Over the decades, the media landscape has changed dramatically, and both have not shown their strengths as expected.
Editor’s note: This article comes from WeChat public account “East and West Entertainment” (ID: EW-Entertainment) < / a>, author Duan Suge Zoe Duan, editor Neon RainbowRainbow Shou. Reprinted with permission.
Introduction
In 2006, Sumner Redstone, the American media tycoon in charge of Viacom and CBS, split the two, hoping that they can achieve better market performance with their different characteristics. CBS is stable, pragmatic and reliable. In contrast, Viacom is good at challenging risks and has more growth potential.
Over the decades, the media landscape has changed dramatically, and the two have not shown their strengths as expected. Sumner’s daughter Sally Redstone is working to reorganize the scattered content brands into one.
In August of this year, the 13-year CBS and Viacom finally announced their compounding and will complete the transaction in December. According to foreign media data, the new company is valued at approximately 31 billion In the same period, Viacom’s third-quarter financial performance exceeded Wall Street expectations, and achieved two dazzling results: Paramount Pictures resumed profitability for the first time in 4 years, and Viacom resumed US advertising for the first time in 6 years Revenue is growing, and Viacom CEO Bob Bakish called it “evidence of corporate transformation.”
The merger of the two major groups has almost coincided with the accelerated influx of new players in streaming media. It is clear that in the transformation of traditional media, Viacom and CBS with rich assets and long standing are indispensable. Earlier, we have analyzed the unique strategy of streaming media from the perspective of Viacom. Under the integration background, the group’s overall streaming media path planning has also been adjusted.
Previous analysis
In fact, from the perspective of scale, market value, and financial condition, the new Viacom does not have an advantage in the streaming competition, so the streaming competition has to find another way.
In the previous analysis, we mentioned that Viacom played a combination of “SVOD + AVOD” in the streaming media business. The content for streaming media comes from the content library and the original, and from the other side. Third-party transactions and licensing; at the same time, the group is equipped with multiple digital content studios, which can continuously output works on original self-made and external joint systems.
Apart from the differences in the models, Viacom’s brand is not bad from the perspective of content alone. On the whole, TV mainly includes music, entertainment, children (Nickelodeon), and black entertainment television (BET ) Four major assets, including MTV, BET, comedy center and other stable and attractive TV channels for young users.
The film industry is mainly a century-old Paramount Pictures; watch the company’s content IP more directly, including “Transformers”, “Mission Impossible”, “Star Trek”, “Special Forces”, “Ghost Record” , “SpongeBob”, “Super Heroes”, “Ninja Turtles”, “South Park” and other series and new works.
However, the transition from the good licensing business to the original DTC business is not just a problem faced by a traditional media transformation. Soon Viacom CEO Bakish will become the new company “Viacom CBS” ( Viacom-CBS), the eve of the transaction, he said: “Once the merger is completed, Viacom will take a unique path in the streaming market.”
Taking this opportunity, we also focus on a new dimensionYacomm CBS, see how it has taken a unique streaming path in terms of scale, technology and investment.
01. Combined fundamentals-balance
Streaming SVOD + AVOD integration Traditional business integration into Internet elements
The combined Viacom-CBS will welcome the integration of content libraries and creative resources, and have more than 4.3 billion users in 180 countries worldwide.
Facing the new entity that is about to take over, CEO Buckish believes that the company’s first task is to expand direct-to-consumer streaming video channels. He also puts forward two requirements for the company’s operations-“differentiation” and “Capital efficiency”, under this guideline, the new company did not simply mix the streaming media business into one, but chose a deep integration of SVOD + AVOD.
Viacom has already stated that the goal of the streaming business is not to create a Netflix competitor. In addition to the SVOD subscription model, it is also optimistic about the opportunity of free and ad-supported models.
CBS and Viacom also form a combination of SVOD and AVOD.
