The latest Beech Hill Consultancy Bulletin…
How’s it mid-February already – the BHC Bulletin managed to skip January, but here are some of the more relevant – and less reported – insights from media-ville…
The cost of living crisis is far from over – while there may be some signs of a downwards next step for interest rates….the timing isn’t yet clear…
So, it no surprise that Global pay-tv penetration will see its first-ever yearly decline in 2024, according to research by Ampere Analysis. The drop will follow pay-tv penetration peaking at 60.3 percent in Q4 2023 according to the research, which forecasts that by 2028 global pay-tv penetration will have fallen by almost four percentage points.
Advanced TV has much more here:
This isn’t the only report showing streaming slowdown – According to Omdia, there has been a significant change in the way consumers are subscribing to multiple streaming services. Previously, consumers would often stack multiple subscriptions to gain access to a wider range of content. However, the new data suggests that there has been a shift in this behaviour, indicating that consumers are becoming more selective in their choices and opting for a more focused approach to their streaming subscriptions.
The number of SVoD subscriptions per household in the US was approaching 3.5 in April 2023, but Omdia’s research has found that number fell more than 10 percent to under three services by November 2023.
Maria Rua Aguete, Omdia Senior Research Director revealed that the countries where the growth of streaming and studio services (AVoD and SVoD) are showing signs of slowing down are the US, and Brazil.
“After over half a decade of steady growth, we’re observing a shift in how paid video services are consumed. The traditional model of stacking multiple paid services is losing ground. This is partly driven by the increasing popularity of free ad-supported television (FAST) channels, which are becoming a preferred choice for supplementary viewing,”
More on Omdia research here: https://advanced-television.com/2024/01/25/research-svod-stacking-falling-fast-viewership-rising/
Many clients of BHC want to talk about “digital transformation” – so what’s a digital first company look like – well at CNN, Sir Mark Thompson, previously director general of the BBC and CEO at The New York Times, has been appointed Chairman, CEO and Editor in Chief at CNN.
In his 100 days in the job email he outlined to staff at the global news broadcaster where he thought the business had to move:
Some key elements include:
· Combining all CNN’s various news-gathering groups into one entity
· Combining broadcast newsgathering with its digital and streaming activity
· Improving CNN’s video offering on Smartphones
· Expanding CNN’s efforts in Smartphones
· Exploring a Digital subscription model for Smartphones
· Maintaining the central proposition of CNN’s news offering
Totally agree – in BHC’s work on moving “analogy” businesses into a digital world – the key thing is joined up teams and tech….but most importantly is the leadership mindset. Everyone must understand how, why, and to where the journey leads.
One thing Thompson nailed was this:
“For many people today, the Smartphone is a more important device for consuming news than the TV,” he wrote in the memo. “Their news prime time is in the morning, not the evening.”
I still think it’s amazing that key broadcasters – and I could name many of you here – but the big guns and the serious money behind evenings. Bad move!
More on the CNN plans from the Wall St Journal –
Worryingly the UK has dropped to last place in the Edelman survey of 28 nations in their annual survey asking how much people trust the media “to do what is right”.
The UK saw the biggest drop in trust in the media and was the least-trusted out of 28 countries surveyed for the latest Edelman Trust Barometer.
Press gazette looked at the information in more detail here:
Making the headlines since the start of the year have been the global pressure on news and PSB organisations – whether papers or even digital news outlets. They year has started with job losses and profit warnings…so maybe some news from the EU could show the future of PSB and partnership.
Eight European public broadcasters have unveiled a proposal that will see them unite on eight new drama series every year.
The broadcasters are ZDF (Germany), NPO (The Netherlands), VRT (Belgium), SVT (Sweden), DR (Denmark), YLE (Finland), RÚV (Iceland) and NRK (Norway). They have joined forces for the “historic” collaboration known as the New8.
Broadcasters in the Nordics will deliver four projects a year, while the group will also share two from Germany, one from VRT and one from NPO.
No series are off limits, but the group will seek to appeal to 18-45s and try to attract a younger audience in particular.
“With this collaboration, we help each other in financing,” Vervloet said. “It’s a predictable model; there’s a set price we invest in each other’s series and help the producers to finance the series. We also get access to high-quality drama, which is very difficult in this competitive landscape. We also agreed on a set of rights we need to serve our audiences. It’s a win-win.”
The fill details are on C21 here – https://www.c21media.net/news/eight-european-pubcasters-team-up-to-jointly-commission-drama-slate/
While it’s a big jump – maybe we will see collaboration gathering a wider audience and also looking at other (expensive) genres…
That’s it for this time – for all your comms / leadership and content issues – why not ask Beech Hill Communications. See you next time…