Stock market analysts believe established European pay-television broadcasters will face competition from internet-based companies for sports rights and investment this year, according to the Financial Times.
The analysts said two threats to the $36 billion (€27.7 billion)-per-year industry were emerging – alternative sources of content for viewers on the internet and increased competition for key content including sports and film rights. The threats are coming from players including internet company Google, technology company Apple and online film streaming service Netflix. The emergence of Qatari pay-television broadcaster Al Jazeera in France was also described as “ominous” for Europe’s listed pay-television companies.
Claudio Aspesi, an analyst from research company Bernstein, said that he had previously thought concerns about the impact of internet-based television services had been overstated, but that Apple could change this. “Its popularity and potential attractiveness as a distribution channel could drive the owners of rights towards it. Moreover, European regulators are increasingly hostile to exclusive contracts and pay-TV companies may find it impossible to keep their most valuable content out of Apple’s hands,” he said.
Bernstein said last month that it expected Apple to bid for English Premier League rights from 2013-14 to 2015-16 along with Al Jazeera, while the Daily Mail reported last week that Google was also considering a bid. Netflix said this week that sports content would not be consistent with its film-focused brand.
Nick Bertolotti, an analyst at financial services company Credit Suisse, said the “tipping point” for internet-based television would arrive in the coming decade, when most televisions are able to connect to the internet via wi-fi.