Enders Analysis provides a subscription research service covering the media, entertainment, mobile and fixed telecommunications industries in Europe, with a special focus on new technologies and media. We cover all sides of the market, from consumers and leading companies (e.g. Vodafone, Iliad, ITV, BT, BSkyB, Virgin Media and others), to regulation. A complete list of our research can be found here.
Claire Enders is invited to Jeff Randall Live to discuss evidence and revelations from Andy Coulson's statement at the Leveson Inquiry including issues pertaining to the BSkyB bid, his appointment as Communications Director for David Cameron and the relationship between the government and the media
With the release of the Culture, Media and Sports Committee's report on News International and Phone Hacking, Claire Enders is invited to CNN to share her views on the implications for James and Rupert Murdoch
The Guardian carries an article by Claire Enders and Chris Goodall on why the UK needs to introduce a new law on media ownership. It summarises work carried out by the company over the last six months on the best way to reinforce plurality in the UK communications industries.The full details of the plan for a cap on the share of total revenues of UK media that can be held by any one company can be found here.
Click here to access the articleAfter the second day of Rupert Murdoch's appearance before the Leveson Inquiry, Claire Enders is asked by ABC News to comment on his performance and strategy over the two days, the ramifications for News Corporation and the future of the company's bid for BSkyB
Claire Enders is invited to take part in a panel discussion led by Adam Boulton on the Day 1 of Rupert Murdoch's testimony to the Leveson Inquiry
Claire Enders is invited to Bloomberg to discuss Rupert Murdoch's strategy for News Corporation on Day 1 of his testimony to the Leveson Inquiry
On the first day of Rupert Murdoch's appearance before the Leveson Inquiry, Claire Enders is asked to take part in a discussion led by Steve Hewlett, tracing back the rise of the Murdoch family in media and politics, events around the proposed BSkyB merger and issues regarding media ownership.
Click here to access audioAs Rupert Murdoch flies in to address journalist unrest at The Sun, in the wake of the decision by the Management and Standards Committee to hand over 300 million internal documents to the Metropolitan Police, Claire Enders speaks with Maryam Nemazee at The Pulse regarding the legal issues and priorities for News Corp.
Benedict Evans has presented at several conference in recent weeks on the mobile platform wars, exploring the interactions between Apple, Android, Amazon and Facebook. These slides are a distillation of our much more detailed report, 'Platform wars, app stores and ecosystems' (February 2012)
Ian Maude speaks with John Hockenberry of The Takeaway radio on Facebook 's IPO in the context of similar moves by other technology giants, incuding Google and AOL, and what this might mean for the company.
Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis provides business media members of the PPA with his forecast for 2012 and beyond.
Following the resounding protest vote by shareholders unhappy with the prospect of reappointing James Murdoch to the board of News Corp (Investors take issue with Murdoch's son), the Financial Times observed that investors' ire was not driven by the unfolding scandal of phone hacking, but instead signalled their dissatisfaction with the the control exercised by the Murdoch family.
Claire Enders was asked for her view. She said that the results are "less about the Murdochs and more about Chase Carey, who... has impressed investors with his drive to extract more money for its cable channels and Fox broadcast network, and focus on shareholder returns". With just 61m shares against Mr Carey’s reelection, Claire Enders explained that “this is a beautifully coordinated effort by a very large group of American shareholders to send a message that this is the opportunity of a lifetime to restate the company’s strategy in the direction Chase Carey is taking it”. She added that US investors are paying little attention to the hacking scandal. Many are focused on News Corp’s $5bn buy-back programme, which has helped support its shares since the scandal exploded in July.
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In the context of his Inquiry, Lord Leveson invited Claire Enders, as “one of the UK’s foremost media business analysts”, to kick off the seminar series on the 6 October with a synoptic presentation on “Competitive pressures on the press”. The Inquiry is interested in understanding the market economics of the mainstream media, including the impact of technology.
This presentation brings together our existing work on the newspaper and consumer magazines industry, with an emphasis on the former, highlighting the challenges to the print media of the internet. A pdf copy of the presentation is available to our subscribers here.
Following news that the BBC intends radically to prune its online empire from 400 to 200 websites (BBC to shed 360 staff in online revamp), the FT observed: "By ruling out involvement in publishing local listings, social networking or music streaming, the BBC is for the first time attempting to create clear limits for its online ambitions."
Ian Maude was asked for his view. He said: “Even with its wings clipped, the BBC is going to be the biggest online news and long-form [online] video provider in the UK", and he added: “A lot of the cuts are symbolic – all the key sites will continue. Getting rid of a half of their domains does not equate to [losing] half their traffic. It will have a much smaller impact than the figures suggest.”
