Ofcom has found Amazon Prime Video in breach of its UK on-demand rules after a customer renting Diary of a Wimpy Kid (rated PG by the British Board of Film Classification) was served a different title, Love & Other Drugs (15), containing strong sexual content.

The regulator said the incident raised protection concerns for under-18s under ODPS Rule 12, which requires on-demand providers to take appropriate measures so specially restricted material is not normally seen or heard by children. 

According to Ofcom, the mix-up was caused by a metadata error from a content partner, which supplied both films with the same unique identifier. Amazon said its systems flagged the clash, but it was manually overridden in error. The platform said the issue was escalated and fixed in under 48 hours, and it has since tightened processes and pushed partners to ensure unique identifiers are used across catalogues.

Ofcom noted the title was rented/paid-for content (rather than included in Prime), and rentals are not available by default in children’s profiles. However, it said the error still risked exposing younger children because parents and carers would reasonably select a PG family film for unaccompanied viewing.

Amazon said 122 customers attempted to access Diary of a Wimpy Kid during the period affected. Ofcom also criticised the speed of response when potential harm is ongoing, while acknowledging Amazon’s remedial steps. 

The problem had surfaced publicly earlier in November when customer reports described the wrong film playing when selecting Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Using ContentArmor to identify the origin of leaks and take disruptive counter measures, Pathé will safeguard its investment in thousands of movies, including those in 4K ultra-high definition (UHD), across all devices while complying with content owner agreements.

Pathé chose ContentArmor because it has the seal of approval from Hollywood studios, as well as featuring the integration flexibility and cost effectiveness that Pathé requires. Unlike other solutions that encode the content multiple times to insert the watermark, ContentArmor only encodes the content once, reducing both the complexity and cost of securing premium 4K UHD content. In addition, because it is a server-side solution, it supports the highest security standards for session-based watermarking, ensuring robust protection for Pathé’s assets.

Pathé Home is a Transactional VOD (TVOD) service that gives consumers in France the ability to buy or rent thousands of movies from European and international studios without subscriptions or advertisements.

Ivar van der Burg, Head of Platform & Video at Pathé, said, “After evaluating the watermarking options available, we chose to partner with Synamedia because ContentArmor ensures we maintain the high levels of video quality that our users associate with our brand, as well as keeping a tight lid on encoding costs. Safeguarding the content of our partners is crucial for Pathé, and with ContentArmor, we are able to embed imperceptible watermarks in our content, identify the individual accounts ounauthorised users and malicious actors, and take action accordingly.”

Alain Durand, Senior Director at Synamedia, added, “We are seeing a growing demand for forensic watermarking driven by the Hollywood studios who are looking for proven and effective ways to protect the value of their assets. We are thrilled to collaborate with Pathé Home, a movie industry pioneer since the 19th century, to help them offer their viewers a premium experience on their streaming platform.”

According to a story on German media website DWDL.de the pubcaster will relaunch the platform on March 18, which includes renaming the platform. ZDF director Norbert Himmler emphasised the importance of online distribution for the broadcaster’s content.

As part of the relaunch, the name ZDF Mediathek will gradually be phased out, aiming to modernize ZDF’s image and transform it into a streaming platform similar to Amazon or Netflix. The Mediathek had previously been more of a companion to broadcasts, but now it will focus on streaming, with phrases like “Now streaming on ZDF” instead of “Available now in the ZDF Mediathek.”

The website zdf.de will also see changes, moving away from programme-specific references. Tina Kuscher, who leads the digital products and automation department at ZDF, mentioned that younger users found traditional TV references confusing, highlighting the shift from linear TV to streaming.

The relaunch will affect both the frontend and backend of the platform, changing both what users see and the underlying infrastructure.

The most relevant growth drivers are subscription and advertising revenues in the audio and video streaming sector. Radio advertising and teleshopping are forecast to see at least single-digit percentage revenue growth, while subscription and advertising revenues in television are expected to remain at around the previous year’s level. These are the findings of the 2023 statistics and 2024 forecast for the audio and audiovisual media market in Germany which commercial broadcasters’ industry association VAUNET presented in Berlin today.

