ITV

Tag: Comcast

  • Comcast to spin off cable TV networks into new company SpinCo

    Comcast to spin off cable TV networks into new company SpinCo

    MUMBAI: The reshaping of legacy behemoth media and entertainment companies continues. US media megacorp Comcast today announced its intent to create a new publicly traded company comprised of a strong portfolio of NBCUniversal’s cable television networks, including USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel along with complementary digital assets including Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and Sports Engine, through a tax-free spin-off. 

    The well-capitalised independent company (SpinCo) will have significant scale as a pure-play set of assets anchored by leading news, sports and entertainment content. Over the past twelve months ended 30 September 2024, SpinCo generated approximately $7 billion in revenue.

    It will be an industry-leading news, sports and entertainment cable television business with a focused strategic direction. SpinCo’s stable of marquee brands will provide a diverse and differentiated content offering that will reach approximately 70 million US households. 

    Comcast is targeting to complete the spin-off in approximately one year, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions, including obtaining final approval from its board, satisfactory completion of SpinCo financing, receipt of tax opinions and receipt of any regulatory approvals. 

    “When you look at our assets, talented management team and balance sheet strength, we are able to set these businesses up for future growth,” said Comcast chairman & CEO Brian L. Roberts. “With significant financial resources from day one, SpinCo will be ideally positioned for success and highly attractive to investors, content creators, distributors and potential partners.” 

    The planned spin-off will also strategically position NBCUniversal with its leading broadcast and streaming media properties, including NBC entertainment, sports, news and Bravo – which all power Peacock – along with Telemundo, the theme parks business and film and television studios.

    “This transaction positions both SpinCo and NBCUniversal to play offense in a changing media landscape,” said Comcast president Mike Cavanagh. “Taken together, the entirety of NBCUniversal will be on a new growth trajectory, fuelled by our world-class content, technology, IP, properties and talent – all working in concert with each other as an integrated media company.”

    The company said in a press release that “as a global media and technology company, Comcast will be well-positioned to continue to invest in its strategic core growth businesses across its content & experiences and connectivity & platforms businesses, including residential broadband, wireless, business services, streaming, studios and theme parks. The transaction is expected to be accretive to revenue growth at Comcast and approximately neutral to Comcast’s leverage position.”

    While SpinCo will operate as an independent business, it will enter into a transition services agreement with NBCUniversal to allow SpinCo to operate seamlessly from day one. 

    The new firm will be led by CEO Mark Lazarus, the current chairman of NBCUniversal Media group. Anand Kini who is the current chief financial officer of NBCUniversal and EVP of corporate strategy at Comcast, will serve as SpinCo’s  chief financial officer and chief operating officer. Together, the press release said, the duo will lead the development of an independent strategy, while also establishing SpinCo as a potential partner and acquirer of other complementary media businesses.

    “As a standalone company with these outstanding assets, we will be better positioned to serve our audiences and drive shareholder returns in this incredibly dynamic media environment across news, sports and entertainment,” said Mark Lazarus. “We see a real opportunity to invest and build additional scale and I’m excited about the growth opportunities this transition will unlock. Our financial strength will also provide capacity for an attractive capital return policy while allowing for investment in the growth of these businesses.”

  • Six US media firms account for 51 per cent of global content spends: Ampere Analysis

    Six US media firms account for 51 per cent of global content spends: Ampere Analysis

    MUMBAI: The big media and entertainment boys are at it, despite all round murmurings that the content production business is seeing a massive slowdown. At least, that’s what new intelligence from Ampere Analysis has revealed. 

    The research firm stated that while recent market challenges have impacted the TV and film production landscape, spending across the top six global content providers – Disney, Comcast, Google, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, and Paramount Global – has grown since the pandemic. Combined spending across these groups will reach a new high of $126  billion in 2024 and account for 51 per cent of the total content spend landscape, up from 47 per cent in 2020. Original content spend remains the leading spend type across these providers, accounting for over $56 billion in investment and 45 per cent of their total spending since 2022.
    Despite announced cutbacks among its linear and theatrical brands, Disney remains the largest contributor to the media landscape at 14 per cent of global investment in TV and film content in 2024. This has been supported by the full acquisition of Hulu at the beginning of 2024, adding an additional $9 billion in to Disney’s spend total.

