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May 20, 2020UK BT – Fibre up, dividends down
Focus Report, ReportsBT’s March quarter appeared to have been going reasonably well until COVID-19 hit, with full year guidance still being broadly met, but the new financial year will be hit harder, with BT Sport, SME and new fibre connection revenue particularly vulnerableSector Telecom. -
May 19, 2020UK Journalism on the precipice – Rescue required as financi [...]
Focus Report, ReportsJournalism is on the precipice with more than £1 billion likely to fall off the industry’s topline. Several years of projected structural revenue decline in advertising and circulation have occurred in just the past few weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, with no letup in sightSector Media. -
May 18, 2020UK O2 – Merger in the time of COVID
Focus Report, ReportsO2’s merger with Virgin Media seems more of a marriage of convenience than a determined pursuit of synergy benefits. With the owners effectively selling their stakes, the combination will be well-advised to exercise caution in any convergence strategy that they pursueSector Telecom. -
May 14, 2020Global advertising platforms playing a long game in retail, payme [...]
Focus Report, ReportsThis report is the first of several that will look at the way global platforms are change affecting traditional markets for business and consumer services. This first report provides an overview of their longer-term strategies, and a SWOT analysis of their current position. -
May 7, 2020Mobile payments – Australia mobile payments steadily grow, as c [...]
Focus Report, ReportsPayment services have been subjected to significant disruption in recent years. Traditional barriers to entry and enabling new entrants to take on financial services firms by unbundling their product suite and offering superior products and customer experiences. Incumbent payments providers, principally banks, have responded by launching new online payment services. At the same time, new entrants have exploited the prevalence of smartphones to offer their own app-based payment services. -
April 29, 2020Unpacking Facebook’s Deal with Reliance Jio Platforms
Focus Report, ReportsThe day opened with the news of Facebook’s mega-investment into Jio Platforms, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). For the princely sum of $5.7 billion, or roughly INR 43,000 crores, Facebook will acquire a 9.9% stake in Jio Platforms at an enterprise valuation (EV) of roughly $65 billion.Sector Technology. -
April 23, 2020NZ survey results and COVID-19
Focus Report, ReportsAmidst the COVID-19 crisis in New Zealand (NZ), social-distancing and quarantine measures are becoming the norm. New Zealand is currently at alert level 4, which means that non-essential businesses have been directed to close.Sector Telecom. -
April 22, 2020UK online advertising during the lockdown
Focus Report, ReportsIn response to COVID-19 and the associated lockdown and economic crash, advertisers have slashed budgets. Online budgets are not immuneSector Media. -
April 17, 2020COVID-19 impact on ANZ media: major structural and regulatory cha [...]
Focus Report, ReportsAs COVID-19 spreads in Australia, social-distancing and quarantine measures are becoming the norm. This means that a large number of people are now working from their home and spending time indoors. Alternatives to electronic media such as cinemas, live entertainment, and (importantly) sporting events are closed. While some subscription media will benefit from this situation, those focussed on sport will feel a harsh impact. -
April 15, 2020Pay-TV resilience – How this time is different
Focus Report, ReportsWhen we look back at consumer expenditure on pay-TV and alternative entertainment options during past economic downturns across major countries, we find a broad confirmation of the industry’s comparative resilience -
April 14, 2020UK News media challenges brought to a head – Structural cha [...]
Focus Report, ReportsCOVID-19 has sent online news surging, with publishers experiencing massive traffic uplift, as trusted news sources become increasingly important -
April 9, 2020COVID-19 UK TV impact – Permanent change without interventi [...]
Focus Report, ReportsCOVID-19 has led to an unprecedented decline in advertiser demand for TV, and while the steepest drop has occurred, broadcasters will feel the impact over a long period of time. -
April 8, 2020COVID-19 impact on mobile ARPUs, 5G adoption and MVNO wholesale p [...]
