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The Financial Times

Commenting on the ruling of the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington on the adjudication of royalty rates for the music industry (Panel of judges imposes truce between music producers and digital sellers), the FT observed that "the ruling gave none of the parties what they had asked for, but allowed each to claim that it would boost the nascent but growing digital music market".

Enders Analysis provided testimony to the board. Ben Rumley said the outcome was a fair result, but added that Apple's high market share meant it was unlikely to attract many new entrants to the market.

04 Oct 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph

In an interview with the chief executive of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer (Microsoft's Steve Ballmer sets out internet search ambitions), The Daily Telegraph revealed Microsoft's ambition to become second placed search engine in the £22.5bn global online advertising market despite the failure of its attempt to buy Yahoo. Ballmer said: "The first thing we've got to do is become number two in search, and acquiring Yahoo! is not key to becoming number two in search. Acquiring Yahoo! was really about picking up a base of advertisers that would help us because the advertisers are part of the product in search... and having more advertisers helps you deliver better, more relevant ads."

 

Asked for his view, Ian Maude said: "Even number two looks like a big ask unless Ballmer can somehow persuade Yahoo! shareholders to sell to Microsoft."

02 Oct 2008
 
The Financial Times
Following BSkyB's filing to the Competition Commission, which is investigating Project Kangaroo, the online television service planned by ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide (BSkyB concerns over Project Kangaroo), the Financial Times explained the background to Sky's complaint:  "Many of the channels on Sky’s subscription TV service draw heavily on archive programming, [therefore] the service might be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in the nascent video-on-demand sector."  
 
The FT revealed that Sky was claiming that the content provided by its in-house production capabilities "would put Kangaroo’s shareholders high on the list for retailers wanting to acquire VOD content [thus] reducing competition for whole rights... although Kangaroo argues that online it is unlikely to gain a similar market share owing to competition from international technology providers such as Google and Apple".
 
Chris Goodall was asked for his view.  He said: “Kangaroo is bound up with regulation of pay TV in the UK in general. There has to be a question whether the British system is overly protective towards the terrestrial broadcasters.”
18 Sep 2008
 
The Financial Times
Announcing the reinvention of Virgin Radio (Virgin rebranded as Absolute Radio), The Financial Times explained that the UK’s first new national radio station for 13 years is actually a rebranding exercise, and follows the £53m ($95m) purchase of Virgin by Times of India in July. The FT revealed that Virgin will spend £15m on a campaign to revitalise the station and recruit new on-air talent. When asked for his view, Grant Goddard said that this would be key to its success. He explained: “I think they are right to start again because in radio terms the Virgin brand has become rather middle-aged.”
 
He added: “The key thing is to persuade people to try it for 15 minutes. I will be really interested to see how they are going to do it. The radio market certainly needs something new, fresh and exciting.”
03 Sep 2008
 
The Financial Times
Marking the onward march of BSkyB's broadband business (What the pay-TV daddy did in war for net access), The Financial Times comments: "There is momentum behind Sky's foray into internet access. It is closing in on Tiscali and could become the fourth-largest broadband company in the third quarter." Asked for his view, Ian Watt explained that Tiscali's UK business is struggling to sign up new broadband customers partly because the market is maturing, given about 60 per cent of households have internet access. He added that Tiscali is also suffering in the economic downturn. Fewer people moving house means there are diminished opportunities to poach customers from rivals. "Their main source of new business is being throttled badly", he said.
18 Aug 2008
 
Variety
Reporting on news of Telefonica's new triple play proposition (Telefonica revamps IPTV offering), Variety explained that the Internet TV component of the new offer will be given away "practically free-of-charge" to stimulate demand. François Godard was asked for his view: “Broadband household penetration in Spain is still low by international standards", he said.
15 Aug 2008
 
The Financial Times
Singling out the Guardian Media Group as an example of a media company planning to ride out the recession (Guardian Media Group: Diversity and resilience), the FT asked Carolyn McCall, chief executive of GMG, to share her recipe for survival: “We wanted to get away from dependence on classified advertising and over-dependence on the consumer. Our research showed that B2B was the number one sector and Emap came up as the number one business", she said.
 
Douglas McCabe was asked for his view. He said that, although the national titles are loss making to the tune of £25m, that is sustainable for the short term. “The spread is the thing. It was a pretty wise decision to move into areas which are more resilient in the long term than newspapers", he added. 
13 Aug 2008
 
The Financial Times
In an article which speculated on the ability of companies in the media sector to withstand an incipient recession (Media left reeling as the crunch starts to bite into earnings and deal activity,) the FT commented: "The pincer movement for media companies lies in the threat of the internet to some traditional sources of revenue, particularly classified advertising, presenting a different, structural peril to add to the cyclical... at the bottom of the scale, sceptical forecasts have given way to jeremiads." 
 
Claire Enders was asked for her view. She said: “To survive, media companies have to make no acquisitions, pay great care and attention to their core products, and ensure they have solid banking relationships. Then they have to take a realistic, rather than an overly optimistic, view of just how long this is going to last.”
13 Aug 2008
 
The Financial Times
Quoting figures released by BARB which revealed a 6% increase in viewing of advertising on TV (TV holds its ground against web video), the FT claimed that the "popularity of internet video sites such as Google’s YouTube and the BBC iPlayer has yet to erode the time spent watching traditional commercial television".

Asked for his interpretation of  BARB's data, Toby Syfret maintained that the rise in viewing figures has been caused by a 4 per cent increase in audiences, due to the switch from analogue to digital multichannel TV, and a 0.5 per cent lift from the extra day in February. “An increase in supply doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in the money spent by advertisers,” he added. “It can work in the opposite direction because of the way [TV advertising space] is traded.”

The FT also quoted research published by Enders Analysis which demonstrates that only 1 or 2 per cent of television consumption is online, with ITV.com’s total monthly views of 10m equivalent to the audience of a single episode of Coronation Street. As Toby Syfret explains: “Even though it looks like it’s climbing dramatically, [internet TV] is hardly going to have any impact at the moment.”
12 Aug 2008
 
Variety
Highlighting the accession of prime time broadcasting rights for live soccer (Orange sets up soccer triple-play - France Telecom secures premium broadcast rights), Variety explained that, following the launch of a satellite feed in July, Orange TV now features 18 digital terrestrial channels. Claiming that "Orange may well be the world's highest-tech pay TV operator", Variety trumpeted: "FT's TV surge raises that old war-cry: telco-TV convergence".
 
François Godard was asked for his view. He said: "This decade, France Telecom's foray into television is the boldest venture yet into content of any major European telecom incumbent."
09 Aug 2008
 
Bloomberg
In lengthy interview with Guy Hands, whose private equity firm, Terra Firma Capital Partners, acquired EMI Group in August 2007 (Guy Hands May Get No Satisfaction as Web Pirates Let EMI Bleed), Bloomberg observed dryly that Hands "has stepped into a company that has defied previous attempts to lift it out of its misery [spending] the past year firing employees, looking to weed out unprofitable performers and bringing in digitally aware executives".
 
Asked for her commentary on the prospects for EMI, Claire Enders said that EMI's stock would likely trade today at less than a quarter of Hands's bid price if EMI were still a public company. "He may say, of course, `I'm going to double my money', but he can't really explain how he's going to do it", she added.
01 Aug 2008
 
Reuters
Responding to the appointment of Vittorio Colao as chief executive of Vodafone (Colao answers call at Vodafone), James Barford agreed with Reuters that Colao is likely to face a difficult start following a recent weaker-than-expected trading update. Commenting on the recent results session where he noted that Colao had struggled after Vodafone had warned that its revenues would be at the bottom of a previously stated forecast range, James Barford said: "He was definitely hesitant".
29 Jul 2008
 
The Sunday Herald

Commenting on the success of the BBC iPlayer (iPlayer is a runaway success … but could it backfire on the BBC?), the Sunday Herald explained that the introduction of the iPlayer raises numerous questions about the licence fee. "With more and more people opting out of viewing schedules in favour of the iPlayer, the old system for deciding who pays a TV licence is in danger of becoming outdated", the Sunday Herald claimed.