CBS is mainly based on the subscription model (SVOD). There are two services, CBS All Access ($ 9.99 per month, including advertising monthly fee $ 5.99) and Showtime Online ($ 10.99 monthly fee). The two services are combined. There are about 8 million paying users in total, and CBS aims to have 25 million paying users by 2020.
In contrast, Viacom is already AVOD-based, supplemented by niche SVOD services. Its AVOD assets are mainly acquired through acquisitions, that is, Pluto TV, a streaming platform bought by Viacom in early 2019. Bakis commented that Pluto TV has become “the leader in the free field today.”
On the basis of AVOD, Viacom also has some vertical SVOD services related to core brands, such as Noggin for preschool content, Comedy Central Now for comedy content, Nick Hits for children, etc. These products are also available through Amazon Video aggregation service centers such as channel Roku for distribution.
The new Viacom CBSIt intends to serve the broader market through a “multi-channel” strategy, and has reservations in both SVOD and AVOD.
In terms of specific integration methods, the merged company will sell paid subscriptions at multi-tier pricing and provide free services to guide consumers to use paid channels. When consumers decide to abandon subscriptions, he hopes to attract those who are willing to watch ads. Consumers in exchange for free channels; at an investor conference, Buckish also said that given the company’s rich IP inventory, Viacom also plans to launch a program focusing on many African-American, Spanish and reality shows. DTC products.
CBS Creative President David Nevins hints that the company may launch multiple additional streaming subscription services for specific audiences and emphasizes that CBS and Viacom have successfully acquired Several platforms ignore key populations, such as ethnic and gender groups. “Participating in games that are slightly different from other players will present many opportunities … we will become more customized” CBS also promised to add more of its own content to Pluto TV in the future.
Of course, the combination of SVOD + AVOD is not only an opportunity, but also a model gap that the two companies need to fill in the integration process. In the face of the task of forming a content-rich and user-wide streaming solution, not only must it be done well, but it must also be done well. Fast, traditional cable TV is rapidly declining. Pay TV companies have lost 5 million users in the past five years, of which 1.3 million users have been lost in the second quarter of 2019 alone. Advertisers are also eager for more alternative delivery targets.
Relevant analysis before
But as expected, Viacom CBS will not easily abandon the traditional TV network business. Bakish believes that even if most young consumers are more inclined to fragmented content consumption, there will always be a wave of viewers who like ” Bundle Package. ”
The company will also partially publish a content library containing hundreds of film and television programs. “The vast majority of American households still have TVs, so we will of course provide TV programs.” The SVOD + AVOD route is Bakish concluded that it corresponds to “a better and more predictable growth path and better risk management capabilities”, which is also the difference between Viacom CBS.
In fact, Viacom ’s cable TV business is also following the trend of “cutting wire” and connecting with the Internet in terms of content. For example, it invites YouTube influencers to participate in original episodes and broadcast them on the official YouTube channel; In addition, part of the company’s cable TV marketing promotion will incorporate online elements, such as reading “Twitter bad reviews” on the show, or posting the program content to a series of social platforms.
A year ago, the company launched Viacom Digital Studios (VDS, Viacom Digital Studios), responsible for the company’s overall digital strategy. According to market feedback, the company claims that the social video viewing volume and the viewing market have increased by 83% and 119% respectively over the past year, and its online content has averaged 4 billion views worldwide, with cumulative viewing time exceeding 6 billion minutes.
Despite improvements in some of the company’s major earnings reports, net profit for the fourth quarter declined. This shows that although the recombination of Viacom and CBS may be good for the company as a whole, some businesses still face challenges.
02. Adjustment of merged streaming media content strategy
The combination of external authorization and original IP
In elaborating on the streaming media strategy, Bakish said that in the face of the general trend of the migration of consumer groups to online streaming media, their digital businesses mainly rely on the development of their own streaming media platforms and reach content cooperation with third-party streaming media platforms. Two aspects of the system are developed, which is different from the SVOD model as the core platform for content control and exclusive broadcast rights. Viacom CBS under the integration of SVOD and AVOD will “select external authorization and third-party platform integration “As one of the feasible strategies, we are reducing the company’s overall financial risk through a series of IP licensing and joint trading transactions.
