Advanced Television

Orange must rethink IPTV strategy

January 19, 2010

A decision by France’s Competition Council on carriage of exclusive content could have repercussions on the entire IPTV industry, according to Strategy Analytics. The report suggests that Orange will need to fundamentally alter its marketing strategy to stay competitive.

Orange has pursued an aggressive content strategy in recent years, spending over E200 million to acquire exclusive rights to sports and other content, packaged under its Orange Sport and Orange Cinéma Séries brands. The strategy has been largely effective, and has led to rapid growth of its pay TV segments. The new ruling – proposing content should not be exclusive – threatens to remove content altogether as a differentiator for the provider.

“Content exclusivity remains among the most powerful weapons in the television provider's arsenal, and recent events in the French market may point to stronger regulatory oversight of content in other markets worldwide,” said Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Multiplay Market Dynamics Service. “If that happens, operators will need to shift focus to non-content differentiators.”

Categories: Articles, IPTV, OTT