Cable firm takes on new trends with confidence of trailblazer

MANILA, Philippines -  â€œDigital is a blue ocean. Today, you’re watching television with a tablet or a smartphone in your hands. It’s now cross platform,” enthuses Jonathan Ruby, chief operations officer of Asia Cable Communications Inc (Accion).

New offerings from Accion take advantage of the cross platform trend. These include the vertical integration of services, expansion of reach from solely cable TV to other platforms, and developing fresh avenues to engage consumers.

Internet video, digital terrestrial channels, and mobile viewing loom large in the horizon, and Accion executives bank on the firm’s expertise in distributing compelling content as primary booster amid the environment of new media platforms.

“People want more content and the Internet has increased awareness on what is out there. We balance this information with the insights we get from local, individual operators in the islands,” shares Felipe “Pipes” Bince, president of Accion.

Accion is the nation’s pioneering cable channel distributor. It carries 7 networks: Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, Sony Pictures Television – Asia, The Walt Disney Company (Southeast Asia), AETN All Asia Networks, Turner International Asia Pacific, and NBCU Global Networks Asia.

 â€œThere are opportunities for convergence,” says Ralph B. Casiño, Accion director and president of Southern Cable Vision Inc., an Iligan-based cable operator. “The roles are changing, and the times are exciting.”

Bince shares that Accion’s newest media are set to compliment the upswing of cable TV subscriptions in the country. “The demand for cable is still up and it’s growing. With 90 percent of Filipino households without cable TV, there’s a lot of room for growth.”

“Accion remains a good partner in this market of opportunity,” states Ricky Ow, executive vice president and general manager, Networks Asia of Sony Pictures Television.

Today, more than 75 percent of total cable operators nationwide are part of Accion. The company gleans its programming insights from its base of 800,000 households.

In the late 1990s, while Asia was experiencing economic crisis, Accion strengthened its position by being one of the first to bundle popular channels with emerging ones.

“Bundling also helped lower the cost of getting these prized channels on our shores and helped improve revenue by boosting programs,” explains Reuel Dominguez, chairman of Accion. “Since we had a lot cable operators under our wing, it became easier to guarantee revenues.”

“We identified driver channels and offered these to the public in packages with the weaker programs, which also tried to strengthen their appeal through promotions,” he states.