    Netflix is the top investor in global streaming content. It has averaged a total of $14.5 billion in annual investment in original and acquired programmes since the pandemic. Further growth is expected in 2025 through the acquisition of sports tights for NFL matches and WWE entertainment.

    In total, $40 billion of the $126 billion is currently spent on these six operators’ subscription streaming services (including Disney+, Peacock, and Paramount+). This highlights the growing importance of these platforms as audiences move away from linear television in favour of the convenience and expansive catalogues available via streaming.

    Google’s contribution to the content market comes via YouTube, and investment in programming through its revenue-sharing arrangements with content creators. While a different entity to other TV and film groups, YouTube continues to build its global presence through partnership deals with major content owners, making it the third largest contributor to the content landscape.

    Despite production shutdowns caused by the US writers’ and actors’ strikes, streamers have continued to support the production landscape by pivoting towards more global strategies. International (non-US originating) programming accounts for 40 per cent of Paramount+’s and 52 per cent of Netflix’s spend in 2024. Such content is typically cheaper to produce, and effective in motivating new and niche audiences to subscribe to a platform, supporting revenues.

    “Ongoing investment by major studios and streaming platforms into new programming will be key to keeping audiences engaged and entertained. We can expect the content landscape to see low-level growth in 2024 as production schedules recover from disruptions caused by the pandemic and the writers’ and actors’ union strikes. Looking forward however, overall growth in spend is set to plateau as companies look to refocus their output. This will include limiting commissioning volumes and prioritising strategic investments and profitability to counter the current challenges of the media market,” said Ampere Analysis investment analyst Peter Ingram, in his recent analysis made public today. 

    Pix Courtesy: The Walt Disney Company

  • Disney+, Hulu combined would own most hit titles in the US: Ampere Analysis

    Disney+, Hulu combined would own most hit titles in the US: Ampere Analysis

    Mumbai: A combined offering of Disney+ and Hulu would account for the largest share of the 100 most popular titles of any US subscription video on demand (SVoD) service. At approximately 30 per cent, the player would enjoy a comprehensive lead on Netflix’s 23 per cent, according to a recent study by Ampere Analysis.

    Shows from Disney’s Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, and Hulu Originals, such as Only Murders in the Building and The Handmaid‘s Tale, are among them.

    Will Disney push to close the deal early? The US streaming platform Hulu is currently owned by Disney (67 per cent) and Comcast (33 per cent), who are due to reach a sale agreement in January 2024. However, recent reports suggest that Disney intends to close a deal sooner to take a 100 per cent stake and integrate the streamer into Disney+ as a combined offering.

    The merger seems logical to Ampere’s analysts, as Disney’s share of Hulu content has grown significantly, suggesting that the company has continued to invest considerably in the platform. Since September 2016, the proportion of Hulu’s catalogue for which Disney owns the distribution rights has tripled, from six per cent of all movies and TV shows to 19 per cent by September 2022.

    Meanwhile, the major studios without streaming platforms have reduced their contribution to Hulu’s content slate (down from 81 per cent in 2016 to 71 per cent in 2022), and those with their own streaming services have generally maintained or reduced their input. Specifically, the combined content from NBCUniversal, Paramount Global, and Warner Bros. Discovery now makes up less than 10 per cent of all TV shows and movies on Hulu.

    Title reclamation is posing a threat to Hulu. The removal of content from Hulu to support newer services like Peacock, Paramount+, and HBO Max poses a threat to Hulu’s competitiveness. The streamer has already lost highly popular titles like America’s Got Talent (to Peacock), movies and TV shows set within the Star Trek universe (to Paramount+), and Family Matters (to HBO Max). If major studios reclaim their proprietary content, Hulu could lose 10 per cent of its overall catalogue. This figure rises to 37 per cent of Hulu’s 100 most popular titles, using Ampere’s popularity score metric, which tracks overall online engagement with a title.

    Ampere Analysis analyst Christen Tamisin said, “The threat of further popular or critically acclaimed titles leaving Hulu for rival platforms is a concern as engaging content is critical for subscriber retention, especially as the US SVoD market nears saturation. This risk makes the argument for Disney to merge Hulu and Disney+ into a single platform stronger.

    “On the other hand, Disney+ and Hulu’s complementary catalogues mean a combined platform would have a more diverse content offering—akin to that of other major market players—than the two standalone platforms have currently. While the Disney brand has long been associated with family-friendly content, Hulu has a broader, general-audience appeal, offering a wide range of genres and more adult-targeted titles,” he added.

