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December 4, 2017Site Blocking and Digital Piracy
ReportsIllegal downloading of copyrighted content (such as movies) in Australia remains a major issue. Legal actions and copyright law changes combined with education, cyber risk awareness and new content models are helping to minimise illegal downloading -
September 25, 2017Netflix’s edge over broadcasters
Focus Report, ReportsThe development and utilisation of streaming technologies has allowed major SVODs, such as Netflix and Amazon, to attain a growing proportion of video viewing. However, tech is just one of the advantages held by these services: plateauing content expenditure, the inability to retain IP and inconsistent regulatory regimes hamper the efforts of the UK’s public service broadcasters. The localised nature of audience tastes, as well as the diversity of PSB offerings remain a bulwark to aid in the retention of relevance but content spend cannot lag -
April 12, 2017Spotify secures UMG royalty discount
ReportsAs Spotify wavers around the breakeven point, the deal with UMG is good news for royalty costs and thus for the likely advent of the IPO rumoured for autumn 2017. Royalty costs will reduce if Spotify reaches the subscriber growth targets that have been agreed – these have not been disclosed, so are hard to track. Question marks persist over whether a two-week optional windowing of new releases on the premium tier will significantly drive upgrades from the free tier. -
March 30, 2017YouTube, programmatic and brand risk
ReportsMedia reports of ads by top brands appearing next to extremist content on YouTube have surprised advertisers and led to a barrage of criticism from other media companies, agencies and the UK government. Despite several advertisers pausing spend, the revenue impact for Google is likely to be small in the short term – but the debate is a symptom of ongoing tension between “frenemies”: large agencies and Google & Facebook . By urging Google alone to educate display advertisers and filter campaigns, agencies risk ceding more of their client relationship to the advertising giant, while calls for the platform to make all editorial judgements on political content are inappropriate. -
January 23, 2017
Atlassians’ Acquisition of Trello
ReportsAtlassian, an Enterprise Software company has agreed to the acquisition of Trello, a project management application. We discuss reasoning behind the acquisition, what each company are to gain from the acquisition, and the impact this acquisition is expected to have on Atlassian’s revenue. -
December 20, 2016
Amazon ready for global Prime time
ReportsAmazon Prime Video has recently launched in over 200 countries, including Australia and New Zealand. We discuss the impact of this launch to the subscription Video-on-Demand market within Australia, and consider the ongoing impact into the future, including the rise of Amazon retail services within Australia. -
June 2, 2016
Amazon Video Direct: self-publishing for videos
ReportsAmazon’s newly launched open video hosting service, Video Direct, will appeal to creators of ‘professional’ videos by offering them a new platform and monetisation options. Amazon’s attractiveness to video creators resides mainly in the prospect of earning a portion of subscription fees from millions of Prime members. While Video Direct might not become a huge business for creators, this move cements Amazon as a media platform and risks hurting YouTube. -
March 11, 2016
The arrival of electronic marketplaces and bookings platforms
ReportsMany overseas entrants are arriving virtually uncontested, winning customers with superior services and price. Though it is not too late, local incumbents need to move quickly… -
February 24, 2016
A future for tablet publishing? La Presse case study
ReportsMontreal’s La Presse follows a unique tablet-focussed, free access, fast track digital strategy. It said adieu to weekday print editions in December. An in-house developed app – La Presse+ – sets new benchmarks: advertising friendly, easy to navigate, and engaging. High ABC1 market share in French speaking Quebec helped build digital scale rapidly. La Presse+ has broken circulation records thanks to an influx of younger readers. Advertising is sold at a premium to print and the newsroom has expanded. In a tougher market The Toronto Star launched the app last September with positive initial results. The Star Touch approach is additive rather than substitutional to print and may be more relevant to newspapers elsewhere. Slower tablet penetration growth is no big worry as phone screen sizes increase and PCs converge towards tablets.
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February 4, 2016
FLASH – Netflix goes truly global – but will the Studios play [...]
ReportsNetflix’s 4Q results demonstrate yet again its aggressive approach to global growth as international subscribers increased by over 4 million in the quarter for the first time. Netflix indicated that it would further accelerate international expansion, having launched in an additional 130 markets earlier in the month. While Netflix wants to acquire more of its rights on a global basis, this is one area where we believe Netflix will struggle to change industry paradigms in the near future.
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January 29, 2016
All together now – Why aggregation is the future of TV
ReportsThe recent evolution in TV has been marked by the ‘app-ification’ of services (i.e. many discrete content services, such as Netflix). We believe audiences will gravitate back to aggregated platforms that deliver multiple services through a single user interface (with search and content as key differentiators). This bodes well for Telstra and Optus and we expect them to ramp up their TV efforts during 2016.
