Summary

Using examples from North America, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, this report looks at major television players, public and private, free and pay, and their positioning strategy for Over-the-Top.

We first try to understand what in the sector as a whole is motivating these traditional TV players to develop OTT strategies in parallel, in addition, as an extension, or even sometimes in competition with their linear TV offerings.

The report then details the OTT services developed by the major audiovisual groups of the four markets studied, and seeks to identify how these services fit into each company’s overall approach, and how the competitive environment has influenced these strategies.

Finally, it analyses the strategic OTT positionings of these groups and defines a typology for the different approaches.

Table of contents

1. Executive Summary

2. Methodology & definitions

3. Audiovisual market developments
3.1. Changing consumption trends
3.1.1. Declining linear consumption not offset by increased time-shifted viewing
3.1.2. Total time spent watching TV remains stable, but includes different content from what channels are airing
3.1.3. Increased video consumption outside of linear TV…
3.1.4. … particularly among younger viewers
3.1.5. Among OTT services, subscription services are growing strongly
3.1.6. Non-linear is naturally more prominent in total video consumption
3.1.7. First signs of cord-cutting?
3.2. Changing equipment trends
3.2.1. Rapid adoption of second screens
3.2.2. Democratisation of fixed and mobile broadband and ultra-fast broadband
3.2.3. Audiovisual consumption patterns on these new screens
3.3. Changing audiovisual revenue trends
3.3.1. Revenues feeling the impact from changing consumption patterns and the economy
3.3.2. Stagnation expected in the next few years, except for OTT
3.4. Competition growth

4. TV broadcasters and their OTT initiatives
4.1. United Kingdom
4.1.1. BBC
4.1.2. Sky UK
4.1.3. ITV plc
4.2. France
4.2.1. France Télévisions
4.2.2. TF1
4.2.3. Canal+ Group
4.2.4. M6 Group
4.3. Germany
4.3.1. ARD-ZDF
4.3.2. Sky Deutschland
4.3.3. ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE
4.4. United States
4.4.1. HBO
4.4.2. CBS/Showtime
4.4.3. Disney-ABC Television Group (ABC/ESPN)

5. Analysis of the strategic OTT positioning adopted by traditional TV players
5.1. Public broadcasters: OTT as a means to better exhibit/exploit public service content
5.1.1. The BBC: a pioneer of catch-up TV and exploiting ‘in-house’ content
5.1.2. France Télévisions: a broad strategy incorporating FTA and pay, generalist and special interest
5.1.3. ARD-ZDF: a minimalist strategy based on catch-up and live-streaming
5.2. Commercial broadcasters: both narrow and wide positioning in evidence
5.2.1. ITV plc: repositioning with live and catch-up TV
5.2.2. TF1 Group: gradual development in all segments
5.2.3. M6 Group: refocused positioning on free services
5.2.4. ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE: an ambitious strategy covering all segments
5.3. Premium channels and pay-TV providers: targeting non-subscribers of linear TV with OTT because of competitive pressure
5.3.1. Sky UK: a proactive strategy in a buoyant market
5.3.2. Canal+ Group: a defensive strategy forced on it by emerging competition and declining subscriptions
5.3.3. Sky Deutschland: replicating the Sky UK model
5.3.4. HBO: a late reaction for non-subscribers of its pay-TV offering
5.4. Groups with free and pay activities: a cautious strategy to avoid destabilising linear
5.4.1. CBS Corporation: late positioning on both free and pay OTT
5.4.2. Disney-ABC Television Group: a strong desire to protect linear and pay-TV providers
5.5. Comparative analysis

List of tables and figures

List of tables and figures

Tables
Table 1: Video consumption by screen among the entire French population and among the 6-14 age group
Table 2: Description of BBC iPlayer
Table 3: Description of BBC iPlayer
Table 4: Description of Sky Go and Sky Go Extra
Table 5: Description of the Sky Cinema Pass
Table 6: Description of the Entertainment Pass
Table 7: Description of the Sky Sports Pass
Table 8: Description of the Kids Pass
Table 9: Description of ITV Hub
Table 10: Description of Pluzz
Table 11: Description of Pluzz VAD
Table 12: Description of Zouzous and Ludo
Table 13: Description of MyTF1
Table 14: Description of MyTF1VOD
Table 15: Description of TFOU MAX
Table 16: Description of CANAL à  la demande
Table 17: Description of CanalPlay and Canal VOD
Table 18: Description of C8’s and CStar’s catch-up TV services
Table 19: Description of 6Play
Table 20: Description of ARD Mediathek and ZDFmediathek
Table 21: Description of Sky Go
Table 22: Description of Cinema Monatsticket
Table 23: Description of Entertainment Monatsticket
Table 24: Description of SuperSport Ticket
Table 25: Description of 7TV (catch-up TV)
Table 26: Description of Maxdome
Table 27: Description of MyVideo
Table 28: Description of Quazer
Table 29: Description of HBO Go
Table 30: Description of HBO Now
Table 31: Description of CBS All Access
Table 32: Description of Showtime Anytime
Table 33: Description of Showtime
Table 34: Description of Hulu
Table 35: Description of WatchESPN