According to the forecast, audio and audiovisual advertising revenues in Germany will increase by around 4.6% in 2024 as a whole and are expected to total €6.2 billion (2023: €5.9 billion). For the audio advertising segment, VAUNET forecasts an increase in net sales of 3.1% to around €831 million for 2024 as a whole (2023: €806 million). Revenue growth of 2% to around €713 million is expected for radio advertising (2023: €699 million) and double-digit revenue growth of 10% to €118 million is expected for streaming audio advertising (2023: €107 million).

For the year as a whole, the association expects net advertising revenue in the TV/video segment to increase by 4.8% to around €5.3 billion (2023: €5.1 billion). Television advertising is expected to remain stable at the previous year’s level of €3.6 billion, while double-digit growth of 17% to around €1.7 billion (2023: €1.4 billion) is once again expected for streaming video advertising.

According to the forecast, revenue from paid content is expected to increase by 5.0% to €7.5 billion in 2024 (2023: €7.2 billion). The pay-TV segment is expected to remain stable at the previous year’s level of €2.2 billion. By contrast, the paid video-on-demand segment will continue to grow at a double-digit rate of 10 % to around €3.4 billion (2023: €3.1 billion) and revenues from paid audio by 5% to around €1.9 billion (2023: €1.8 billion). Teleshopping is expected to see slight revenue growth of 1% to around €2.3 billion (2023: €2.3 billion).

The agreement with Fox Entertainment Global will bring hundreds of TV movies to wedotv services in the UK, DACH, Italy, the Nordics and Benelux countries. Included in the package are a number of Christmas-themed films, in time for the holiday season, and titles like House of Versace, Pop Star, Twist of Fate, and The Watcher, among others.

In addition, wedotv has invested in over 1,000 hours of content for the DACH region, including crime documentaries from ZDF Studios, movies from New Regency, 12 Bud Spencer titles from Dolphin Medien, films from One Gate (Studio Hamburg), and the true crime series Crime Scene Solvers.

wedotv has also acquired 400 hours of movies from Icon Productions for its channels operating in the UK and 100 hours of movies from Reel One for the UK, Italy and the DACH region.

“In order to compete with some of the established subscription and free services, we recognise that greatly expanding our distribution is only part of an effective streaming business strategy. It is vital that we invest in programming. The life blood of any channel business, whether it’s streaming or broadcast or delivered through a hybrid technology, is a quality user experience where the viewers stay over long viewing periods and see multiple advertising breaks,” said Chris Sharp, Co-CEO of wedotv. “We are grateful to have such strong relationships with the top studios and distributors of content throughout Europe.”

The acquired titles will be included on wedotv’s AVOD platform according to the relevant region, as well as on its FAST Channels wedotv BIG stories and wedotv movies.

In exchange, wedotv sports will cover the MotoGP from DF1 as part of its overall content portfolio on wedotv sports. In addition, wedotv sports has acquired the rights for the Asian Tour of Golf and the 52 Super Series for its FAST Channel and the wedotv AVOD platform in Germany.

DF1 launched on 1 January 2024 as a new free-TV channel and is available to 35 million homes via cable, IPTV, streaming platforms, and as a livestream at www.df1.de. As part of its programming offering, including sports, the channel will take a feed of wedotv sports’ German live coverage of the international sailing competition SailGP that features high-performance F50 catamarans.

“SailGP is thrilling and colourful to watch and we’re delighted to join forces with DF1 to bring the competition to more viewers in Germany,” said Philipp Rotermund, Co-CEO of wedotv. “This is a unique partnership that we hope will set the stage for more of its kind that can be mutually beneficial for TV brands like wedotv sports and DF1, as well as for consumers.”

wedotv has also gained access to the MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing, via its relationship with DF1. The first German event in the current season will take place on the Sachsenring in from the 5-7 July 2024. In addition, wedotv sports will also add the Asian Tour of Golf, the principal men’s professional golf tournament in Asia, and the 52 Super Series, an annual international sailing series for TP52 yachts, which features all major America’s Cup crews.

