STREAMING TECHNOLOGY (TELECOMMUNICATIONS) – AUSTRALIA

Telcos vie for Netflix as Singtel-Optus deal ends

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 13-Jul-15

Telstra and Vodafone Hutchison Australia are believed to be seeking an alliance with Netflix following the end of a three-month deal between the US-based video streaming group and Singtel Optus. Customers of Optus received free access to Netflix during the joint marketing arrangement, which was used to officially launch Netflix in Australia. Telstra has expressed its desire to be an aggregator of content from all providers, despite owning 50 per cent of pay-TV group Foxtel.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, VODAFONE HUTCHISON AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SPOTIFY LIMITED

Telstra’s Penn lays out vision

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Original article by Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 40 : 10-Jul-15

Telstra has indicated that it is willing to host streaming video on demand providers’ content on its servers, as part of its push to become Australia’s market leader among aggregators. The SVOD sector is a growth industry in Australia, with Telsyte reporting that the nation boasted two million active subscriptions to such services at the end of June 2015. A recent Roy Morgan Research survey also showed that Netflix boasts about one million subscribers, just months after officially launching in Australia.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, TELSYTE PTY LTD, ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, TESLA MOTORS INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE, ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP, NOMURA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NBN CO LIMITED

iiNet says Netflix surge calls for NBN price cut

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Original article by David Ramli
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 6-Jul-15

Australian-listed iiNet has increased its network capacity after customers complained of slower internet speeds due to the popularity of Netflix. However, CEO David Buckingham says prices for accessing the national broadband network will need to be significantly reduced to take into account the use of video streaming services. He adds that such services may not be affordable for many consumers when the NBN rollout is complete unless the issue is addressed.

CORPORATES
IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SUPERLOOP LIMITED – ASX SLC, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD, EXETEL PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NBN CO LIMITED

Apple Music switches model to subscriptions, taking on Spotify

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Original article by John Davidson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 2-Jul-15

Apple launched its new music streaming service on 1 July 2015. The subscription fee for Apple Music will be waived for the first three months, and users will then pay $A11.99 per month. Telsyte MD Foad Fadaghi expects the new service to be popular with iPhone users, as the Apple Music app will be automatically installed on their devices. Apple has traditionally sold individual albums or songs via downloads from its iTunes store.

CORPORATES
APPLE INCORPORATED, TELSYTE PTY LTD, SPOTIFY LIMITED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Streaming addresses digital appetite: James

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 29-Jun-15

Presto CEO Shaun James believes that Australian streaming video services offer sufficiently competitive prices to deter consumers from downloading illegal copies of films and TV shows. He argues that the situation cannot be compared with the rise of music-sharing service Napster, as there were no alternatives for buying legitimate copies of music online at the time. The Presto joint venture between Foxtel and Seven West Media will launch its first Australian-made TV show later in 2015.

CORPORATES
PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, NAPSTER INCORPORATED, THE PIRATE BAY, XYZNETWORKS PTY LTD, WARNER MUSIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, APPLE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Netflix is the new black: 1 million users, more than 3 times rivals Presto, Stan, Quickflix & Foxtel Play combined

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jun-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 1,039,000 Australians aged 14+ in 408,000 households had subscribed to the Netflix streaming video on demand service in May 2015. In contrast, 97,000 Australians were subscribed to the Presto joint venture between Foxtel and Seven West Media, while 91,000 had a subscription to Stan, which Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media launched in January. Meanwhile, Australian-listed Quickflix had just 43,000 subscribers and 40,000 had Foxtel Play, the streaming version of its pay-TV service.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD

Football rights on agenda as providers talk to codes

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Original article by John Stensholt, Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 22-Jun-15

The latest five-year deals for Australian Football League and National Rugby League broadcasting rights are expected to fetch between $A1.5bn and $A2bn. Both codes are believed to have held talks with digital companies and online steaming services. However, companies such as Google and Netflix are expected to partner with traditional media companies to offer content rather than providing live streaming of matches themselves. Singtel Optus is also keen to secure digital broadcasting rights.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, FETCHTV PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOX SPORTS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SKY SPORTS, FOX FOOTY CHANNEL

Google a scary competitor, says Ten boss

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Original article by Paul McIntyre
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 22-Jun-15

Foxtel’s MCN advertising business will assume responsibility for selling ads on the Ten Network in September 2015. Ten CEO Hamish McLennan says global internet companies such as Google present a major threat to Australian TV broadcasters, and warns that they could soon be competing with traditional media companies for sports broadcasting rights. MCN CEO Anthony Fitzgerald adds that there is a need to redefine TV as consumers are now watching broadcast-quality video on a range of devices.

CORPORATES
TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, MULTI CHANNEL NETWORK PTY LTD, SOUND ALLIANCE PTY LTD, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE, OPTIMUM MEDIA DIRECTION PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, McDONALD’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, THE HOOPLA

Battle for eyeballs to play out ‘within 12 months’

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 4-Jun-15

FetchTV CEO Scott Lorson estimates that up to five million Australian households could potentially take out a subscription to a streaming video service. He does not expect any of the rival groups to be able to operate at a loss for very long, and forecasts that they will succeed or fail within the next year. However, other media industry experts say the emerging sector is a long-term proposition.

CORPORATES
FETCHTV PTY LTD, QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED

Spotify adding 60,000 Australians per week

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 1-Jun-15

Spotify estimates that about 25 per cent of Australians have used its music streaming service at some point. Spotify says it is gaining about 60,000 additional users in Australia each week, and the rate of conversion to its paid service is estimated to top 30 per cent. Spotify’s MD in Australia, Kate Vale, forecasts that some rivals will either merge or quit Australia in coming years, and she believes that the local market can sustain 3-4 players in the long-term.

CORPORATES
SPOTIFY LIMITED, VODAFONE AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBER TECHNOLOGIES INCORPORATED, SONY CORPORATION, NOVA ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, RDIO INCORPORATED, PANDORA MEDIA INCORPORATED, COMEDY CENTRAL, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION