2. Endless Entertainment

Home of entertainment

From TV and film to sport and music, VodafoneZiggo is building the ultimate home of entertainment for our customers. By bringing together a vast array of onscreen content with unforgettable offscreen experiences, we aim to ensure everyone can access entertainment of the very highest quality – all while making our platforms more convenient, more relevant and more enjoyable than ever.

EVOLVING ENTERTAINMENT

The content we consume and the ways we consume it are changing – but one thing that has not changed is the power of entertainment to create connections. Whether our customers are enjoying a family film night or singing along with the crowd at a live concert, VodafoneZiggo’s ambition is to enable an exceptional experience that they cannot find anywhere else.

We believe our entertainment proposition is truly unique, differentiated by our combination of on-screen and off-screen content, our Priority customer programme and our six Ziggo Sport channels (see Ziggo Sport (new window)). In 2023, we continued to strengthen our platforms to add more value for our customers and partners alike.

THE BEST VIEWING EXPERIENCE

TV and streaming – both linear and on demand – remain at the core of our Endless Entertainment strategic pillar. While traditional linear viewing in the Netherlands is decreasing as viewers turn to over-the-top (OTT) services, the tipping point between these two means of consumption has not yet been reached. Nevertheless, we are working to ensure we are ready when the time comes – while always providing the very best films and series in the most seamless way possible.

To do this, we listen carefully to the needs and wants of our customers and use data-driven insights to inform the development of our solutions. We know, for instance, that customers can find it hard to navigate the increasingly fragmented content landscape, and we aim to overcome this frustration by ensuring our platform brings together all our audience’s favourite content, all in one place.

QUALITY AND CONVENIENCE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

VodafoneZiggo’s deal with SkyShowtime was a highlight of 2023. We started rolling out access to this platform, which replaces our own Movies & Series environment, in October. The year also saw us successfully reaching the number of eight OTT content providers on our platform.

By integrating these providers’ metadata and subscription information alongside their apps, we not only expanded our innovative metasearch functionality to more than 10,000 unique titles but also added these OTT services to our simplified Ziggo invoicing system (see Seamless on all devices (new window)). Our customers therefore benefit from greater convenience and transparency as well as an even wider array of content, which they can discover via their personalised home interface.

With these foundations in place, we will continue making upgrades and improvements to our on-screen offering – across our mediabox, app and website – in 2024. We aim, for instance, to enable viewers to (un)subscribe to different OTT services with just a few clicks, supporting our ambitions to deliver a super-simple customer experience.

The power of entertainment to create connections.

GIVING CUSTOMERS TOP PRIORITY

As well as being a leading onscreen content aggregator, we are focused on making a difference in people’s lives by creating memorable off-screen entertainment experiences. Our Priority programme, established in 2021 to give Vodafone and Ziggo customers priority access to in-person events, continued to go from strength to strength in 2023, taking our brand partnerships to the next level for the benefit of our customers.

We can do this by, for example, not only broadcasting an Ajax football match or streaming a concert live from the Ziggo Dome, but also offering all our customers the chance to buy priority tickets to the next unmissable event. In April, we sold out three shows of The Tribute: Battle of the Bands at the Ziggo Dome, bringing together a total of around 45,000 VodafoneZiggo customers to share in the fun.

We believe this success shows the level of demand for exclusive live entertainment experiences. Our goal is to increase the range of entertainment types – including more theatre shows and musicals – and the number of exclusive events available through the Priority programme.

Furthermore, beyond off-screen events, we aim to enrich our customers’ daily lives by providing Priority deals on e-books, magazines, gaming and even food delivery, so they can enjoy an entertaining night in, however they choose.

DOUBLE AWARD WINNERS

VodafoneZiggo’s recent sponsorship activities have earned two industry awards. First, together with our research agency partner, we won a 2022 European Sponsorship Award for our success in measuring what our customers think of our sponsorship activities and – more importantly – what they want in the future.

We used these insights to recalibrate our sponsorship strategy in a more customer-focused direction, securing us a second award. This 2023 SponsorRingen accolade recognised our innovative approach to the Ziggo Dome’s The Tribute shows, which led to positive brand impact and new business revenues as well as an exclusive customer experience.

STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS

In order to provide high-quality content of all kinds to our customers, we work hard to become the preferred partner to players across the entertainment industry. Engagement with external stakeholders was therefore high on the agenda of our Endless Entertainment strategic pillar in 2023, and we saw a high volume of interest from existing and potential partners throughout the year.

We are proud that VodafoneZiggo is increasingly being recognised by the entertainment world as a doorway to millions of households in the Netherlands: after all, not only is our customer proposition unmatched, but we also offer unique opportunities to our partners that add value for both sides. One example is our ability to create connections between our partners in new and exciting ways, such as by organising exclusive Disney film premieres at Pathé cinemas via our Priority programme.