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November 23, 2015
YouTube Kids app lands in the UK
ReportsThe YouTube Kids app aimed at young children hands parents more control of the increasingly popular YouTube experience. Ads served to kids on the app will observe similar rules to those on broadcast TV, easily circumvented on YouTube by commercial video programming. The app will directly compete with the popular ad-free CBeebies iPlayer channel, TV channels and Netflix.
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November 20, 2015
The rise of the YouTube economy
ReportsIn this report, we examine how YouTube and in particular Multichannel Networks (MCNs) have emerged within the Digital video market, their key growth drivers, revenue model, challenges and the impact on traditional TV.
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November 6, 2015
YouTube Red: Google’s original bid for premium content
ReportsAt launch, Google’s new subscription service YouTube Red competes most directly with premium music streaming services, also offering ad-free videos. YouTube’s augmented revenue model re-boots incentives for native talent to produce content for the platform, and will also widen its appeal for established content producers. Although consumers are likely to find paid subscription for ad-free videos a weak proposition, Red holds much potential for YouTube as it competes for attention across device ecosystems, and presents little risk to its existing advertising model.
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October 20, 2015
FLASH – Netflix 3Q Content will drive growth
ReportsNetflix’s 3Q results reflect that while original content will continue to drive take-up, competitive pressure is increasing with new entrants (telcos and broadcasters) emerging. The recent price hikes demonstrate Netflix’s pricing power which should help finance its investment in new genres and local content.
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October 8, 2015
Friends with benefits: Facebook and publishers
ReportsWe are seeing a proliferation of news distribution services on social media and technology platforms, as companies like Apple and Facebook look to capture the value of longform professional content. Facebook’s Instant articles will likely be the most significant distribution mechanism for publishers, allowing Facebook to further position itself as a provider of quality, rather than just user-generated, content. This is best seen as a trade: news providers’ engaging content for Facebook’s audience reach and data. While concerns about reliance on Facebook and content commoditisation are understandable, these are the inevitable results of user behaviour.
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October 5, 2015
Amazon’s Prime Directive
ReportsDespite dropping the Fire Phone, Amazon has upped the ante in its battle for digital media consumers, upgrading its Fire TV devices and rolling out a new range of low price and robust tablets, starting from £50/$50, squarely aimed at the mass market. As with all Amazon devices aside from the failed phone, they are conduits for the company’s media and retail services, aimed at increasing purchases and forcing other platform operators to include them. Although shrinking as a share of Amazon’s business, media remains crucial, both for direct revenue and to attract customers to Prime, its membership programme, which by some estimates now accounts for the majority of its US sales.
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September 16, 2015
Apple battles for control
ReportsNew ‘s’ versions of the iPhone 6 and 6Plus will help to maintain Apple’s grip on the high-end smartphone market. A notebook-sized iPad Pro and revamped Apple TV round out this year’s iOS device upgrade. iPhone sales may be further boosted by a new leasing plan, initially US-only, allowing users to upgrade handsets each year more easily, which also should enable the company to take a share of the used iPhone market, and could even be a precursor to an Apple MVNO. While the new iPad and Apple TV are unlikely to have a material impact on profits in the near term, they should be seen in the context of the wider battle for control of the connected office and home.
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July 20, 2015
FLASH – Netflix 2Q – Content and that’s the bottom line
ReportsNetflix’s 2Q results demonstrate that original content is driving strong take-up (ahead of expectations) and with Netflix announcing an increase in original content investment (including investment into movie content for the first time), this raises the question - where might they go next and what will be the response from linear broadcasters?
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June 29, 2015
FLASH – SVOD first battle won, but watch the data
ReportsThe launch of SVOD continues to make headlines with recent data declaring Netflix the clear winner. Unless there is a dramatic change in the market, it looks like the other players are fighting for a distant second place, given that Netflix is likely to accelerate its Australian investment as a consequence of its success. So what does this mean for the TV / video ecosystem and how do the incumbents respond?
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June 11, 2015
Amazon Prime and the video market
ReportsDVDs are a core Amazon product, of which it is one of the largest retailers – the challenge is to sustain this position throughout the on-going transition to digital formats. Amazon Prime Instant Video’s first purpose is to help the transition by building Amazon’s digital video retail ecosystem. As part of the loss leader Prime bundle it also supports increased customer retail expenditure and stickiness. Despite strong headline growth in Prime membership and some high profile content, the streaming service has yet to generate significant consumer interest. Prime’s net cost is likely to rise as Amazon must finance content to meet rising consumer expectation while suffering competitive price pressures on the bundle.
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June 10, 2015
The evolution will be televised – assessing the SVOD impact
ReportsThe launch of three SVOD platforms heralds a new era in the Australian video market. Our proprietary survey of 5,300 consumers suggests there will be high adoption of SVOD with Netflix the early winner. We expect SVOD to have the highest impact on TVOD and Physical Media. The risk to Pay TV is real, but not game changing while the immediate risk to FTA is less apparent.
