to-air TV. Only OTT that is backed by a traditional offline media such as the new platform by TVB can survive.”
Ricky Wong Wai-kay, boss of HKTV, said advertisers play a key role in OTT development. He said his company’s OTT content could not be sustained due to the lack of advertising and now production has been suspended.