Recent deals include: Paramount Pictures enters into a licensing agreement with Netflix to produce a sequel to its movie IP, Beverly Hills Super Police; Nickelodeon reaches a licensing agreement with Netflix for film and television content; comedy Center of MingStar participates in the production of mobile short video streaming platform Quibi.
Beverly Hills Super Police Series
Sale Redstone, the company ’s vice president, asserts: “20% to 25% of Netflix ’s content can be outsourced to ViacomCBS,” and believes that the broader the company can bring the content, the more it can develop The size and the sum of its parts.
“Take Nick International Children ’s Channel as an example, 40% of the audience between the ages of 2 and 11 now know the brand, but 60% of the audience is not covered. If differentiated content is created, it will be on Netflix Waiting for the platform to broadcast will help attract users back to our digital and video platforms. “This strategy is also regarded by Redstone as the best way to maximize the value of content and develop brands around the world.
For which content IP flows internally and which is delivered through third-party platforms, Buckish also revealed some tendencies, he pointed out that the company uses a “three-part framework” to complete Viacom’s decision-making and Viacom- The development of CBS:
First, it is necessary to see the direct economic consequences of a decision, considering the economic value of authorizing an IP to a third party for a period of time under the current market environment, and how this value affects the company’s entire financial plan. Implementation.
Second, the company also has strategic considerations. The main consideration is to allow IP to release the potential of other values, which may include putting IP on other platforms to help the platform ’s growth and value creation. It may also include using this An IP drives the value of other businesses, for example, leveraging the rising popularity of IP to stimulate derivatives, entertainment, or potential downstream film adaptation businesses.
Finally, consider the continued cooperation. Specifically, an IP can deeply influence the broader relationships with partners, which are usually at the issue level, but in some cases, it may also be at other levels, including creative space.
04. Two highlights worthy of attention after the merger
AVOD sample: Pluto TV
In the streaming warfare where SVOD service is leading, the AVOD model is often ignored, but it also highlights huge potential and opportunities. Typical products are Pluto TV, which we have analyzed before.
AVOD-based Pluto TV has three main features:
1. Focusing on digital linear services, there are more than a hundred channels, covering licensed videos from Warner Bros., Lions Gate, etc., as well as the younger generation of financial news brand Cheddar, and the satirical news brand “The Onion” And other relatively independent brand content.
2. On-demand content is supplementary: On-demand content library has more than 5000 hours of content, covering multiple types of news, sports, and entertainment.
3. Large-screen terminal penetration is better: Before the acquisition, Pluto TV, with digital linear channels as its highlights, has occupied a certain share in home content consumption through extensive cooperation with multiple smart TV manufacturers.
Viacom has started several months after its acquisition of Pluto TV, its “Flagship Content Brand” Comedy Center, MTV Music TV Network, Black Entertainment Channel BET, Nick Kids TV Channel, Nick Jr. , Spike Channel (Paramount Television Network) and other major TV channels migrate to Pluto TV.
Pluto TV has also added vertical categories with prominent themes, such as “Comed Center Talk Show”, “MTV Dating”, “MTV Teen” Channel, “Paramount Movie” Channel, and “Spike Outdoor” Channels, hoping to attract the attention of advertisers. In addition, Viacom has set up several temporary channels to release multiple episodes of TV content at one time, which is convenient for viewers.
According to foreign media reports, Pluto TV ’s monthly active users in the United States have increased by 70% to 20 million since the acquisition, and 43 new channels have been launched, of which 24 are from Via Comm ’s brand; Viacom ’s advertising-based Pluto TV boosts Viacom ’s first full-year ad revenue growth in six years. In the fourth quarter of last year, PlutoTV had a total of 3500 brand advertisers. First profit,
In the financial report, CEO Buckish and outgoing CFO Wade Davis mentioned the strategy and financial growth prospects of Pluto TV, which will mainly focus on its ad mode, Buckish said , Pluto TV has created a huge digital advertising library for the company, with domestic advertising sales alone exceeding $ 1 billion.
