The Telecompaper Stock Index Global Consumer Media was up 3.1 percent in week 25, ahead of the S&P 500 (+2.2%). News Corp (+14%) was the biggest winner, followed by two VOD providers: Netflix (+8.7%) and Bilibili (+8.2%). Seoul Broadcasting (-7.3%), comScore (-7.3%) and Atresmedia (-6.6%) were the weakest shares in our index.
Advertising
Magna predicted a growth slowdown for advertising sales in 2019, but the political ad spending in the US in 2020 looks robust, according to Tru Optik. WPP (+1.2%) confirmed that the sale of a stake in Kantar is progressing, and the company closed an audio partnership with iHeartMedia. Vivendi's (+1.0%) Havas acquired a stake in the US agency Battery.
Internet
Facebook's (+5.4% for the week) major news was its planned Libra currency and Calibra wallet, immediately coming under fire from regulators and central bankers. Naspers' (-0.2%) PayU was among its founding members, while having another stake in the cryptocurrency market through an investment in Luno. Naspers also invested in a cleaning service start-up, SweepSouth, whereas its pay-TV arm MultiChoice was cutting its workforce. The company reported its full year results and, due to an unfortunate administrative error, was forced to postpone the Amsterdam listing for its consumer internet business to September. This company, mainly around a 31.2 percent stake in Tencent, will be called Prosus. The South African Government Employees Pension Fund, a major shareholder, was reported to be cutting its stake in Naspers.
Video
CBS (+3.0%), according to reports, was preparing an offer for Viacom (+4.8%) and Sony (+3.7) was pushed to sell its stake in Spotify (+2.6%). Vivendi's proposed takeover of an Indonesian TV operator fell through, according to rumours. Mediaset (+1.2%), in the process of creating a Netherlands based holding, was looking to exclude its shareholder Vivendi from voting on its plans.
ProSieben (-0.8%) and Discovery (+5.8%) launched their German AVOD service Joyn. Walt Disney (-1.0%) had another success at the box office, with the fourth Toy Story film. The US Chamber of Commerce estimated, in a new report, that 'piracy' reduces the US video sector by anywhere between 11 and 24 percent in revenue terms, causing between 230,000 and 560,00 jobs to be lost.
Finally, Alphabet (+3.4%). Its unit YouTube is under FTC investigation and would be considering making a split between children's content and general content.