Currently, wedotv sports is available as a FAST Channel on Zattoo, waipu.tv, LG, TCL, Joyn, DNS.NET, Salt, Teleboy, YalloTV and VIDAA in the German-speaking territories. In addition to the newly added sports programming, the channel features major German and international horse races and sailing events live. wedotv sports also has weekly programmes with highlights from football, Formula 1, e-sports, martial arts, and other sports, as well as documentaries on sports legends such as Tiger Woods, David Beckham, and Michael Schumacher.

All Sport events are also available on the wedotv AVOD platform live and on demand.

At the ANGA COM trade fair, which will take place in Cologne from 14 to 16 May 2024, the subsidiary M7 Deutschland will present its expanded portfolio of products and innovations at its stand in hall 7 (stand no. A10), including the Subscription-Video-on-Demand (SVOD) service, which network operators can now offer their customers.

With the SVOD product, partners can enhance their service portfolio and differentiate themselves from competitors, as they do not simply market the SVOD service of a US player, but offer an independent SVOD service under their own brand, for which they keep the customer relationship, according to M7 Deutschland, adding that this allows network operators to tap into new sources of revenue, strengthen customer relationships and make their portfolio even more attractive.

Canal+ Group is already present with SVOD services in Austria and French-speaking Switzerland, offering viewers exclusive original productions from Europe as well as international series and movies.

“We will be at ANGA COM again this year with our entire team and look forward to exchanging ideas with customers, partners and market players, showing the latest products and innovations that Canal+ Group offers not only in Germany, but in the entire German-speaking region (DACH). From this year onwards, we will be focusing much more strongly on this strategic approach,” said Marco Hellberg, Managing Director of M7 Deutschland.

Paul Wilson, Managing Director of Canal+ Austria, added: “In Austria, Canal+ launched an SVOD service in March 2022, which is very popular with audiences, offering first-class European film and series productions as well as international highlights from Hollywood. We are delighted to be able to contribute our experience to the launch of this successful product in Germany.”

“In French-speaking Switzerland, Canal+ distributes an all-in-one offer including the best of recent movies, TV shows and sports content through linear channels and SVOD aggregation (our own and third-party). In particular, we are aggregating Apple TV+, Paramount+ and HBO SVOD services, in addition to our Canal+ and Cine+ SVOD services. And in 2024, thanks to the synergies within the Canal+ Group and the DACH region, we will also launch a new SVOD offer in German-speaking Switzerland. We look forward to exchanging ideas with our partners and our customers at ANGA COM in Cologne,” said Myriam Rakib, Managing Director of Canal+ Switzerland.

As part of the ANGA COM congress programme, Marco Hellberg will speak on 15 May on the panel “Falling Market Prices, rising Content Costs: How can Television remain profitable for Network Operators?” (13:00-14:00 CEST, room 3) on new revenue streams and monetization opportunities for network operators in the changing competitive environment. Fatih Yildiz, Head of Channel Management at M7 Deutschland, will present the company’s white-label SVOD offerings for network operators on 14 May on the panel “The Business of Media Distribution: Monetisation models to grow your business” (14:30-15:30 CEST, Innovation Stage, hall 7).

The FAST Channel, called wedo amor, will be available first on Sling Freestream as part of wedotv’s entry into the US market. The schedule features telenovelas sourced from producer and distributor Big Media, which represents a library of over 7,000 hours of series from RCTV International.

The lineup includes well-known titles such as Leonela, Cristal, La Dama de Rosa, Kassandra, Mi Gorda Bella, Mis Tres Hermanas, La Mujer de Judas, Angelica Pecado and Juana La Virgen.

“Telenovelas practically invented the concept of binge watching. They have dedicated fans who will spend hours watching their favourite characters go through trials and triumphs, loss and love,” said Chris Sharp, Co-CEO of wedotv. “The initial response to wedo amor has been strong and we’re delighted to launch this in the US with Sling Freestream and Local Now.”

Meanwhile, as part of wedotv’s US debut, FAST Channel wedo big stories has launched on satellite operator Intelsat’s Galaxy 19 satellite, Sling Freestream and Allen Media Group’s Local Now. In addition, AVOD platform wedotv is now available on Comcast Xfinity set-top boxes as well as in all major app stores in the US.

