Enders Analysis

Alice Enders was quoted in an article on the scrutiny the public broadcaster sector is facing. The BBC revealed on Monday that its staff numbers has increased for the first time in four years, the rise was because of the requirements of covering the Commonwealth Games and the Scottish referendum. Alice said that the BBC could be accused of employing too many staff to cover big events such as the World Cup. "The BBC has to do everything the Mercedes-Benz way, you can do a lot with very little, and the BBC simply doesn't have that knee jerk response."

Claire Enders was quoted in an article regarding the Rupert Murdoch's offer to acquire Time Warner. Claire said the rejection was "unequivocal" and contained no tell-tale language regarding the value of the proposal that could be seen as inviting an increased attempt. She said any deal was "not going to be easy" but suggested Mr Murdoch,83, was not likely to back down. When he gets a bee in his bonnet, he'll go through with it. He is going to push himself to the limit to get this company. The more they disengage, the more he is going to be keen to get them. Claire also suggested there was a deep divide in cultures between Mr Murdoch's company and the "profoundly liberal" Time Warner.

Douglas Mccabe was quoted in an article regarding the announce from the Guardian newspaper regarding a fall in operating losses. He said the declining losses were "encouraging", but that it was "far from certain" that digital advertising growth would offset the decline in print advertising. Pessimism about the British newspaper industry has lifted slightly in recent months, with print advertising revenues falling less sharply than industry observers had expected. 

Leo Watkins was quoted in an article regarding UK newspaper and magazines regulation. Leo suggests a Labour or Labour-led government would be hardest on the press: it might, for example, return to Lord Justice Leveson's idea involving Ofcom, a fierce broadcast watchdog, in policing the papers. This raises the possibility that punitive damages will be levied on papers that misbehave, but this will depend on the outcome of next year's general election.

Joseph Evans was quoted in an article regarding the launch of the Fire phone, the new Amazon smartphone. He said "if you're not wedded to physical media [books, DVD or CD's], you don't have to go to Amazon,". Joseph recent study on the retailer points out, when it comes to digital distribution of entertainment, Amazon is very far from being a monopoly,"Competition from Apple, Google et al means it is unlikely to dominate video as it does books."

James Barford was quoted in an article regarding Ofcom's proposal for regulating the margin between BT's wholesale and retail superfast broadband prices. Sports rights have become key in BT's drive to win broadband customers against competition from TalkTalk and BSkyB. James said " this is a watershed, it discourages BT from spending a lot more money in any future auction, including the Premiere League. From Sky's perspective this is excellent news. TalkTalk is very pleased because it gives some comfort that BT will stay honest."

James Barford was quoted in an article regarding Ofcom's decision to publish proposals for a margin  test, which will gauge the difference between BT's wholesale and retail pricing of superfast broadband.  This will determine whether BSkyB and TalkTalk are unable to make reasonable profits in the growing market. James said, “BT residential broadband customers are given BT Sport for free, and BT Sport has a value. Judging this value is very difficult.It is crucial how Ofcom treats the BT Sport costs, and what steps BT takes to remove the squeeze if there is judged to be one.”

Douglas McCabe was quoted in an article about Vice Media, which has estabished a strong reputation on the back of a series of video reports on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war in Syria. These have been watched more than 6 million times - mainly by young viewers. Douglas said that established media groups have been watching Vice avidly because it has built an audience of young, largely male viewers who have tended to show little interest in traditional media.

Douglas Mccabe was quoted in an article regarding the viewing figures of the World Cup, which is set to smash a TV record. Douglas said that since South Africa, it's also become easier for fans to watch matches streamed live on phones and other portable devices, adding that this provides more opportunities to watch games on the go, growing the potential audience still further.