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Video-sharing platforms give brands unprecedented freedom to commission and distribute entertainment, but building an audience is different from buying one.

The opportunity depends on brands turning fleeting attention into lasting affinity and, ultimately, commercial value.

As brands take greater control, money and responsibilities are shifting across the value chain, creating new opportunities and risks for broadcasters, producers and creators.

The UK national news industry is smaller, leaner and more profitable than it was a decade ago. Aggregate revenue is broadly flat on 2017, but adjusted operating profit has risen from £214m to £336m as publishers have shifted towards higher-value digital and reader revenues.

Subscriptions are maturing from a volume game into one of yield, retention and segmentation. Tabloids are selectively paywalling their content; the focus is increasingly lifetime value rather than subscriber count alone.

The next phase is portfolio economics, using the same journalism, expertise, personalities and IP across newsletters, specialist products, events, communities, flexible access and machine licensing—extracting more value from the same underlying assets.

A media fightback is emerging, as the creative industries respond to two years of AI disruption, and leading labs issue dire warnings against a laissez-faire approach.

A renewed push against tech’s “capture” of the value chain is visible across sectors from music to publishing.

Big tech earnings continue to blow past expectations. Those with credible gatekeeper roles and diversified revenues are benefitting this quarter.

Ofcom is curtailing Openreach’s price discounting for now, effectively setting a price ceiling based on theoretical altnet economics as opposed to Openreach’s own (much lower) fibre costs.

This restriction is however likely to prove time-limited, with VMO2-only areas and those with high altnet market share likely to be de-regulated first, and within the current regulatory cycle.

VMO2 and the altnets need to be prepared to compete on a more even footing, and would be wise not to hasten deregulation through their own actions, such as focusing on market share grabs as opposed to building a sustainable business model.

Channel 4 Sales will be selling linear and broadcaster VOD advertising for Paramount channels from January. For the first time Channel 4, Channel 5 and UKTV's channels will be available through one sales house.

C4/Paramount/UKTV will match ITV Media for total viewing, but ITV1 remains the only channel that consistently delivers mass simultaneous reach.

While Sky Media's loss of Paramount in January significantly reduces its size, this could be a blessing in disguise, easing potential competition concerns over the acquisition of ITV's M&E business.