The evolution of new platforms, usage models, and digital media market players is threatening many of the traditional revenue models for operators. Old models of EU government/public and ad-based funding are plagued with uncertainty in an increasingly online world. For a time physical media was the next stage of delivery, but digital distribution is making physical copies increasingly obsolete while also creating a generation of users raised on the notion that content, particularly music, is free.
Omniphone provides white-label cloud music services, with 12 million tracks licensed and partnerships with mobile handset makers as well as Sony, HP, and RIM. Ziggo is a leader in Dutch cable market, with 55% of the Netherlands market share and 4.1 million subscribers connected. BBC World News provides worldwide news content through a variety of media, reaching 225 million people per week in 170 markets.
The BBC World News has massive fixed costs; therefore, subscriptions are critical to revenue, especially as the ad business is very volatile. News in particular has little lasting value, so it must be monetized at the moment of occurrence. The BBC is trying new revenue opportunities, with mixed success. The mobile window is very important in delivering news, and response has been stronger in markets such as Africa. They also have a BBC News app on Samsung smart TVs, but they are still working to figure out ad monetization in this area.
Currently Ziggo has some free offerings available, with VOD subscription packages overlaid on top of these free services, in order to get customers accustomed to the Ziggo interface and to slow the growth of over-the-top services like AceTrax and Hulu in the Netherlands. Ziggo is currently focused on succeeding within its own footprint and anticipates that as consumers grow more comfortable with the company's interface, they will keep coming back to same portal.
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