No need to run for the lifeboats, the pay-TV ship is still sailing
About a week ago, Credit Suisse issued a research report discussing the future of pay-TV, and the views presented by the bank were discussed in a wide range of media in Sweden. I found the Credit Suisse report interesting, and it is always valuable to get a feel for what goes on in the US pay-TV market. However, it is important to remember that the Scandinavian pay-TV markets, in which we have been operating for 20 years now, are arguably the most competitive markets in the world. Broadband penetration in our countries is among the highest anywhere, and the internet speeds delivered in the Nordic countries among the best. All of our TV has been fully digitalized for several years, and DTT, IPTV, satellite and cable distribution is more or less ubiquitously available. On top of that, OTT services have now been present and growing in our markets for several years.
This year we celebrated the twentieth anniversary of our pay-TV operations – the core of our pay-TV activities in the Nordics today. What Credit Suisse discusses in the report is not that these ‘more traditional’ pay-TV services are dead, or “about to fall off a cliff”, but rather that there is a potential shift in consumer behaviour on the horizon, as a new generation of viewers emerges. These viewers are technologically savvy, and time is their most valuable commodity. They expect to be able to access their content no matter where they are, independently of time or device.
The idea that the market share of traditional pay-TV distribution like satellite or cable TV services will be stable, or decline slightly over time is not new and were one to look at satellite and cable TV subscribers in Scandinavia over the last year or so, this trend is clearly observable.
My view, however, continues to be that this presents a huge opportunity for us as a company. Our view has always been that the technology of distribution is always secondary to the content offering and viewer experience. MTG has an old saying, that “content is king, and distribution is the throne it sits on”. TV is about delivering content and experiences to viewers, in the most exciting way possible, and this is what MTG is all about.
And we have come a long way. Twenty years ago, we were just starting out, and analogue TV offered three channels. Today, we have, and continue to be, instrumental in pioneering new viewer experiences. Not only can our viewers access our pay-TV packages on our own satellite platform, or through third party cable and IPTV networks, but they can also go online to access a broad range of films, TV series and premium sports on Viaplay, our OTT platform, which like is Hulu, Netflix and ESPN all in one place.
Our ambition has always been to be where our customer is, and to deliver what our customer wants, when she or he wants it. Keep in mind that the development of these services takes time, and that we still are in the early stages of our work with Viaplay, but are already seeing promising trends, ones which we hope to harness both to grow as a company, and to continue delivering a faster, broader and better TV experience to our customers. And we are getting recognized for it. Just recently, three people from MTG were recognized in the recent Digital TV Europe 50 list, and all three have been deeply involved in our Viaplay offering and our technological development.
In the meantime, we will also continue to improve and refine our satellite pay-TV services. Satellite is still the best way to deliver a broad range of content in data intensive formats like HD and 3D, and there are opportunities here as well, both in terms of programs and service offering, as we increasingly integrate our linear and on-demand services to create seamless user experiences.
Hans-Holger Albrecht