“Last year, we began our international rollout across Europe with a focus on providing each market with localised versions of our channels and securing distribution on a wide variety of platforms and apps. It’s an approach that has worked for our distribution partners as well as our advertisers,” said Philipp Rotermund, Co-CEO of wedotv. “The US is a challenging market due to its size and diversity, but with these channels we feel we are able to serve prominent audience sectors with offerings that are both high quality and free to view.”

The service, which is available to 1&1 broadband customers from now on, covers both free content as well as premium content for rent or buy. Offered together with the 1&1 IPTV service, 1&1 Cinema contains more than 6,000 titles, from recent blockbusters to classic movies.

To enable the service, Zattoo has integrated Rakuten TV’s TVOD (Transactional Video-on-Demand) into the Zattoo-developed white label TV platform of 1&1. The partnership with Rakuten TV enables Zattoo to further expand its TV-as-a-Service offering for B2B customers as a “one-stop shop” including third-party apps for premium video content.

“The successful integration of Rakuten TV into our white-label TV platform shows once more that Zattoo, as an enabler, can take the TV subscriber experience at large TV providers like 1&1 in Germany to the next level,” said Jörg Meyer, Chief Commercial Officer at Zattoo.

Jorge del Puerto, Europe Head of Distribution and Partnerships at Rakuten TV, added: “Our strategy is to expand our reach in Europe to make entertainment accessible to our users also via their preferred operators. This partnership with 1&1 represents a new step in our company strategy of collaborating with the best telecom companies across Europe. Thanks to Zattoo, we are thrilled to extend the Rakuten TV TVOD service and more services like AVOD or FAST Channels to other telecom companies using their white label platform.”

At least one SVOD service is accessed multiple times a month by 43% of Czechs aged 15-69.

This, according to the latest Atmedia Index results, covering Q2 and 3 this year, amounts to 2.8 million people. Meanwhile, a regular survey conducted by Atmedia, which represents TV channels, consistently shows that Czech viewers commonly use multiple SVOD services at the same time, averaging two services per user. However, it is important to note that not everyone actually subscribes to all streaming services used.

According to Pavel Müller, Atmedia’s head of research & marketing, “When discussing the 2.8 million Czech viewers who, on average, use two paid VOD services, we’re actually referring to approximately 6.5 million active accounts or logins. Yet, about one-fifth of these do belong to the shared accounts, indicating that users share them with family members or friends. Some do chip in for the shared account access, while others opt not to contribute”.

He further adds that the proportion of shared accounts varies across specific paid VOD services, ranging from 18% to 24% for the most frequently used ones.

According to the Atmedia Index survey findings for Q2 and 3 this year, users who directly subscribe to VOD service providers spend an average of CZK333 (€13.7 ) a month. When it comes to average monthly subscription fees, Netflix is the priciest, with other widely used paid VOD services showing comparable average monthly fees.

Netflix has continuously secured its leading position as the most popular paid VOD service on the Czech market, chosen by more than two-thirds of streaming service users. According to the insights of the Atmedia Index, the top five SVOD services also feature Voyo, HBO Max, Disney+, and Prima+.

Müller added: “Since the beginning of 2023, the ranking of the most used paid VOD services has remained quite consistent. It solidified following the entry of Disney+ in June 2022, and the introduction of Prima’s streaming service, Prima+, in February 2023. Both platforms quickly established themselves within the top five streaming services on the Czech market”. He additionally observed that recent newcomers such as SkyShowtime or Cana+ have not led to a substantial reshuffling in the rankings.

As revealed by the Atmedia Index survey results, Czech viewers are drawn to SVOD services for several reasons, calling attention to original content as being a major factor which attracts viewers to specific streaming services. As per the survey findings, users predominantly opt for specific VOD services because they wish to access particular shows, be it movies or series. Another motivation is the capability to select video content based on their current mood, coupled with the extensive variety of available video content.

Müller continued: “While paid VOD services do provide users with benefits such as the ad-free viewing and the flexibility to watch content at any time and place, the primary motivation for using streaming services remains the content itself,” asserts Pavel Müller. He also points out that there are differences in perceived benefits among various paid VOD services. “For instance, local VOD services do provide an additional benefit of accessing video content before it becomes available on TV”.

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