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.
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Alice Enders was quoted in the Financial Times on Tencent plans to buy 10% of Universal Music from Vivendi. Alice said, "the stake sale would be an “equilibrium move” for Tencent, given it would have struggled to justify a 50 per cent share of Universal at such a lofty valuation". She said Vivendi had missed out on a huge windfall by selling such a small stake. “Selling 50 per cent of UMG at an inflated level would have been a really big score".
Julian Aquilina was quoted in the Financial Times on the rise of online streaming services. Julian said "services like Netflix and Amazon were complementary to the traditional TV viewing habit of many viewers, adding that around half of UK homes still subscribe to pay-TV from companies such as Sky and Virgin Media....But the non-UK services are less regulated than the UK broadcasters — a significant factor behind their success, particularly among younger audiences. ”
Sky’s Q2 results were encouraging overall, with significant subscriber growth swinging direct-to-consumer revenue growth back to positive. ARPU declined once more, since new streaming customers are taking lower-priced products, but total revenue growth accelerated to 2.4%.
EBITDA rose 20%, primarily due to the dropping out of some large one-off costs. Next quarter, Sky will begin making savings on the new Premier League rights contract, and increased football rights costs in Italy and Germany will have annualised out.
Having launched Sky Studios in June, Sky is focused on producing original European content, with ambitions to double spend over the next five years, in a calibrated response to the Netflix-led race for content.
Douglas McCabe was quoted in the Financial Times on US sports site The Athletic spends £10m to attract UK readers. He said “The whole model is threatening for national and local newspapers."
Vodafone’s newfound focus on performance improvement is showing signs of delivering – more on the cost than revenue side. Tower sharing has the potential to ultimately enhance European cashflow by 10%
The revenue picture is more mixed with churn improving but a very varied operational picture across its major European markets
Although Vodafone highlights the potential for German cable to drive growth post Liberty Global deal completion, their current 0.4% growth in Germany does not give cause for optimism
ITV experienced a slightly-less-than-expected 5% drop in advertising revenue which was alleviated by lower H1 content scheduling costs, reflecting the timing of major sporting events
Love Island continues to be a ray of light, increasing its viewership and guiding the ITV Family audience share to an eleven-year high, while ITV Studios revenues were down but reportedly still on track for its 2019 targets
More information was provided on the Q4 rollout of streaming service BritBox and the addressable advertising platform for ITV Hub. ITV must be active in these areas but late entry presents problems and questions
O2’s service revenue growth slipped decisively into negative territory at -1.8% this quarter as the punishing regulatory regime took its toll
Underlying EBITDA growth of 4% was particularly impressive in the circumstances; likely aided by more direct distribution as well as tight cost control
The coming week will unveil how this compares to peers; we anticipate results which reflect a tough environment with little let-up on the horizon
Alice Pickthall was quoted in The Financial Times on Staff at Radio Times owner protest over oil adverts. She said “I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the start of a lot of staff at companies beginning to speak out on climate change. Immediate’s leaders have a real opportunity to lead on this and consumers would see that in a positive light.”
She added that “You need grassroots pressure but you also need people in boardrooms listening and taking these things on as a serious issue."
TalkTalk suffered subscriber losses and falling consumer revenue growth in Q1, with churn still high despite the high speed base growing, countered by ARPU growing for the first time since 2017TalkTalk suffered subscriber losses and falling consumer revenue growth in Q1, with churn still high despite the high speed base growing, countered by ARPU growing for the first time since 2017
The subscriber drop was, however, modest and looks quite deliberate, with there being evidence of price firming in both direct and indirect channels supporting both ARPU and margin
This more cautious approach, if it can be sustained, puts the company on a much more healthy footing in our view, allowing it to achieve its financial targets without increasingly unsustainable existing customer price rises