IBC 2024 next month! Meta Bite hits 500 subscribers! Latest industry news and this week's Critic's Picks!
Meet us at IBC 2024 next month!
Before we get into the news, a quick note to say that we will be at IBC - International Broadcasting Convention 2024 next month. This time we will be co-exhibiting with our brand partners PA Media - the UK & Ireland's news agency.
It's now one month to go until Europe's biggest networking event for the broadcast world, taking place 13-16 September at RAI Amsterdam.
Our team are ready to connect with fellow peers and discuss the vital impact metadata has on the content discovery experience, as well as the latest developments from our industry, be it AI, bundling or the ongoing evolution of FAST channels.
Meet us at stand 5C16.A in the Content Everywhere Hall.
At IBC be sure to connect and say?? to members of our team:
Book a meeting here: https://go.pa.media/l/314511/2024-08-16/n5qmq
Meta Bite hits 500 subscribers and counting!
The Meta Bite has recently passed the 500-subscriber mark and is still climbing!
Thank you to all who have been with us on the journey so far, be it as a regular reader or contributor - your support has been vital!
Here's to the next 500!
The latest industry news
1.A new report from 普华永道 forecasts the UK will overtake Germany to become the largest entertainment and media market in Europe from next year.
PwC’s latest Global Entertainment and Media (E&M) Outlook 2024-2028 report has predicted revenue will break the ￡100 billion barrier this year, growing to ￡121 billion by 2028 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4 per cent.
The report highlighted that the UK advertising market, already “the most digitally mature in Western Europe,” will strengthen its position further from this year’s ￡32 billion of spend to ￡44 billion over the next four years. This represents a CAGR of 8 per cent, one of the highest in the region.
Analysts suggested the growth will be enabled by the service sector (internet access) scaling up from ￡28 billion this year to ￡32 billion by 2028, providing the digital infrastructure to meet increased consumption. 5G mobile subscriptions are expected to rise almost threefold over the period, from 36 million to almost 100 million.
Commenting on the findings, Mary Shelton Rose , partner and UK technology, media and telecoms leader at PwC, said, “The UK entertainment & media industry has always been at the forefront of technological disruption. To capitalise on the many growth opportunities, it must leverage the power of new and emerging technologies such as GenAI, re-shape its business and creative models, and better leverage technology for advertising. So far, many of the applications of GenAI in the E&M industry have focused on speed and efficiency cost savings. As we look ahead, the industry should further explore how GenAI can lead to greater value creation through experimenting, iterating, and scaling new solutions and processes, which can be monetised to drive top-line revenue growth.
News Source TVBEurope : https://www.tvbeurope.com/uncategorized/pwc-uk-media-and-entertainment-market-on-track-to-become-largest-in-europe
2. A slight increase in the number of UK homes with access to a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service in Q2 2024 means that for the first time more than 20 million UK homes report having access to an SVOD service.
The Q2 Barb Audiences establishment survey also shows the number of UK homes on the Netflix ad tier continues to build, reaching 2.78 million (9.5%) from 2.12 million (7.4%) in Q1. The Disney+ ad tier, in its eighth month by the end of Q2, averaged in 820k homes across the quarter.
Netflix is now available in 17.1 million UK homes (58.6%), up from 16.7 million in Q1.
13.7m UK homes (46.7%) had access to 亚马逊 Prime Video in Q2 up from 13m (45.3%) in Q1; 7.6 million UK homes (26.1%) had access to Disney+ in Q2 flat compared to Q1; 2.4 million UK homes (8.3%) had access to Apple TV + in Q2 flat compared to Q1; 2.8 million UK homes (9.7%) had access to Paramount+ in Q2 up from 2.6 million (9.1%) in Q1; 3.2 million UK homes (11.1%) had access to Discovery+ in Q2, up fractionally from 3.1 million (10.9%) in Q1 and NOW 1.98m UK homes (6.8%) had access to NOW in Q2, up from 1.82 million (6.3%) in Q1.
Douglas Whelpdale , Head of Insight at Barb said: “More than 20m UK homes have access to an SVOD service for the first time since Barb began collecting data in 2014. This figure is 1.25m higher than in Q2 2023 – a 6.6% increase. The number of homes with two or more services also tipped to 14m (48%) for the first time.
News Source Broadband TV News : https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2024/08/15/uk-tops-20m-streaming-homes/
3. Swiss football fans can now watch all Serie A and Ligue 1 matches live on Sunrise TV in Italian, German or English (Serie A) or in French, German or English (Ligue 1) language.
The service is enabled by the DAZN app which is now integrated within Sunrise TV, the TV platform offered by Swiss network operator Sunrise GmbH . For the first time, DAZN has exclusive broadcasting rights to the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1 in Switzerland.
Alongside Serie A and Ligue 1, DAZN also offers the German Bundesliga and UEFA Nations League as well as further sports including American football (NFL), handball (EHF Champions and European League), darts (PDC), golf (DP World Tour, LPGA Tour), martial arts (PFL) and boxing matches.