 

Toby Syfret was asked for his view. He was not in favour of including internet access in the licence, regarding it as impractical and outmoded, observing: "That would involve the collection of all sorts of data". Although he did not offer an alternative, he argued that moving away from the licence fee, rather than widening it, would reduce what he sees as an unfair financial advantage for the BBC.

 

He said the loss of revenue to commercial stations in the current market is creating a widening gap between the BBC and its competitors: "I think that the licence fee is too big at the moment."

 

He added: "We've got a very difficult advertising market and you now have the BBC coming in as a competitor on the internet. What you have is a funding gap and that is something that is going to have to be looked at when the charter comes up for renewal in 2012."

27 Jul 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph

Signalling a slowdown in the relentless subscriber growth for pay-TV (Sky "likely to miss" 10m target as economy bites into pay-TV boom), the Daily Telegraph forecast that Sky will miss its key target for new subscribers when it reports its full year results at the end of July.

Asked for his view, Toby Syfret explained that cheaper pay-TV options like BT Vision could see some growth, but that satellite and cable, which now has 3.3m subscribers, were nearing their peak. He said: "The pay TV market will taper off at around 50% penetration. All the major growth has happened. The only thing driving pay-TV now will be pay-light options and population growth."

07 Jul 2008
 
The Independent
Commenting on the news that the European Commission is launching an investigation into the market distortion of mobile termination rates (Mobile giants' £80bn nuisance call), The Independent suggested that "while the major operators would clearly like to hang on to the largest possible fees for the longest possible time, most acknowledge that the rates have to come down. The debate is about the question of degree".
 
James Barford was asked for his view. He said: "It is in the mobile operators' best interests to keep their rates as high as possible – that is just economics, but termination charges are not an extra bit of money that the mobile operators are pocketing – competitive markets don't work that way and there are pluses and minuses to each system. The average cost is lower in the US, but mobile services are more accessible in Europe and the pricing for less wealthy users is better."
27 Jun 2008
 
The Times
Expressing concern for the plight of small radio stations following a wave of consolidation in the industry, (Local Radio Loses Its Roots), The Times commented: "Despite the cheery on-air banter of the DJs, these are tough times for commercial radio. There is no evidence that the consolidation of Britain’s commercial radio stations to date has stimulated better programming, higher listening figures or struck back at the BBC".
 
Grant Goddard was asked for his view. He said: "Consolidation alone will do nothing to improve the industry’s performance in ratings or revenues in the long run... What commercial radio still desperately requires is a forward-looking strategy.”
22 Jun 2008
 
Variety

Commenting on the ambitious plans of the French Government to stamp out internet piracy (France sets date for anti-piracy law; Offenders to lose Internet access), Variety quoted French Culture and Communications Minister Christine Albanel, who claimed that the new proposals will cut unauthorised downloading by 70-80%.

Alice Enders was asked for her view. She said: ``The problem has always been that legal action against a person on a site has been considered like Godzilla against Bambi, very disproportionate. The idea of having a soft-enforcement mechanism is more appealing. The measure will not halt physical piracy and copying works after they've been downloaded legally. Copying CDs for friends, for example. That's become accepted social practice."

19 Jun 2008
 
Reuters
Quoting from a report on online advertising published by Enders Analysis [UK advertising: internet to overtake TV this year], Reuters focused on the consequences for the advertising market as a whole. Highlighting the growth of video streaming as an advertising medium, Reuters noted the Enders Analysis research which revealed that "broadcasters and online portals are achieving high CPMs for in-stream video ads, reportedly averaging around £20, compared to c.£6 for TV spots".
17 Jun 2008
 
The Independent
Claiming that he intends to refocus Orange on the needs of the customer (Orange boss promises the future is bright, despite 450 job cuts), The Independent commented on recent remarks made by Tom Alexander, chief executive of the mobile operator. Announcing plans to axe 450 management posts and instead create 500 jobs in customer-facing, Alexander said:  "I believe there is a space we can fulfil in the market – we can differentiate ourselves around quality". He added: "We are now looking at reorientating the business in a common sense way, that is not around technology or tariff but around the customer."
 
Interviewed for the article, James Barford believed that, while it was difficult to fault the strategy, Orange had provided few details about what results would be achieved, or how. He said: "It is not exactly controversial reading, but the plan to perform well cannot be tested in advance".  He added: "Orange did used to be the best-loved, and Tom Alexander has a lot of experience in building up a brand, so it is not unrealistic."
05 Jun 2008
 
The Times

Commenting on research published recently by Enders Analysis (Online adverts put TV in the shade), The Times reiterated our forecast that spending on online advertising will increase by 26% this year to £3.56 billion - compared with a 2.5% fall in revenue to £3.39 billion for television - and concluded that the internet will surpass television this year to become Britain’s largest advertising medium.


Ian Maude was asked for his view. He said: “The TV market is flat at best if not weakening, whereas online advertising has continued to grow much more strongly than expected,”

01 Jun 2008
 
Bloomberg

Following the unexpected announcement by Arun Sarin of his imminent retirement as chief executive of Vodafone, Bloomberg analysed his legacy (Vodafone's Colao Faces European Pressure, Regulators), and speculated on the prospects for his successor, Vittorio Colao

 

James Barford was asked for his view. He said: “It looks like an evolution, rather than a revolution. Because he's been part of the current management team it's unlikely he'll be doing anything radical.”

28 May 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph

Following publication of a report by Enders Analysis on the UK regional press [Regionals at the cliff edge] the Daily Telegraph highlighted the sharp decline in advertising revenue (Local papers hit by surge in online ads), and emphasised the report's conclusion that regional papers have reached a point of "no return".

 

Interviewed for the article, Douglas McCabe disputed the industry's view that the decline in advertising represented a cyclical trend: "This downturn is different because it was preceded by a massive shift of classified advertising online," he said, and added: "Online is just cheaper and a much more effective classified ad medium. Publishers will be under pressure to rethink their advertising rates."

 

Overall, he suggested that the regional newspaper sector is facing difficult times: “It’s a one-way street, that money is simply leaving the sector as a whole and will never return," he said.

28 May 2008
 
The Guardian
Delivering another apocalyptic message on the future of print media (Digital Divide), the Guardian quoted from a recent report on the regional newspaper industry which predicted that revenues would decline by 25% and profits would fall by 35%.
 
Quoting from a recent report on the UK regional press written by Douglas McCabe (Regionals at the cliff edge), the article concluded: "Enders Analysis sounded another alarm last week following recent warnings from Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press that conditions are worsening further, with the sector 'on the edge of a cliff', and DMGT also admitted its regional titles were 'under pressure'".
27 May 2008
 
The Economist
Drawing attention to the plight of yellow-pages advertising (Dial I for Internet), The Economist revealed that shares in Yell have declined by 75% over the past 13 months, concluding that "Phone-book companies are heading for a long, slow decline".
 
The Economist pointed out that traditional directory businesses are finding it difficult to retain their brand awareness online. Only three big yellow-pages firms, in France, Norway and Sweden, "have recreated their dominance on the internet".
 
Additionally, The Economist claimed that in moving online, "directories dare not allow reviews or recommendations, because they earn money from advertising". Asked for his view, Douglas McCabe offered the explanation that  “people now want more than a book full of advertisers - they want word of mouth and a sense of community”.
23 May 2008
 
The Wall Street Journal
Commenting on Microsoft's ploy to drive web users to its internet search technology (Microsoft's Cash Rebates Further Highlight Need For Yahoo), The Wall Street Journal cautioned: "Microsoft has tried, with only slight success, different approaches to attract advertisers and users as it tries to lift itself from the distant third position behind Google and Yahoo." The article continued: "Although the so-called "cash back" idea - which offers customers rebates on items purchased through Microsoft's search technology - could tempt customers to use its search facility, it's probably too little, too late to close the gap with Google."
 
Ian Maude was asked for his view. He said: "Cash back is a neat idea, but I don't believe it will change the behaviour of the vast majority of internet searchers."  Referring to different pay models for internet advertising, Ian added: "Some advertisers would prefer cost-per-sale or revenue share over cost-per- click, but Microsoft has been offering such deals for a while, and it hasn't stopped Google from taking share."
 