He believes that Viacom ’s 6% ad revenue this quarterAs part of its growth, Pluto TV contributed significantly to the company ’s increase in the number of advertisers, helping the company ’s Advanced Marketing Solutions (AWS) unit sales increase by 76% to $ 604 million.
Research from Digital TV Research shows that global AVOD distribution revenue will nearly triple from US $ 21.9 billion in 2018 to 2024 and is expected to reach approximately US $ 56 billion; worldwide AVOD revenue in 2019 will exceed US $ 26.7 billion, of which The Asia-Pacific region has the highest concentration of US $ 13.2 billion, and North American AVOD revenue will grow from US $ 6.1 billion in 2018 to nearly US $ 7.7 billion this year. By 2024, the North American AVOD platform will generate $ 20.3 billion in revenue.
It can be seen that while other platforms are doing their best to win subscribers, AVOD uses user viewing data to attract a large number of advertisers. In addition, in overseas regions where pay TV still occupies a strong position, the AVOD model is more likely to open Market situation. In the trend of subscriber growth becoming saturated and streaming media subscription costs all the way, developing AVOD is a good differentiation strategy. The development of a comprehensive model is also reflected in a single service. Viacom said that it plans to add paid subscriptions to Pluto TV. mode.
Digital strategy: VDS
Viacom Digital Studio (VDS) is the cornerstone of the company ’s overall digital strategy. Although the company ’s digital business revenue is progressing a small part of the TV business revenue, VDS has not been profitable due to the continued construction of digital business, but Viacom Digital business has made significant progress.
Although it lags behind Warner Media, Disney, and Comcast / NBC Global, in order to increase growth potential, VDS has formed a diversified investment portfolio internally and constructed a diversified source of income, including last year Acquired digital content studio Awesomeness from Verizon, NBC Universal, and Hearst, as well as offline activity businesses related to brand content such as VidCon and SnowGlobe Music Festival, and MCN agencies such as WhoSay.
Among them, Vidcon, which was acquired by Viacom in 2018, has the most prominent influence. In 2019, the total attendance of Vidcon events will increase to more than 4 million, and has expanded from the United States to Australia, London, Multiple international markets in Mexico, Singapore and the Middle East.
Kelly Day, president of VDS, believes that the key to the company ’s digital business is to have multiple sources of revenue, including online advertising, branded content, live events, content licensing, and derivative products. For companies monetizing digital content, they all have to go through a hurdle. “There is no magic bullet for building a profitable digital media business.”
The acquisition of the new studio not only enhances the hematopoietic capacity of original content, has a rich age range for audiences, but also adds many platform partners to the parent company. Awesomeness, in addition to YouTube, Snapchat, and Facebook’s upstream content, Hulu’s content production partner.
For Viacom, VDS is also exploring the “how the cable TV network responds to digitalization”. In order to realize the value regeneration of cable TV content on social networks and digital platforms, VDS has gradually formed a methodology. The contents of MTV, Comedy Center, and Nick Children ’s Channel are increasingly exposed on the online platform. VDS also tried to replicate this model internationally. In August 2018, Viacom International Digital Studio was launched, with 52 International offices collaborate to produce content in 17 different languages.
04. After the merger: market forecast & potential synergy
After the merger, the company ’s leadership has adjusted accordingly. Viacom ’s CEO Bob Bakish will become the group ’s president and CEO; CBS ’s acting CEO Joseph Ianillo (Joseph Ianillo) Ianniello) will serve as chairman and CEO of the company’s CBS; Viacom’s former CFO, Wadw Davis, is about to leave; and Paramount Pictures CEO and Chairman Jim Ginably Jim Gianopulos and production president Elizabeth Raposo will also remain in office.
There are opinions in the market that compared with other streaming media companies, even if CBS merges with Viacom, its size may be quite small. The company needs to speed up the purchase of content or continue to expand the scale in order to compete in the streaming media. Won the ranking.
