Walt Disney's launch of Disney+, even in just three countries, was last week's biggest news. A shock announcement came from newspaper group McClatchy. It reported an acute liquidity challenge, causing the stock to drop 82 percent in week 46 (in week 45 it was among the strongest performers, up 12%). ComScore once again performed well, up 18 percent. Earlier worries over its viability are disappearing and the stock is now back at levels last seen in July. It more than doubled since September. The Telecompaper Global Media index was up 1.1 percent over week 46, narrowly beating the S&P 500 (+0.9%).
Broadcasters: Vivendi -0.3%, Mediaset -1.7%, Viacom +1.4%, ITV -0.1%
Vivendi and Mediaset possibly came closer to resolving their feud. Vivendi could sell its Mediaset stake, paving the way for Mediaset to create a European broadcaster. Its next step included Mediaset Spain buying a 5.5 percent stake in ProSieben, after Mediaset itself earlier took a 9.6 percent stake. Mediaset also published its Q3 report. The company further was fined, along with Atresmedia, for anti-competitive practices on the advertising market.Viacom and CBS set their post-merger management team and Viacom as well as CBS reported their Q3 earnings.
ITV sold its London television centre and reported on Q3. It also launched an addressable ad platform, designed specifically for its VOD service ITV Hub.
Comcast-owned Sky scored a wide ranging deal with the BBC, for both distribution and technology. As a result, the BBC's full iPlayer will be available on the Sky Q platform, strengthening its position as an aggregator.
SVOD: Walt Disney +4.9%, Netflix +1.2%
Walt Disney officially launched its SVOD-service Disney+ in the US, Canada and the Netherlands. A day later, and boosted by early sign-ups and a distribution deal with Verizon, the company could already report its 10 millonth subscriber - albeit that most, at this point, will be in a free promotion.
WPP's GroupM sounded a note of caution over services such as these, with costs running up. Advertising for SVOD services has already become a multi-billion dollar business.
Internet: Naspers -1.9%, IAC +0.9%, Facebook +2.2%, Alphabet +1.8%
In the internet segment, Naspers-conrolled Prosus pressed ahead with its Just Eat takeover and its OLX unit (classifieds) made a large investment in a German car marketplace. Meanwhile, IAC is building out its mobile unit through acquisitions, which reportedly is on track to become a USD 200 million in sales group.
Facebook launched a new fintech solution, Facebook Pay, enabling payments among friends on its family of apps. Competitor Google (owned by Alphabet) was reported to start a banking unit next year, called Google Cache. Google's Project Nightingale came under investigation after it was reported that it collects patient data from its partnership with US hospital group Ascension. Further, Google came under increased scrutiny as the US Attorneys General were reported to expand their antitrust investigation from advertising to also include search and Android.
A possible threat has arisen from an initiative of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. His new WT:Social venture was launched and appears to be growing quickly. It primarily takes aim at Facebook and Twitter, but possibly at other social networking apps as well.
