Over the last two years, Eastern Europe remained an active pay-TV market from an M&A perspective, with high fragmentation in the cable sector leading to ongoing consolidation, reports SNL Kagan in an analysis of the sector. Another supporting factor is high pay-TV penetration, which limits greenfield growth opportunities in cable, while intense competition among multiple […]
Findings from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) suggest that the thirteen largest pay-TV providers in the US – representing about 95 per cent of the market – lost about 385,000 net video subscribers in 2015, compared to a loss of about 150,000 subscribers in 2014, and a loss of about 100,000 subscribers in 2013. The top […]
According to research and consultancy firm Ampere Analysis, the market for triple-play bundling is reaching saturation point. In mature markets such as North America and Europe the average communications subscription has almost two products to every customer, and some providers have upsold three. Bundling TV, fixed phone and broadband has been a key way for […]
In a move to counteract Telefonica’s low cost pay-TV offers, Vodafone is launching its “Super Weekend” promotion to give its TV package TV Esencial free for a year to new customers signing up between March 11th and 13th. New subscribers will save €144 a year as the package costs €12 a month. Vodafone TV Esencial […]
Mediaset is close to selling its pay-TV unit to Vivendi, in a move that would strengthen the French media group’s grip on Italy, Reuters reports. Vivendi is already the biggest shareholder in Telecom Italia with a 23.8 per cent stake and is seeking to build a significant southern European business. The talks are being led […]
The latest figures released by Thinkbox – the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK – show that the average TV viewer in the UK watched a total of 3 hours, 51 minutes of TV a day in 2015, 1 per cent less than in 2014 but 5 per cent more than in 2005. […]
Sky Italia could invest nearly €7 billion in Italy, but is seeking a market “with clear, certain and equal rules for all”, according to CEO Andrea Zappia. In an interview for Italian daily “La Repubblica”, he said that the pay-TV operator plans to double the number of local productions and that Italy “could become a […]
The number of pay-TV subscribers in Portugal increased by 5 per cent last year compared to 2014, to 3.52 million, an above-average rise in the last five years (4.6 per cent). According to Portugal’s National Communications Authority (Anacom), the pay-TV sector added over 167,000 new customers in 2015, while the penetration rate reached 86.6 per […]
RTL Group has reported that 2015 revenue increased 3.8 per cent to €6,029 million (2014: €5,808 million), mainly driven by increasing revenue at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, growing digital revenue and favourable exchange rate effects RTL Group said its revenue is well diversified, with 53.7 per cent from broadcast advertising (TV and radio), 22 per cent […]
AT&T-owned pay-broadcaster DirecTV is to create a competitor to Dish Network’s Sling TV service. Sometimes described as pay-TV ‘lite’ or a ‘skinny bundle’, Sling TV has packaged a brought together a package of lower cost channels and all on a simple sign-up and pre-pay plan without complicated sign-up obligations or long-term subscription commitments. By including […]