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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Claire Enders was quoted in an article discussing creative industries in the UK. "We have a gigantic industry because we have complicated behaviour: satellite, Freeview, digital TV, Sky. We have advertising technologies coming out of our ears in the UK" she said, adding that only Los Angeles and New York rival London for "end-to-end ability".
In this presentation we show our analysis of revenue growth trends for mobile operators in the top five European markets (UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain). The historical analysis is based on the published results of the operators, although they include our estimates where their data is inconsistent or not complete. A copy of the underlying data in spreadsheet format is available to our subscription clients on request
The UK residential communications sector again had a strong quarter for revenue growth, with reported growth from the top four operators at 5%, or around 4% excluding the one-off impact of extra BT Sport related revenues
Unfortunately cost growth was even stronger, with margins dropping at three of the four largest operators. The aggressive launch of BT Sport has driven up content costs, marketing costs or both for all of the operators
The main issue going forward will continue to be actual and potential disruption relating to BT Sport. Content and marketing costs have likely been set at a new higher level, with further increases possible up to and following mid-2015, when the next Premier League auction is due and BT takes over the Champions League rights
Scotland’s SNP-led Government has published its White Paper setting out its assumptions for independence, including on broadcasting and telecommunications, where spectrum management will be assumed by the new Government, implying a discontinuity in existing UK-wide 3G and 4G licenses attributed by Ofcom.
The SNP promises no change in the broadcasting environment except for the creation of a Scottish Broadcasting Service (SBS), which would occupy the BBC’s position today. Channel 3, 4 and 5 licensees will be able to continue to broadcast without discontinuity, although free access to spectrum was not promised, which BSkyB of course doesn’t require.
The big ask is BBC One and BBC Two on free-to-air terms, implying a subsidy of £270 million to Scotland. This seems very unlikely to be agreed by the rest of the UK (rUK), since BBC Worldwide offers only commercial terms to other countries. However, the BBC will not comment on this assumption, so the Scots will only learn of the facts after the referendum.
France’s Canal+ faces an increasingly challenging domestic market, due to IPTV expansion, competition from Al-Jazeera’s beIN Sport and the threat of a Netflix launch – on top of sluggish consumer demand in a dull economy
Inflated promotional activity has brought rising churn and failed to stop subscriber base erosion, while denting profitability. Headline revenue growth comes from international channels, film production and FTA TV
Anxious to avoid interference from its owner Vivendi, Canal+ has followed a conservative investment policy that may have undermined growth. The spin-off of SFR and possible dissolution of the conglomerate would leave Canal+ free to contemplate more aggressive moves, in IPTV, set-top boxes and possibly through acquisitions
After several years of preparation Sky’s AdSmart launched in August and is on schedule to be offered to all advertisers in January/February 2014 after beta trials involving some 50 advertisers in the second half of 2013 AdSmart is all about addressable and low waste targeted segmentation on the Sky pay-TV satellite platform, which for the first time in UK TV history allows national channels to offer highly localised, targeted advertising AdSmart promises to grow significantly the TV advertising ecosystem, though success in realising the full revenue potential of AdSmart, possibly in the order of several hundred million pounds per annum, will depend on Sky’s ability to handle various challenges on the way, with regional press and direct mail most at risk
Alice Enders was quoted in an article discussing the success of Dr Who, which celebrated its 50th birthday on Saturday 23 November. She said "It does seem to have been one of these evergreens that can be reinvented and repurposed."
Alice Enders was quoted in an article about the Elvis Presley brand being sold to New York-based licensing company Authentic Brands Group, which also handles the image of Marilyn Monroe. She said "Elvis benefits from having fans all over the world and those fans are very, very devoted to the King of Rock and Roll. These people will go all the way to Graceland - it's that fan base that you keep re-energizing."
TalkTalk maintained recent momentum despite increased competition in the quarter, delivering 5k broadband net adds and 167k pay TV net adds, although increased churn required higher marketing spend to achieve this
TalkTalk restructured its pricing towards the end of the quarter, increasing certain prices, introducing a lower cost broadband option and bringing pay TV to its (now) mid-tier plan; the net impact appears as if it will be positive
TalkTalk is fairly well insulated from the ongoing BT/Sky battle, with little enthusiasm for sports content within its base, and pricing that is already very competitive, but extra marketing costs may still weigh going forward