The telco ‘triple play’ wars and not subscription video services will reshape the media landscape
Last November Nic Christensen looked at how the new streaming services were just part of a larger war between the telcos. With Optus taking the English Premier League rights from Fox Sports today we revisit it, and how it has played out so far.
Brace yourself, a media winter is coming.
But it’s not the impending streaming war between Presto, Netflix and newly minted Stan that you’ve been hearing so much about that will redefine the Australian media landscape, but rather what sides the various media companies fall on.
The prospect of Netflix officially arriving on our shores has had consumers and the media salivating over the idea of a battle for the best and cheapest video streaming offering. The impending arrival of the US streaming giant has forced the traditional media companies to come to the table, with Foxtel rolling out Presto as it seeks to preserve its pay-TV dominance, and Nine Entertainment and Fairfax’s Stan seeking to carve out its piece of the burgeoning subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) market.
Great piece, nice one Nic
ditto that; good stuff.
Two’s company, three’s a crowd, four’s a messy end for someone!
Excellent article Nic. Having seen this play out in the UK, I’m fascinated by the battle here.
Absolutely sensational (in a good way!) overview of the current SVOD landscape. Better than anything else I’ve read on the sector in the past 12 months. Well done Nic.
It’s actually quite humorous that Presto and StreamCo don’t refer to Quickfix as a rival—notwithstanding that Quickflix has vastly more streaming customers and more devices in market than both of them combined. Isn’t Presto customer numbers only about 3,000? Aren’t the so-called big guys conflicted because they’re defending traditional businesses and now have to play catch up?
Also the rumour is Fetch 140K “subscribers” is mostly made up of people who use the stb as a DVR. The actual number of customers using it for on demand movies and TV is pretty small.
Quality (i.e. interesting and well written) and insightful journalism with an opinion not just a PR announcement…hurrah! Well done Nic.
I’m intrigued Spike
So if Fetch’s 140k subscribers “is mostly made up of people who use the stb as a DVR”, but “the actual number of customers using it for on demand movies and TV is pretty small”, what the hell are they recording on their DVRs?