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April 21, 2021Super League, super backlash: Naked power bid over European compe [...]
Flash Report, ReportsOn Sunday, 12 football clubs announced they were launching a new European league with an inaugural season “as soon as practicable”. The 12 Super League clubs include six English teams (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur), and three Spanish teams (Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona) and three Italians (Inter and AC Milan plus Juventus). -
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April 19, 2021Spotify Loud & Clear: 5% of artists generate above $1,000 in [...]
Flash Report, Market Outlook, ReportsSpotify paid $5 billion in royalties last year to the music industry. Critics claim the $0.0038 per-stream average royalty rate is too low. However, this is largely due to high volumes of ad-funded listening, a core part of Spotify’s freemium model, and a defence against piracy. To silence the critics, the “Spotify Loud & Clear” site presents data on the distribution of industry royalties, which are heavily skewed to established artists. Only the top 5% of artists generate annual industry royalties above $1,000, though they take home less under their deals. -
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April 19, 2021AVOD Market Report: A market assessment of a thriving industry
Market Outlook, ReportsThe AVOD market will grow due to the strong uptake of Connected TVs (CTVs), attracting new players and increasing competition: Why will AVOD grow? The rapid adoption of CTVs has become the catalyst for AVOD consumption, prompting marketers to shift their expenditure from linear to AVOD. -
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April 16, 2021US content distribution: Studios go direct to consumer
Focus Report, ReportsDespite relying on a narrow IP base, US content production is booming, overwhelming other markets and seeking alternative distribution to cinemas. Responding to the rise of Netflix and Amazon Prime, studios seek to shift distribution from wholesale to retail—but only Disney may succeed. Most content is likely to remain accessed by consumers through bundles. Provided they engage with aggregation, European broadcasters can adjust to the new studio model. -
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April 15, 2021Venture Insights NZ survey 2021: Mobile media use and telco oppor [...]
Focus Report, ReportsVenture Insights performs an annual consumer survey on mobile media and mobile gaming across New Zealand (NZ). It asks questions around video streaming that consumers use, willingness to pay services, mobile gaming, and implications for 5G and telcos. Our latest survey was conducted in March 2021 with 1,009 New Zealand respondents, and the key findings have been presented here. The survey results show that there is a significant and growing segment of consumers using mobile to watch video services, including sport. The share of respondents that never watch mobile video has fallen significantly over the last year. Further, there is a persistent opportunity for telcos to upsell 5G services to both video viewers and gamers. -
April 8, 2021
Venture Insights AU survey 2021: Consumer interest in mobile medi [...]
Focus Report, ReportsVenture Insights performs an annual consumer survey on mobile media and mobile gaming across Australia. It asks questions around video streaming services the consumers use, willingness to pay for video streaming services, mobile gaming, and implications for 5G and telcos. Our latest Australia survey was conducted in March 2021, and the key findings are presented here. The survey results show that there is a significant and stable segment of consumers using mobile to watch video services, including sport, that remans unaffected by the impact of the pandemic. Further, there is a persistent opportunity for telcos to upsell 5G services to both video viewers and gamers. -
April 8, 2021The recovery stutters: UK broadband, telephony and pay TV trends [...]
Focus Report, Reports- Market revenue growth sunk back to -3% in Q4 from -2% in Q3, with further backbook pricing and lockdown effects to blame.
- Backbook pricing will improve with numerous price increases announced, but these will only start to take effect in Q2 2021.
- Demand for broadband and ultrafast looks promising, but will also take time to filter through to revenue, with Q1 again lockdown affected.
