The rise of streaming services has continued relentlessly throughout 2018, with the streaming-heavy Nordic region in the forefront of this development. But 2018 was also an eventful year for traditional TV. Both the Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup are events that historically have boosted ratings greatly. This week we summarize the overall 2018 broadcast rating in the Nordics. Additionally, we take a quick look at the FAANG’s recent billion-dollar drop on the stock market.

Broadcast TV viewing has continued to decline throughout the Nordics in 2018, despite the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup and general election in Sweden. Although the rights holders of the major sports events temporarily gained in share of viewing (SOV) on their competitors, the overall trend has continued downward.

Looking at each individual country, Norway displays the largest drop while Finland is the most resilient. This pattern is reflected in the streaming market as well, where Norway and Sweden obtain the highest penetration of streaming services while Finland has the lowest. With a rather uneventful year in terms of major sports events ahead of us, the decline in traditional TV viewing is likely to continue, perhaps even accelerate.

Average viewing time for traditional TV per country, 2017 vs 2018 Est (minutes)

On the other hand, the Nordic media market and its actors are most certainly in for an eventful 2019 as consolidation on the market continues. Over the past year, Telia acquired Bonnier Broadcasting, Com Hem and Tele2 merged and MTG split its business in two, launching NENT Group as a separate company. NENT Group is set for an IPO in spring 2019.

Apple & Facebook stock under pressure
Across the Atlantic, the tech giants commonly referred to as FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix & Google) have had a rough couple of months on the stock market. Apple, which at its peak three months ago was the highest valued company in the world, has since then lost $450 billion in stock value. To put this in perspective, the drop in share price equals more than Facebook’s total market value.

Index: Apple and Facebook share price vs S&P 500 since October (closing rate)

Moving forward, will the American giants regain their posture? The FAANG’s have recovered slightly this week with Facebook closing +3.3 percent on Tuesday.

Mediavision blogs:

The Swedish gambling market: The upcoming re-regulation, part 2
Today we are delving into consumer preferences vis-à-vis different types of gambling. If we start by looking at monthly reach per gambling type, lotteries and scratch cards currently dominate in KPI “monthly reach”. But, since lotteries as well as […].

Mediavision press releases:

Increasing number of streaming services in Nordic households
The appetite for streaming services among Nordic consumers continuously rises. Today, 5.3 million Nordic households subscribe to at least one video streaming service (SVOD). Also, the number of SVOD subscriptions per household increases […].

Industry news:

NENT launching joint TV venture in the UK
NENT Group has joined forces with FilmNation Entertainment for a new joint venture in the UK to develop scripted TV content. NENT will have the first option on the exclusive Nordic media rights to all content.

Tidal deep in debt
Tidal has burned through more than 100 million USD since 2015 when Jay Z took over the company. Now Tidal appears to be in need of more investments, despite its spectacular launch Tidal is still struggling against Spotify and Apple Music.

Storytel beat Q4 estimates
Audiobook streaming service Storytel beat its estimated Q4 subscriber and revenue figures. During Q4 Storytel reached 768 700 subscribers, which marks an increase of 48 000 since Q3. Streaming revenue summed up to 291.3 million SEK during Q4.

Svenska Spel launches live casino
Since the re-regulation of the Swedish gambling market on January 1^ststate-owned Svenska Spel has faced harsher competition. As a countermeasure, Svenska Spel is venturing into Malta-based live casinos among other things.

Netflix stock rises after five Golden Globes
Netflix shares jumped 6% on Monday following the company taking home five Golden Globe Awards. Netflix won trophies in major categories for Alfonso Cuarón’s film “Roma” and Chuck Lorre’s “The Kominsky Method”.

Sky invests in software company Synamedia
Comcast-backed Sky has invested in video software company Synamedia whose latest tool is an anti-password sharing service for pay-TV companies. Sky has taken a stake in the business alongside the majority shareholder Permira.

Mediavision in the news:

Gaming-industrin värd mer än musik och video tillsammans
Gamingsektorn växer så det knakar på ett globalt plan, vilket får allt fler mediebolag att göra satningar inom e-sport. Nu visar en ny rapport från Entertainment Retailers Association […].

En 2019, le vent va-t-il définitivement se retourner contre les GAFAs?
L’année passée fut dévastatrice pour les GAFAs, en tête Facebook avec ses pas moins de 31 scandales depuis janvier 2018 (calculés par BuzzFeed).

“USA kontrollerar nätet – gör Kina oerhört irriterat”
Tre miljardärer håller på att ta makten över internet, och därmed över en stor del av våra liv. Det handlar om Jack Ma, Ma Hauteng och Robin Li som var för sig har skapat ett kinesiskt […].

Industry events

• CES: January 8-11, Sweden

*Events where Mediavision will be presenting