Asked if he believed that a Yahoo purchase remains the only way Microsoft can challenge Google, Ian said: "Frankly, I think almost everyone will carry on using Google. There is no way they can get there without Yahoo. It's questionable that they can do it even with Yahoo, but all these little tweaks don't add up to much."
21 May 2008
 
The Times
Following the news that the American wireless technology developer Qualcomm has acquired for £8.3m the L-band spectrum (Qualcomm fights to set mobile TV standard), The Times explained that Qualcomm does not "intend to run a mobile TV broadcasting network as an operator, as it has done in the United States, but is looking for partners to launch its mobile television technology, MediaFLO".
 
Commenting on the fact that companies outside traditional telecoms, such as Qualcomm, have increasingly been bidding for spectrum, fuelling talk that technology groups will enter the sector, creating new services, Will Harris said: “One potential outcome from this is that two competing mobile TV services could be launched. While it is too early to say which technology will win at this stage, those that fail to get support from the mobile operators will lose.”
17 May 2008
 
The Financial Times

Commenting on news of 21CN, BT's long-awaited flagship modernisation project (Plaudits for Verwaayen’s success), The Financial Times reminded its readers that the £10bn plan is meant to replace 17 increasingly out of date fixed line networks with a single platform carrying phone and broadband services with download speeds of up to 24 megabits per second – three times faster than currently available.  However, Ian Watt explained that BT’s update reveals its plans are running a year behind schedule.

Asked how realistic he found BT's claim that "it would roll out next generation broadband to 10m homes and businesses by April 2009", Ian said that BT had indicated in 2006 that it would achieve this 10m milestone, equivalent to half of the population, by March 2008.

15 May 2008
 
Reuters

Commenting on the strategic alliance formed between Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse (Carphone to focus on broadband after Best Buy deal), Reuters speculated on the opportunity for Carphone Warehouse following the $2.1bn sales of its retail unit. "Its plans could ultimately result in a demerger and the possible sale of Carphone's telecom arm to the likes of Telefonica or Vodafone... it is now seen as the front runner to acquire the UK broadband unit of Italian group Tiscali  which is up for sale", claimed Reuters.

Ian Watt was asked for his view. He said: "Tiscali is the last major acquisition opportunity... Tiscali itself acquired Pipex which had previously consolidated small (Internet Service Providers). The top four providers are now accounting for something around 80 percent of subscribers and the only guys left are niche players."

08 May 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph

In an article which revealed the thinking behind the launch of Freesat (Freesat satellite launch signals HD intent of BBC and ITV), the Daily Telegraph explained the significance of the new free-to-air satellite service, with the advent of HD broadcasting, comparing its introduction to the transition from black and white to colour TV.

Asked for his view, Toby Syfret said: "Freesat is very important to the armoury of the public service broadcasters because it could allow them greater control of their destiny as regards HD, without having to deal through Sky. HD is attractive because people are getting bigger and bigger TV sets, and the bigger they get, the more noticeable the quality difference between HD and non-HD."

He added: "On a 44-inch screen, the quality difference is going to be very clear and the high quality is what people will come to expect..."That relatively high percentage for Sky shows switchover is a big opportunity for a satellite platform and Sky is the only one offering it at present. Freesat is important for the independent future of public service broadcasting if it wants to have a presence that is not wholly dependent on Sky."

05 May 2008
 
The Financial Times

Highlighting the vacuum at Five, the UK’s smallest terrestrial broadcaster, as it looks forward to a year without a CEO (Five to endure a long wait for Dawn), the Financial Times revealed the sting in the tail of Dawn Airey's appointment.


When asked for his view, Toby Syfret noted: “It is not a good time to be without a chief executive. There are a lot of important issues coming up for Five, such as whether they can become involved in Kangaroo and the beauty parade for high-definition TV spectrum".


Commenting on the terse official statement from ITV which made reference to the fact Ms Airey would be “taking an extended period of gardening leave”, Toby Syfret observed: “Judging from the tone of the press release, they did not leave on the best of terms and I can’t see any particular reason why Michael Grade would want to release her early.”

02 May 2008
 
The Financial Times
Commenting on the threat to the music industry posed by the rise of physical piracy (Pirates of the burning CDs), the Financial Times cited research from a report written by Alice Enders and Ben Rumley (Recorded Music and Music Publishing). The report makes the case that physical piracy has overtaken illegal file-sharing as the most serious threat to the music industry, and predicts that recorded music revenues will not stabilise until 2011.
 
Quoting Enders Analysis extensively in its coverage of the music industry, the FT focused on the report's core analysis which argues that the music industry has yet to find an effective strategy for deterring customers from copying CDs, claiming: "While the music industry grapples with internet piracy, physical piracy of music is moving into the mainstream, dragging all music buying down."
 
Forecasting that rising sales of downloads and mobile music offset falling CD sales, the report predicts a compound annual decline of 3.3 per cent in recorded music revenues between 2008 and 2012.  However the report indicates that growing revenues from music used in advertising and films would drive compound annual revenue growth of 1.6 per cent between 2008 and 2012.
29 Apr 2008
 
The Financial Times
Commenting on claims that ITV was being eyed up by two suitors (Why would-be bidders for ITV fumble for the remote control), the FT cautioned: "With its shares trading at half the 135p price BSkyB paid, ITV looks at first glance like low-hanging fruit... industry executives suggest that several of its past suitors are indeed examining it again, but nobody yet has the stomach for a bid".
 
Toby Syfret was asked for his view. He said: “I don’t think people feel any security about the future of TV advertising... “There’s still a fear that there could be a very nasty dip [in budgets] this year.”
22 Apr 2008
 
The Independent
Commenting on Carphone Warehouse's disappointing year-end trading figures and higher than expected levels of net debt (Carphone hit by slowing growth of broadband), The Independent quoted the chief executive, Charles Dunstone, denying that he intended to split the business by selling either the mobile distribution or fixed line divisions: "I would be loath to have them separated," he said. "The two are symbiotic – we need the stores to recruit the customers for the fixed-line business, and that's a key advantage over BT and Sky, because they don't have natural distribution."
 
Questioned on the prospect of acquiring rival internet service provider Tiscali, Dunstone said that a deal would only go ahead at a reasonable price.  
 
James Barford was asked for his view. He said:  "It could be a no-lose situation, because either Carphone can buy the business for a reasonable price, or Tiscali's high price tag boosts the value of its own broadband assets".
16 Apr 2008
 
The Financial Times

Following the news of the departure of Ben Verwaayen, the FT marked the succession of Ian Livingston as new chief executive of BT (Livingston picks up the BT mantle). Ian Watt was asked for his view on the appointment. He said that Mr Livingston may find it particularly challenging to get to grips with the 21CN project, which is central to future cost reductions. He added that BT had encountered problems with technology for the project, and highlighted how it involves complex software as well as hardware.

08 Apr 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
Exposing ITV's plans to reconfigure Friends Reunited (ITV to relaunch Friends Reunited), The Daily Telegraph revealed that the number of unique monthly visitors to the social network site has plunged by 62 per cent to 134,000 in the last year in comparison to Facebook, whose UK monthly sites visits have increased to 13m.

Ian Maude was asked for his view. He said: "Being bought by ITV turned out to be a disaster for Friends Reunited. ITV is only just starting to get its online strategy sorted and most of Friends Reunited's revenue is legacy revenue. They have been relying on people not cancelling their subscription. It's high margin, but it's not going to last".
27 Mar 2008
 
The Times
Speculating on the universal application and use of mobile broadcasting for coverage of the Olympic Games in 2012 (Rivals line up in race to bring Olympic Games to mobile phones), The Times revealed  that mobile operators are faced with choosing between four different network technologies. The article noted:  preparation for that future will gather pace next month with the auction of the L-Band spectrum, which is well-suited to the demands of mobile TV. It could prove to be the catalyst that forces the industry's big guns to make an early commitment to the technology that will take London 2012 to the mobile generation.
 
