Gain Insight In To Australia's Entertainment And Media Markets

DUBLIN, Ireland--(Business Wire)--
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c86976) has announced the
addition of "2008 Australia -- Entertainment and Media Markets" to
their offering.

The Digital Media Market

Over the last two years the traditional media companies have well
and truly established themselves in the emerging digital media market.
While telcos tried to claim this territory, in the end they failed.
Interesting new developments can be expected following the initiative
taken by Lachlan Murdoch.

Seven has indicated it will launch a TiVo service and it has also
bought two telco companies. Fairfax media has grown from strength to
strength. It is obvious that key new developments will come from the
industry. In this report we cover Lachlan Murdoch, News Limited, PBL,
Seven, Yahoo!7, Ten, SCB, WIN, Fairfax and Austereo.

The most hotly debated topic in the digital media industry is how
to make money. The telco industry is still full of complaints on this
subject, but the media industry has made some quantum leaps. This has
been driven, on the one hand, by role models such as Google, Yahoo,
YouTube, eBay, Skype and others. But the traditional media companies
have also made great progress, using their traditional media to launch
events and then supplementing them with broadband-based services such
as portals, blogs, vpods, chat-rooms, SMS, etc. New advertising
models, permission-based marketing and premium sales activities are
being used to attract people to these events and services.

The telcos were the first cabs off the rank, once they began to
realise what they could do with the Internet. However, they quickly
became entangled in the debate about the need for a good broadband
infrastructure before new media services could be offered. As well as
this, the telcos lack the requisite media background. Nevertheless,
Telstra in particular remains adamant about its position in this new
market and it has made significant investments in the market under its
BigPond brand. Others covered in this report: Optus, Internode, Adam
Internet, Unwired and TransAct. Non-telcos include: Roo Media, Video
Ezy, Of the World TV and VOD Pty Ltd.

Digital Media Entertainment Services

New video applications are emerging as the Internet media
companies seek to exploit the added speed and capacity of broadband
infrastructure. With the increase in speed and capacity a whole range
of new applications will be entering the market over the next decade.
Console games have changed dramatically, with games, music and movies
merging and integrating. Growing penetration of broadband and mobile
3G networks will also promote growth in online gaming. This report
includes the digital media developments in online gaming, gambling,
online dating and adult entertainment. In 2007, a record growth year
for video game sales in Australia, the country's video game industry
produced $1.3 billion in sales.

Music has been the major driver behind the early developments in
the digital media, both in mobile and fixed networks. While mobile is
the preferred technology for listening to music, the associated
business models are not conducive to helping people become accustomed
to using these networks for music delivery. Most will use free or
cheap Internet sites to gain access to music.

People naturally want to communicate, and the Internet has always
provided a forum for User Generated Content -- from the early bulletin
boards to today's video blogs that allow for new levels of
interaction. Websites such as MySpace, MSN Spaces and Facebook are
proving to be hugely popular around the world. Sites that initially
began as social networks, such as Facebook, are also expanding into
video-based services in order to compete with services offered by
sites such as YouTube. Mobile social networking services are also
being developed. With an estimated 230 million active memberships to
such sites worldwide, there is no sign of this growth abating at
present.

Key highlights

-- The involvement of Lachlan Murdoch in the Australian media
landscape could well be a catalyst for further developments in
the new media.

-- Printed media are performing better than TV stations in the
digital world.

-- Broadcasters are still slow in adapting to the digital media.

-- Seven's mixture of activities, including Yahoo, TiVo, engin
and Unwired, will be an interesting case to watch in 2008.

-- The role of telcos and ISPs continues to reside in
infrastructure and basic access.

-- Pay TV will remain a niche market and will not move much
beyond 25% penetration.

-- User Generated Content (UGC) will penetrate the traditional
market and an increasing amount of content production will be
outsourced.

-- Over three-quarters of digital content will be created by the
users (UGC).

-- Services offered in this sector are rapidly become a major
market segment (databases, software, e-albums, specialised
e-devices).

-- Social networks have seen massive growth and, with 230 million
users worldwide, offer great opportunities for the
commercialisation of digital media.

-- While the concept of social networks is here to stay, the
format will start to change, with fragmentation expected.

-- Privacy, safety and piracy are seen as key issues by the new
Australian government. Legislation will be introduced in 2008
to better manage this.

-- How to best commercialise the 'Long Tail' still remains an
unsolved business issue.

-- Video entertainment will be the key to success, but this will
not be based on (IP) TV models.

-- Music as an e-application has seen a comeback. Video will be
the next battleground.

-- Environmental concerns re the e-living room will need to be
addressed. Smart grids might assist in finding solutions.

-- Customers are happy to pay for devices but reluctant to pay
for services, Nokia's bundled approach will be an interesting
one to watch in 2008.

-- Mobile Internet portals will attract mobile users on capped
data plans, finally opening up commercial business models for
mobile content.

-- There will 5 million broadband-enabled households towards the
end of 2008.

-- The lack of affordable high-speed broadband (including its
effect on quality) is holding back the market.

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Companies Mentioned:

Google
Yahoo
YouTube
eBay
Skype
Optus
Internode
Adam Internet
Unwired and TransAct
Roo Media
Video Ezy
Of the World TV and VOD Pty Ltd
Lachlan Murdoch
News Limited
PBL
Seven
Yahoo!7
Ten
SCB
WIN
Fairfax and Austereo
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For more information, visit
here.

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager, press@researchandmarkets.com
Fax: +353-1-4100-980

Copyright Business Wire 2008