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April 6, 2021Sky and football: Italian wager on aggregation
Flash Report, ReportsThe contract includes exclusive coverage of seven weekly games (including top picks) and non-exclusive rights to the other three fixtures, for €840 million per year. In the current cycle DAZN holds three games per week for €193 million. Crucially, DAZN has displaced Sky as the lead broadcaster, displaying a dramatic shift in strategy. -
April 1, 2021Pandemic accelerates mobile payments in New Zealand
Focus Report, ReportsPayments has emerged as a key area of digital disruption. The shift from physical to electronic payments has seen an ever-expanding range of payment methods replacing cash. From mobile banking and contactless cards to phone payments and bespoke apps, the payment landscape is undergoing a quiet revolution. The emergence of e-commerce and proximity payment and the increasing adoption of smartphones and high-speed mobile data network have further boosted the adoption of mobile payment. Smartphone technology has lowered barriers to entry and enabled new entrants to take on traditional financial services firms by unbundling payments from account-holding and lending, and by offering more targeted products and customer experiences. Incumbent payments providers, principally banks, have responded by launching their own online payment services. -
March 30, 2021(UK) Ecommerce forecasts 2021: Pandemic shifts remain for now
Focus Report, Reports- Goods ecommerce accelerated in 2020 by four years above trend to reach 28% of retail sales (excl. fuels) from 19% in 2019. We anticipate that ecommerce in 2021 will remain in the same share range of 27-29%
- Food and drink grew faster than any online category in 2020, doubling to over 10% of associated sales. Aside from food and drink, the agony of zero sales on the shuttered high street continued, with over half of all sales being online in 2020, likely persisting in Q1 2021
- Offline retailing will recover due to deconfinement and the share of ecommerce will edge down in Q2 2021 and thereafter, but these new shopping habits will be sticky and anchored by persistent work-from-home, driving all retailers that are left standing to massively adopt online channels and associated advertising media
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March 26, 2021Mail scoops Telegraph print advertising: Telegraph outsourcing fo [...]
Flash Report, Reports- The Telegraph’s carefully executed outsourcing of print advertising sales to Mail Metro Media fine-tunes its subscriber-first strategy
- Consolidation and collaboration are inevitable in a highly-competitive, structurally-shrinking news industry
- Reader-first models have emerged as the consistent theme for quality publishers, but the trade-offs, investment approaches and executions are highly differentiated
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March 25, 2021Venture Insights Consumer Survey: COVID-19 boosting mobile payme [...]
Focus Report, ReportsPayment services have been subjected to significant disruption in recent years. New entrants have exploited the prevalence of smartphones to offer their own app-based payment services. Smartphone technology has lowered barriers to entry and enabled new entrants to take on traditional financial services firms by unbundling payments from account-holding and lending, and by offering more targeted products and customer experiences. Incumbent payments providers, principally banks, have responded by launching their own online payment services. -
March 25, 2021UK’s Creative Industries: Boosting the regional economy
Focus Report, Reports- The Creative Industries accounted for 6% of UK GVA in 2019, more than the automotive, aerospace, life sciences and oil and gas industries combined. The UK’s Creative Industries are the largest in Europe and are central to promoting the UK’s soft power globally.
- At the core of the creative economy is the AV sector, which, in turn, is driven by the UK’s PSBs. In 2019, the PSBs were responsible for 61% of primary commissions outside London and are the pillar upon which much additional regional economic activity depends.
- Going forward, only the PSBs are likely to have the willingness and scale to invest in production centres outside London with sufficient gravitational pull to reorientate the wider creative economy towards the nations and regions.
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March 25, 2021A worthwhile flurry of activity? Mobile towers companies in focus
Focus Report, Reports- The wave of deal-making in the European towers sector is driven by cash-strapped telcos seeking a form of sale and leaseback financing
- While the operators are incentivised to provide a medium-term growth trajectory for these towers companies, sustainability of that growth is more questionable, especially as 5G will not require additional base stations
- Cellnex continues to insinuate itself into the UK market with its most recent deal signaling the ultimate unwinding of the MBNL JV. Further UK towers consolidation seems a long way off but could facilitate, or indeed be facilitated by, consolidation at the MNO level
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March 22, 2021UK full fibre regulation: The mist clears…somewhat
Flash Report, ReportsOfcom’s full fibre regulation statement, released today, is largely as trailed, i.e. it allows BT’s Openreach considerable relaxation of wholesale pricing in return for building out full fibre.
On the longer-term regulatory prospects, Ofcom continues to be fair but more obtuse than it could and should be, unnecessarily dampening investor enthusiasm. Ofcom will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to allow Openreach to offer geographic/volume discounts, using slightly contradictory principles.
The publication and increased certainty may allow BT’s Openreach to extend its full fibre roll-out further, faster or even with external financing. The build plans of others will come under increasing question.
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March 18, 2021
End-of-line spectrum 50% off: UK second 5G auction results
Flash Report, ReportsProceeds in the swiftly concluded second 5G auction were £1.36bn, very much towards the bottom end of the estimated £1-2.7bn range in our recent report 2021 spectrum auction: Uncertainty prevails [2020-117]. The prices paid are very low by historic standards, particularly for the 700MHz band but the spectrum most suitable for 5G (3.6-3.8GHz) is also more than 40% below the price achieved in the auction for very similar spectrum in 2018. -
March 18, 2021Programmatic will drive future OOH growth, but Google competition [...]