The article also found evidence to suggest that mobile viewing on the scale envisaged by the industry is not borne out by current market soundings. A survey last year by Enders Analysis of more than 1,000 adults in Britain revealed that 79 per cent were “not at all” interested in paying £5 a month for mobile TV. When interviewed by the Times, Will Harris substantiated this view: "We believe consumer demand for paid-for services is very limited”, he said. 
17 Mar 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
In an article which questioned the UK telecoms strategy of Hutchison Whampoa (How 3UK blew £10bn in five years) and speculated on the options available to the carrier's chief executive, Kevin Russell, the Daily Telegraph explained that: "With fewer customers than its rivals, 3 pays a disproportionately high amount of ... fees to connect its customers to other networks, while, because of its size, it receives relatively little in return".
 
James Barford was asked for his view. He said:  "To begin with 3 made a lot mistakes, but Kevin Russell is doing the best he can, having been dealt a poor hand. His problem is that he is trying to run an efficient low-cost new entrant and yet he has to use 3G networks and handsets which are still expensive."
03 Mar 2008
 
The Financial Times

Announcing BSkyB's decision to challenge the Competition Commission's recommendation that it should sell most of its stake in ITV (BSkyB to appeal over ITV ruling), the FT explained that BSkyB is targeting its appeal at the Competition Commission rather than at the government, and will take its case to the Competition Appeals Tribunal before the end of the week, thus prolonging the uncertainty over ITV’s shares. A person close to the company was quoted saying: “We think the Competition Commission got it wrong at every key step leading to this decision.”

Chris Goodall was interviewed for the article. He said: “On this occasion we think Sky has a small, but not negligible, chance of success.”

17 Feb 2008
 
The Sunday Times

He added: “There are some specific tasks such as checking a map or calendar that work, but not wading through the treacle of the mobile-browsing experience. On a compact handset, that is unlikely to be mass market for years.”

17 Feb 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
In an article titled Business giants in war of wits, the Daily Telegraph pitted Rupert Murdoch against Bill Gates in the battle for Yahoo! and asked the question: will News Corporation's mooted tie-up with Yahoo! win the day, or will Microsoft's cash pile prove irresistible to the struggling search company's long-suffering shareholders?
 
Ian Maude was asked for his view. He said:  "If Murdoch can swap MySpace and IGN [the video gaming company News bought for $650m] for a newly enlarged 20pc stake in a Yahoo! worth almost $50bn, he's ramped up the value of his investment from not much more than $1bn to $10bn, which is simply phenomenal."
15 Feb 2008
 
Reuters
Adding its voice to the chorus of concern over the slow take up of DAB (Is digital radio the new Betamax?), Reuters commented: "with digital stations closing and media firms questioning its future, some critics think you may have picked up the 21st century equivalent of a Betamax video recorder". The article cited research published by Enders Analysis which stated that the radio industry is stuck “in the middle of a snowstorm around the future of the whole platform”.
12 Feb 2008
 
The Financial Times

Commenting on the restructuring plan conceived by GCap Media (GCap plans fail to knock out Global), the FT emphasised the radical and realistic set of measures announced by Fru Hazlitt, GCap's chief executive. Ms Hazlitt stated that "DAB is not an economically viable platform for the company", and announced that GCap will sell for £1 its 63 per cent stake in Digital One, the transmission multiplex, to its partner Arqiva and instead concentrate on FM and broadband.

The FT reported that her plans were roundly criticised by Charles Allen, chairman of Global Radio who said: "There needed to be pretty significant growth plans, so we were surprised not to see a strategy for growth outlined in the presentation. It seemed not to answer the question of 'If DAB is not your digital strategy, what is?'."

Grant Goddard was asked for his view. He said: "I think Global may still need to raise their offer, but not by as much as we might have been thinking last week."

12 Feb 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
Revealing the existence of yet another social networking site (Why Silicon Valley is digging Digg),  the Daily Telegraph investigated how "Digg's eclectic cocktail of serious politics, tech news, celebrity gossip, conspiracy-theorising bloggers and puerile video has got millions hooked".
 
Interviewed for the article, Ian Maude explained: "Digg's cross between news and social networking sits in a sweet spot on the web.  News is a very good subject to pick because it has a very high appeal." He added: "Our research shows that 70 per cent of internet users in the UK regularly visit news websites."
10 Feb 2008
 
Variety

In an article which featured the unintended consequences of the public broadcasting policy of President Sarkozy (France Televisions to go ad-free, Sarkozy's plan faces funding doubts), Variety explained that the presidential desire to scrap advertising on public channels would require a compensating increase in the licence fee paid by commercial broadcasters and new media platforms. 

 
François Godard, European broadband and digital TV specialist at Enders Analysis, was asked for his view:  "Undoubtedly, if there's a restriction of TV ad time, prices will rise, benefiting TF1 and M6. But the key question's whether the advertising revenue increase will compensate for the new tax," he said.
08 Feb 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
Commenting on Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! (Does Microsoft's Yahoo! bid spell the beginning of the end for troubled web giant?), the Daily Telegraph summarised the historical importance of the event: "Yahoo ... like AOL, weaned millions of Americans on to the internet at a time when both the content available and the tools with which to find it were poor... by gathering information on millions of users, it sold their potential custom to advertisers." Ian Maude was asked for his view. He said: "Everybody wants to find stuff on the internet. Microsoft and Yahoo! didn't invest enough in search at a critical time. That created an opening for Google to create the market."
04 Feb 2008
 
The Times
04 Feb 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
Speculating on the outcome of Microsoft's bid for Yahoo! (Microsoft will spend big to catch Google), the Daily Telegraph asked: Is technology's biggest takeover offer a stroke of corporate genius, or a desperate dalliance?  Ian Maude was asked for his view on Microsoft's intention for the merger to secure synergies of $1bn. He said: "A lot of the Yahoo! people simply don't want to work for a software company.  A Microsoft takeover of Yahoo! doesn't solve the problem that a Google search delivers better results."
02 Feb 2008
 
The Financial Times

Announcing that GCap Media had secured a “put up or shut up” notice from the Takeover Panel, ordering Global Radio to announce a new offer by 5th March or walk away for at least six months (Global given deadline on GCap offer), the Financial Times speculated on the options available to Fru Hazlitt, GCap's new chief executive, commenting that she "may abandon the policy of limiting the number of advertisements aired on London’s Capital FM, sell some stations or cut its exposure to the disappointing digital audio broadcasting format".

Grant Goddard was asked for his view. He said: “I think Fru faces an immensely challenging task to come up with a strategy in a relatively short period of time which will need to demonstrate the company can be turned around after years of neglect.” He added, however, that Global was unlikely to be put off by Thursday’s audience figures. “Global needs consolidation desperately”, he said.

01 Feb 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
Flagging up Goggle's 2007 results (Google showing no signs of slowing), the Daily Telegraph noted: "While the old economy falters, Google's awesome growth story continues". Quoting from Enders Analysis, the article continued: "Revenues for 2007 were expected to have ballooned by a jaw-dropping 55pc to $16.5bn on Enders Analysis's estimates, giving Google around 40pc of a $40bn (£20bn) global online advertising market". Ian Maude was asked to put the results into context. He said: "Right now it's very hard to see who can stop Google. They have turned search into an unbelievably successful cash machine."
 
The Telegraph concluded that Google's appetite for innovation and expansion shows no signs of diminishing and has continued its push into software applications such as Google Docs and Google Spread Sheets, which it hosts online, saving storage space for companies. In the US it has launched Google Print, Google TV, and Google Radio, selling leftover inventory from other media. "All of these are about creating inventory on which Google can sell advertising", said Ian Maude. "Revenues beyond search remain minimal for now", he added.
01 Feb 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
Expressing concern at the slow uptake of digital radio (Radio's digital revolution stuttering in shops) the Daily Telegraph revealed that "...increasing numbers of digital-only radio stations have been scrapped due to a lack of listeners. Just 6.5 million sets have been bought since they were first launched in 1999 which is far fewer than the industry originally anticipated".
 
Grant Goddard was asked for his view. He said: "Digital radios simply aren't attracting consumers. Most people are listening to analogue stations and the digital-only stations are not attracting the levels of listeners first anticipated and as a result they are being forced to shut down. It's very different from the popularity we have seen with the Freeview television sets which customers buy in order to watch the highly popular digital TV channels."
 