Focus Report, ReportsAs COVID-19 spreads its footprint in Australia, social-distancing and quarantine measures are becoming the norm. This means that a large number of people are now working and communicating with other businesses from their home. While many of the telcos have responded with capacity increases to deal with the traffic, this paper considers some of the longer-term issues which can come from a slowdown in the economy post the lockdown period. -
April 2, 2020COVID-19 telecoms impact in the UK – Resilience in the shor [...]
Focus Report, ReportsDemand for telecoms capacity is booming, and the networks can (broadly) cope, with the increase primarily in off-peak demand. However, as the crisis continues, maintaining resilience becomes more challengingSector Telecom. -
April 1, 2020Fixed broadband and COVID-19: Demand up, but ARPU under pressure
Focus Report, ReportsAs COVID-19 spreads its footprint in Australia, social-distancing and quarantine measures are becoming the norm. This includes a large number of organisations directing their employees to Work From Home (WFH) where possible, and educational institutes moving to online learning, increasing the load on residential broadband networks. In this report we look at how telcos are stepping up to this challenge, discuss consumers’ broadband requirements for WFH based on our Australian consumer survey and look at short- and long-term implications of COVID-19 for the fixed broadband.Sector Telecom. -
March 31, 2020Football and COVID-19 – Avoiding meltdown
Focus Report, ReportsIn a likely scenario, the suspended football season could be concluded in empty stadiums in a June and July rush, nevertheless with severe financial consequences -
March 30, 2020Coronavirus and the UK economy – Unprecedented crisis
Focus Report, ReportsTo fight against the UK’s incipient pandemic, a full lockdown is in place for all but essential workers in healthcare, telecoms, food, utilities and banks. -
March 26, 2020Amazon’s Premier League performance – No challenge for pr [...]
Focus Report, ReportsAmazon aired its first set of Premier League matches in December, with proxy figures supporting reports that it attracted up to 2 million concurrent viewers -
March 25, 2020Recommendations: Dealing with COVID-19 based cyberattacks and sca [...]
Focus Report, ReportsThere have been many reports of cyber criminals using the COVID-19 pandemic to trick users into installing cyber viruses, purchasing false products and/or divulging sensitive personal or business information. Whilst this trend is disturbing it is also being combined with a massive and global shift to employees working from home which in turn exposes security vulnerabilities into a wide range of home devices and networks. Although these risks are evolving, this report outlines some of the current cyber scams, the shift to working from home and immediate recommendations for businesses with staff working from home. -
March 23, 2020UK TV’s supply challenge – How COVID-19 affects programmi [...]
Focus Report, ReportsAlthough increases are moderate so far, it is inevitable that overall video viewing will rise given a reduction in competition for people’s time. So far, unsurprisingly, TV news consumption has ballooned while unmatched viewing—a proxy for SVOD usage—has increased -
March 19, 2020
Mobile payments – billion dollar opportunity in New Zealand to [...]
Focus Report, ReportsPayments has emerged as one of the key areas of 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.Sector Technology. -
March 18, 2020UK ITV FY 2019 results: Solid, but moving from one ubiquitous unc [...]
Focus Report, ReportsH2 revenue growth across Studios, advertising and online, saw ITV come in ahead of guidance in 2019, with external revenues up 3% YoY. Advertising revenue was down 1.5% for the year after being down 5% at H1. -
March 13, 2020Gaming’s mainstream decade – Five defining themes for the [...]
Focus Report, Reports2020 promises a year of transition for the games industry: eSports and games broadcasting are competing with traditional programming; game streaming services are becoming meaningful platform competition; and new consoles are on the way -
March 10, 2020Amazon Advertising: From Duopoly to Triopoly in advertising?
Focus Report, ReportsOver the past two decades, global ecommerce giant, Amazon has focused on owning entire market verticals with books being the first market that it dominated. However, to think of Amazon as just an online retailer, would be underestimating the depth and breadth of its presence across multiple markets. Amazon’s ultimate aim is to curate the customer’s entire e-commerce journey. Amazon not only sells products; it also produces television shows and movies; publishes books; operates the world’s largest streaming video-game platform; manufactures a growing array of products. More recently the bright spot was Amazon’s advertising business, which appears to be picking up speed again.Sector Media.
