Welcome back to Streaming Made Easy (SME). I’m Marion & this is your 5-min read to get a European take on the Global Streaming Video Business.
Every Friday in your inbox. Check out previous editions here.
Enjoy today’s read.
ICYMI 🔥
Canal+ determined to be a true EMEA player with this move to acquire the remaining stake in MultiChoice (today, it owns 31.67%).
Kidoodle TV and Hisense teaming up to launch a safe kids hub, exactly what
and I were discussing in our post about FAST & Kids.A post which became a podcast episode of “The Kids Media Club Podcast”.
I go to conferences with a mix of dread and excitement.
It's not easy to put yourself out there especially as a solo act.
Every time, I'm rewarded 10 times though. OTT Question Time Live was no exception.
OTTQTL is a 2-day event organised by my dear friend, Kauser Kanji.
Over the course of 2 days, 150+ industry executives gather in the beautiful setting of the British Museum to discuss the latest trends in OTT, Streaming and Broadcasting.
Two words best describe my experience there: transformation and resilience.
Here’s why:
Resilience
As we gathered in London, two news broke:
→ Channel 4 announced its biggest round of layoffs (240 people affected out of a 1200+ workforce).
The reasons why: accelerate the shift to digital streaming, limit content budget cuts, face a challenging TV advertising market.
“Like every organisation, we are having to deal with an extremely uncertain economy in the short term and the need to accelerate our transformation to become a wholly digital public service broadcaster in the long term”.
“As a result, we need to continue to divest from our linear channels business and simplify our operations to become a leaner organisation”.
→ Sky will cut 1000 jobs mostly amongst satellite installers.
The reason why: Sky estimates that about three-quarters of new products being taken are internet-based, reducing the need for installers.
“The launch of Sky Glass and Sky Stream represents a shift in our business to deliver TV over IP rather than satellite,” said a Sky spokesman.
“Increasingly, customers are choosing Sky Glass and Sky Stream which don’t require specialist installation, and that has led us to change the number of roles we need to deliver our services.”
Traditional players are forced to streamline their organizations to adapt to market conditions and user behaviour changes.
Many executives, I spoke to at the conference, have been impacted by similar restructuring (or looming ones) in the past year.
I must say, I was impressed by the level of resilience showed.
I can only encourage everyone to invest in their personal brand right now or what
calls You, Inc.Evan and I were told, at a dinner, that not everyone can find its zone of genius. I beg to differ. We all can but we have to try hard enough and accept the ugly days along the way.
Transformation
Fascinating to hear Kerensa Samanidis (GM - BBC iPlayer) and Rhys Mclalchlan (Director of Advanced Advertising - ITV) about the goal (need) to be all things to all people.
Both iPlayer and ITVX are streaming destinations in their own right and no longer the extension of Broadcast Linear TV.
In a similar move, read how TF1+ has the exact same ambition in France:
Broadcasters’ edge is to bring high value, culturally relevant content like “Mr Bates vs the Post Office” which averaged 9M viewers per episode, shed light on a story few knew about and rallied a nation behind this social injustice.
Talking about transformative initiatives, little was shared about Freely.
For reference, Freely is the upcoming IP-only streaming solution backed by the 4 UK broadcasters.
With:
70-80% of iPlayer viewing time coming from Smart TV,
TVs getting smarter year on year (in 2023, Samsung TVs plugged to a STB represent 5% of their active devices vs 50% a few years ago),
It’s crucial for PSBs to strengthen their CTV positions. Is a new app (which will live on top of each PSB’s app) the way to go?
Finally, there is no true transformation without monetisation and the UK ad market is going through massive changes.
Great timing to be speaking with Rhys the week of Amazon’s ad supported launch.
He had no doubt about their success unlike streaming-first players (“who cannot smash ads and run with it”), even applauded the move to ads for all.
Amazon already has a thriving ad business, part of their healthy flywheel.
On ad formats, 30” pre-roll and mid-roll ads remain king.
ITV works hard to make TV ad buying easier and in 2023 10% of their VOD addressable digital revenues came from 1st time buyers.
Last but not least, his team is working on frictionless commerce brought to TV. Be on the lookout for this in the coming months.
Only stopping by? Consider subscribing to receive it every Friday morning
Loving it? Consider sharing it with your network ❤️
Broadening Horizons
The event brought us two panels with execs from the Nordics and Germany.
The local broadcasters in the Nordics seemed calm, solid in their positioning and determined to stay relevant.
With the rise of content production costs and new money coming from the streamers, it was time for them to team up to coproduce regional originals.
Germany resembles the UK as another highly fragmented and competitive market with its 2 commercial broadcasters and its 2 public ones.
It is no longer a market which scares off international companies. Roku launched there in 2021 so did Amazon with Freevee or Google with Primetime Channels.
It is also an innovative market and it’s no surprise to see an In Car Entertainment ecosystem burgeoning in Germany with companies like TiVo taking their OS to premium cars. For more, check out my Series on the topic:
FAST Consensus
There is a consensus on FAST in Europe: the model has a smaller role to play here on the revenue side but is a must have in the tool kit of regional players.
Faz Atab (Google TV) loves the flexibility it brings.
Katie Coleman (Warner Bros Discovery) sees no reason not to get into it.
Rhys Mclachlan (ITV) states that not everyone is an on demand customer and it’s an important ingredient in the mix.
Anthony Layser (Xumo) and Paul Hastings (Whip Media) nailed down the work which lies ahead of the sector: data standardisation & transparency, UX improvements, discoverability, personalisation, ad innovations.
Reality Check
Kate Dean runs specialty SVOD Own Your Goals Davina & The Happy Place App at NBCU. She had to lower her pricing twice this year to cope with market conditions and competition.
And what did she find out in her churn surveys?
The main reason for cancellation is not that the price is too high but simply that subscribers can’t afford it right now.
We, as an industry, tend to brush off the reality of subscribers’ lives.
To be closer to said reality, SVOD is no longer queen. Free or hybrid models are.
That’s it for today but before you go:
Enjoy your weekend and see you next Friday for another edition of Streaming Made Easy!
By night, I write Streaming Made Easy and on Linkedin.
By day, I run The Local Act, a streaming video consultancy catering to Streamers, Distribution Platforms and Technology Vendors.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:
→ Europe Made Easy: Get a trusted partner to launch and grow in Europe.
→ Masterclasses: For executives looking to get up to speed on all things streaming. Check out past testimonials from companies like Studio Canal, MIPCOM or EGTA.
→ Content Marketing: Explore how I can put my 6K LinkedIn following + my 3.8K Newsletter subs to work for your company like I do for mine.
Ping me to see if we’re a fit.