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AVIA CEO: Hong Kong will not lose its media industry to political unrest

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AVIA CEO: Hong Kong will not lose its media industry to political unrest

The Asia Video Industry Association, whose members include 21st Century Fox Inc. and Netflix Inc., is committed to Hong Kong.

Big media houses stationed in Hong Kong including PCCW Ltd. and TVB Network Vision Ltd are unlikely to move.

Recent protests in Hong Kong over a now-withdrawn bill have seen violent clashes between demonstrators and the police, and disrupted public transport and air travel.

AVIA, a trade association for the region's TV broadcast service providers, recently moved its annual conference from Hong Kong to Singapore. S&P Global Market Intelligence spoke with AVIA's CEO, Louis Boswell, about whether the city will maintain its status as a media hub amid ongoing political unrest.

Below is an edited version of that conversation.

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Louis Boswell, CEO, AVIA

S&P Global Market Intelligence: AVIA is moving its annual Asia Video Summit, taking place in November, from Hong Kong to Singapore this year. What is the main reason behind this?

Louis Boswell: The protests in Hong Kong did precipitate the change. People around the region have been seeing the coverage from foreign press. Given that it is an international conference, it became harder to get speakers and delegates to sign up. Speakers, especially, told us they did not feel comfortable flying to Hong Kong. We ran the risk of having a sub-optimal, smaller conference if we went ahead in Hong Kong.

Singapore has been touted as a natural alternative location for businesses that choose to leave Hong Kong. Is this the case for the media industry?

Singapore is a regional hub. Many companies have their headquarters there. However, it is a mistake to read too much into the situation in Hong Kong. We still have an office in Hong Kong and the city has bounced back from incidents like SARS and the 2008 financial crisis. I would never bet against it; I have always been bullish on Hong Kong.

Do you see any long-term impact from the three-month long protests on the media industry?

We have to recognize that Hong Kong's media industry has been a media hub for the region for quite some time with large domestic companies like PCCW and TVB Network Vision stationed in the city. Both have big regional and local presence and neither TVB nor PCCW will change their locations.

Janice Lee, managing director of PCCW subsidiary PCCW Media Ltd over-the-top platform Viu, recently told us its advertising numbers would be hit by the political unrest in Hong Kong.

Yes that would make sense. It is clear that when a territory gets disrupted like this, it is not conducive for business and we see the impact on overall economy. Advertising is a bellwether of economic success.

And finally, will AVIA move the annual conference back to Hong Kong next year?

It is too early to say.