He added: "Consumers are also put off by the cost. The average digital radio costs about £90 whereas you can buy a cheap, analogue radio for between £10 and £15."
30 Jan 2008
 
The Guardian
Responding to a report on Digital Audio Broadcasting published by Enders Analysis (DAB radio the next Betamax?), The Guardian reported that the combined effect of  high costs of transmission and slow growth in revenue is undermining confidence in digital radio, and will result in the closure of a string of national digital stations.
 
When asked to elaborate on the report, Grant Goddard said: "The exodus of stations from the DAB platform is starting to look like a stampede". Emphasising that the issue of DAB overcapacity had to be "urgently resolved" by Ofcom, Digital One, Channel 4 and transmission business Arqiva, he added: "Put bluntly, can the UK commercial radio sector really support two DAB multiplexes?"
29 Jan 2008
 
The Guardian

In an article entitled Show me the money, The Guardian posed this question: With fewer large TV audiences to target, what success are broadcasters having with alternative revenue streams? Is survival in the digital age ultimately about having fingers in as many pies as possible?

Commenting on the diversification strategies of different UK broadcasters, The Guardian explained that "some observers expect a "market correction" in the price differential charged between traditional TV ads and relatively expensive online ads as the internet video market matures. Today, advertising around online video content can command a double- digit premium against a TV ad, despite the fact that the total audience for the online ad is much smaller".

Citing BSkyB's Sky Anytime, launched in early 2006, as an example of future trends, The Guardian suggested that Sky's moves into broadband, together with its Sky View research on what Sky homes are watching, is effectively positioning Sky on other digital delivery platforms, and should allow BSkyB to deliver highly targeted ads to individual homes along with broadband delivered programmes. 

Furthermore, The Guardian quoted from research published by Enders Analysis, which shows that by 2012 BSkyB will make more than £110m from online advertising in all its forms - search, classified and display. Ian Maude was asked for his view. He said: "Sky will do well as they become a huge broadband provider - over 3 million broadband subscribers are predicted by 2010 - and crucially they have got key content rights sewn up, such as sports." He added: "There's a good chance they can also use those rights to build up an ad-funded, and paid-for, internet business."

15 Jan 2008
 
The Financial Times
In an article which criticised BT for its unwillingness "to provide financial progress reports on the roll out of the new network and its associated cost savings" (Mounting pressure could halt BT renaissance), the FT suggested that "The double act that rid BT of its reputation as a financial basket case and led the move into technology services – Sir Christopher Bland, chairman, and Ben Verwaayen, chief executive – is no more".
 
The article revealed that "BT is investing £10bn in a new fixed-line network to generate £1bn of annual cost savings from 2008-09...by replacing 17 outdated fixed-line networks – which provide voice and data services – with one all-singing, all-dancing system that should require less maintenance". Ian Watt was asked for his view:  “You cannot have a £10bn investment programme with a target of £1bn of savings and not have financial milestones”, he said.
15 Jan 2008
 
The Financial Times

Commenting on the trans-Atlantic market for original TV programmes (UK remake should be arresting viewing), the FT found that "Reality, or non-scripted formats, from Britain made by US outposts of UK production companies have ... done particularly well over the past few years in the US, where the tradition of 'variety television' died long ago".

The FT revealed that, in the US, "imported television programmes have tended to be remade, keeping the basic scenarios and situations but with American characters and a new script as US audiences have struggled with the British sense of humour and feel more comfortable with US storylines". Claire Enders was asked for her view. She said: “If you want a ratings hit, you need to make a programme relevant to the audience.”

In further comment on the fact that few television groups apart from the BBC have the financial power to back such projects in the UK, she added: “Original programming is very expensive.”

04 Jan 2008
 
The Times
Announcing the appointment of  Tom Alexander, founder and CEO of Virgin Mobile, as the new head of Orange UK (Orange hopes for a bright future from Virgin star), The Times suggested that, in being asked to restore Orange to its former glory, Alexander "has just been handed one of the toughest jobs in European telecoms".
 
The article claimed that "The lagging performance of the division, which is battling fierce competition from rivals Vodafone and O2 is the result of factors including its loss of independence to France Telecom". James Barford was asked for his view. He told the Times that Orange "... has to bend to France Telecom’s strategic priorities which may not be as applicable to its UK business as to its French one”.
02 Jan 2008
 
The Daily Telegraph
Announcing that Orange has postponed the commercial launch of its UK fixed-line broadband television service until 2008 (Orange postpones video-on-demand service), the Daily Telegraph revealed that "despite a strong last quarter, Orange has been lagging its rivals in terms of broadband subscriber additions".
 
Interviewed for the article, Ian Maude said: 'It's important for them to protect the broadband base from other service providers, particularly Sky [which has more than 1m broadband subscribers]... They are not going to make any money out of IPTV - we estimate for example that Virgin Media makes around £2 to £3 a month per video-on-demand subscriber." He added: ''Orange needs to offer it because everyone else is and to prevent broadband and telephony customers leaking to the competition."
17 Dec 2007
 
The Financial Times
Following the revelation that the UK’s three main terrestrial television companies will take a united stand in the face of a serious threat to their internet strategy (TV channels box clever with ‘kangaroo’ plan), the FT claimed: "It is an avowed response to the effect of Apple’s iPod on music rights and the music downloading business. The media groups are trying to prevent a similar dominance emerging with regard to film and television programmes."
 
Ian Maude was asked for his view about the birth of Kangaroo. He pointed out that the business, whose equity will be split three ways, would amount to 'Freeview 2.0', a logical extension of the free-to-air digital terrestrial television service already available. “This is not something I would just call a smart move – it is an essential move to fight off Google’s YouTube on the one hand, and whatever increased on-demand offering BSkyB comes up with on the other”, he said.
28 Nov 2007
 
The Daily Telegraph

Commenting on the plans announced by Kevin Russell, CEO of 3, the UK's smallest mobile operator, to combine its mast network with T-mobile (3's number one is taking a calculated risk), the Daily Telegraph revealed that the network-sharing arrangement would be announced within weeks and could cut the cost of running 3's network by more than 20 per cent.

Asked by the Daily Telegraph for his view, James Barford said that he had been impressed by Russell's strategy so far. "He strikes me as being a very feet-on-the-ground, get-the-basics-right manager, which is exactly what 3 needs", he said.  But Barford is sceptical that the business can become truly profitable. "The company may break even at Ebitda by the end of the year. But to cover the costs of the D and the A – depreciation of the value of the network and the annualised cost of the licence – would require an Ebitda margin of 30 per cent" he added.

26 Nov 2007
 
The Times

Pre-empting the UK launch of the Apple iPhone by O2, The Times attempted to get behind the hype (Will the Apple iPhone be Googled?), and claimed that "the phone's principal drawbacks are the touch-screen keyboard and the price. At £269 each, plus the commitment of a minimum £35-a-month contract lasting 18 months, the iPhone costs head and shoulders more than everything else on sale at the moment".

James Barford was asked for his opinion: “We see this pricing as limiting the iPhone’s appeal to Apple aficionados and wealthy fashion victims who are looking to upgrade their iPod”, he said.

04 Nov 2007
 
The Financial Times

Announcing the appointment of Tom Alexander, a founder and former chief executive of Virgin Mobile, as chief executive of Orange UK's mobile and broadband operations (Orange shakes up UK business), the FT commented: "One key risk for Mr Alexander would be if he were to spend too little time focused on Orange UK's mobile business, which is the main source of revenue and profit, and too much on its fixed-line broadband operations". James Barford was asked for his view. He said: "Reinvigorating Orange's marketing will be a top priority, and Tom has proved his credentials in this area." The article also quoted research published by Enders Analysis which showed that, over the past year, Orange UK's mobile revenue growth has fallen behind rivals Vodafone, O2 and T-Mobile.

