BusinessAnalysis

Cable television ‘on the edge of a precipice’ in US as tennis stars are forced to improvise

Planet Business: Pre-Swift concert film hits, Qantas’s under-fire chairman, and the ascent of Novo Nordisk

Customers of cable provider Spectrum in New York and elsewhere in the US had to find alternative methods of watching the US Open, including a prime-time quarterfinal face-off between Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe. Photograph: Corey Sipkin/AFP

Laura Slattery's face
Laura Slattery
Sat Sep 9 2023 - 06:30

Image of the week: Advantage internet

Frances Tiafoe versus Ben Shelton in the US Open quarterfinal was such a popcorn tennis match on paper that Daniil Medvedev, a former champion in the other half of the draw, told journalists he was keen to watch it from his New York hotel room.

Alas, owing to a colossal dispute between Charter, the parent company of cable service Spectrum, and Disney, owner of US rights holder ESPN, this hasn’t been an option since August 31st – or the second round in tennis terms.

“I guess in a lot of hotels, they have Spectrum, so I cannot watch it on TV anymore. I don’t know if it’s legal or illegal, but I have to find a way because I cannot watch it on TV, so I go on internet, and probably this, how you call it, pirate website or something, so I watch tennis there. I have no other choice,” Medvedev cheerily admitted.

Disney’s channels went dark on Spectrum, which has almost 15 million subscribers in the US, because the two companies were unable to agree a new carriage deal, with the row hinging on Disney’s resistance to Charter’s desire to offer its pay-TV customers Disney’s streaming services at no extra cost to stave off cord-cutting.

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While Shelton won the match, Disney and Charter remained stuck on deuce, with Charter, the second-biggest US cable company, indicating it will move on from its traditional video business if no “collaborative” model can be found. “We’re on the edge of a precipice,” declared Charter chief executive Chris Winfrey.

It’s a state of being that may well be familiar to Medvedev and several other players who have entertained the Flushing Meadows crowd over the past fortnight.

In numbers: Weighty gains

1,310.80 kr

Monday’s stock market closing price in Danish kroner for Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company behind weight-loss drug Wegovy. Its market capitalisation now exceeds the gross domestic product of Denmark.

1

Where the Danish pharma giant, which also makes Ozempic, now sits in the list of Europe’s most valuable companies, with the launch of Wegovy on a limited basis in England helping it overtake luxury goods group LVMH.

$428 billion

Valuation of the company based on Monday’s closing price. Further gains were recorded the next day, making the ascent of Novo Nordisk one of the big stories of 2023 – though it’s no Nvidia, obviously.

Getting to know: Richard Goyder

With the departure steps arriving two months earlier than scheduled for former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce amid a tailback of disputes and scandals, the Australian media has now turned their considerable heat up on chairman Richard Goyder, dubbed Joyce’s “chief enabler” by the Australian Financial Review.

“I think it’s a time for humility, and I think you’ll see plenty of that as well,” Goyder ventured to a somewhat sceptical reception.

From Western Australia, the business veteran is also chairman of the AFL, the governing body for Australian rules football, and Woodside, an oil and gas company headquartered in Perth, with observers noting this makes his in-tray a loaded one even before the task of restoring public confidence in Qantas can begin.

The attention on the chairman is good news for new chief executive Vanessa Hudson, who should probably enjoy her corporate honeymoon while she can before the ire of Qantas’s critics is inevitably trained in her direction.

The list: Concert film hits

Although its October release is sadly confined to the US, Canada and Mexico, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is on track to smash all-time box office records for concert films as well as deliver a strike-era hit for AMC, the cinema exhibitor with which Swift struck a direct deal. So which concert film hits will the singer be overtaking?

  • Justin Bieber: Subtitled Never Say Never, this 3-D concert film followed the Canadian pop singer as he prepared to play Madison Square Garden and grossed $99 million worldwide in 2011. Swift is now tipped to exceed $100 million in North America in her film’s opening weekend alone.
  • Michael Jackson: The 2009 documentary This Is It appears on some concert film charts, but not others – it depicts rehearsals for a series of performances that were cancelled because Jackson died shortly before they were due to begin. The film grossed $72 million in the US.
  • Miley Cyrus: In 2008, Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds, the singer and her Disney sitcom alter ego amassed worldwide box office receipts of about $71 million.
  • One Direction: The 2013 concert film showed the boy band, formed on The X Factor, preparing for and performing on their world tour. It was a hit, with a worldwide box office of $68 million. Time for a sequel, Harry Styles?
  • Katy Perry: The Firework and Roar singer’s Part of Me concert film raked in $33 million. Like Bieber’s entry to the canon, the Perry documentary was released in 3D – something Swift will not be bothering with, thank you very much.
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