Focus Report, ReportsOutdoor, or out-of-home (OOH), advertising is distinct from other forms of advertising. It is highly visible, often very large, and placed in heavily trafficked areas in order to attract as many viewers as possible. Moreover, unlike television, radio, print, internet, and mail advertising, outdoor advertising cannot be turned off, put away or easily avoided.Sector Advertising, digital, Digital Marketing, Digital Media, Digital Video, Marketing, Media, OOH. -
March 17, 2021ITV FY 2020 results: Waiting for lockdown to end
Flash Report, ReportsITV’s advertising revenue was down 11% in 2020—probably a relief given the unprecedented depths the TV ad market found itself in during April-July. However, the current lockdown has stunted advertising’s recovery and its trajectory will continue to be tied to the loosening of the same restrictions that continue to dictate movement and spend. It is not until April that ITV forecasts (+60-75% YoY) that money will rush back into the TV ad ecosystem, looking to make up for lost time. -
March 16, 2021Into the wild: Facebook prepares for a world without trackers
Flash Report, Reports- Facebook emerged from 2020 reporting record revenue growth of 22% over the year, built on its huge volume of usage, its simple buying tools and its trove of first-party data
- Facebook’s ability to match third-party data for targeting and attribution is also central to its success. However, Apple and Google are restricting data-matching tools like third-party cookies and mobile IDs, and Facebook is moving to minimise the damage
- Facebook is trying to turn its sites into storefronts by launching ‘Facebook Shops’. It is also taking public stands on the use of data for advertising, and on the need for brand-building in marketing plans. These are conversations all advertisers and media owners should be engaged with
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March 16, 2021Decarbonising Work
Flash Report, Reports- Growth in the UK production sector is being driven by increased investment by American streaming services, while local broadcasters rely on co-productions to fund increasingly-expensive, high-end content
- However, while this investment is welcome, the output is predominantly less ‘British’ than that commissioned directly by local broadcasters
- Distinctive and diverse British cultural touchpoints are created or perpetuated by television. Current trends suggest a dilution of this, a globalisation of local content, and perhaps less relevance to British viewers
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March 11, 2021Outsourcing culture: When British shows aren’t ‘British’ [...]
Flash Report, Reports- Growth in the UK production sector is being driven by increased investment by American streaming services, while local broadcasters rely on co-productions to fund increasingly-expensive, high-end content
- However, while this investment is welcome, the output is predominantly less ‘British’ than that commissioned directly by local broadcasters
- Distinctive and diverse British cultural touchpoints are created or perpetuated by television. Current trends suggest a dilution of this, a globalisation of local content, and perhaps less relevance to British viewers
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March 11, 2021Nine, SevenWest results reflect COVID19 rebound, transition to di [...]
Focus Report, ReportsThe recent Nine and Seven results highlight the impact of COVID19 and digital transformation. Free to air (FTA) broadcasters have traditionally played a dominant role in aggregating television content from multiple content owners and creators. However, over the last decade, the growth of subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) has driven significant transformation in TV viewing habits. Audiences today have unprecedented choice when it comes to content and how to watch it.Sector Broadcast TV, Digital Media, Digital Video, Media, online video, OTT Video, Pay TV, Television, TV, TVOD. -
March 10, 2021DMGT reinforces consumer science: New Scientist joins Mail stable
Flash Report, ReportsThe sale represents an impressive increase in value: New Scientist was offloaded by RELX in May 2017 for £17.7m (c.4.4x EBITDA), 1 an all-in sale price c.£21m. -
March 9, 2021Virgin Media: Subscribers strong, ARPU tough to turn
Flash Report, Reports- Virgin Media’s subscriber growth continues to be very strong, and it looks like next quarter’s price rise will (at worst) only stall, not stop, the renaissance
- ARPU was hit in Q4 by the postponed price rise, and it will likely remain in decline in 2021, with regulatory pricing pressure and lockdown effects still weighing, despite firm new customer pricing
- Nonetheless, accelerating subscriber growth is expected to drive group revenue growth positive again (helped by B2B growth), and Virgin Media’s main strategic problem—its fibre trilemma—looks like it will be dealt with after the merger with O2, expected