Following a return to broadband subscriber growth last quarter, TalkTalk has now returned to overall revenue growth for the first time since acquiring Tiscali in 2009
Pay TV net adds nearly doubled to 150k; the associated SACs weighed on EBITDA, but TV did support the upper tier ‘Plus’ base returning to solid growth
TTG’s outlook is positive, save for uncertainties over regulation, and the unpredictable impact of BT Sport on broadband market shares
Both subscriber and revenue growth in the UK home communications market perked up in Q4, with an easing of weather related supply-side constraints helping the former and firm pricing helping that latter. We expect both trends to continue into 2013
BT’s high speed broadband net adds accelerated in the quarter, as did that of the other DSL operators, albeit from a much lower base. High speed broadband is already a mass market phenomenon within the BT and Virgin Media subscriber bases, with it only a matter of time before this spreads further
Virgin Media had a record quarter, as it continues to benefit from being able to offer high broadband speeds at very competitive prices, with its planned acquisition by Liberty Global unlikely to change its strategy or performance going forward
The Competition Commission has provisionally decided that local (but not national) advertisers will suffer if the Global/GMG radio merger is passed and its suggested remedies are for Global to divest stations outside London and the West Midlands or simply unravel the whole transaction.
If these provisional findings are confirmed in May 2013, Global will find itself in the unenviable position of looking for a purchaser or more of radio assets, since the transaction was finalised in June 2012.
Although the Competition Commission is likely to prefer a single buyer of the portfolio to minimize the purchaser’s risk, it may be content with a carve up of the GMG stations, in which case we see Bauer Media as being a strong contender for stations out-with its current footprint.
TalkTalk’s broadband base returned to growth in the December quarter after years of decline, helped by further churn improvements
The company gained a respectable 80k new pay TV subscribers after its Plus TV launch, and the overall Plus/Plus TV base continued to grow
Revenue growth was unchanged at -1.7% in the quarter, but given the timings of price changes we still expect a return to broadly flat or growing revenue next quarter
Enders Analysis co-hosted its annual conference, in conjunction with BNP Paribas and Deloitte, in London on 15 January 2013. The event featured talks by 14 of the most influential figures in media and telecoms, and was chaired by Sir Peter Bazalgette. This report provides edited transcripts of the talks given by nine of those speakers: Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP Tim Davie, Acting Director General, BBC Dan Cobley, Managing Director, Google UK & Ireland Michael Tobin, CEO, Telecity Group Liv Garfield, CEO, Openreach Dido Harding, CEO, TalkTalk Group Victor Zhang, CEO, Huawei UK & Ireland Cindy Rose, Executive Director of Digital Entertainment, Virgin Media Q&A: Dido Harding, Victor Zhang and Cindy Rose Ed Richards, CEO, Ofcom
Slides from the presentations by the following speakers at the Media & Telecoms: 2013 & Beyond conference on 15 January 2013:
•Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP
•Michael Tobin, CEO, Telecity Group
•Liv Garfield, CEO, Openreach
•Dido Harding, CEO, TalkTalk Group
•Victor Zhang, CEO, Huawei UK & Ireland
•Cindy Rose, Executive Director of Digital Entertainment, Virgin Media
The development of the Digital Britain infrastructure, introduction of tablets, increasing connectivity of TV sets and launch of on demand OTT services over the internet have greatly intensified interest in connected viewing and its impact on the traditional broadcast model No single source of audience measurement for viewing of long- and short- form video content across all screens yet exists, though current market data suggest that connected viewing occupies a c. 8.5% share of total viewing across all screens By 2020, we project the connected viewing share of total viewing across all screens will reach 20%, with tablets being the primary drivers of growth, in part incremental and in part substitutional to viewing to the TV set, where we expect the connected viewing share to remain under 5%
Press advertising performed worse than we expected in 2012, with double digit declines both last year and this year now a very real possibility.
Previously resilient areas of the press have weakened. Popular national titles have seen sharp advertising declines, while faltering circulation in celebrity magazines exposes an underlying decline in demand.
Retail and services advertisers continue to pull spend from print, largely in favour of online, though TV is also very resilient. Industry efforts to offset these structural shifts include the development of trading platforms, further consolidation and a number of commercial editorial tactics.