Newsletter 9th of November

NEWSLETTER

9 November 2022

 

The main topics this week:

  • The Q3 earnings season is coming to an end
  • Multiple Nordic nominees for the European Film Awards
  • Acast and Amazon enters agreement to deliver ad-free podcasts

COMPANY REPORTS

The Q3 earnings season is coming to an end

 

Over the past couple of weeks, we have received reports from most of the major actors on the media market. Here’s some of the highlights from last week’s reports – to round off the Q3 2022 media earnings season.

 

Disney

  • Disney’s total revenues for the third quarter grew by 9% YOY, from USD 18.53 billion to USD 20.15 billion.
  • Disney reported a total of 164.2 million global Disney Plus subscribers, an increase of 12 million from 152.1 million in Q3 2021.
  • Disney’s total number of subscribers across all services are now 235.7 million – once again ahead of Netflix which recently reported a total of 223.1 million subscribers.

 

Paramount

  • Free ad-supported streaming TV service Pluto TV reached 72 million monthly active users globally in Q3 and showed strong double digit growth YOY in total viewing hours.
  • Paramount Plus subscribers grew to a total of 46 million, which reflects the addition of 4.6 million subscribers and the removal of 1.9 million Paramount Plus subscribers, following the launch of SkyShowtime which replaced Paramount Plus in the Nordics.
  • Subscription revenues grew 59% YOY to USD 863 million, mainly reflecting paid subscriber growth on Paramount Plus.

 

Storytel

  • Storytel’s Q3 2022 streaming revenue amount to SEK 742 million, corresponding to a +27% growth YOY.
  • The average number of paying subscribers for Q3 in the Nordics was nearly 1.13 million which is an increase of +10% YOY, corresponding to 105’ additional subscribers.
  • The number of paying subscribers in the non-Nordic segment amounted to 935’, corresponding to an annual growth of +34%.

 

Warner Bros Discovery

  • Total revenues landed at USD 9.82 billion, which was below analysts’ expectations of USD 10.51 billion.
  • HBO, HBO Max and Discovery Plus ended Q3 with a combined net add of 2.8 million global subscribers, bringing the total to 94.9 million, up from 92.1 million in Q2.
  • The company’s combined streaming service will launch in spring 2023, ahead of the original summer timeline.

Lionsgate withdraws from seven major markets inc. the Nordics

 

Norway and UK forging closer to lure more film productions

 

Finnish FIFF and Aurora Studios gets new investments

 

Viaplay enters partnership with VIDAA

 

Jysk Fynske Medier enters deal with Basketligaen

VIDEO

Multiple Nordic nominees in the European Film Awards 

 

The nominees in the main categories of the European Film Awards of 2022 were presented yesterdayClose, Holy Spider and Triangle of Sadness lead the nominations for the awards with four nominations each, including best film, director, and screenwriter. Two of those are Nordic; Holy Spider by Danish director Ali Abbasi and Triangle of Sadness by Swedish director Ruben Östlund.

 

Holy Spider by Ali Abbasi was recently submitted by Denmark to compete for best international film at the 95th Academy Award. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who is nominated for best actress, plays a journalist who travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer. The film is based on a true story about the Iranian serial killer Saeed Hanaei, taking place between 2000-2001.

 

Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund is the Palme d’Or winning class satire, taking place at a cruise ship. Zlatko Burić, playing a Russian oligarch, is nominated for best actor and the film has also been selected for this year’s European University Film Award, which is to be handed out December the 7th.

 

Other Nordic nominees for the European Film Awards are Danish A house made of splinters, nominated in the category for best documentary and Icelandic Leynilögga for best European comedy. The European Film Awards 2022 will take place on 10th of December in Reykjavík, Iceland.

 

 

SkyShowtime sets out central and eastern Europe plans…

 

and unveils content line-up for the Nordics

 

Viaplay announces its first UK drama commission

 

TV 2 enters the podcasts market with three new shows

 

ByteDance’s Resso offers hints about TikTok Music’s launch

 

AUDIO

Acast and Amazon enter agreement to deliver ad-free podcasts

 

Acast has entered an agreement with Amazon to deliver podcasts to Amazon Prime members and Amazon Music unlimited subscribers. The agreement is global and enables listeners to stream Acast podcasts through the Amazon Music app, without the usual interruptions of ads.

 

As a part of the agreement, Amazon Music has purchased the entire ad inventory across thousands of Acast podcasts – resulting in the ad-free delivery of Acast podcasts through Amazon Music. Even though listening via Amazon are ad-free, it will generate revenues for Acast podcasters. However, no details regarding payment to the podcasters from Amazon streams have been revealed.

 

The partnership was announced November 3rd and the podcasts became available to Amazon members on the same day. As a response to the new deal, Acast’s stock immediately surged more than 28 percent at 2:30 PM when the deal was announced. Shortly after, the stock fell back to a 16 percent gain.

Insikt: Ljudmarknad

This analysis provides in-depth understanding of the entire audio market – including audiobooks, music, podcasts, and radio. The analysis focuses on the digital transformation of both listening and consumer payments, on both aggregated and actor specific levels.

Mediavision in the News

 

Storytel ökade streamingintäkterna med 27 procent – vände till vinst – Breakit

 

Amazon utmanar med sex svenska tv-titlar – Dagens industri

 

Saucedo programleder ”Ägd av Danny” när Amazon satsar på reality – SVT

 

Analytikern om premium-sporten: ”A-rättigheterna är hårdast inlåsta och där går intresset ner över tid” – Journalisten

 

Marie Nilsson: ”Vassaste vapnen i innehållskriget” – Dagens Media

 

Efter besluten – det här väntar i Netflix framtid – Expressen

 

Svenskarnas mediekonsumtion fortsätter öka – Svensk Bokhandel

 

Industry Events

 

TV-dagen: 17 November 2022, Stockholm, Sweden **

 

Filmfestival: 27-05 January/February 2022, Göteborg, Sweden

 

Media Summit: 15 March 2023, Stockholm, Sweden **

 

Radiodays Europe: 26-28 March 2023, Prauge, Czech Republic

 

* Mediavision will attend
** Mediavision will present