  • Charter Communications, Comcast collaborate to develop streaming platform

    Charter Communications, Comcast collaborate to develop streaming platform

    Mumbai: Charter Communications, Inc and Comcast Corp on Thursday announced a formation of a 50/50 joint venture to develop and offer a “next-generation” streaming platform.

    Comcast will license Flex, its aggregated streaming platform and hardware to the joint venture, contribute the retail business for XClass TVs and also will contribute Xumo, a streaming service it acquired in 2020. Charter will make an initial contribution of $900 million, funded over multiple years.

    The service will be available on a variety of branded 4K streaming devices and smart TVs, all the top apps, and more choice in the streaming marketplace. The joint venture will offer app developers, streamers, retailers, operators, and hardware manufacturers the opportunity to reach customers in major markets across the country with the platform.

    The XClass TVs will be available through national retail partners and potentially direct from Comcast and Charter to provide more customer choice. Xumo will continue to operate as a free global streaming service available through the joint venture’s products and third-party devices. Charter will offer the 4K streaming TV devices and voice remotes beginning in 2023. Comcast will continue to offer the Flex streaming platform as a streaming device and service to its customers.

    “We’re thrilled to partner with Charter to bring this platform and its award-winning experience to millions of new customers,” said Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson. “These products are all designed to make search and discovery across live, on-demand and streaming video seamless and incredibly simple for consumers. This partnership uniquely brings together more than a decade of technical innovation, national scale and new opportunities to monetise our combined investment.”

    The joint venture’s products will give consumers a state-of-the-art streaming experience to access their favorite apps, based on Comcast’s Flex product, which currently delivers all the most-watched streaming apps in the marketplace. The products will feature hundreds of free content choices through Xumo, a free, ad-supported service currently delivering more than 200 unique streaming channels. Peacock also will be featured on the joint venture’s streaming platform, alongside other popular apps.

    The closing of the joint venture is subject to customary closing conditions. This joint venture does not involve the broadband or cable video businesses of either Comcast or Charter which will remain independent.

    “Our new venture will bring a full-featured operating platform, new devices, and smart TVs with a robust app store providing a more streamlined and aggregated experience for the customer,” said Charter chairman and CEO Tom Rutledge. “As the video landscape continues to evolve, this venture will increase retail consumer options, compete at scale with established national platforms, and join our existing lineup of options for the Spectrum TV App available on most customer-owned streaming devices.”

  • Comcast launches Eros Now app on X1 and Flex devices

    Comcast launches Eros Now app on X1 and Flex devices

    Mumbai: Global media and technology company Comcast has announced the launch of Eros STX Global Corp’s OTT platform Eros Now on its X1 and Flex platforms.

    The service replaces Eros Now SVOD product offering Xfinity customers the ability to stream high-definition, ad-free titles including films and original series. Eros Now’s catalogue with over 12000 titles features a range of South Asian language content in Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, and other regional languages.

    “We are excited to bring Xfinity subscribers even more great international entertainment through our partnership with Eros Now. We are committed to expanding our offering of thousands of hours of premium South Asian movies, originals and music in high definition and multiple languages, as well as making it more easily accessible to our customers who can simply say ‘Eros Now’ into the Xfinity voice remote,” said Xfinity Consumer Services executive director – multicultural video & entertainment Keesha Boyd.

    Eros Now CEO Ali Hussein added, “The US is the largest market for us outside India. With this partnership, Eros Now will further consolidate its position as a preferred platform for the consumption of Indian content.”

    Xfinity customers can subscribe to the Eros Now app via their X1 TV Box or Xfinity Flex streaming TV Box, available for $4.99/month.

  • Discovery was greatest global commissioner of TV shows in 2021: Ampere

    Discovery was greatest global commissioner of TV shows in 2021: Ampere

    Mumbai: The greatest global commissioner of TV shows in 2021 was Discovery, with a record-breaking 556 first-run TV show titles commissioned in the year, according to market-leading data and analytics firm Ampere. This extends Discovery’s lead of 46, recorded in 2020, to 153 titles by year-end 2021.

    ViacomCBS pipped Netflix for second place with 406 titles compared to Netflix’s 403. Three other contenders – Disney, the BBC and Comcast – came close with 387, 373, and 353 first-run shows respectively, it said.