23 Oct 2007
 
The Times

Posing the question, Can a ‘practical Antipodean’ put Virgin Media on a secure footing? the Times noted that Neil Berkett, interim CEO of Virgin Media, is reluctant to compete head on with BSkyB, and ultimately will concede defeat in this arena while aiming to attract a “middle-tier” of customers. "Instead of distinguishing itself as the 'quadruple play' operator offering broadband, television, fixed-line and mobile phone under one roof, broadband is to become Virgin Media’s new focal product", the article inferred. The Times interviewed Claire Enders. She believes Mr Berkett is good news. She said: “If Neil Berkett had said he wanted to step up to battle it out with Sky on football rights I would feel sick". She added: “Broadband is the only area of the company where there is a lot of positive feedback from customers".

19 Oct 2007
 
The Daily Telegraph

Following Radiohead's announcement that it would sell its new album In Rainbows directly from its official website, for as much or as little as fans want to pay (Nine Inch Nails follow Radiohead and dump label), the Daily Telegraph asked Alice Enders for her view. She said: "It is certainly a feature of the internet age, when you think that physical music retailing is in decline and music sold over the internet is rising sharply. On the other hand, if you are an unknown you require marketing." Alice added: "The economic benefits are going to be mixed. It costs a lot of money to run transaction websites." She explained that for the average download costing 99 pence, between 10 and 20 pence is recovered by credit card companies.

The Daily Telegraph suggested that bands are abandoning record companies because of the prevalence of the 360 degree contract which obliges artists to remit all their output - including live performances and merchandising. Previously the revenue from these activities were an artist's primary means of income as royalties earned from CD sales are so meagre.

Alice Enders explained that many record companies are dropping their artists, rather than the other way around: "There are a lot of musicians that don't have a choice any more than go direct to the customer."

10 Oct 2007
 
The Financial Times

Following Ofcom's announcement that it would hold an industry-wide consultation into the impact of BSkyB's launch of its Picnic channel, the Financial Times revealed that the planned pay-TV service is opposed not only by BT Vision, but also by Setanta Sports, Top Up TV and Virgin Media (Ofcom guarded on BSkyB's Picnic move). Highlighting the concerns of BSkyB's competitors, the FT explained: Each offers services over or on top of the Freeview platform and fears Sky’s dominance of pay-TV could spread from satellite broadcasting to digital terrestrial television.

However, the article pointed out that Ofcom has made no recommendation and remains “completely open minded”. Furthermore, the regulator noted that Picnic would increase the choice of pay-TV services on digital terrestrial television, and concluded that there were three possible outcomes: either it could require that BSkyB should sell its content wholesale to rivals, as with cable; or it could insist that the service work with others’ set-top boxes and vice-versa; or it could force BSkyB’s to retail its channels indirectly through a third party.

Interviewed by the FT, Toby Syfret explained that Ofcom's decision on BSkyB’s DTT plans would be more significant. “This is something which has implications for the whole future of pay-TV in this country,” he said, adding that BSkyB had moved to pre-empt some concerns by providing details of the new service, which would replace Sky News, Sky Sports News and Sky Three on Freeview with Sky Sports One, Sky One and one Sky Movies channel for an undisclosed price.

04 Oct 2007
 
The Financial Times

Paraphrasing the popular view that Competition Commission's judgement of last year’s stock market raid on ITV by BSkyB was either a "witchhunt against Rupert Murdoch or an essential safeguard against anti-competitive concentration of media assets" (BSkyB ruling may be a hollow victory), the FT concluded that the Commission "did not find evidence to support arguments put forward by BSkyB’s rivals that the satellite broadcaster’s influence over ITV posed a threat to the integrity of its news output. Nor was it concerned about the impact on the advertising market".

Toby Syfret was asked for his view. “Richard Branson may be pleased, delighted at the verdict but in a way it’s a hollow victory,” he said.

02 Oct 2007
 
The Times

Remarking on the success of Freeview in spearheading the switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting (North leads digital revolution), the Times questioned the long-term success of the Freeview proposition. First, the service is unable to offer broadcasts in high definition (HD); second, BSkyB, in which News Corp, ultimate owner of The Sunday Times, has a 39% stake, is attempting to withdraw the three channels it makes available on Freeview and replace them with pay-TV channels. BSkyB’s request is being considered by Ofcom.

The Times argued that Freeview is at a clear disadvantage: It does not broadcast any HD channels and will not be able to do so until after digital switchover in 2012 because it does not have the VCR amnesty band. Even after the analogue signal is turned off, and bandwidth freed up, the government has indicated it should be auctioned to the highest bidder. Some think the main terrestrial broadcasters have no automatic right to the extra capacity. Toby Syfret was interviewed for the article. “Do they [public-service broadcasters] get it by divine right, and will there be strings attached?” he asked.

30 Sep 2007
 
The Financial Times

Anticipating the seasonal rush for new mobile phones at Christmas, the FT speculated on the impact of the iPhone on consumer preferences (iPhone leaves its rivals hanging on). Reiterating Apple's forecast to sell 3m iPhones in Europe by the end of 2008, the FT cautioned that Apple could struggle to meet its European sales targets because of the iPhone’s high price and lack of a high-speed 3G connection to the internet. Additionally, in its approach to European operators, Apple may need to reconsider its unsubsidised and revenue-sharing proposition: European consumers are used to getting their mobile phones free or at a sharp discount because operators heavily subsidise all handsets for customers on contracts.

The article drew on a report published by Enders Analysis (iPhone in the UK: over here, overhyped and overpriced) which emphasised that the pricing point of the iPhone will limit its appeal to “Apple aficionados and wealthy fashion victims”. Furthermore, the report pointed out that, for the price of the iPhone, consumers in the UK could buy Apple’s new iPod Touch, which has all the features of the iPhone bar the phone, for £200, get a free N95 with many operators “and still have money left over for a trendy new shirt”.

21 Sep 2007
 
The Financial Times

Raising the prospect of T-Mobile bidding for 3, its loss-making rival (T-Mobile considers network sharing plan with rival 3), the FT explained that mobile operators are pursuing network sharing as an "opportunity to cut costs, given that fierce competition... is resulting in them cutting their tariffs with consumers". The article continued: "In 2005, 3 made a pre-tax loss of £1.4bn... Hopes of breaking even at the operating profit level have been hit by a decision by Ofcom... to require a 45 per cent cut in how much 3 charges for connecting calls to its network".

James Barford was asked for his view. He said: "This deal, if concluded, would leave T-Mobile as the most obvious potential buyer of 3."

14 Sep 2007
 
The Financial Times

Highlighting the increasing importance for broadcasters to make content available online (Broadcasters switch on to downloading picture,) the Financial Times concluded: "All are chasing the promise of a fast-growing market". Pointing out that online advertising, which underpins many of the broadband initiatives, is particularly strong in the UK, the FT estimated that the download-to-own part of the UK online video market alone will expand from £14.8m this year to reach £65m by 2011. However, the article also cited research to show that "such models will not take off fast enough to replace traditional television in the way that downloads have threatened the music CD. Several analysts also warned that the UK is trailing in making use of such new distribution", added the FT.

Quoting from a report published by Enders Analysis (BBC iPlayer: forever niche?), the article reiterated our view that PC-based video services “will remain niche in the short to medium term... The TV is the locus of family entertainment and the PC cannot replicate its appeal”. While free content would serve a brand-building purpose for broadcasters, the report concluded that “pay services are likely to have narrow appeal” because of the availability of pirated material and free substitutes, such as personal video recorders.

14 Sep 2007
 
The Financial Times

Citing research by Enders Analysis which predicts that by 2009 global music sales will be half their level at the peak of the CD boom, down from $45bn in 1997 to $23bn (HMV chief has to face the music and dance), the FT speculated on the demise of music retailing in the UK. At HMV, the article predicted, "CDs are expected to fall to 25 per cent of the sales mix in three years’ time, down from 36 per cent today, as the group tries to ride with the trend... only Virgin Megastores remains as a serious national rival and its last accounts show it making a loss". So could HMV be the last to survive, the FT asked? “I think we will be", answered the CEO, Simon Fox.