POWERING PROGRESS THROUGH ENTERTAINMENT

Our endless entertainment approach and partnerships also have a positive impact on another VodafoneZiggo strategic pillar: Progress for Everyone. We are working with the Ziggo Dome, for instance, supporting them in its environmental journey, and we team up with Ajax players to promote our Online Masters programme, improving young people’s digital skills. Initiatives like this reflect the changing role of entertainment in people’s lives – as well as our determination to use our position to make a difference for our customers and beyond.

We work hard to become the preferred partner in the entertainment industry.

Home of sport: Ziggo Sport

Inspirational, emotional, skilful, unpredictable… There is nothing quite like live sport. For passionate fans and casual viewers alike, sporting events offer the chance to connect – as supporters or rivals; by commiserating or celebrating. As linear viewing in living rooms makes way for on-demand experiences on the go, Ziggo Sport is reshaping sports broadcasting, using the power of sport to create stronger connections between more people.

AN UNMATCHED OFFERING

Thanks to the success of Ziggo Sport, VodafoneZiggo is the only telecom company in the Netherlands with its own sports channels, one of which is provided to all Ziggo customers without any added cost. This puts us in a unique position in the market. In fact, our surveys show that around 10% of customers come to Ziggo – and, more importantly, around 15% stay with Ziggo – because of Ziggo Sport. At the end of 2023, our viewer satisfaction rate was 91.5%.

While focusing on football, motorsports and (inter)national events, we look to cover the widest possible range of sports. By providing channels dedicated to golf and tennis, for instance, as well as regular coverage of volleyball, athletics, rugby, basketball, winter sports and more, we are proud to offer something for everyone. We are the home of sport in the Netherlands as the country’s number one TV sports broadcaster.

Rather than concentrating exclusively on Dutch (national) teams, we aim where possible to secure the rights to an entire tournament or event, to include viewers who support different athletes or who simply want to enjoy as much sport as possible. One example of this, and a highlight of the 2023 sporting calendar, was the Rugby World Cup in September and October. Even though the Netherlands did not take part, our exclusive coverage of the tournament drew a staggering 2.6 million viewers in total: a huge success given rugby’s relatively low profile in the country.

ABOUT ZIGGO SPORT

With 26 employees at the end of 2023, this small team runs a round-the-clock sports media operation. As well as producing more than 10,000 hours of its own content per year, Ziggo Sport brings in live sports feeds from around the world and broadcasts them to customers from its base in Hilversum, the media capital of the Netherlands. Our schedulers and producers work alongside external production partners, as well as collaborating with the Media Innovation Hub (see Technological solutions for society (new window)).

SPORT FOR A NEW GENERATION

We pride ourselves on creating the right environment to attract the very best sports presenters, pundits, analysts and commentators, including many well-known former athletes. This helps us to not only deliver informed insights but also create a positive and engaging experience for viewers, in line with our Endless Entertainment goals. Although live sport is an exception to the general decline in linear media consumption, sports broadcasters are still facing the challenge of attracting – and keeping – the attention of younger and more diverse audiences in a world of on-demand entertainment.

In response, we launched a new YouTube-based football talk show, Kick ’t Met (‘Kick it with’), in 2023. With two Gen-Z hosts, Armin Shah and Jefferson Osei, this show takes a fresh approach to football punditry and has succeeded in targeting a much younger audience compared to that of a traditional linear sports programme. Its more informal set-up also helps to attract talented up-and-coming footballers to appear on the show.

Over the course of 2023, our social media following increased from 2.4 million to 2.6 million, an extremely strong performance within the Dutch sports media landscape. We aim to continue growing Ziggo Sport’s online and social media presence, in order to reach more sports enthusiasts, increase the accessibility and convenience of our sports content, and deliver a digital-driven customer experience.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

Having been awarded the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League rights in late 2022, we spent 2023 building a new studio and app, ready for kick-off in 2024. Our ongoing preparations involve other teams from across the VodafoneZiggo organisation, as well as from our parent company Liberty Global.

Meanwhile, we secured and/or renewed a wide array of other rights in 2023, such as the Diamond League, Continental Tour and World Indoor Tour athletics, Italian Serie A, Belgian Jupiler Pro League and PGA European Tour, including the Ryder Cup. We can attribute this success in part to our new approach to Ziggo Sport’s rightsholder relationships, building connections that give them more insight into how we will bring their product to the Dutch market in an entertaining way.

SHARING THE EXPERIENCE

Furthermore, we continued our strong track record of organising Ziggo Sport events to promote major sporting occasions here in the Netherlands. Our team was live on the ground at two ATP World Tour tennis events in 2023, the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam (with a 360° camera allowing online viewers to explore the stadium virtually) and the Libéma Open in Rosmalen. We also set up a pop-up Ziggo Sport Race Café at the MotoGP TT Assen and on the beach at the Zandvoort Formula 1 Grand Prix, as well as hosting a YouTube watch-along on the day of the main race.

