Enders Analysis provides a subscription research service covering the media, entertainment, mobile and fixed telecommunications industries in Europe, with a special focus on new technologies and media.
Our research is independent and evidence-based, covering all sides of the market: consumers, leading companies, industry trends, forecasts and public policy & regulation. A complete list of our research can be found here.
Claire said “Piracy has existed for a long while — digital piracy at least 10 years — and in many forms. [But] there has been a generational decline in legitimate sports subscriptions in the under-35s. That is caused a little bit by piracy but mostly by the attractions of so many other attractive smartphone options.”
Spectrum auction assignment stages are normally fairly dull and routine, but due to the two-part nature of the 5G auctions, and the critical importance of proximity and contiguity, this is not the case with 5G.
The assignments won, combined with the Vodafone/O2 deal, ensures that all the operators enjoy at least 80MHz of (essential) proximity, but only O2 gets (nice-to-have) contiguity.
Further swaps could ensure contiguity for all, but this requires H3G to co-operate, which is in its absolute, but not relative, best interests.
Francois said “They want the security of their clubs playing every year."
Francois said “It’s not just that they would make more money in this arrangement, it’s also that it would be much more predictable. Investors like this very much, especially American investors used to American clubs.”
Francois said "For the competition to be interesting for a sufficiently large audience of viewers, there should be teams in at least the five major football countries in Europe."
Julian said the breakaway saga of the last week had thrown "even more uncertainty into the broadcasting landscape."
"The uncertainty generated by the suggestion of the ESL breakaway has caused broadcasters to be a little more concerned about the prospects of a healthy football ecosystem," he told Telegraph Sport. "So for the upcoming Premier League rights auction, in particular, I think the broadcasters are going to be slightly more cautious than they would have been otherwise had this not happened."
That caution, he says, is most likely to manifest in seeking reassurances, rather than in negotiating prices down. "It probably doesn't do too much to further devalue any values so long as they can be sure of what they are getting,"
Tom said “More people came on board as there was nothing else to do. Churn – people dropping their subscription – is usually between 5-7 per cent but that went way down. People who were on the fence about Netflix came forward, so in effect the new subscribers they would normally expect this year came on board early. Having said that, it doesn’t mean there aren’t risks Netflix faces.”
He added “TV at the upper end is moving in the direction of cinema. There are so many shows people can’t watch them all. Netflix has 200 million subs which means time, say, three people they can push shows to 600 million. But the new Star Wars show… people will seek that out. Disney is launching Star Wars spin offs. Amazon has Lord of the Rings. Netflix needs IP.”
Subscriber growth is down but the benefits from COVID-19 have been banked and are enduring. The pandemic pulled forward new subscribers, delayed churn and higher engagement allowed price rises to be pushed through—ARPU in US/Canada, for example has now risen 74 cents in one quarter (to $14.25).
Is the Netflix narrative beginning to change from subscriber adds to engagement? As markets mature the obvious metric that could drive a corporate narrative is engagement, which is higher on Netflix than competitors and growing.
Netflix still lacks tentpole IP in a competitive space. However, the new deal with Sony conceivably gives Netflix access to IP such as Spider-Man, Karate Kid, Ghostbusters, Jumanji and Venom.
Julian said We don't really think it's a sound strategy to pursue. It's mainly because of the enormous amounts of money that the clubs already get from broadcast partners — logistically, it would be a lot more difficult, because every club would need to have their own streaming service. Live television is an expensive business."