The market has emerged with opposing views on whether it is able to fund acquisitions after the merger.
Analyst forecast, previously CLionsgate and its Starz channel, which BS is trying to acquire, may become a priority object; there are also views that AMC Television Network, MGM, and even Murdoch ’s “thinner” Fox Group may be potential acquisition targets. Viacom has experience in acquiring international television businesses (such as the acquisition of Channel5 in the UK and Telefe in Argentina), and the new company will seek overseas growth opportunities. Perhaps the target of purchases and acquisitions will also be overseas assets.
In terms of synergy, Viacom CFO Bakish said on the conference call that the revenue synergy mainly focuses on the following four aspects:
1. Coordination of distribution and distribution. After the integration, the new company’s content in the prime time of cable TV will reach 22%, but the fee charged currently only reaches 11%, so there is room for improvement.
2. The advertising revenue synergy of the United States will further maintain the leading position of advertising in the linear market, and the company’s advanced marketing platform (AWS) will also play a role.
3. Content licensing collaboration will combine the company ’s many studios to produce TV content for the Hollywood company, and establish a single point of contact around bundled services, enabling it to account for more of the global buyer ’s budget.
4. Streaming media collaboration. Although CBS and Viacom are slightly different, the combination of complementary content and platforms can enhance the comprehensive strength of the product and create a free and paid streaming media ecosystem, but it is worth noting that Because the brand is relatively unique, the brand synergy is not outstanding.
Bob Buckish
In terms of membership fees, advertising revenue, DTC business, etc., the company will have billions of dollars in revenue growth. The two companies also hope that the synergy will save the company 500 million dollars in capital and bring additional Strategic benefits. Although not detailed, some insiders of the company said that cost coordination mainly corresponds to the coordination of back-office services, perhaps by integrating legal, fiscal, government relations, human resources, communications and technology services; the company also stressed that it will not target Cost savings on investment and marketing.
Some analysts believe that in terms of content promotion, CBS can also launch temporary channels on Pluto TV to help activate the idle content library. On the positive side, there are views that CBS Viacom’s profitability will be It is roughly equivalent to NBCUniversal, whose content expenditure in 2019 is expected to be 130-15 billion US dollars, almost the same as Warner Media.
The combination of external authorization and original IP
In elaborating on the streaming media strategy, Bakish said that in the face of the general trend of the migration of consumer groups to online streaming media, their digital businesses mainly rely on the development of their own streaming media platforms and reach content cooperation with third-party streaming media platforms. Two aspects of the system are developed, which is different from the SVOD model as the core platform for content control and exclusive broadcast rights. Viacom CBS under the integration of SVOD and AVOD will “select external authorization and third-party platform integration “As one of the feasible strategies, we are reducing the company’s overall financial risk through a series of IP licensing and joint trading transactions.
Recent deals include: Paramount Pictures enters into a licensing agreement with Netflix to produce a sequel to its movie IP, Beverly Hills Super Police; Nickelodeon reaches a licensing agreement with Netflix for film and television content; comedy Center of MingStar participates in the production of mobile short video streaming platform Quibi.
Beverly Hills Super Police Series
Sale Redstone, the company ’s vice president, asserts: “20% to 25% of Netflix ’s content can be outsourced to ViacomCBS,” and believes that the broader the company can bring the content, the more it can develop The size and the sum of its parts.
“Take Nick International Children ’s Channel as an example, 40% of the audience between the ages of 2 and 11 now know the brand, but 60% of the audience is not covered. If differentiated content is created, it will be on Netflix Waiting for the platform to broadcast will help attract users back to our digital and video platforms. “This strategy is also regarded by Redstone as the best way to maximize the value of content and develop brands around the world.
For which content IP flows internally and which is delivered through third-party platforms, Buckish also revealed some tendencies, he pointed out that the company uses a “three-part framework” to complete Viacom’s decision-making and Viacom- The development of CBS:
First, it is necessary to see the direct economic consequences of a decision, considering the economic value of authorizing an IP to a third party for a period of time under the current market environment, and how this value affects the company’s entire financial plan. Implementation.
