Local rivals say the on-demand powerhouse will struggle in Australia. It's about content rights – and they are all sewn up.
“When Netflix comes, it has phenomenal brand awareness already in this market,” said Shaun James, director of Foxtel's Presto subscription video on demand (SVOD) service. “But it will be an inferior local service because of the rights that currently sit with Seven, Nine, Ten, ABC and Foxtel. [Netflix] has looked at this market and seen that.”
That factor and the cost of content is why Hoyts shelved its planned streaming service, according to CEO Damian Keogh. He thinks the subscription streaming market will struggle to suport even two players, and that, as with pay TV, one provider will rise to power.
Who that might be remains to be seen. Find out how Telstra's Eric Kearley, Turner International's Gerhard Zeiler, IPG Mediabrands' Henry Tajer and OMD's Peter Horgan see the SVOD market shaping up in the all-new issue of AdNews. Subscribe in print here or get it much, much faster on your iPad.
On the topic of TV, see what former Aegis man turned Atomic 212 boss Jason Dooris has to say about the fate that awaits the old power structures, why TV needs a new buying model, how client contracts don't say anything about mark-ups and why “procurement is our friend”.
Meanwhile, as Qantas and Virgin emerge from one of the toughest years in Australian aviation history, the latter is unbowed. Virgin Australia's top marketer Mark Hassell tells Paul McIntyre why the time is right for a big budget brand campaign.
Another big bird that needs to make more money is Twitter. Dick Costolo's right hand man Adam Bain talks to Rosie Baker about Flight School, the social media platform's grand plan to show agencies how to use the platform, and ideally, put some client dollars into the feed.
On the subject of money, sport sucks up. That's because it delivers in spades for those that play a smart game. This issue's special report is sports marketing and sponsorship. It looks at the betting firm's strategies, digital rights, the shift to in-house media operations and how to navigate the cluttered sponsorship arena.
Getting away from the money, Candide McDonald asks top creatives to get it all off their chests. What didn't they sign up for? Some creative directors have a light hearted moan, other ECD's say man up, creatives have never had it so good. Others cite the shit-canning and bitchery as the root of all evil. Here what Havas creative director Chris Johnson had to say, along with M&C Saatchi's Ben Welsh, DDB's Toby Talbot, McCann's Dejan Rasic, Archibald Williams' Bram Williams and SapientNitro's Ralph Barnett think about life at the top.
GroupM's John Steedman talks innovation, a fortunate coincidence of timing, given that the holding group's very own innovation and tech-fest, called M:Lab, comes to town the week after next. “You can interact with the latest technological innovations and gain insights on how to respond to competition and trends,” Steady notes, adding ominously, “Now is not a time to be left behind.”
Elsewhere, Switch Digital's Lee Stephens has a word or two on WiFi explosions, Telstra's cunning plan and what that all means for video content, and by implication, video advertising on mobile devices not constrained by data limits.
Meanwhile, M&C Saatchi flak and one-tie AdNews editor Matt Porter grapples with a tricky Father's Day gift, as his wife buys him a massage – and offers to leave the house when the masseuse comes to him... On the same page, Cummins& Partners creative viceroy Alex Wadelton and his freelance awesome kid Roarke run the rule over classic ads to see whether “the real world” sees the same as “the advertising world” when it comes to classic ads.
There's loads of other stuff in the mag. Get it in three all good newsagents or sign up for print here or iPad here.
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