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Joseph said the chasing pack had attracted new users during the pandemic, but he did not foresee Facebook “losing significant market share” any time soon. “Other businesses will have an element that is better than Facebook: TikTok has a killer young audience and Twitter’s ads are cheaper, but Facebook is an irresistible force and an immovable object has yet to appear in its path.”
Francois believes those savings are limited. He points out that in Spain, DAZN content is also available via "traditional linear channels".
"Look at the price of satellite channels today, it's no big savings, and online video is expensive because you need servers everywhere," he says.
This is a particular issue for sport because it is live and "everybody's watching at the same time", which increases the demand on the servers that are essential to relaying the live pictures into people's homes.
Francois assures that the Argentine star's departure "will not help" Barça and will help PSG, but believes that "the impact on the popularity of the leagues will be very small." Thus, he added that "marginally it can increase the interest by the Ligue 1, but the number one problem of this one is the lack of interesting competitors for the PSG."
Finally, the French analyst appreciates a positive effect on Messi's departure, "this departure may force LaLiga to analyze its own collective problems, especially the weakness of the 18 youngest."
Sky’s revenue was up 15% in Q2, back to pre-COVID levels despite some lingering pandemic effects such as most pubs and clubs remaining closed. EBITDA fell by a third, driven by higher costs from sports rights, since very few live sports events took place in Q2 2020
The impact of “resetting” football rights is already evident in Germany and Italy, with 248k net customer losses across the group despite growth in the UK. However, Sky will make substantial savings, and we expect this will more than offset lost revenues
Meanwhile, Sky continues to strike deals with other content providers, solidifying its position as the leading household entertainment gatekeeper. In time, apps for NBCU’s Peacock, ViacomCBS’ Paramount+, ITV Hub, and, in Germany, RTL TV Now and DAZN, will all be aggregated within Sky Q
VMO2’s inaugural results reinforced the company’s focus on profitability with EBITDA growth of 6% and record margins. Flat revenues year-on-year benefited from the annualisation of the COVID-19 hit but incorporated little by way of rebound.
Much remains to be seen in terms of strategy but indications thus far are reassuring with B2B a clear focus for revenue growth, and the benefits of direct distribution feeding through to profitability.
The company’s decision to build an overlay full fibre network is a bold, but smart, move—allaying justified obsolescence fears about its network, enhancing strategic flexibility, and reducing its cost base.
Karen described Vodafone’s decision as “inevitable”. She said the likely expectation was that rival operator Virgin Media O2, plus virtual network providers such as Tesco Mobile and Sky, would now follow suit on re-introducing roaming charges.
Karen said that the change in stance was “inevitable” because mobile operators were already exposed to up to €75 of monthly wholesale charges for roaming traffic per customer, which is likely to rise from next year. This is because the EU’s cap on wholesale charges will no longer apply to UK operators from January. She said that EE and Vodafone’s move made it “that bit easier now for O2 to follow that lead."
Karen said the move was "inevitable" as it exposed operators to up to €75 in monthly wholesale charges per customer.
She now expected Virgin Media O2 and virtual network operators such as Tesco Mobile and Sky to revive roaming charges.
"Free EU roaming has become a highly politically sensitive issue and the operators have been somewhat reluctant to be seen to be reintroducing charges," she added.
"There was a lot of negative press around O2 when it was simply introducing a fair usage cap which brought it into line with other mobile operators, and even more for EE as the first operator to announce the reintroduction of EU roaming fees back in June."
Post Brexit, Vodafone has followed EE's lead in reintroducing roaming fees for some mobile packages. We expect Virgin Media O2 and the MVNOs to follow suit, with H3G's approach more uncertain.
This move is somewhat inevitable as current arrangements leave operators exposed to up to €75 of monthly wholesale charges, and even more as legacy EU wholesale deals expire.
We don't envisage a return to the days of super-normal returns from roaming, but it is nonetheless conducive to much-needed price inflation in the sector.