“The fact that DAZN is now exclusively showing Serie A and Ligue 1 in Switzerland is a stroke of luck for our football and sport-loving customers. By integrating the DAZN app into our TV box, we’re reinforcing our promise to offer our customers all their favourite content easily and in one place,” said Christoph Richartz , Chief Consumer Officer Main Brand at Sunrise.
News Source Broadband TV News : https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2024/08/15/sunrise-offers-serie-a-and-ligue-1-in-swiss-national-languages-with-dazn/
4. Research from Future Today Inc , a specialist in delivering CTV ad-supported solutions, has found that 91 per cent of US parents believe brands that who advertise on kids/family content are more trustworthy than brands that advertise on other types of content.
Future Today partnered with The Insights Family to understand how families consume FAST content, including on?HappyKids, Future Today’s AVoD platform, unveiling viewing behaviours, content preferences and interaction with advertisements.
“Advertising in family-focused content is good for brands, consumers and the advertising ecosystem,” said Vikrant Mathur , Co-Founder, Future Today. “Parents, particularly mums, watch HappyKids with their children and are more engaged with the commercials when viewing in that co-viewed environment. This means if advertisers want to reach the primary driver of purchasing decisions within a home, they can’t ignore family themed content.”
News Source Advanced Television : https://advanced-television.com/2024/08/16/research-families-trust-brands-more-that-advertise-on-kids-content/
5. SAG-AFTRA has announced a new agreement that would allow actors to earn from AI copies of their voice with their informed consent. The union representing thousands of performers has struck a deal with Narrativ , which is an online platform where performers can license digital voice replicas for use in audio ads. Brands who want to use a performer's voice will have to identify the products or services they're promoting, and performers will be able to review offers before accepting or declining them.
Performers will also be able to set their own prices, with SAG-AFTRA's minimum rates being the lowest. And if they don't want to work with Narrativ anymore, the platform is required to delete their digital voice replica and any recordings they made for its creation. When the union went on strike last year, one of the biggest issues it wanted to address was the use of artificial intelligence to create actors' likeness without their permission (and without pay) even after they die. They were also concerned about the technology's potential to replace performers altogether.
News Source Engadget : https://www.engadget.com/ai/sag-aftra-deal-will-let-advertisers-replicate-actors-voices-with-ai-130019844.html
6. 华特迪士尼公司 has made a significant hire meant to bolster its streaming efforts, with the company bringing on board Adam Smith as chief product and technology officer for Disney entertainment and ESPN .
Smith, who starts next month, will oversee the technology development and deployment in streaming, networks, advertising, production technologies and other digital touchpoints across Disney Entertainment and ESPN.
He will jointly report to Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, as well as ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro.
News Source The Hollywood Reporter : https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-hires-adam-smith-chief-product-technology-officer-1235975913/
7. Figures released by both Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and the BBC show record audiences for Paris 2024.
Following the launch of its Max service in 25 European countries, WBD saw record levels of engagement across all platforms including free-to-air, pay-TV and streaming throughout the tournament. Across Europe, more than 215 million people viewed Olympics content on WBD’s platforms, said the company, an increase of 23 per cent over Tokyo 2020.
More than 7 billion minutes were streamed over the course of the Games, a sixfold increase on Tokyo 2020, with Max and Discovery+ subscribers streaming 600 million minutes in one day on 4th August.
Subscription numbers exceeded Tokyo after four days of competition in France, said WBD, with 27th July marking the company’s highest ever number of new paid subscribers in a single day in Europe. “Significant growth” was reported across all major European markets.
The company also saw average linear television audiences double those of Tokyo 2020 with audience shares of more than 80 per cent for a number of events across Free-to-Air (Finland, Norway and Sweden) and Eurosport 's pay-TV network.
News Source TVBEurope : https://www.tvbeurope.com/uncategorized/tv-and-streaming-audiences-set-new-olympic-records
8. Paramount Television Studios (PTVS) is shutting down after 11 years as Paramount Global began the latest round of cost-cutting on Tuesday ahead of the expected merger with Skydance Media.
The news came as Paramount Global leadership began scheduled lay-offs affecting 15% of the US-based workforce, or approximately 2,000 positions, which?co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins announced in?last week’s earnings call.
The company?is looking to make $500m in cuts and?laid off approximately 800 staff in February.
News Source Screen Daily - https://www.screendaily.com/news/paramount-television-studios-closing-down-amid-latest-paramount-global-cost-cutting/5196213.article
This week's Critic's Picks
Welcome to the jungle in this week’s Critic’s Picks of the latest TV shows and films on streaming channels.
Go ape for Damon Smith’s recommendations and the platforms you can find them on.
If you have a story or an opinion piece you would like to contribute, get in contact with the team here.
Stay tuned for next week's article.