US recorded music retail sales fell 5% in 2013 to $5.5 billion on a bruising 17% decline in physical sales and a sharp slow-down in digital growth

DTO retail sales slipped for the first time in 2013, a trend that continued in Q1 2014. On a brighter note, the leap from 3.4 to 6.1 million subscribers makes the US the top market for the format

At the wholesale level, the fall in revenues from B2C sales was entirely offset by the rise in B2B revenues from ad-supported music where usage is booming – in 2013, B2B contributed 16% of wholesale revenues of $4.5 billion

Sky and TalkTalk are rolling out fibre in a small part of York, using a model that they could potentially extend to cover 10-15% of UK households

The economics of greenfield fibre build are still terrible in general, with even building in cherry-picked areas very hard to justify under current conditions, although the economics will improve over time as demand for speed increases

Moreover, once it is built it is built, and BT loses the wholesale revenue forever. Taking the hint and offering more reasonable wholesale fibre pricing may not be a bad option if Sky and TalkTalk persist

The ongoing digital migration and the resulting audience fragmentation have led to rating losses at RTL and ProSieben, but with the latter retaining its younger viewers. From a low base global operators are gaining share

Leveraging their high market shares within a benign economic environment means RTL and ProSieben are in a position to withstand the increasing competition. ProSieben has been more active in developing diversification businesses – on which we have mixed feelings

The main extra growth prospects are in the distribution fees charged to TV platforms for HD channels, allowing a progressive shift to a mixed funding model

As we expected, Canal+ won the broadcast rights to the Ligue 1 top three weekly games in 2016-20 and beIN Sports have the seven remaining fixtures Sensibly, the two competitors avoided a bidding war but ended up paying 28% more than the 2012-16 agreement – the first substantial increase since 2005 The new contract will help Canal+ sustain pricing and marketing. Meanwhile, even if it completely lost the ongoing Champions’ League auction, Canal+’s football prominence would remain

Amazon has entered the increasingly crowded digital entertainment TV device marketplace, one which could be strategically more important for the ecommerce giant than tech rivals Apple and Google

The frictionless integration of entertainment and ecommerce on TV represents a bigger consumer milestone than competitor services are offering, and Amazon’s brand has huge appeal, though at present it has less market traction for streaming than it does for other products

Content owners and broadcasters remain the real TV gatekeepers, with integration of TV and digital a service-level pipe dream for now, and so Amazon will likely have to accept being one of many, rather than the runaway winner as it is in books

The core US long form streaming subscription business, so vital to Netflix prospects of long term global as well as domestic success as competition increases, shows no sign of slowing, while guidance points to Q1 2014 as another strong quarter Although market research indicates a positive brand image, boosted by Netflix’s entry into original content commissions, Netflix cannot afford to slacken in its efforts to build its subscriber base due to strong upward competitive pressures on content obligations Content delivery is the other big cost challenge. There is no guarantee that the recent deal with Comcast will last, as the leading ISPs contend with conflicts of interest that arise from wishing to support the traditional model of linear TV but also to exploit the potential of long form online video

Newspaper apps have very quickly become a critical means for publishers to optimise consumer dwell time in digital, and cement an integrated digital subscription service

In common with apps in other markets, they are evolving, with new business models and usability solutions emerging relentlessly, while challenges including mobile advertising and the integration of video with text-based content are far from resolved

Unsettled consumer discovery and interaction, and continued innovation by platforms and services on top, provides a mercurial environment for publishers, bringing opportunities for specialist and leading services that develop agile iterations, and increasing the existential threat for many others

A key milestone in the UK’s Local TV initiative, London Live is also the country’s first integrated TV, newspaper and digital service, providing a unique prism through which to glimpse aspects of the future of its news, entertainment and advertising industries. 

History does not point to a successful outcome, but rapidly evolving consumer behaviour and technologies legitimately position London Live as a genuinely new, favourably timed proposition – albeit with no guarantee of even relatively modest success.

In the rollout of Local TV, London Live is alone, with neither its success nor its failure providing more than very limited guidance for the rest of the country’s local TV services; but it is nonetheless a major London media launch.

Japan’s RIAJ reported a 15% decline in trade revenues in 2013 on the 13% decline in CD and music video sales, still representing 87% of trade revenues

Digital trade revenues fell 23% on collapsing mobile sales; internet DTO revenues were up 24% and subscription revenues trebled to $31 million

UMG, WMG and even Sony each have limited exposure to Japan, where domestic labels dominate. Avex and other publishers exploit J-pop through 360 degree contracts with acts and enjoy robust concert and merchandising revenues

European mobile service revenue growth again disappointed in Q4, dropping slightly from -8.9% to -9.1%, with underlying revenue growth dropping a little further from -6.0% to -6.3%, again reaching a record low

There had been hopes that improved GDP growth would drive a volume rebound, that price declines would start to annualise out, and that declining out-of-bundle usage would wane in its impact as this usage declined. In the event, ongoing price competition from smaller operators, MVNOs and quad play offerings, combined with surging use of OTT communications platforms, have dominated trends

In the medium term, the development of 4G and Vodafone’s Project Spring may bring some much needed network differentiation back to the market, allowing pricing power to return to the larger operators. However, it will be 2015-2016 before these factors come into play: in the short term, the main source of optimism is consolidation