Second, the company also has strategic considerations. The main consideration is to allow IP to release the potential of other values, which may include putting IP on other platforms to help the platform ’s growth and value creation. It may also include using this An IP drives the value of other businesses, for example, leveraging the rising popularity of IP to stimulate derivatives, entertainment, or potential downstream film adaptation businesses.
Finally, consider the continued cooperation. Specifically, an IP can deeply influence the broader relationships with partners, which are usually at the issue level, but in some cases, it may also be at other levels, including creative space.
04. Two highlights worthy of attention after the merger
AVOD sample: Pluto TV
In the streaming warfare where SVOD service is leading, the AVOD model is often ignored, but it also highlights huge potential and opportunities. Typical products are Pluto TV, which we have analyzed before.
AVOD-based Pluto TV has three main features:
1. Focusing on digital linear services, there are more than a hundred channels, covering licensed videos from Warner Bros., Lions Gate, etc., as well as the younger generation of financial news brand Cheddar, and the satirical news brand “The Onion” And other relatively independent brand content.
2. On-demand content is supplementary: On-demand content library has more than 5000 hours of content, covering multiple types of news, sports, and entertainment.
3. Large-screen terminal penetration is better: Before the acquisition, Pluto TV, with digital linear channels as its highlights, has occupied a certain share in home content consumption through extensive cooperation with multiple smart TV manufacturers.
Viacom has started several months after its acquisition of Pluto TV, its “Flagship Content Brand” Comedy Center, MTV Music TV Network, Black Entertainment Channel BET, Nick Kids TV Channel, Nick Jr. , Spike Channel (Paramount Television Network) and other major TV channels migrate to Pluto TV.
Pluto TV has also added vertical categories with prominent themes, such as “Comed Center Talk Show”, “MTV Dating”, “MTV Teen” Channel, “Paramount Movie” Channel, and “Spike Outdoor” Channels, hoping to attract the attention of advertisers. In addition, Viacom has set up several temporary channels to release multiple episodes of TV content at one time, which is convenient for viewers.
According to foreign media reports, Pluto TV ’s monthly active users in the United States have increased by 70% to 20 million since the acquisition, and 43 new channels have been launched, of which 24 are from Via Comm ’s brand; Viacom ’s advertising-based Pluto TV boosts Viacom ’s first full-year ad revenue growth in six years. In the fourth quarter of last year, PlutoTV had a total of 3500 brand advertisers. First profit,
In the financial report, CEO Buckish and outgoing CFO Wade Davis mentioned the strategy and financial growth prospects of Pluto TV, which will mainly focus on its ad mode, Buckish said , Pluto TV has created a huge digital advertising library for the company, with domestic advertising sales alone exceeding $ 1 billion.
He believes that Viacom ’s 6% ad revenue this quarterAs part of its growth, Pluto TV contributed significantly to the company ’s increase in the number of advertisers, helping the company ’s Advanced Marketing Solutions (AWS) unit sales increase by 76% to $ 604 million.
Research from Digital TV Research shows that global AVOD distribution revenue will nearly triple from US $ 21.9 billion in 2018 to 2024 and is expected to reach approximately US $ 56 billion; worldwide AVOD revenue in 2019 will exceed US $ 26.7 billion, of which The Asia-Pacific region has the highest concentration of US $ 13.2 billion, and North American AVOD revenue will grow from US $ 6.1 billion in 2018 to nearly US $ 7.7 billion this year. By 2024, the North American AVOD platform will generate $ 20.3 billion in revenue.
It can be seen that while other platforms are doing their best to win subscribers, AVOD uses user viewing data to attract a large number of advertisers. In addition, in overseas regions where pay TV still occupies a strong position, the AVOD model is more likely to open Market situation. In the trend of subscriber growth becoming saturated and streaming media subscription costs all the way, developing AVOD is a good differentiation strategy. The development of a comprehensive model is also reflected in a single service. Viacom said that it plans to add paid subscriptions to Pluto TV. mode.
