Newsletter 15th of January: The Premier League Seeks New Owner for Nordic Rights
NYHETSBREV
15 January 2020
The Premier League has initiated a bidding war for the audio-visual broadcasting rights on the Nordic market. The league attracts great interest from viewers as well as media companies, but perhaps the buyer will be found outside the Nordic territory?
Last month, Mediavision reported on Champions League´s current round of rights auctions. Next in line to issue an invitation to tender (ITT) for the audio-visual broadcasting rights is the Premier League. This time targeted at Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, for the rights covering the 22/23 season and onwards. Bids must be submitted by the 29th of January. Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) is the current rights holder of the Premier League in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The company has held the rights since 2010 in Sweden and Denmark, and since 2016 in Finland. In Norway, commercial broadcaster TV2 has held the Premier League rights over the last four cycles (since 2010-11). NENT recently enlarged its offering of soccer by purchasing the rights to broadcast the second highest male league in Denmark, Nordicbet Ligaen.
Premier League is the most popular national league in the world, also reflected in the Nordic countries. Mediavision’s Nordic Sports Analysis 2019 shows that 2.6 million people (15-74 y/o) in the Nordics are interested in following the Premier League via traditional TV and/or online video. However, Premiere League is decidedly less popular in Finland compared to the rest of the Nordics.
The Premier League’s international rights income rose by 35 per cent in the 2019-22 cycle, generating a combined total revenue for the three seasons of over £4.2bn (€4.9bn/$5.5bn).
One local actor which has been mentioned as a potential buyer is Discovery that has invested heavily in local sports rights in the Nordics in the last couple of years. Lately, global tech giants have expressed an increased interest in sports rights as well, Premier League being no exception. Amazon already holds rights to air certain Premier League games in the UK and recently purchased the rights to air Champions League in Germany.
Mediavision recently surveyed Swedish media industry experts on the topic and found that 50% believe that Amazon is the most likely tech candidate to pick up broadcast sports rights for the Nordic market in the coming 5 years – perhaps Premier League will be the first?
Industry News
As Comcast prepares to launch their streaming service Peacock in April, it´s been reported that the company are involved in advanced talks to acquire AVOD-streaming service Xumo. Reportedly, Comcast is focusing on an ad-supported offering as the core of their strategy.
AT&T´s advertising company will introduce a new format of advertising, in terms of animated, silent ads that appears when the viewer has paused the content for 30 seconds. These type of ads might be displayed on AT&T´s upcoming streaming service HBO Max.
Google´s parent company Alphabet are close to joining the $1 trillion club, following a rise in stock prices due to several positive reports from analytics institutes this week. Alphabet´s stock rose by 28% in 2019.
The in-house unscripted production unit Peacock Production at NBC News will be terminated this March. According to the company, the reason for the decision is a shift in documentary strategy. Peacock has produced documentaries such as Surviving R.Kelly: The Impact.
The newly developed service Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI) will enable Spotify to insert targeted ads in their exclusive podcasts based on the info available on their individual users, including reach, frequency, and demographic data. The service is so far limited to the US market.
At the ceremony on Sunday, Netflix had a big night scoring nine wins out of 61 nominations – awarded titles including The Irishman and Marriage Story. Additionally, HBO received six awards, including wins for Succession, Chernobyl and Barry. Amazon received four awards.
In 2019, Disney banked approx. $13 billion in worldwide box office. The figure includes a record number of $1 billion premieres – currently six, including The Lion King and Frozen 2. Disney´s acquisition of the 20th Century Fox in 2019 spurred revenue growth further.
Mediavision Press Releases
Danske operatører har ny rekord i streaming
Stadig flere husstande i Danmark abonnerer på streamingtjenester. Aktuelt drives væksten hovedsageligt af TV-operatørerne, dvs. aktører som Yousee, Stofa og Boxer. Aktuelt køber næsten 15 % af husstandene i Danmark streamingabonnementer via en operatør.
Suomessa katsotaan ennätyspaljon nettivideoita
Nettivideoiden katselussa tehtiin uusi ennätys Suomessa vuonna 2019. Keskimääräisen päivän kuluessa miltei 60% ihmisitä katsoo jonkinlaista nettivideota, mikä tarkoittaa, että Suomessa päivittäiskatselu on nyt samalla tasolla kuin muissa Pohjoismaissa.
Norske husholdninger har de høyeste utgiftene for TV og strømming i Norden
Strømmetjenestene er veldig populære i Norge, og de fortsetter å vokse. Samtidig befester tradisjonell betal-TV sin sterke posisjon.
Mediavision in the News
Lyssna är det nya läsa. När 10-talet går mot sitt slut är nästan hälften av all konsumerad litteratur digital. Hur förändrar utvecklingen boklandskapet? GP möter litteraturens nya stjärnor – inläsarna.
Swedish consultancy Mediavision said Netflix remains the leading subscription video on demand (SVoD) provider in the Nordic region and now has 4 million subscribers there, up by 15 percent YOY.
Ifølge svensk analyseselskab har Netflix lagt 15 pct. til abonnementsskaren det seneste år. Men markedslederen er vokset mindre end en række nationale og regionale tjenester.
The Nordic region’s love of streaming services shows no sign of abating. Media consultancy Mediavision says 4 million subscribers now take the world’s leading streaming service, despite the arrival of several local rivals.
Man kunne let forledes til at tro at de største streamere er størrelser som Netflix og Viaplay. Det er ikke tilfældet. De store streamere hedder derimod YouSee, Stofa og Boxer.
Industry Events
- P3 Guld: January 18th, Stockholm, Sweden
- Guldbaggegalan: January 20th, Stockholm, Sweden
- European Radio Show & Digital Audio: Januray 23-25th, Paris, France
- Göteborgs Filmfestival: January 24th – February 3rd, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Grammy Awards Ceremony: January 26th, Los Angeles, USA
- Robert Prisen: January 26th, Copenhagen, Denmark