Viewers primarily want local content, says Didier Stoessel from PPF about his plans in the television business. In a month, he will become one of the two heads of the group. In an interview with CNBC, he described his intentions for Nova and other channels.
Traditional TV may have been in decline for years, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be profitable. You just need to get the TV programme to people in various ways, believes Didier Stoessel, one of the two newly appointed co-CEOs of the PPF investment group.
“We all in the media business are ultimately content creators. Now we just need to find the best ways to deliver it to people,” summarises his vision for the coming years Stoessel, until now the Chief Investment Officer and head of PPF’s media division.
In the Czech Republic, PPF controls, among other businesses, TV Nova and the newly merged platform Oneplay, which has 1.4 million subscribers to the Voyo and O2 TV brands. It also owns major commercial stations in other Eastern European and Balkan countries. In all these markets, PPF is also active in telecommunications, which it intends to leverage for media expansion.
Stoessel outlined his ideas in an interview for the paid American business channel CNBC Exclusive. It was his first public appearance since early May, when PPF owner Renáta Kellnerová appointed him as one of the two Chief Executive Officers of the entire group.
In an unconventional dual leadership model, Stoessel will lead PPF alongside CFO Kateřina Jirásková starting in July. Both have been long-term employees of PPF since the days of Petr Kellner and are being promoted to top positions due to the departure of the current CEO, Jiří Šmejc.
Stoessel, as one of the biggest TV players in the Czech Republic, doesn’t see a major problem in the fact that the traditional living room screen now has many competitors — from mobile displays to global networks like Netflix and HBO. According to him, the main thing is to penetrate these worlds as well and broadcast the same programme not only on classic “linear” TV but also through their own video library or streaming services.
“When we add up all these channels together, our total viewership in our markets is growing,” said Stoessel. According to him, the merged Oneplay in the Czech Republic has half as many more subscribers than Netflix and many times more than HBO or Disney+, which Stoessel sees as proof that a promising business can be built by digitalising traditional TV.
Similarly, Šmejc spoke about the television business at the beginning of May during his last public appearance for PPF. Presenting the financial results, he described the TV experience from the Czech Republic as “know-how” that should be replicable elsewhere.
“It’s about us trying to develop a platform where you can find everything in one place in the living room or — as we call it — on the big screen. This includes enough channels as well as streaming. We have ambitions to bring plenty of sports content and original content in general,” Šmejc said.
According to him, Oneplay in the Czech Republic should grow from the current 1.4 million to 2.5 million subscribers within five years. “Our intention is to be the most used service in the Czech Republic. That is our goal,” Šmejc added.
Both Stoessel and Šmejc portray “local content” as the main key to attracting viewers. According to Stoessel, it is common in Europe—including Germany, France, and smaller Eastern markets where PPF operates—that domestic production makes up 60 to 70 per cent of the programming.
According to Stoessel, however, there are no significant savings to be made in content creation.
Thanks to domestic production, PPF is confident against global TV competitors. “We operate in smaller markets where it is difficult for companies like Netflix to produce as much local content as we can. And that is our competitive advantage,” says Šmejc.
Stoessel would like to replicate the television “know-how” from the Czech Republic and other countries in Germany as well. PPF has acquired a minority stake in the ProSieben channel in Germany and has offered to buy shares from other shareholders. According to him, greater influence by PPF should help accelerate the digitalisation of ProSieben.
Source: seznamzpravy.cz
