A brief analysis of the 5G market breakthrough and development path of China's radio and television industry

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As we all know, in the past three or four decades of development, my country's cable TV network industry has been dominated by fixed-line (commonly known as cable TV network) business, just like the names or business scope of cable TV network operating companies in various places.

The inherent development model of radio and television networks has remained unchanged for decades. In contrast, with the help of communications, IT, Internet and other technologies, my country's communications and Internet industries have spawned new business development models every few years during the past two decades.

Behind the above-mentioned new business development models, almost all of them are related industry giants, with the help of various capital forces, closely focusing on and digging deep into the various needs of consumers at different times, making full use of and giving play to the advantages of communications, IT, Internet and other technologies, and then creating a new business development model, and finally using emerging information transmission channels to realize their commercial layout.

Traditional cable TV network operators need to become true broadcasting and television network operators

Over the past two years, the four major telecom operators, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Broadcasting Corporation, have adopted various measures to continuously accelerate the pace of 5G commercialization.

At the CCBN2021 theme report conference which just concluded, Song Qizhui, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of China Radio and Television Network Co., Ltd., stated that it is necessary to adapt to the evolutionary trend of the integration and symbiosis of radio and television networks, consumer Internet and industrial Internet, take IP, cloud, intelligence and integration as the development direction, and adhere to "wireless network priority and wired network collaboration".

"Wireless network priority, wired network collaboration" is the most contemporary "twelve-character guideline" for the future development and positioning of my country's radio and television networks.

Through this "twelve-character guideline", we can see that under the guidance and promotion of the policy of "national cable TV network integration and integrated development of radio and television 5G construction", my country's radio and television industry has embarked on a new track and started a new journey.

On June 3, 2021, at the 9th China Internet Audiovisual Conference, the author met a person from an IPTV platform in a coastal province in East China. According to him, the latest data shows that the province's permanent population has exceeded 100 million, and its IPTV users have reached 14 million.

Behind this statement is the serious loss of cable TV network users in the province. If IPTV services and cable TV services are likened to "twin brothers", many years ago, the difference between these "twin brothers" was in the four channels of "CCTV 3, 5, 6, and 8". In recent years, this difference no longer exists. Even in Beijing, where I work and live, a few days ago, a Beijing Unicom customer service called to remind me that I only need to upgrade the existing IPTV set-top boxes at the technical level to watch "CCTV 3, 5, 6, and 8" normally.

In addition to IPTV services, traditional cable TV services are also facing competition from various fields such as OTT TV, online video, and APP, which also means that the development of traditional cable TV services has reached its "ceiling".

With the integration of the national network and the continuous acceleration of radio and television 5G construction, the pace of digital transformation of radio and television network operators is accelerating, and will eventually enter the fast lane of 5G development.

Learn from history and transform data into data assets through technological innovation

In recent years, new-generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Vehicles have been greatly promoted in terms of industry concept promotion, product incubation, and large-scale business implementation.

In the process of the rapid rise of the new generation of information technology industries (such as smart terminals, mobile Internet, broadband Internet, etc.), the development of the traditional IT industry (mainly based on PC-based software, hardware, etc.) and especially the sales model (such as computer wholesale sales cities in various places) has plummeted after more than ten years of industry development "golden period". It can be seen from this that in the new development period, if the traditional IT industry does not carry out various industrial changes including technology, its development fate will be the same as the above industries.

In recent years, with the help of information technologies such as 3G/4G and fixed-line broadband, major emerging industries (such as e-commerce, online video, APP, etc.) have quickly gained popularity. Telecom operators, Internet companies and industry leaders are also rapidly deploying information infrastructure construction. Relevant industry operators are even more aware that digital transformation has become the main line of industry development.

At present, compared with the three major telecom operators, Internet companies, and online video companies, although the business of cable TV network operators in various places is relatively single, they are actively expanding value-added services such as pay channels, cable broadband, and group customers while doing a good job in live broadcasting and television business.

In the past decade or so of digital transformation, the traditional cable TV network industry has accumulated a massive amount of data resources through community-based grid operations. In the digital age, broadcasting and television operators can fully learn from various innovative industrial development models and transform the original disordered data into data assets.

Exploring the development path of 5G in radio and television

Previously, the external brands and images of cable TV network operators across the country were mostly "self-centered", with corresponding company names (such as xx Media, xx Radio and Television, xx Cable, xx Network), trademarks, business scope, etc. different. In the context of the current industrial development pattern, this is obviously inconsistent with its identity as the fourth largest operator.

The good news is that the national one-network integration work is currently being continuously advanced vertically. As of early June 2021, more than a dozen provincial cable TV network operators, including Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Henan, Chongqing, Sichuan, Gansu, Anhui, Fujian, etc., have recently completed the name change work in accordance with the established integration plan. Their names are unified as "China Radio and Television (xx regional name) Co., Ltd."

In this regard, the author believes that with the gradual integration and standardization of the above-mentioned company names, cable networks, technologies, etc., in the near future, this fourth largest operator will face the public with a new image, which will also help accelerate the integration of cable networks in various places and enable future radio and television operators to achieve full-process, full-network, and full-service industrial operations.

Over the years, with the support of 3G/4G mobile communication technology, fixed broadband technology, strong capital, talent pool, active technology and business innovation, major Internet companies have launched online audio-visual products such as OTT TV, short videos, online videos, and APPs. In addition, the three major telecom operators have also used their huge user system, accessible broadband network and related industrial policies to help IPTV services quickly enter thousands of households and become the best entry point for home large-screen terminals.

Faced with the above-mentioned brutal market competition, traditional, scattered cable TV network operators in various regions seem to be unable to cope with the brand effect, market scale effect and other aspects. The author believes that as broadcasting and television operators obtain 5G licenses and the pace of national cable network integration accelerates, the bottleneck of the above-mentioned cable industry development will be broken. When the national cable network is realized, traditional cable TV network operators will truly transform into broadcasting and television operators.

After the decentralized cable TV networks quickly form a national network, a unified brand, a unified company name, a unified technical standard, and a unified operation and management will quickly enhance the scale effect of the national radio and television network industry. At the same time, it can also reduce costs simultaneously with the other three major operators through centralized procurement and other means, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of the 5G network with radio and television characteristics in the new era of industry development.