    This group of six pulled further ahead of their global rivals through 2021 with each supporting the expansion of their own subscription video on demand (SVoD) services. WarnerMedia also accelerated through the year but not enough to rank in the top six.

    However, for 2022 it is those shows commissioned but not yet released, the in-production slate, that will be key, noted Ampere study. Discovery’s typical commissions (largely documentaries) have a shorter production timescale and are lower cost and less high-profile than titles on Netflix’s still predominantly scripted slate. Netflix is set to release most of its 243 in-production TV titles in 2022 (with an additional 106 films) which will push the streamer’s overall slate of original releases to over 2,000 titles.

    It should be noted that the above figures for 2021 exclude the US majors’ growing SVoD film slate.  The US majors combined commissioned 74 film titles specifically for SVoD. However, adding Netflix’s 203 commissioned films in 2021 would push the global streamer into first place, albeit via a less direct comparison.

    Through their in-production TV show commissions for their VoD platforms, studios’ intentions are laid bare. Among all the TV shows currently being produced by Disney, 58 per cent are now originals for its streaming platform, Disney+. WarnerMedia follows closely behind with 85 titles for HBO Max, representing 48 per cent of shows it currently has in production. Titles destined for VoD make up 39 per cent of ViacomCBS’s current slate and 28 per cent of Comcast’s.

    The year 2022 will see further additions to these slates as the studio-backed VoD services continue to expand both their original catalogues and subscriber bases, both domestically and, increasingly, internationally.

  • SES completes C-Band transition ahead of schedule with Harmonic’s XOS Edge Software

    SES completes C-Band transition ahead of schedule with Harmonic’s XOS Edge Software

    Mumbai: Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) has completed technology upgrades associated with SES’s Phase one transition plan for C-band spectrum in just nine months, it announced on Monday.

    This was accomplished utilising Harmonic’s XOS Edge software-based solution for satellite media processing and edge delivery.

    “Tight-knit collaboration between partnering companies led to a successful world-first deployment of software solutions for the transformation of C-band spectrum,” said Harmonic senior vice president – business development Jeremy Rosenberg. “Deploying software on off-the-shelf appliances for both the uplink and at hundreds of affiliate locations enabled rapid completion of this project, exceeding the FCC’s stringent deadline. It is a testament to the flexibility that Harmonic’s edge media processing provides and has opened the door to additional and ongoing opportunities with video programmers for new edge distribution strategies.”

    Harmonic’s XOS Edge media processing solution, integrated with encryption from NAGRA, enables satellite delivery networks to distribute video services with optimised bandwidth and improved quality utilising the inherent flexibility of software.

    “We are excited to lead this transformation for the communications industry and accelerate the path to 5G,” said SES vice president of technology Steve Corda. “Freeing up the 5G spectrum while maintaining the quality and resilience of critical video services was a significant challenge. We can ensure that millions of people across the United States will continue to receive high-quality programming.”

    The project aims at seamless transition for Comcast Technology Services (CTS) and its Managed Satellite Distribution affiliates.

    “The task of freeing up C-band spectrum was massive and complex,” said Comcast Technology Solutions vice president and general manager of the Communications and Technology Provider Suite Allison Olien. “We are in the midst of a significant technology change, and SES and Harmonic provided a clear and streamlined transition path that assures service continuity for our partners and customers.”

  • Global TV advertising market reached $278 billion in 2020

    Global TV advertising market reached $278 billion in 2020

    Mumbai: The global television advertising market reached a value of $278 billion in 2020, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s latest report titled ‘Television Advertising Market: Global Size, Share, Revenue Statistics, Research Report & Forecast 2021-2026’. Looking forward, the publisher expects it to exhibit moderate growth during the next five years.

    Television represents one of the most popular and widespread forms of media worldwide with around 1.6 billion households having one or more television sets. The prevalence of television makes it a preferred choice for advertisements for both large and small businesses. It also offers advertisers the ability to use motion, colour and audio to send a strong and persuasive message to the audience. The audio-visual effects also help in creating a long-lasting and emotional impact depending on the services and audience of the advertisement.

    In spite of the competition from new media platforms, television is expected to remain as the largest advertisement segment. Moreover, the increasing penetration of television in emerging markets such as Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle-East, China and India is also expected to drive the television advertisement market in these regions, thereby facilitating the overall growth globally, according to the report.