This stream was watched live as a ‘second screen’ by around 20,000 people and viewed a further 21,000 times in the weeks after the event – a clear example of how demand for non-linear viewing formats is rising in sports, just as it is in other parts of the media.

TEAMING UP FOR PROGRESS

As well as creating connections through entertainment, Ziggo Sport aims to support VodafoneZiggo’s purpose – enjoyment and progress with every connection – through partnerships with sports associations. During the Rugby World Cup, for instance, we gave Rugby Nederland free advertising, aiming to appeal to a new audience of young viewers who might be interested in trying out the sport for themselves. We also continued our media partnership with the Fonds Gehandicaptensport (a Dutch charitable fund supporting disability sports) by promoting its annual fundraising auction in support of athletes with disabilities.

NEXT SEASON

Ziggo Sport will move to a new location with state-of-the-art facilities in 2024, making our work processes more efficient and enhancing the quality of our output to improve customer satisfaction still further. Moreover, we aim to keep improving the diversity of our talents in the years ahead to ensure our programming better reflects the diversity of our society.

Meanwhile, with the sports media environment evolving fast, we will continue to develop more innovative ways of presenting sports, such as our 360° stadium camera. We will also keep building partnerships that help us further improve the sports viewing experience we offer to customers, viewers and followers, both on-screen and off-screen.

Seamless on all devices

Central to our Endless Entertainment approach is our ability to enable a seamless viewing experience for customers at every step of the journey – from discovering new content to paying for it. To achieve this, we use high-performance technology with a lower environmental impact, in combination with data insights from customers and content providers.

HELPING CUSTOMERS FEEL AT HOME

Entertainment starts with a reliable, stable, high-quality connection. In customers’ homes, this means our SmartWifi products, including the latest generation of SmartWifi pods with WiFi 6 standard, which are now automatically part of our Ziggo internet bundle. Since the launch, we have provided over three million SmartWifi pods to customers. We also rolled out two broadband speed increases for our new and existing customers during the year, ensuring they always have the speed needed for all kinds of concurrent applications, from working from home and online learning to 4K streaming and IoT connectivity.

Our customers increasingly expect and appreciate support that goes beyond simply providing a piece of hardware, which is why we embrace a holistic approach to the in-home network. Through our Service Scan programme, for example, we are increasingly proactive in optimising the Ziggo entertainment experience: with customers’ consent, we use data on the performance of their in-home connections to reach out with support if there is an issue. Depending on the permissions granted, we can also advise on the best place for SmartWifi modems and boosters or even identify other devices that might cause interference. 

ENJOYMENT MADE EASY

Video content is central to our entertainment offering (see Home of entertainment (new window)). We ensure a seamless experience in three ways: by aggregating the content of a wide range of popular global streaming services in our mediabox; by facilitating all-in-one billing that combines all viewing subscriptions in a single, clear invoice; and by leveraging data to enable easy search and discovery as well as personalised recommendations across different OTT services, based on people’s specific viewing behaviours.

Our goal is to onboard all our OTT partners across all three functionalities. One challenge we face, however, is that some providers currently prefer not to share their metadata or billing relationship with consumers. We nevertheless believe that our approach delivers notable benefits for these partners as well as for their end users, and we will continue collaborating to find solutions that work for everyone. 

BETTER FOR PEOPLE AND PLANET

In 2023, we continued investing heavily in the roll-out of our Mediabox Next and Mediabox Next Mini, which are key to unlocking our goal of providing the newest-generation TV-watching experience to as many customers as possible: 1.79 million by the end of the year. These devices are our most technologically advanced set-top boxes to date, featuring our most intuitive user interface and voice control options. Over two million households have access to voice control via the Next, Next Mini and XL, and around 60% actively use this feature. The number of voice commands is rising steadily, reaching an accumulated total of around 30 million by the end of 2023.

What is more, the Next Mini is made largely of recycled plastic and consumes less energy than its predecessors (see Sustainable products and services (new window)). As such, the more than one million customers with a Next Mini are now enjoying an exceptional viewing experience with a lower carbon footprint.

A CLEARER PICTURE

Our Ziggo GO app is available on TVs, smartphones, tablets and laptops, allowing its more than 1.4 million active users to switch seamlessly from one device to another and stream a series, film or sports event wherever and however they want. In April 2023, we upgraded the app’s image quality to 1080p on suitable devices, for an even more captivating experience. Our next steps include making Ziggo GO available via all major smart TV platforms without the need for a separate mediabox.

STAY TUNED

VodafoneZiggo will continue to add more content providers to our mediaboxes and bring our newest, most environmentally sustainable model and its technology to more homes. We are also excited to broaden our horizons beyond video, exploring partnerships in podcasting and other entertainment media. Meanwhile, having started offering the Apple Watch with e-sim support to customers in October 2023, we aim to continue developing our wearable connectivity and entertainment offering, capturing the possibilities offered by e-sims.