The DCMS has published the government’s response to its consultation on the balance of payments between television platforms and public service broadcasters, the so-called issue of retransmission fees

One sure outcome is that Section 73 of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act (CPDA) 1988, which has hitherto protected cable operators (i.e. Virgin Media) from having to pay retransmission fees, is outmoded and will go

But, we now have a disconnect. The government has stated unequivocally that it expects the continuation of no net carriage payments between the licensed PSBs and the platform operators and may consider legislative changes to ensure this. And yet ITV sees the government response as a welcome first step towards their introduction

Cinema, TV and VOD services share in the same ratings regime in the UK, giving parents confidence they can discern content unsuitable for their children.

Risks to children of being exposed to unsuitable content and advertising multiply on the 'open' internet. 

Parental controls supplied by ISPs are key to filtering content and sites, although a unified approach is better 

TV viewing has one reliable, long term trend: programme genres are watched by consumers at predictable life stages and ages

At a high level, there has been little manipulation of the balance of genres being broadcast. But amongst the sub-genres, editorial optimisation has resulted in an uptick in actual viewing

As the core viewing age of linear television rises, there is an opportunity for broadcasters to leverage this to create the most desirable schedule for their available audience by daypart; with genres that transcend demographics when younger viewers tune in

The decline in print display advertising in national newspapers accelerated to -16% in 2015, while growth in digital advertising is slowing, and will be unable to offset revenue decline for the foreseeable future.

We believe this decline is structural and irreversible, continuing at a sharper pace than before despite the recovery in the UK economy in 2013-2015, and very different from the cyclical decline of 2009.

Publishers must convince brands and agencies that in the mobile era their superior content environments have added value. If scale newsrooms are to survive, costs must be reduced through collaboration and outsourcing.

UK residential communications market revenue growth dipped down 2ppts to 4% in Q1 2016, due in roughly equal measure to slowing broadband growth, some one-off benefits in the previous quarter dropping out, and generally weak ARPU likely caused by promotional introductory price discounting

Virgin Media was the only major operator to buck the market trend and accelerate broadband growth, helped by its network extension Project Lightning, and this impact will grow throughout 2016, with the remaining operators squeezed between this and the slowing market

Growth in the rest of the year will be impacted by pricing decisions yet to be made, and slowing volumes could well drive market revenue growth below 4% during the year, but we do not expect it to drop very much below this

Virgin Media broadband net adds of 70k were the highest in 6 years, with record market net adds share of 35% in a slowing broadband market, and the strongest consumer cable revenue growth in over a year. Project Lightning roll-out and strong marketing were the key drivers and are expected to continue over the year
 
Recent momentum has been largely dual play driven but TV investments, including exclusive on demand content, and a software upgrade and refreshed set top box to be launched in H2 2016, should help with ongoing TV net losses particularly as cost pressures mount from wholesale sports content

Project Lightning updates informed that of the 4m total premises budgeted for network expansion to 2020, at least 25% of these will be connected via FTTP, signalling increased infrastructure competition with Openreach whose G.fast roll-out plans potentially diminish the current cable network speed advantage (though further cable upgrades are both possible and would recover this)

2015 has been a very good year, with revenues up 13%, helped by buoyant market conditions, in which TV spot advertising revenues increased by 7%. EBITDA also increased by £8 million in spite of an extra £25 million spent on programming

2015 saw UKTV overtake Sky to become the non-PSB channel group with the highest advertising Share of Commercial Impact (SOCI) delivery among adults 16+, while Q1 figures suggest the gap will widen in 2016

The horizon beyond 2016 is less clear as further revenue growth will rely much more on organic factors, in which respect UKTV’s online offering UKTV Play has much promising potential, if it can be realised

Enders Analysis co-hosted its annual conference in conjunction with Deloitte, Moelis & Company, Linklaters and LionTree, in London on 8 March 2016. The event featured talks from 22 of the most influential figures in media and telecoms, and was chaired by Sir Peter Bazalgette. 

This document contains slides presented by Andrew Griffith, Group CFO and Managing Director of Consumer Businesses at Sky, and Tom Mockridge, CEO of Virgin Media.

Edited transcripts of the presentations and panels from the conference are available here.

Videos of the presentations are available on the conference website.

Enders Analysis co-hosted its annual conference in conjunction with Deloitte, Moelis & Company, Linklaters and LionTree, in London on 8 March 2016. The event featured talks from 22 of the most influential figures in media and telecoms, and was chaired by Sir Peter Bazalgette.

This report provides edited transcripts of the talks, and you will find accompanying slides for some of the presentations here.

Videos of the presentations are available on the conference website.

European mobile service revenue growth was flat at -0.8%, while underlying country movements were somewhat more dramatic. The key highlights were Italy returning to positive growth driven by pricing stability, and France showing worsening growth decline for the first time in over two years impacted by challenger telco pricing cuts

An assessment of these challenger telcos highlights a somewhat precarious position, as continued price aggression yields diminishing incremental gains, and they all remain some way from gaining the scale to achieve profitability

The only incentive for challengers to remain aggressive is as an encouragement for their competitors to buy them; increasing regulatory hurdles to consolidation would remove even this incentive, leaving price increases as their only rational route to profitability