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In an article which shed light on confidential discussions between the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and News Corp, triggered by its bid to acquire full control of BSkyB, (News Corp raises prospect of selling Sky News), the FT revealed that News Corp is keen to avoid a lengthy investigation by the Competition Commission, in the public interest, and is prepared to make significant concessions, such as the disposal of Sky News. The FT queried the viability of this option, and commented: "Sky News is losing £30m-£40m a year and people opposed to the deal say it is hard to see who else would subsidise it." Chris Goodall was asked for his view. He said that Jeremy Hunt, culture secretary, could not agree a deal to separate Sky News from BSkyB without opening it to public consultation. “This is not something that can be done in just a few days, and it would be quite extraordinary for a secretary of state to try to do that behind closed doors”, he added.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31f63b8a-2420-11e0-a89a-00144feab49a,s01=1.htm...
Following an intervention by the Labour spokesman on media, Ivan Lewis MP (Labour warns Hunt on News Corp), in which he linked the evidence of phone hacking and the erosion of media plurality, the FT concluded that opposition to the News Corp bid for outright control of BSkyB would coalesce around the paramount issue of protecting the public interest.
Commenting on reports of private discussions between News Corp and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the FT suggested that the former intends to offer concessions, such as the disposal of Sky News, in order to convince the minister, Jeremy Hunt, that it would be unnecessary to follow Ofcom's recommendation and refer the bid to the Competition Commission.
However, the FT was persuaded by a note circulated by Enders Analysis which argued that, even if News Corp was prepared to offer such remedies, DCMS should not accept them without extensive discussion with affected parties. Chris Goodall, author of the note, pointed out that in each of the eight legal precedents for a procedure that allows ministers to accept remedies, such as the disposal of assets, in lieu of a lengthy review by the commission, consultation had been key to the process. “Although Jeremy Hunt is perfectly entitled to negotiate undertakings with News Corp, we think that he would have to then consult with interested parties, and with Ofcom, [the broadcasting regulator] as to whether the undertakings do properly protect against a diminution of plurality”, he added.
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Research published by Enders Analysis on the growth of mobile advertising was featured prominently by the Financial Times (UK mobile phone ads set for rapid growth). Emphasising the potential for rapid take-off, Enders Analysis concluded that “The difference now is that the explosion in smartphone sales and even faster growth in mobile internet usage is driving commensurate growth in advertising inventory”, and predicted that mobile advertising will make up 4 per cent of the total online ad market in 2011, reaching 9.5 per cent by 2015.
James Barford and Ian Maude, authors of the report Smartphones and Mobile Advertising, observed that mobile search ads will be less significant to the search market overall, which is dominated by Google, because mobile payment systems that allow people to buy easily from their phones remain immature. They concluded: “We expect the majority of this [mobile] usage to be incremental to PC-based consumption, as users find new things to do and buy on the mobile web... driving the overall online advertising market to further growth.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/977a6638-178d-11e0-badd-00144feabdc0.html#axzz...
Spurred by News Corp's bid for the majority control of BSkyB (Murdoch media to control over a fifth of UK news consumption), the Guardian sought to quantify the scale and effect of dominant media ownership in the UK. Drawing widely on research submitted by Enders Analysis to Ofcom, the Guardian concluded that: "News Corp has a 14.6% share of news consumption; Sky another 7.4% (mainly because of its position in radio). Together they are 22% - or 22.6% if you count the Five News bulletin that Sky produces for Richard Desmond's channel. Nobody in the commercial sector comes close - next up is the Daily Mail group with 10.5%, then ITN at 7.6%. In fact, what is being proposed is a merger of the number one and four commercial media groups, which is the sort of thing that in most other markets would be questioned hard."
In an article which examined the prospect for mobile revenue growth (Surfing the Data Wave tricky for Europe's Telecoms), the Wall Street Journal concluded that: "Europe's telecom companies hope the tide is turning... 2010 is expected to be another down year for mobile revenue, at least on companies' home territories. But there are signs that skyrocketing data revenue finally could lift European mobile revenue in 2011."
The article made extensive use of research published by Enders Analysis which shows that, during 2010, the pace of mobile revenue declines slowed to 0.3% by the third quarter, down from a 1.1% drop in the second.
Commenting on the effect of the withdrawal of subsidies from public broadcasting in Europe (Vive le Funding for Arte TV in Europe), the Wall Street Journal praised the French Government for maintaining support for the state TV channel, Arte.
Francois Godard was asked for his view. He explained that although costly, these measures are generally popular with the French people. In viewer polls, the French regularly state that Arte is their favourite TV channel even though they rarely watch it. He added: "It's part of the French cultural myth. French people say they like culture but rarely indulge in it themselves."