Enders News

Joseph Evans was quoted in an article on YouTube announcement to end paid channels service. The facility let people pay a monthly fee to access individual YouTube channels from providers such as National Geographic and Sesame Street. However, the service was not popular with viewers and will end in December. Joseph said "they haven't seen the take-up they wanted, it's somewhat surprising when you look at what the other giants are doing. Amazon is pushing a modular 'subscribe to one channel at a time' service, having started with its all-you-can-eat package. With the sort of content people expect on YouTube, the sponsorship model does make more sense. Joseph added "but YouTubers may be wary of giving Google control of their video distribution and sponsorship money".

Claire Enders was quoted in an article on the UK Culture Secretary, Karen Bradley, concerns over corporate governance failures at Rupert Murdoch's Fox, and lack of procedures of broadcast compliance for Fox News in the UK. Recent scandals at Fox News are threatening to derail Rupert Murdoch’s proposed £11.7bn takeover of European pay-TV group Sky after the UK government signalled that it was likely to widen an investigation by regulators into the deal. In a significant shift, the culture secretary said she was now likely to refer the bid to the Competition and Markets Authority on whether 21st Century Fox’s acquisition of Sky shares it does not own would comply with UK broadcasting standards. Her shift in position, which followed intensive campaigning from anti-Murdoch groups and a cross-party group of MPs, also overruled a recommendation from the UK media regulator Ofcom, prompting some analysts to question whether the move was politically motivated. Claire said “this was a political decision. It’s very peculiar to override Ofcom despite no change to their advice”.

Alice Enders was quoted in an article on the Fox’s Sky bid. Today in parliament, the UK Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said she is minded to refer 21st Century Fox’s bid to seize full control of Sky to the Competition and Markets Authority to conduct a months-long investigation into Fox’s commitment to broadcasting standards, in addition to the widely expected review over whether the deal would give the Murdoch’s too much influence over U.K. media. The scope of the planned CMA referral surprised investors, given Bradley had initially said she was inclined to confine the review to questions of media-influence. Alice said “the direction of the political winds in the U.K. are less favourable every day with Labour rising. Who knows what the climate will be like by the time the CMA reports in April 2018 if not June 2018”.

Tom Harrington was quoted in an article on last Saturday’s launch of the X Factor, which had the lowest ratings for a debut episode since it first aired in 2004. Tom said “contest formats have had remarkable longevity, and it’s natural that they’re going to tail off. I wouldn’t say it’s a tired format, but it is becoming less interesting. Audiences had become overexposed to such shows”. He added “there’s so many variations of the same theme, and there’s probably the feeling that a lot of the talent has already been mined. There’s only so many ‘we found a person who can sing who we didn’t think could sing’ stories you can have”. Tom said there had been some noticeable failures in the genre recently, for example, Gary Barlow’s Let it Shine, which the BBC canned after just one season. “It becomes saturated. There’s a hit and then everybody commissions stuff which is almost identical, and it reaches a tipping point. He continues “what we call appointment viewing – what people sit down to watch – has moved on to shows like Bake Off and others outside of the musical space”.

Douglas McCabe was quoted in an article on News UK, which has launched a startup incubator to unearth new sources of revenue. The News UK startup Lab will take up to six small companies and host them in a month-long incubator programme starting in October. Douglas suggested that at a time when news businesses are structurally challenged with revenues certain to decline, tangential innovations are "essential", and that a startup incubator removed from the core business "strikes the right balance of business opportunity and capital risk". He added, "Publishers also have limited experience of rapid innovation, so an in-house unit would not be the right way to approach it. In any case there is also already too much pressure on the cost base of news operations, and risks being a management distraction. We will see more of these structures in the future".

Toby Syfret was quoted in an article on 21st Century Fox decision to stop airing Fox News in the UK. Toby said "timing of the announcement is, of course, the interesting feature”, highlighting that Fox, of course, said the decision to end the U.K. feed of Fox News was purely a business decision. He added "however much 21st Century Fox (or the Murdochs) may play down the issue and insist the decision has nothing to do with the takeover bid, friends, the detached and critics alike cannot but make the connection. But the decision does make sense from a commercial perspective”. Asked what it means for the Sky deal, Toby says "It cannot harm the bid - indeed, [it] may help a little – from the regulatory perspective regarding the question of broadcasting standards; though I cannot see it affecting the plurality issue and related competition concerns".

Julian Aquilina was quoted in an article on the English Football Leagues broadcasting rights; specifically the need for the EFL to negotiate a better deal with Sky Plc and Channel Five. “Sky will want to retain as many football rights as it can while it pulls back in other sports such as tennis" said Julian Aquilina, a television analyst at Enders Analysis. “Even though the EFL does not attract the same interest as the Premier League, there are plenty of people who live in towns without a Premier League club who would subscribe to watch their team on television."

Alice Enders was quoted in an article on the Fox/Sky deal. Last week, culture secretary Karen Bradley again postponed calling in the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to scrutinise the deal, asking media regulator Ofcom to further examine the Murdoch’s and their adherence to broadcasting standards. Bradley has said she intends to call in the competition regulator to scrutinise media plurality issues (as the deal would see the Murdoch’s controlling UK assets ranging from Sky News to the Sun and Times newspapers), but has not made up her mind about whether to ask it to also look at broadcasting standards issues.
Alice said that Fox will not be overly concerned at the latest extension. Bradley is widely expected to leave the decision until after parliament returns from summer recess on 5 September. She added “Fox will … feel the CMA will give a fairer, depoliticised hearing. For Bradley it is about additional legal cover. She is taking very seriously the threat of a judicial review. She is being risk-averse, and the political environment [with no Tory majority] is unfavourable. She is being cautious”.

Alice Enders was quoted in an article on the Sky-Fox bid. Rupert Murdoch’s proposed takeover of Sky has met with further delays after the government asked the media regulator Ofcom to conduct further analysis of the mogul and his company’s adherence to broadcasting standards. Murdoch’s opponents have threatened Culture Secretary Karen Bradley with a legal challenge if she doesn’t also call for an investigation on broadcasting standards, in light of recent revelations of alleged misconduct at Fox News and an allegedly flawed approach by Ofcom. Bradley must decide whether to refer the deal to the Competition and Markets Authority for further review that could last six months. The ministry asked Ofcom to clarify parts of its report by Aug. 25. Alice said “this issue of whether to refer or not on broadcasting standards is probably causing quite a lot of headache. She has to be especially careful and will really want to get good external legal advice” said Alice referring to Bradley. The request for further information from Ofcom effectively rules out Bradley making her next move before Parliament returns from its recess on Sept. 5. Alice added “you can bet your bottom dollar that DCMS is not going to get through all this evidence in 24 hours, or even a week”.