Telcos shrug off Netflix expansion threat

It won’t dent pay TV revenues.

Netflix has revealed that it plans to launch in Singapore in early 2016, but OCBC analysts are fairly confident that the expansion will not significant impact telcos’ pay TV revenues.

Although OCBC conceded that the expansion will heighten competition in the pay TV market, revenue impact will be muted because of certain disadvantages with Netflix’s service.

For instance, the streaming service offers mostly dated content, with shows being a couple of seasons old. The absence of sports shows will also impact the take-up of Netflix services, along with the lack of a video on demand (VOD) service.

“Some viewers have also been accessing the service via the use of VPN (virtual private network). Last but not least, unless it comes with a TV-ready box, mass adoption is not likely to take off. In any case, we will be keeping a close watch on the latest development,” OCBC said.