Digital strategy: VDS
Viacom Digital Studio (VDS) is the cornerstone of the company ’s overall digital strategy. Although the company ’s digital business revenue is progressing a small part of the TV business revenue, VDS has not been profitable due to the continued construction of digital business, but Viacom Digital business has made significant progress.
Although it lags behind Warner Media, Disney, and Comcast / NBC Global, in order to increase growth potential, VDS has formed a diversified investment portfolio internally and constructed a diversified source of income, including last year Acquired digital content studio Awesomeness from Verizon, NBC Universal, and Hearst, as well as offline activity businesses related to brand content such as VidCon and SnowGlobe Music Festival, and MCN agencies such as WhoSay.
Among them, Vidcon, which was acquired by Viacom in 2018, has the most prominent influence. In 2019, the total attendance of Vidcon events will increase to more than 4 million, and has expanded from the United States to Australia, London, Multiple international markets in Mexico, Singapore and the Middle East.
Kelly Day, president of VDS, believes that the key to the company ’s digital business is to have multiple sources of revenue, including online advertising, branded content, live events, content licensing, and derivative products. For companies monetizing digital content, they all have to go through a hurdle. “There is no magic bullet for building a profitable digital media business.”
The acquisition of the new studio not only enhances the hematopoietic capacity of original content, has a rich age range for audiences, but also adds many platform partners to the parent company. Awesomeness, in addition to YouTube, Snapchat, and Facebook’s upstream content, Hulu’s content production partner.
For Viacom, VDS is also exploring the “how the cable TV network responds to digitalization”. In order to realize the value regeneration of cable TV content on social networks and digital platforms, VDS has gradually formed a methodology. The contents of MTV, Comedy Center, and Nick Children ’s Channel are increasingly exposed on the online platform. VDS also tried to replicate this model internationally. In August 2018, Viacom International Digital Studio was launched, with 52 International offices collaborate to produce content in 17 different languages.
04. After the merger: market forecast & potential synergy
After the merger, the company ’s leadership has adjusted accordingly. Viacom ’s CEO Bob Bakish will become the group ’s president and CEO; CBS ’s acting CEO Joseph Ianillo (Joseph Ianillo) Ianniello) will serve as chairman and CEO of the company’s CBS; Viacom’s former CFO, Wadw Davis, is about to leave; and Paramount Pictures CEO and Chairman Jim Ginably Jim Gianopulos and production president Elizabeth Raposo will also remain in office.
There are opinions in the market that compared with other streaming media companies, even if CBS merges with Viacom, its size may be quite small. The company needs to speed up the purchase of content or continue to expand the scale in order to compete in the streaming media. Won the ranking.
The market has emerged with opposing views on whether it is able to fund acquisitions after the merger.
Analyst forecast, previously CLionsgate and its Starz channel, which BS is trying to acquire, may become a priority object; there are also views that AMC Television Network, MGM, and even Murdoch ’s “thinner” Fox Group may be potential acquisition targets. Viacom has experience in acquiring international television businesses (such as the acquisition of Channel5 in the UK and Telefe in Argentina), and the new company will seek overseas growth opportunities. Perhaps the target of purchases and acquisitions will also be overseas assets.
In terms of synergy, Viacom CFO Bakish said on the conference call that the revenue synergy mainly focuses on the following four aspects:
1. Coordination of distribution and distribution. After the integration, the new company’s content in the prime time of cable TV will reach 22%, but the fee charged currently only reaches 11%, so there is room for improvement.
2. The advertising revenue synergy of the United States will further maintain the leading position of advertising in the linear market, and the company’s advanced marketing platform (AWS) will also play a role.
3. Content licensing collaboration will combine the company ’s many studios to produce TV content for the Hollywood company, and establish a single point of contact around bundled services, enabling it to account for more of the global buyer ’s budget.