13 Sep 2007
 
The Financial Times

Reporting from the opening of HMV's first 'new generation' store (Last track plays as record stores go full circle), the FT columnist Jonathan Guthrie felt chastened by the experience. "There were fireworks. There was a rock band. There was even a cute dog. And underpinning all the razzmatazz was the sense of a historic business clutching at straws", he wrote. Following a period of heavy price deflation triggered by competition between supermarkets and traditional retailers, Guthrie continued, sales of CD albums, the key product category for music retailers, have fallen by around 7m to 58m in the first half of this year. "Record labels are struggling against stiff odds to convert illegal downloads into legitimate purchases", he concluded. Alice Enders was asked for her view: "There is a culture of gratuity among the young, fostered by the internet," she said.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

13 Sep 2007
 
The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal reported on the growing trend for news papers to develop international readership online (UK Newspapers Eye Global Online Readers For Ad Revenue). All is not what it seems, as the article revealed: "Despite this promising new marketplace and the importance of offsetting declines in domestic circulation and advertising revenue, turning this audience into advertising revenue is proving elusive". Douglas McCabe was interviewed for the article. He said: "Several of the U.K.'s largest newspapers now have an online readership, much of it overseas, which is 20 times their domestic hard copy circulation." He added: "But in most cases it's unlikely to generate more than 10% of their revenues."

McCabe's view that overseas online advertising revenue is less than 10% of total advertising revenue, was challenged by Tom Turcan, general manager for digital operations at The Guardian, although he declined to provide a specific figure. Although he believed that The Guardian is attracting more genuinely 'global' online advertisers, he admitted: "We don't get as much (yield) from our overseas readers (online) as we do from domestic ones".

However, the WSJ interviewed other advertising specialists and analysts who concurred with Douglas McCabe that "there are structural reasons why advertising yields from overseas, online readers are currently lower than domestic counterparts". The article included an interview with Robert Horler, managing director of online advertising planner, Diffiniti: "A handful of U.K. newspapers, including The Times, The Guardian and the Financial Times can all genuinely say they are global newspapers," he said, "But if you look at how much advertising inventory they are getting from overseas, the answer is they aren't really delivering yet. Yields from the U.K. tend to be much higher."

07 Sep 2007
 
The Guardian

Speculating on the arrival of a further iteration of Apple's market leading MP3 player (Sixth generation iPod anticipated), The Guardian interviewed Ben Rumley. Owing to the shared use of so many features, he said it would be an interesting test for Apple to see how the iPod can be developed as a product without cannibalising iPhone sales: "The iPhone's big widescreen makes the old video iPods look out of date, so it seems likely there will be some move in that direction." He added: "Apple always like to surprise people - last year they came up with the new Shuffle and no-one expected that."

04 Sep 2007
 
The Financial Times

Reporting on the competition between BSky B, Setanta and other pay-TV broadcasters for live sports audiences (On-screen battle kicks-off as new season starts), the FT commented: "Success is critical for Setanta to establish itself as a lasting rival to Sky Sports, which won 92 live games, and to justify the £392m it spent on Premiership rights. But this season will be of equal importance to other companies battling it out in an increasingly vicious pay-television market... Football rights have become central to Virgin Media’s attempts to revive its rebranded cable platform, BT Group’s efforts to ramp up its fledgling TV offering, BT Vision, and the ongoing debate about how much of a threat Freeview’s digital terrestrial television service represents to rivals."

Ian Watt was asked for his view: “We question whether the Setanta deal will do much more than help Virgin Media to tread water”, he said.

13 Aug 2007
 
The Independent on Sunday

According to the Independent on Sunday, "some of the largest broadband providers in the UK are threatening to 'pull the plug' from the BBC's new iPlayer unless the corporation contributes to the cost of streaming its videos over the internet". Exposing the technical constraints on network capacity (Internet groups warn BBC over iPlayer plans: ISPs fear that introduction of web broadcasts will overload their networks as users download 'catch-up' TV), IOS quoted a spokesman at BT who said: "It is certainly a live debate between ISPs and the BBC. If the BBC gets the numbers it wants for iPlayer then network capacity could become an issue."

Ian Maude was asked for his view. He said: "No broadcaster has rights clearance to distribute all its broadcast content over the internet. The BBC, for example, holds the rights for in-house produced programming, as well as catch-up TV and series stacking rights for independently produced programming from the UK, but few internet rights for acquired content, such as feature films and sports events." He added: "At launch, around 60 per cent of the BBC's weekly TV schedule will be available via the iPlayer. However, we anticipate that the strong affiliation of viewers with the broadcaster brands will drive usage of their catch-up TV services, despite less than comprehensive availability of programming."

12 Aug 2007
 
The Independent

In an article entitled Virgin Media loses 40,000 customers to Sky, The Independent revealed that the group had lost customers in all four media businesses. The article concluded that the losses have hit Virgin Media's ARPU as the bulk of its departing users are high-spending 'triple play' consumers that had utilised its broadband, telephony and TV services.

The Independent interviewed Neil Burkett, chief operating officer of Virgin Media, who said he was "quietly confident" that the slide in customer numbers had ceased and that the disagreement with Sky had not damaged the Virgin brand. He said that the "storm of the second quarter" had blown over and that the vast majority of customer defections in both television and telephony had occurred early in the quarter.

Burkett challenged a recent research report compiled by Enders Analysis that suggested the company's 'quad-play' model - based on the assumption that consumers want to source broadband, television, fixed-line and mobile telecoms services from one supplier - was failing. He called the research "premature" and said: "It's going very well. The upside in the short-to-medium term is substantial."

09 Aug 2007
 
The Financial Times

Highlighting the exodus of Virgin Media's subscribers (Branson sees market going ‘yo-yo for a while’), the FT interviewed Sir Richard Branson hours after the company reported second-quarter results showing losses in customers and market share in each of its four businesses, leaving underlying revenues from its core consumer cable business down 4 per cent. The article revealed that only 125,000 of the media group's 4.7m customers had signed up for its much-vaunted 'quadruple play' of pay-TV, broadband, mobile and fixed-line telephony. Asked to comment on Virgin Media's boast that it was maintaining a vital competitive advantage by selling all four services, Claire Enders said: ”They should stop marketing the quadruple play. It’s wasting their marketing dollars.”

Also interviewed for the article, Steve Burch, chief executive of Virgin Media, said the results showed ”encouraging broadband and mobile contract growth, a resilient performance by our TV business and signs that our fixed-line telephony business is starting to react to renewed management focus”. However, statistics compiled by Enders Analysis showed Virgin’s former market leadership in broadband assailed by the rapid rise of BSkyB. Virgin secured 14 per cent of new broadband customers in the second quarter of 2006, Enders Analysis calculated, but by the same period this year that figure had fallen to 10 per cent.

09 Aug 2007
 
The Independent

Heralding the dismantling of the Virgin Media as a converged communications provider (Why has Virgin Mobile fallen from grace?), The Independent quoted the Enders Analysis report, Virgin Mobile price increases, which argued that recent changes to the quad-play pricing could reduce take-up of the package to "a trickle", and represented "another nail in the coffin for the fixed-mobile convergence bandwagon".

07 Aug 2007
 
Ars Technica

Marking the milestone passed by Apple as its online store achieved 10% of US total recorded music sales (iTunes Store rings up 3 billionth song), Ars Technica commented that the continued success of iTunes reflects growing consumer interest in legal music downloads. Underlining the rapid rate of change in the music market, the article quoted research published by Enders Analysis, which predicts a decline in sales of physical media from $45 billion in 1997 to $23 billion in 2009.

31 Jul 2007
 
The Guardian

Covering the launch of the trial version of the iPlayer (iPlayer too niche, says report), the Guardian featured a report published by Enders Analysis (BBC iPlayer: forever niche?) which was published to coincide with the launch of BBC's new broadband TV service. Enders Analysis had cited comScore data showing that Channel 4's 4oD broadband TV website had 450,000 unique visitors in June, but predicted that the number actually using the application would be "far smaller". The report had also warned that technology issues, such as current standard 2MB broadband speeds, would mean that many viewers would be frustrated by download times of TV shows. The Guardian noted that the report had argued that it is likely that Freeview households - without personal video recorders and TV video on demand services but with broadband connections - will drive demand for broadcasters' internet video services: "We consider download as mainly appropriate for appointment viewing, not impulse viewing, making it a closer substitute for the DVD experience than for TV".

