Newsletter 30th of October

NEWSLETTER

30 October 2024

Welcome back to Mediavision’s newsletter. These are the main topics this week:

  • The Q3 earnings season continues
  • DR removes hundreds of podcasts from external platforms
  • SkyShowtime launches “Half Price for Life” promotion

EARNINGS

The Q3 earnings season continues

 

The third-quarter earnings season is in full swing. Over the past week, several media companies—both global and Nordic—have reported their earnings. Here’s a recap of the highlights:

 

Alphabet

  • Consolidated Alphabet revenues increased 15%, or 16% in constant currency, YOY to USD 88.3 billion in Q3 2024.
  • Alphabet’s net income increased 34 percent YOY to USD 26.3 billion during Q3 2024, compared to USD 19.7 billion in Q3 2023.
  • YouTube ad revenue grew to USD 8.92 billion in the third quarter, compared to USD 7.95 billion in Q3 2023.
  • The company reported cloud revenue at USD 11.35 billion, up nearly 35 percent from the USD 8.41 billion a year ago.

 

Schibsted

  • On Friday, Schibsted posted its third quarter earnings, the first quarterly report since the sale of its media segment, which together with the sale of Adevinta generated a total capital return package of approximately NOK 24 billion.
  • Revenues grew 9 percent YOY to NOK 2,607 million, on a constant currency basis.
  • Schibsted’s EBITDA grew 17 percent YOY to NOK 670 million.
  • The Nordic marketplaces segment grew 6 percent in revenue YOY on a constant currency basis, while advertising revenue declined 18 percent YOY.

 

Storytel

  • Storytel’s group revenue grew 7 percent in Q3 to 954 MSEK, a record-high figure for the company.
  • Streaming revenue grew 5 percent to 852 MSEK during the third quarter.
  • The average number of paying subscribers was 2.37 million in Q3, compared to 2.14 million the year before. The average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) was SEK 125 per month, compared to SEK 131 a year earlier.
  • Adjusted EBITDA increased by 77 percent to 178 MSEK, equalling a margin of 18.7 percent.

 

Telenor

  • Norwegian telecom operator Telenor raised its full-year outlook after it reported third-quarter earnings slightly ahead of market expectations.
  • Service revenues were NOK 16.2 billion in Q3, representing organic growth of 2.1 percent compared to the same period last year.
  • EBITDA, before other items, fell from NOK 9.25 billion in Q3 2023 to NOK 9.2 billion in Q3 2024.
  • Telenor gained close to 60 000 new mobile customers in the Nordics in the quarter.

 

Telia

  • Telia’s revenue decreased 0.9 percent to SEK 21,749 million and like for like, revenue increased 0.9%.
  • TV and Media segment grew 27 percent in digital advertising and 13 percent in direct-to-consumer streaming revenue.
  • Direct subscriptions video-on-demand (SVOD) increased by ~138,000 compared to the corresponding quarter last year and decreased by ~24,000 quarter over quarter.
  • During Q3, a change program was announced, aiming to simplify operations by implementing a new operating model, targeting annual savings of at least SEK 2.6 billion through an intended reduction of 3,000 positions.

 

Several media companies still report their Q3 earnings, stay tuned!

 

Insight Ad-funded Video

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the ad-funded online video market, including video viewing on social media platforms. It offers comprehensive insights and key metrics related to viewing habits, demographics, and the video ad market.

 

Sweden’s social minister does not rule out age limit on social media

 

SVT appoints new CEO

 

LinkedIn fined by EU for tracking ads privacy breaches

 

Apple Intelligence will come to Europe in April

 

WBD and EBU extends the rights for Tour de France

AUDIO

DR removes hundreds of podcasts from external platforms

 

Danish public service broadcaster DR is undergoing a strategic shift aimed at increasing overall listening to its podcasts and radio programs on the DR platform DR Lyd, while reducing reliance on third-party platforms such as Spotify, Apple and Google/Youtube and other external distribution channels. As part of this initiative, hundreds of DR’s podcasts are now being removed from e.g. Spotify and Apple.

 

Over the past year, several popular podcasts have been made exclusively available on DR Lyd. This strategy has, according to DR’s own figures, increased total listening for its audio formats from 3.5 million to well over four million weekly listeners.

 

 

Now this strategy is being implemented on a larger scale, with around 130 podcast versions of radio programs being removed from external platforms, according to Tine Godsk Hansen, head of DR Lyd, in an interview with MediaWatch. She explains that the removed programs are typically accessed as “time-shifted” live listening—radio shows primarily intended for live-streaming rather than as podcasts, including magazine-style programs, segments, and similar content.

 

“We have traditionally published these on all platforms, but in the future, users will have to find them on DR Lyd. This is to strengthen our live presence on our own platforms,” Tine Godsk Hansen says.

 

DR has around 300 radio formats across its seven channels, meaning a significant portion of its overall catalog will be removed from external platforms.

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.

 

Hayu announces first-ever original series

 

Netflix to allow mobile users to share individual scenes

 

Allente announce new CEO

 

DAZN added to Warner Bros Discovery’s Max in Spain

 

Viaplay and TV 2 to broadcast the handball EC for women

STREAMING

SkyShowtime launches “Half Price for Life” promotion

Yesterday, Comcast and Paramount Global’s joint streaming service, SkyShowtime, launched a promotion for its new premium subscription plan. Customers can now subscribe to the plan at half price, for life or until it is cancelled.

 

The new half-price offer is available to both existing and new Skyshowtime customers until December 9th. The promotion spans several markets, including the Nordic countries—Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Pricing for SkyShowtime’s premium plan during this campaign starts at EUR 4.49, with slight variations across each market.

 

The new premium subscription plan is ad-free, supports five simultaneous streams, and offers high-quality viewing, with a selection of titles now available in 4K UHD for the first time. This plan is offered alongside SkyShowtime’s existing Standard and Standard with Ads plans.
 

This isn’t the first time SkyShowtime has offered such a promotion. In 2022, at the service’s launch in the Nordics, the streaming platform ran the same promotion for its standard subscription.

Insight Nordic TV & Streaming

This analysis covers both the TV- and streaming markets in the Nordic countries. It rests on three pillars: the consumers, the market, and the actors. Analyzing the consumers takes us far – but not all the way. Studying the actors and the market as a whole is just as important.

Mediavision in the News

 

Stadig flere velger strømming med reklame: – Lar seg ikke skremme – Kampanje

 

Strømming med reklame fortsetter å vokse kraftig i Norge – KOM24

 

TikTok has over 1 million daily viewers in Sweden – Broadband TV News

 

Tiktok har over én mio. daglige brugere i Sverige – Mediawatch

 

Growth in Sweden for podcasts and streaming – Podnews

 

Marie Nilsson: Social video på frammarsch – kan fördubbla dagens avod-marknad – Dagens Media

 

Report: Continued growth for streamed music in Sweden – Advanced Television

 

Piratforbrug af film, serier og sport steg med otte pct. i 2023 – Mediawatch

 

Mediavision’s Adrian Grande shares his takes on HVOD in the Nordics – Nordisk Film & TV Fond

 

Norge på topp på strømming, men globale aktører løper ifra – Medier24

 

Pirat-tv ökar i Norden: ”Sverige har en tradition” – Sveriges Radio

Industry Events

 

Stockholm Film Festival: 6-17th November, Stockholm, Sweden

 

* Mediavision will attend
** Mediavision will present