4. Streaming media collaboration. Although CBS and Viacom are slightly different, the combination of complementary content and platforms can enhance the comprehensive strength of the product and create a free and paid streaming media ecosystem, but it is worth noting that Because the brand is relatively unique, the brand synergy is not outstanding.
Bob Buckish
In terms of membership fees, advertising revenue, DTC business, etc., the company will have billions of dollars in revenue growth. The two companies also hope that the synergy will save the company 500 million dollars in capital and bring additional Strategic benefits. Although not detailed, some insiders of the company said that cost coordination mainly corresponds to the coordination of back-office services, perhaps by integrating legal, fiscal, government relations, human resources, communications and technology services; the company also stressed that it will not target Cost savings on investment and marketing.
Some analysts believe that in terms of content promotion, CBS can also launch temporary channels on Pluto TV to help activate the idle content library. On the positive side, there are views that CBS Viacom’s profitability will be It is roughly equivalent to NBCUniversal, whose content expenditure in 2019 is expected to be 130-15 billion US dollars, almost the same as Warner Media.
After the merger, the company ’s leadership has adjusted accordingly. Viacom ’s CEO Bob Bakish will become the group ’s president and CEO; CBS ’s acting CEO Joseph Ianillo (Joseph Ianillo) Ianniello) will serve as chairman and CEO of the company’s CBS; Viacom’s former CFO, Wadw Davis, is about to leave; and Paramount Pictures CEO and Chairman Jim Ginably Jim Gianopulos and production president Elizabeth Raposo will also remain in office.
There are opinions in the market that compared with other streaming media companies, even if CBS merges with Viacom, its size may be quite small. The company needs to speed up the purchase of content or continue to expand the scale in order to compete in the streaming media. Won the ranking.
The market has emerged with opposing views on whether it is able to fund acquisitions after the merger.
Analyst forecast, previously CLionsgate and its Starz channel, which BS is trying to acquire, may become a priority object; there are also views that AMC Television Network, MGM, and even Murdoch ’s “thinner” Fox Group may be potential acquisition targets. Viacom has experience in acquiring international television businesses (such as the acquisition of Channel5 in the UK and Telefe in Argentina), and the new company will seek overseas growth opportunities. Perhaps the target of purchases and acquisitions will also be overseas assets.
In terms of synergy, Viacom CFO Bakish said on the conference call that the revenue synergy mainly focuses on the following four aspects:
1. Coordination of distribution and distribution. After the integration, the new company’s content in the prime time of cable TV will reach 22%, but the fee charged currently only reaches 11%, so there is room for improvement.
2. The advertising revenue synergy of the United States will further maintain the leading position of advertising in the linear market, and the company’s advanced marketing platform (AWS) will also play a role.
3. Content licensing collaboration will combine the company ’s many studios to produce TV content for the Hollywood company, and establish a single point of contact around bundled services, enabling it to account for more of the global buyer ’s budget.
4. Streaming media collaboration. Although CBS and Viacom are slightly different, the combination of complementary content and platforms can enhance the comprehensive strength of the product and create a free and paid streaming media ecosystem, but it is worth noting that Because the brand is relatively unique, the brand synergy is not outstanding.
Bob Buckish
In terms of membership fees, advertising revenue, DTC business, etc., the company will have billions of dollars in revenue growth. The two companies also hope that the synergy will save the company 500 million dollars in capital and bring additional Strategic benefits. Although not detailed, some insiders of the company said that cost coordination mainly corresponds to the coordination of back-office services, perhaps by integrating legal, fiscal, government relations, human resources, communications and technology services; the company also stressed that it will not target Cost savings on investment and marketing.
Some analysts believe that in terms of content promotion, CBS can also launch temporary channels on Pluto TV to help activate the idle content library. On the positive side, there are views that CBS Viacom’s profitability will be It is roughly equivalent to NBCUniversal, whose content expenditure in 2019 is expected to be 130-15 billion US dollars, almost the same as Warner Media.