Foxtel boost subscribers to 2.8 million, but at a cost

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 14-Aug-15

Foxtel has increased its revenue by one per cent in 2014-15. Its profit declined eight per cent. The number of subscribers increased nine per cent to 2.8 million which was the result of the price reduction of Foxtel’s basic package, from $A49 to $A25 a month in November 2014. Foxtel is under competitive pressure from video-on-demand service Netflix whose service costs between $A9 and $A15 a month.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Foxtel boost subscribers to 2.8 million, but at a cost

Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 14-Aug-15

Foxtel has increased its revenue by one per cent in 2014-15. Its profit declined eight per cent. The number of subscribers increased nine per cent to 2.8 million which was the result of the price reduction of Foxtel’s basic package, from $A49 to $A25 a month in November 2014. Foxtel is under competitive pressure from video-on-demand service Netflix whose service costs between $A9 and $A15 a month.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Netflix reaches 1.89 million Australians. Foxtel loses share (but not size) as Netflix expands pay and subscription TV market

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Aug-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 1.89 million Australians aged 14+ in 737,000 households had a Netflix subscription in July 2015. Netflix has experienced strong growth in subscriptions, considering that it had 748,000 subscribers in April, 1.16 million in May and 1.53 million in June. Foxtel’s share of the pay/subscription TV market has declined to 76 per cent, although the size of its customer base remains almost unchanged (2,346,000). The total pay/subscription market has expanded almost 30 per cent since the start of 2015.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD

Seven seeks gold at Rio Olympics

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 10-Aug-15

Seven West Media will use its broadcast rights to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games to attract advertisers to various types of delivery. Seven chief revenue officer Kurt Burnette says advertisers will be able to choose from Seven, 7Mate, 7Two, a streamed news channel, a video on-demand service and subscription video on-demand. Consumers will pay for access to live streaming.

CORPORATES
SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS, FUSION STRATEGY, OPTIMUM MEDIA DIRECTION PTY LTD

The Sharp threat to Foxtel

Original article by Dominic White, Paul McIntyre
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10&8 : 10-Aug-15

Australians have responded enthusiastically to the offer of US streaming service Netflix. The service was launched locally six months ago. Citi estimates that Netflix has now 1.6 million subscribers in Australia. Pay TV operator Foxtel and free-to-air TV channels have a formidable competitor. Investors will no doubt watch with interest the contest between traditional TV broadcasters and streaming services.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, OZTAM PTY LTD, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Stan taps Aussie content in battle with Netflix

Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 25 : 3-Aug-15

The Stan streaming video joint venture between Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment Company will invest in Australian productions will a view to selling them globally. Stan CEO Mike Sneesby says offshore streaming video groups have already expressed interest in buying the TV spin-off of popular film "Wolf Creek". Sneesby is also upbeat about growth in Stan’s revenue and paid subscriptions.

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

Quickflix shares halted amid buy fervour

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 31-Jul-15

Shares in Quickflix were suspended from trading at $A0.002 on 30 July 2015, ahead of an announcement on a possible deal with an offshore group. Quickflix did not specify whether it is the potential target or the acquirer, but the trading halt has prompted speculation that the video-on-demand and DVD rental group will be taken over. It is estimated that Australia’s streaming video industry boasts about two million subscribers.

CORPORATES
QUICKFLIX LIMITED – ASX QFX, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, HBO, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM

Telstra TV challenges tech giants

Original article by David Ramli, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 29-Jul-15

Telstra will launch the Roku 2 video streaming device in Australia later in 2015. It will allow subscribers to video-on-demand services such as Netflix and Presto to view them on a TV. The new Telstra TV service will be pitched at consumers who do not have pay-TV, and Telstra is confident that it will have no impact on the customer base of Foxtel, in which the telco has a 50 per cent stake. Roku 2 is already widely used in countries such as the US and the UK, and competes with similar products from Google and Apple.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, APPLE INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, FETCHTV PTY LTD, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD

Netflix adds another 400,000 Australians in June – now up over 1.42 million

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Jul-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 1.42 million Australians aged 14+ in 559,000 homes had a Netflix subscription in June 2015. The survey also shows that 8.4 per cent of households with fixed broadband have a Netflix subscription. However, 16.8 per cent of households with fixed broadband through iiNet (or one of its standalone subsidiaries) have Netflix, compared with 11.7 per cent of Optus’s fixed broadband customers and 5.2 per cent of Telstra’s fixed broadband customers. Meanwhile, 9.6 per cent of homes with an NBN connection use Netflix.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, IINET LIMITED – ASX IIN, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, INTERNODE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, WESTNET PTY LTD, ADAM INTERNET PTY LTD, M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD, IPRIMUS, APPLE INCORPORATED, FETCHTV PTY LTD, CHROMECAST

Telcos vie for Netflix as Singtel-Optus deal ends

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