Summertime hasn’t been siesta time for the TV industry. Big wheels are spinning and big deals are getting inked. Take a look.
$6 billion USD is how much China Media Capital Inc. (CMC) claims its valuation to be after raising $1.5 billion (RMB 10 billion) in series A-round financing from a group of investors including Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group, and Chinese real estate developer Vanke in early July. CMC was founded in 2006 by tycoon Li Ruigang Li, former head of Shanghai Media Group. “The global media and entertainment industry is undergoing a new round of adjustment and transformation. As one of the most important economies, China has the potential to nurture a new-generation large media and entertainment group company,” said Li.
3.3 million demand expressions for Marvel’s Luke Cage, a Netflix original drama, topped the demand list to start off the first full week of July in Germany. Germans love their Netflix originals, with three of the remaining top five all coming from the huge TV streaming service. The others were Sense8 at over 3.1 million, 13 Reasons Why at well over 2.4 million, and Queer Eye at over 1.9 million. On the Overall Demand List, Game of Thrones continued its German dominance at 5.3 million.
22 is the number of Emmy nominations for 2018 for Game of Thrones, to mention that surpassingly successful made-for-TV fantasy-drama once more. Before being ineligible for Emmy consideration last year due to a very late Summer release, GoT garnered 23 nominations for 2016. The show currently holds the all-time record with 38 Emmy wins.
112 Emmy nominations came in for Netflix this year. The streaming service thus pulled off a feat at the Primetime Emmy Awards nominations announcement ceremony that hadn’t been accomplished in 18 years: it dethroned HBO. HBO’s nominations came in at 108. On the other hand, HBO remains totally dominant in getting Emmy nominations for shows produced, in whole or in tandem, in its own studios (all 108). Second behind HBO in that regard was Twentieth Century Fox Television with 59 nominations. After those were Universal Television (51), FX Productions (43), Warner Bros. (43), and MGM (33).
10 million is the number of subscription video-on-demand users in sub-Saharan Africa that there will be by 2023, according to Digital TV Research. The forecast findings are that the number of SVOD subscribers will increase from 1.56 million at the end of 2017 to at least 9.99 million across 35 African countries by 2023, with South Africa and Nigeria continuing to lead the way. As far as service providers go, Netflix will dominate. “[S]everal multinational players are expected to rein in their ambitions whereas Netflix has consolidated its market leadership,” said principal analyst Simon Murray.
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