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Joseph Teasdale, tech analyst at Enders, said: “The big question is who captures the economic benefits of the AI goldrush — is it companies like Arm who design chip architecture, companies like Nvidia who make the GPUs [graphics processing units] that AI data centres run on, or companies like Google and Microsoft who make AI usable for businesses?”
Ligue 1 wants to break with its recent history of failed tenders, declining revenues and soured relations with incumbent Canal+.
This year’s would-be bidders have no history of inflating rights costs. Thanks to its distribution deals with DAZN (likely to step in) and beIN, Canal+ may feel secure, while Amazon could let its coverage shrink to a selection of key matches.
The LFP is taking steps to offer a more enticing competition, in partnership with CVC: with fewer teams, a stronger brand and new investors.
Radio listening is strong, but with a dramatic decline among the under-24s. Smart speakers will accelerate the trend and while the draft Media Bill’s intervention is helpful, it is not the cure.
The commercial sector is thriving through the launch of digital-only stations and major players taking advantage of deregulation. The issue of attracting a new generation is pressing.
The once-dominant BBC has a loyal older following. Hampered by regulation, it is difficult to see how younger audiences will develop an affinity with its audio offering.
A cooler consumer market sees Sky now facing the same pressures as its SVOD competitors, with a loss of pay-TV subscribers in the UK.
However, Sky is performing better in telecoms in both the UK and Italy. These markets are less susceptible to recession with Sky also benefitting from its position as more of a challenger than an incumbent.
Uncertainty continues to loom over both the sale of its German platform and the upcoming allocation of Serie A rights in Italy.
Media analyst Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis, has suggested Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp could be tempted by The Spectator.
Much of this is the result of services such as Netflix that have eroded the structural advantages enjoyed by linear TV providers in the past, says Tom Harrington, head of television at Enders Analysis.
“For cable TV providers like Charter, it is about as bad as it has ever been,” says Harrington.
The Disney-Charter dispute should be seen in this context, says Harrington.
“Cable TV companies are under stress. But Charter probably thinks that Disney is under pressure too, and has calculated they can push it a bit further than if things were going well,” he explains.
“They also feel that Disney’s channels are not worth as much as they were during the last negotiations, because a lot of content is now on Disney+.”
“DAZN has been selling advertising — including programmatically — for quite some time now and it makes perfect sense strategically for them to do so,” said Gill Hind, director of TV at Enders Analysis. “While one of Netflix’s major USPs was the lack of advertising versus the competition, for any sports business the USP is clearly the sports rights they have.”
The question would be how much supply DAZN can offer, she continued. “Their DAZN’s] distribution agreements with pay-TV platforms (Sky in the UK) help address that question and as they build up their rights then they are looking at a sizable opportunity.”
Service revenue growth almost doubled this quarter to 2.4% aided by price rises in the UK, Spain, and France, but remains well below inflation-levels.
The revenue boost from in-contract price rises will ultimately disappear as customers recontract, dampening the EBITDA outlook as costs continue to rise.
Operators are looking to other strategies to strengthen their positions, including edging up new-customer pricing, M&A, and attracting wholesale MVNO business.
Rival and older social media companies, including YouTube and Instagram owner Meta, launched their short-form offerings in 2021. Joseph Teasdale, head of tech at Enders Analysis, said that because of the threat from TikTok, YouTube was “pushing Shorts in front of its billions of users, even at the expense of ad revenue. It’s a defensive move.”