TV 2 at digital eye level
Part of Egmont’s digital strategy is concerned with ensuring our products are available in digital stores. Sumo has given TV 2 Norway direct market access and the opportunity for dialogue with consumer’s.
Helge Høibraaten, director of TV 2 Sumo, is a well-travelled man. He recently completed a tour running from the USA to Copenhagen, London and Amsterdam to present TV 2 Sumo’s platform and business model. He is in demand as a speaker because few companies can match TV 2 Sumo’s ability to make money from online content. At the same time TV 2 Sumo is a good example of how TV 2 Norway has secured direct market access and the opportunity for dialogue with consumers. Hardcopy met Høibraaten at a Copenhagen hotel the day before yet another conference appearance.
‘A lot of companies work with digital strategies and are looking for the best business model. We have experimented with various solutions over the past eight years and, having now built up a solid business in our subscriptionbased customer relations, a great many people are interested in hearing about our solution,’ Høibraaten explains.
Short-term earnings are not the only determinant for choice of business model. ‘Micropayments for individual programmes used to be a good source of income for Sumo, but creating customer loyalty was tough,’ says Høibraaten.
Valuable guide role
Direct market access is important for TV 2 for several reasons: it lets the TV channel check prices and product mixes on its own and decide what to launch and when, thus enabling it to respond quickly to customer wishes.
Direct market access is important for TV 2 for several reasons: it lets the TV channel check prices and product mixes on its own and decide what to launch and when, thus enabling it to respond quickly to customer wishes.
Sumo has set up feedback mechanisms that help staff better understand customer wishes and put editorial teams in a better position to guide and inspire customers looking to get the most out of their subscriptions. Consequently, Sumo’s home page offers a ‘what’s hot’ feature, but all other pages also suggest new content for users to explore.
The Twitter website clearly shows how much Sumo’s service is appreciated: ‘Now I can ENJOY the next episode of Desperate Housewives on TV 2 SUMO... love it..... a one-year subscription is mine!’ one user writes, while another puts it frankly: ‘Comparing TV 2 Sumo with ViasatOnDemand is like comparing Norway and Niger.’
‘We can see that customers find our role as guide extremely valuable. Having control of what you want to see when is one thing. Receiving constant inspiration is quite another,’ explains Høibraaten, before going on to prepare for the next day’s presentation.
Whenever and wherever you like
TV 2 Sumo offers TV 2’s content to viewers on personal computers, Macs, mobile phones, Xbox and IPTV. Sumo is part of TV 2’s strategy to offer content ‘whenever and wherever you like’, the channel tagline.
Whenever and wherever you like
TV 2 Sumo offers TV 2’s content to viewers on personal computers, Macs, mobile phones, Xbox and IPTV. Sumo is part of TV 2’s strategy to offer content ‘whenever and wherever you like’, the channel tagline.
As well as offering content via Sumo, TV 2 collaborates with Norwegian broadband suppliers and electricity companies on content distribution. The aim is to get a ‘TV 2 button’ on as many TV remotes as possible.
On the content side, TV 2 is looking to secure unique rights to content that Norwegians are willing to pay for. This happened, for example, with the rights to the Premier League championship. TV 2 also launches new channels regularly, most recently the entertainment channel TV 2 Bliss.
Three quick ones about market access
answered by Rikke Crosby, Corporate Strategy and Development
Why is direct market access so important to Egmont?
‘Existing value chains are disintegrating, and both large distributors and technology suppliers are building their own platforms for selling and communicating direct with customers – Apples iTunes, for example. Securing market access for our products means we have to maintain a direct dialogue with our customers and preferably also establish direct sales channels.’
Will all Egmont compan ies hav e to establish their own digital store then?
‘No. In a number of cases having our own sales channels doesn’t pay because the competition is simply too great. In these cases we have to focus on developing our negotiating power so that we stand strong relative to the companies that own the direct customer relation.’
Can Egmont sell other companies’ products?
‘Definitely. Creating market access for others can generate good value, so it could easily make sense to build broad online shops stocked with both our and other companies’ products in areas where we currently have a big competitive advantage. We already do this in Denmark with kino.dk on the market for cinema ticket sales.’
Timeline - TV2
answered by Rikke Crosby, Corporate Strategy and Development
Why is direct market access so important to Egmont?
‘Existing value chains are disintegrating, and both large distributors and technology suppliers are building their own platforms for selling and communicating direct with customers – Apples iTunes, for example. Securing market access for our products means we have to maintain a direct dialogue with our customers and preferably also establish direct sales channels.’
Will all Egmont compan ies hav e to establish their own digital store then?
‘No. In a number of cases having our own sales channels doesn’t pay because the competition is simply too great. In these cases we have to focus on developing our negotiating power so that we stand strong relative to the companies that own the direct customer relation.’
Can Egmont sell other companies’ products?
‘Definitely. Creating market access for others can generate good value, so it could easily make sense to build broad online shops stocked with both our and other companies’ products in areas where we currently have a big competitive advantage. We already do this in Denmark with kino.dk on the market for cinema ticket sales.’
Timeline - TV2
1997 TV 2 launches news as streaming bites on the internet
2000 WebTV is TV 2’s first streaming content initiative
2002 Sells first subscription
2004 Launches mobile TV. Today TV 2’s apps rank no. 1 in sports and news on Norwegian iTunes
2005 Expands streaming to media centre and IPTV
2006 Launches the TV 2 Sumo brand
2007 TV 2 Sumo doubles revenue generated from the Tour de France by introducing interactivity to streaming content
2008 The Norwegian reality show Farmen attracts many viewers to Sumo, crippling the Norwegian internet
2009 TV 2 Sumo tries its luck with sole rights to the international match between Norway and Germany and launches HD streaming
2010 The time individual customers spend in Sumo’s universe is steadily increasing
2012 Egmont increases its ownership of TV 2 from 50 to 100% (see Egmont acquires the rest of Norwegian TV 2)
2012 Egmont increases its ownership of TV 2 from 50 to 100% (see Egmont acquires the rest of Norwegian TV 2)
