Olivier Thuillas is a lecturer in information and communication sciences at the University of Paris-Nanterre.
Louis Wiart is professor of communication at the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
FIGAROVOX. - Amazon becomes the main broadcaster of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 of the French football championship, after having already broadcast some of the Roland-Garros matches on its platform. How does this constitute an upheaval?
Louis WIART. -
This is the logical continuation of Amazon's content strategy. Since its creation in 1994, the company has embarked on a process of diversification, which has led it to invest an ever-increasing number of digital activities (electronic devices,
cloud computing
, application store, operating system, etc.), until positioning itself in the 2010s within the content sectors (book publishing, video game development, film production, acquisition of sports rights). This rise of Amazon in content, including the purchase of television rights to the French football championship is ultimately the latest stage, disrupts the audiovisual landscape on two levels.
The first is that of the economic model within which the content is inserted. Amazon's development strategy has the particularity of relying on content offers, in particular films, series and now sports competitions, in order to win new customers and sell other products. The content constitutes for Amazon a product of very attractive appeal towards the Prime subscription formula, which gives access to a set of services (fast delivery, Prime Video, Prime Reading, Prime Music…).
Olivier THUILLAS. -
Having top-of-the-range and exclusive content makes it possible to attract customers who will subscribe to a subscription, but also to "lock them up" within the Amazon ecosystem. At the start of 2021, Amazon had more than 200 million paying subscribers to its Prime program around the world. Amazon customers, to make their subscription profitable, are invited to consume on the sales platform. By reaching the fans of a particular football club, for example, it will also become easier for Amazon to offer them, at the best price and with express delivery, the new jersey and scarf of their dreams.
The traditional television channels are thus caught in a pincer movement and are now attacked both on the front of stock programs and on that of streaming programs.
Louis Wiart
LW -
The second upheaval we are witnessing is an increasingly marked shift in the center of gravity of the audiovisual landscape towards the major American digital and media groups. According to statistics from the European Audiovisual Observatory, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV + and Disney + alone accounted for 84% of subscriptions to video on demand platforms in Europe in 2020. These companies dominate today ' hui largely the online consumption of what are called stock programs, that is to say programs whose value does not disappear following their first broadcast (films, series, documentaries, animation). To ensure the exclusive broadcasting of this type of program, the large platforms have invested heavily for half a dozenyears in the production of original content. With the takeover of the Hollywood studios MGM last June for nearly 9 billion dollars, Amazon has got its hands on a catalog of several thousand existing films and series intended to strengthen its Prime Video platform. By now acquiring sports rights, Amazon completes its audiovisual offer in the direction of streaming programs, which can be consumed live. The traditional television channels are thus caught in a pincer movement and are now attacked both on the front of stock programs and on that of streaming programs. In this context, and faced with the difficulty of competing with the American giants, the risk is that these chains will notmore manage to feed their programming schedule with content capable of marking their uniqueness and arousing the interest of viewers for their offer.
Amazon's hybrid model is based, among other things, on a media hub that must be increasingly diversified. The giant thus acquired the MGM studios and the rights to world series, in addition to numerous sports rights in the United States. Can the firm eventually become hegemonic?
LW -
Amazon occupies a dominant position in the cloud and e-commerce, where the group is a world leader. In other areas, such as electronic devices or video on demand, Amazon is capturing significant market share without dominating it. If Amazon is not always in a dominant position, the group nevertheless asserts its power by developing a presence in most areas of digital activity and by articulating them together. When you have a Kindle e-reader, for example, you are required to purchase your digital books on Amazon, marketed in a proprietary format developed by Amazon, the authors of which may optionally be edited or self-published via Amazon's services. VS'is thus a whole digital ecosystem that is set up and from which Amazon benefits.
We can speak of hegemony from the moment when the domination exercised by an actor like Amazon operates without sharing and allows it to unilaterally impose a certain number of conditions on its customers and partners.
In addition to the group's presence in many digital activities, its level of capitalization, its global positioning, the very large number of loyal customers, as well as its ability to go beyond various regulations, may legitimately raise the question of hegemony.
Amazon does not have a monopoly on trade, on the other hand it could be condemned for the constraints it imposes on sellers who use its marketplace.
Olivier Thuillas
Can the antitrust services of the US Department of Justice prove that Amazon is abusing its dominant position?
OT -
Abuse of dominance is different for Amazon on the one hand, Google and Facebook on the other. Amazon does not have a monopoly on trade (barely 1% of the global distribution market and 4% in the United States), on the other hand it could be condemned for the constraints it imposes on sellers who use its marketplace. . In addition to a commission which could be considered excessive (40% of the price of the product), it is the obligation imposed on sellers not to sell their products cheaper elsewhere that would be abusive. Amazon maximizes its profits at the expense of sellers and the latter are being imposed increasingly drastic conditions to benefit from the visibility and referencing of the Amazon marketplace. Prosecuted by the Washington prosecutor since the end of May 2021,the e-commerce giant could quite rightly be condemned for abuse of a dominant position. On the side of Google and Facebook, it is the threat of dismantling for abuse of dominant position that is real insofar as Facebook largely dominates the social media market with its own platform and those it has bought, in particular Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014; while Google sucks a lot of advertising from the Internet through its search engine or its YouTube video platform.he bought, especially Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014; while Google sucks a lot of advertising from the Internet through its search engine or its YouTube video platform.he bought, especially Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014; while Google sucks a lot of advertising from the Internet through its search engine or its YouTube video platform.