    It has segmented the market on the basis of service type. Currently, terrestrial TV networks dominate the market accounting for the majority of the total global share. Terrestrial networks are followed by multi-channel and online television segments. Online television currently represents the fastest growing segment. The report has also segmented the market on the basis of industry, listing the key industries which are actively using television advertising.

    The study has further analysed the market on the basis of key regions. North America currently represents the largest region for television advertising. Other key regions include Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Middle-East and Africa. The report has also analysed the competitive landscape of the market. Some of the key global players operating in this market are CBS, Comcast, News Corporation, Viacom and Cox Communications.

    The report provides a deep insight into the global television advertising industry covering all its essential aspects ranging from macro overview of the market to micro details of the industry performance, key market drivers and challenges, recent trends, Porter’s five forces analysis, television advertising pricing models, margins in television advertising and more.

  • Is Comcast eyeing a mega-streaming deal?

    New Delhi: The world is moving towards streaming at a pace like never before. And, the media titans are eyeing every opportunity they can get to consolidate their digital entertainment businesses and brace up for the streaming war.

    After AT&T and Amazon, it is now the turn of the US cable giant Comcast to make its move to turbocharge its streaming operations. According to media reports, the company is mulling a mega-deal with one of the two media giants- Roku or ViacomCBS.

    However, the question that Comcast’s CEO Brian Roberts is wrestling with is- whether to build something internally or buy to become a streaming powerhouse, reported The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The merger seems unlikely, but Roberts is evaluating his options, which include a potential tie-up with ViacomCBS or acquisition of Roku Inc, the business daily reported citing unidentified persons.

    All three companies have declined to comment on the matter and issued no statements so far.

    The US cable giant Comcast had branched out from its cable and broadband into entertainment in 2009 with the acquisition of NBCUniversal, whose streaming service Peacock is yet to catch up with the likes of Netflix or Disney+. However, its broadband business has continued to grow. As the first wave of the pandemic ravaged the world last year, its broadband business added nearly two million customers and the unit’s revenue rose 10 per cent to about $21 billion.

    An acquisition of streaming giant Roku at this stage could help it to step up its streaming game against the industry titans – Netflix, Disney, and Amazon. Roku’s valuation has more than tripled in the past year to $53 billion.  

    On the other hand, a transaction with ViacomCBS which owns streaming service Paramount+ could provide the much-needed boost to its streaming operations, but it is too early to say.

    However, several analysts say, the latest buzz could be just ‘speculation’ as a merger at this stage seems unlikely. One of the reasons is that Comcast has been largely focussing on developing the software behind its Xfinity cable boxes, called X1, and its Flex streaming boxes which resemble Roku. The other being its potential partnership with Walmart to further the Smart TV technology.

    The reports come close on the heels of two major media deals that happened over the last few weeks. First AT&T announced its decision to spin off entertainment giant WarnerMedia and merge it with Discovery becoming the world’s second-largest media firm by revenue after Disney. The new entity Warner Bros. Discovery is now led by Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Soon thereafter, Amazon made its most ambitious move in the entertainment business and announced that it is buying MGM Studios.

    So, whether or not Comcast is considering a transaction with ViacomCBS or the acquisition of Roku, it has definitely stirred many questions on the cable giant’s next step.

  • Comcast-owned Sky signs deal with eOne

    Comcast-owned Sky signs deal with eOne

    MUMBAI: Sky, Comcast’s European pay-TV giant, has entered into a “long-term” partnership with Entertainment One to give its customers in the UK and Ireland access to hundreds of Hasbro’s films.

    The deal includes nearly 200 titles from eOne’s library, such as the Twilight saga and Dallas Buyers Club, whereas new releases will be telecast exclusively by Sky. This includes upcoming titles like the holiday rom-com Happiest Season starring Kristen Stewart, which skipped the UK theatrical release.

    eOne international distribution president Stuart Baxter said, “A partnership of this size is one of the largest strategic deals we have made this year. We are confident that they will be a great marketing partner for our content and will work with us throughout its lifecycle. “

    Sky has significantly improved its content offering this year through contracts with Disney, Sony, DreamWorks Animation and Discovery.

    Sky UK and Europe CEO Stephen van Rooyen said, “Our business with eOne is just another example of how we listen to customers and bring them more of what they want.”