Cable Forum - View Single Post - Liberty's CFO predicts the future media-telecoms landscape in Europe

1andrew1 · 23-03-2015, 01:12

Charlie Bracken, Liberty Global's Chief Financial Officer and former Goldman Sachs banker predicts that Europe’s telecoms market will be dominated by three to four companies within two decades. (He cites Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Liberty Global and possibly France’s Altice.) This looks quite sensible to me and I can see Deutsche Telekom acquiring or merging with national incumbents like Orange in France and BT in the UK. Surprised that Sky is not in that list but Bracken has his thoughts about this company. I would have expected Altice to be acquired by Vodafone or even Liberty, it's quite small.
Mr Bracken suggested that BT would be acquired, while Sky would focus on content. Sky would face tough competition for content from Amazon and Netflix and its dependence on satellite technology would cause it to get into trouble over the next five to ten years. Can anyone see Netflix or Amazon bidding for sports rights?
Liberty is keen to distribute ITV’s best programmes across Europe, but sees the British broadcaster as too expensive to buy. This makes sense to me but what's to prevent ITV doing it on its own and launching an HBO Now type service?

23-03-2015, 01:12	#1
1andrew1 cf.mega poster Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 15,598	Liberty's CFO predicts the future media-telecoms landscape in Europe Charlie Bracken, Liberty Global's Chief Financial Officer and former Goldman Sachs banker predicts that Europe’s telecoms market will be dominated by three to four companies within two decades. (He cites Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Liberty Global and possibly France’s Altice.) This looks quite sensible to me and I can see Deutsche Telekom acquiring or merging with national incumbents like Orange in France and BT in the UK. Surprised that Sky is not in that list but Bracken has his thoughts about this company. I would have expected Altice to be acquired by Vodafone or even Liberty, it's quite small. Mr Bracken suggested that BT would be acquired, while Sky would focus on content. Sky would face tough competition for content from Amazon and Netflix and its dependence on satellite technology would cause it to get into trouble over the next five to ten years. Can anyone see Netflix or Amazon bidding for sports rights? Liberty is keen to distribute ITV’s best programmes across Europe, but sees the British broadcaster as too expensive to buy. This makes sense to me but what's to prevent ITV doing it on its own and launching an HBO Now type service? http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a20527f4-c...44feab7de.html (registration required)