Figures
Figure 1: Time spent watching live and time-shifted TV in the United Kingdom, France and the United States, 2011-2015
Figure 2: Time spent on the TV in the United Kingdom by type of activity, in 2014 and 2015
Figure 3: Daily time spent watching TV content by source (live, recorded, SVOD) in North America
Figure 4: Use of subscription video-on-demand services in the United States, Q3 2013 to Q3 2016
Figure 5: Proportion of consumers who used one of the popular video-on-demand services in the last month, United Kingdom
Figure 6: Breakdown of France’s video-on-demand revenues by type of service, 2012-2016
Figure 7: Regular consumption of transactional video on demand in France and the United States
Figure 8: Proportion of time spent consuming audiovisual programming by type of access, United Kingdom, 2010-2015
Figure 9: Subscriptions to pay-TV and Netflix in the United States
Figure 10: Pay-TV subscriptions in the five major European markets (United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain)
Figure 11: Proportion of SVOD subscribers who also subscribe to a pay-TV offering, United Kingdom, late 2015
Figure 12: Smartphone and tablet penetration in US, UK and French homes
Figure 13: Proportion of households subscribed to a fixed broadband offering in the European Union, 2007-2015
Figure 14: Mobile broadband penetration in the European Union, 2009-2015
Figure 15: Mobile data traffic growth by device type and by region, 2015 and 2020
Figure 16: Retail prices of standalone broadband offerings across Europe
Figure 17: Time spent using certain media platforms/services in the United States, 2014-2016
Figure 18: Advertising revenue in North America and in the five major European markets, 2010-2016
Figure 19: Pay-TV revenue in North America and in the five major European markets, 2010-2016
Figure 20: Public revenue in North America and in the five major European markets, 2010-2016
Figure 21: OTT video revenue in North America and in the five major European markets, 2010-2016
Figure 22: Advertising revenue in North America and in the five major European markets, 2016-2020
Figure 23: Pay-TV revenue in North America and in the five major European markets, 2016-2020
Figure 24: Public revenue in North America and in the five major European markets, 2016-2020
Figure 25: OTT video revenue in North America and in the five major European markets, 2016-2020
Figure 26: Netflix’s annual spending on content production and acquisition, 2009-2015
Figure 27: Summary of the BBC’s OTT positioning
Figure 28: Summary of France Télévisions’ OTT positioning
Figure 29: Summary of ARD-ZDF’s OTT positioning
Figure 30: Summary of ITV plc’s OTT positioning
Figure 31: Summary of TF1 Group’s OTT positioning
Figure 32: Summary of M6 Group’s OTT positioning
Figure 33: Summary of ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE Group’s OTT positioning
Figure 34: Summary of Sky UK’s positioning
Figure 35: Summary of Canal+ Group’s positioning
Figure 36: Summary of Sky Deutschland’s positioning
Figure 37: Summary of HBO’s OTT positioning
Figure 38: Summary of CBS Corporation’s OTT positioning
Figure 39: Summary of Disney-ABC Television Group’s OTT positioning
Figure 40: Strategic positioning of major television groups

Geographic area

Europe
  • France
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom
North America
  • United States

Players

  • 21st Century Fox
  • ABC
  • Amazon Prime Video
  • ARD-ZDF
  • BBC
  • Canal+
  • CBS
  • ESPN
  • France Télévisions
  • HBO
  • Hulu
  • ITV
  • M6
  • NBCUniversal
  • Netflix
  • Now TV
  • ProSiebenSat.1 Media
  • Showtime
  • Sky Deutschland
  • Sky UK
  • TF1
  • YouTube

Slideshow

Audiovisual market developments
• Changing consumption trends
• Changing equipment trends
• Changing audiovisual revenue trends
• Competition growth

TV broadcasters and their OTT initiatives
• United Kingdom
• France
• Germany
• United States

Analysis of the strategic OTT positioning adopted by traditional TV players
• Steady migration to OTT but with different approaches
• Strategic positioning of major television groups

Other details

  • Reference: M16255IN1A
  • Delivery: on the DigiWorld Interactive platform
  • Languages available: French, English
  • Tags: audiovisual consumption, audiovisual market, catch-up TV, commercial broadcster, cord-cutting, free-to-air, FTA, linear consumption, linear TV, linear video consumption, live streaming, non-linear consumption, non-linear service, non-linear usage, online distribution, OTT, OTT services, OTT Video, pay-TV, premium channel, public broadcaster, second screen, SVOD, television revenues, time-shifted viewing, TV broadcasters, TV players, TV revenue, video consumption, video-on-demand

Why trust in IDATE DigiWorld ?

  • Thought leadership: based on outsanding and cross-fertilised ICT expertise
  • Analyst Access: Umetered support on licenced content and customized services
  • Powerfull interactive platform: providing you easily and efficiently our expertise