27 Jul 2007
 
The Financial Times

In an article which ranged widely over the future of the Virgin empire (Branson faces juggling test over his empire), Sir Richard told the paper: "The Virgin group is in its most successful period in the 40 years I've been in business... I'd like to be seen as the world's most respected brand." Yet while Virgin is bigger and more ambitious than at any point in its history, it also faces a raft of operational and strategic challenges, the FT added.

Asking if Virgin had bitten off more than it can chew, the FT reminded its readers that Virgin Media has become embroiled in an expensive and acrimonious battle with BSkyB in the UK pay-TV market. BSkyB has doubled its marketing spending as a result. Moreover, "Virgin may also have unwittingly provoked BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse into attacking the so-called 'double and triple-play' markets for combined phone, television and internet services that it previously had to itself ".

Claire Enders was also interviewed for the article. She said that the slide in the dollar over the past 18 months would mean that Sir Richard will not make a profit on his investment in Virgin Media unless the company is sold for more than $32 a share. But she added that Virgin has lost far fewer customers to BSkyB than some had predicted. She said: "There's no doubt that [Sir Richard's] luck, innovation and chutzpah have been a valuable addition to Virgin Media."

The FT concluded that the risk for Virgin is that a setback in any one part of the business has the potential to damage the brand and consumer confidence elsewhere. Claire, however, came to Sir Richard's defence: "To say that people won't take Virgin Atlantic because they are disgruntled Virgin Media customers is a bit of stretch," she said.

21 Jul 2007
 
The Financial Times

Commenting on the deal announced between Setanta, the Irish broadcaster and Virgin Media to carry content from six of its channels, including 46 live English Premiership games, on its cable network (Virgin Media to air Setanta’s football coverage), the FT reported that "analysts believe Virgin Media will be paying Setanta between £2 and £2.50 per subscriber per month. Setanta, which paid £392m when it bought a third of the live rights to Premiership games in 2006, is eager to raise its subscriber base from about 250,000 to the target of 1m it set for 2008".

Claire Enders was interviewed for the article. She said: “Breakeven or better from this investment will take at least a year or 18 months, but it is a good riposte to Sky in customer terms.”

21 Jul 2007
 
The Financial Times

Following a valedictory interview with the outgoing chairman of BT, Sir Christopher Bland, the FT broke the news that BT is considering the case for an ultra-fast broadband network that could deliver internet download speeds of up to 50 megabits per second (BT looks at ultra-fast broadband). The article revealed that the telco will offer broadband speeds of up to 24mbps from next year, as it rolls out a £10bn 'backbone' network and introduces technology known as ADSL2+. Sir Christopher said BT’s thinking had advanced “quite far” on the case for fibre to the kerb “That is the more likely development going forward," he said. However, he questioned whether “most consumers” would need broadband speeds of more than 16 or 24 mbps - but accepted some businesses might do.

BT was criticised by the Broadband Stakeholder Group, however, which claimed in April that the BT network would be too slow to meet the demands of the most demanding households and businesses by 2012. The FT found evidence to support this claim and cited research published by Enders Analysis, which estimates that less than a third of households will enjoy broadband speeds of more than 20mbps with BT’s ADSL2+ technology. This is partly because broadband speeds are dependent on the length of copper landlines running from BT phone exchanges to homes, the article concluded.

19 Jul 2007
 
The Financial Times

Having interviewed Ralph Bernard , chief executive of GCap (GCap considers digitally tuning out), the Financial Times concluded that the owner of Capital Radio may have to pull out of digital radio if it does not see faster growth in the technology and get a commitment from regulators to switch off analogue signals. The FT reminded its readers that having secured the first digital radio multiplex, GCap has invested more than any other UK commercial broadcaster in digital audio broadcasting (DAB) technology. Grant Goddard was also interviewed for the article. He said: “Financially, digital radio has added significantly to the problems of the commercial radio sector. Already, half of all analogue stations lose money or make an annual profit of less than £100,000, and digital radio has incurred significant investment costs while not yet proving profitable for any channel operator or multiplex owner.”

13 Jul 2007
 
The Financial Times

Reporting on the news that a Channel 4-led consortium had won the contest for the UK's new national digital radio licence (Channel 4 to take on BBC in DAB battles), the Financial Times suggested that the Ofcom-run auction should be seen as a critical point in the UK radio industry's shift from analogue broadcasting to digital. The FT claimed, furthermore, that by winning the contest the consortium would give a shot in the arm for digital audio broadcasting (DAB) and provide stronger competition to the BBC. However, Grant Goddard, who was interviewed for the article, questioned Channel 4's chances of success, saying several of its proposed formats had already failed in analogue radio. He said: "The commercial sector's track record in the speech format, which is offered by only 1 per cent of licensed stations, is hardly inspiring."

07 Jul 2007
 
New York Times

Reporting on the bid for Virgin Media by the private equity firm, Carlyle Group (Virgin Media, British Cable Service, Gets Takeover Offer), the New York Times sought the view of Ian Watt. He said: “Virgin Media has been somewhat mismanaged at a strategic level for some time... Taking it private would enable new owners to take a longer-term view and allow for a restructuring without immediate pressure of increasing customer numbers.”

03 Jul 2007
 
HoldTheFrontPage.co.uk

Speaking at a conference on the future of the regional press in the UK (Service of regional press makes local TV plans 'unnecessary' - media expert), Claire Enders told delegates that, in spite of a tough climate, the local press continued to meet the expectations of local communities both for local news and locally-driven information. "There is no market failure that the current players aren't addressing" she said. "I think I first started hearing about the death of the regional newspaper in 1994 and 13 years later the medium is still doing pretty well." She added that there was a "dramatic growth" in regional press websites, and there was still a vibrant picture in terms of local media consumption.

21 Jun 2007
 
BBC News

Following the story that eBay had abruptly terminated its advertising contracts with Google (Auction website eBay has pulled its US advertising from search engine giant and adversary Google), BBC News asked Ian Maude to explain eBay's precipitate action. He said that eBay was disappointed by Google's plans to host a rival function in an attempt to build market share for its Google Checkout payments service, which was launched in the US last year and became available in the UK in April. "It was a clever-dick marketing tactic from Google that has gone wrong" he said. "eBay is the dominant player in the online payments market with PayPal and they have reacted very badly to the stunt, feeling that Google is trying to park their tanks on their lawn."

He added that eventually this battle will be resolved: "There certainly will be other conflicts as the industry consolidates in areas such as digital advertising."

15 Jun 2007
 
Bloomberg

Raising the prospect of a takeover battle for EMI (Terra Firma Agrees to Buy EMI for 2.4 Billion Pounds), Bloomberg interviewed Claire Enders. She said: "The company is totally in play. They are hoping a bidding war erupts.''

21 May 2007
 
The Sunday Herald

Speculating on the compounding effects of intensifying competition in converged media (Virgin Media feeling the effects of BSkyB withdrawing channels), the Sunday Herald asked the question: "just how much trouble is Virgin Media in and how much of an additional threat does BT Vision pose?" Ian Watt was asked for his view. He played down the risk, saying: "BT Vision is primarily a tool of BT to hold on to its premium customers to reduce the churn of its existing customers."

13 May 2007
 
The Sunday Times

Commenting on Virgin Media's loss of critical market share (BT turns up heat on Virgin Media - The phone giant’s entry into broadband TV is the latest blow for Branson’s baby), the Sunday Times concluded that "BT’s arrival in the pay-TV market underlines the extent to which the convergence between telecoms and television is finally becoming a reality". A number of analysts were interviewed for the article. One said: “The business fundamentals remain under intense pressure. Telephony decline is set to continue due to uncompetitive price offering. TV is suffering from lack of content and competition from Sky. Broadband growth is declining in a fragmented market approaching saturation.” Claire Enders was asked for her view. She said: “Who would have thought that the market would move away from free because Carphone messed it up? People are happy to pay for something that works. It’s just the best thing that’s ever happened to BT.”

13 May 2007