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In 2025, Canal+ delivered results in line with or better than guidance, but the (predictable) losses at Multichoice were bruising for the share price.
The Multichoice acquisition proved timely as African economic prospects improve.
Further opportunities for expansion lie ahead in French football distribution, the Nordic territories and in Southeast Asia.
If you look at Springer’s English-language portfolio, the properties sit at very different points on the spectrum of platform dependency, noted head of publishing at Enders Analysis Abi Watson. Business Insider depends on search and social for most of its traffic, and paywalls haven’t exactly helped (though it has built a strong subscriptions foundation): when visits dropped, so did revenue. Morning Brew is a direct hit, but mostly at the top of the funnel. Politico Pro serves a tiny slice of paying professionals, though it’s extremely valuable. Combined, the English-language portfolio is ad-dependent and double-exposed — to both traffic shifts and advertising swings, stressed Watson.
Rapid diffusion of AI products is pressuring all media sectors to take a radical approach to content and IP management (beyond tried and trusted online strategies).
2026 will be a bumper year of AI spend by big tech. Capex growth may moderate in 2027 but with an enduring cumulative impact as AI agents approach the mainstream.
Broadcasters are ramping up activity on YouTube, and as the rules of tech platform distribution change, the industry works to solve content licensing for AI.
Here’s what Enders Analysis said in February after 2025 earnings were released: “VMO2 ended 2025 on a slowing note, with broadband still being hit by altnets and mobile impacted by negative publicity surrounding an October pricing change [see below].
Guidance for 2026 at 3-5% declines for proforma service revenue and EBITDA looks bleak, driven by current momentum and various built-in technical factors, including wholesale payments to nexfibre.
We are not convinced that the agreed nexfibre /Netomnia deal is in any sense a panacea for VMO2’s issues, but there are other green shoots that could help the company back to growth beyond 2026.”
According to François Godard, a media and telecoms analyst at Enders Analysis who covers the development of football media rights agreements and subscription trends across Europe, centralisation may help address the widening financial gap between clubs competing regularly in European competitions and the rest of the domestic league.
“The discrepancy between the top club and the smaller club is exploding because of the Champions League and Europa League and Conference League,” Godard says.
“On balance, maybe Benfica will suffer a little bit, but the balance is a healthier domestic competition and eventually growth in domestic revenues and total revenues,” he says.
Francois Godard agrees arguing that centralised rights sales typically make the overall product easier for broadcasters to market and distribute.
“Investors are very nervous in the climate of international uncertainty and they may overreact to the decline in subscribers in South Africa,” notes François Godard, analyst at Enders Analysis.
“Canal+ needs to better explain what’s happening with MultiChoice; it’s a bit opaque for European investors,” adds François Godard. “Not to mention that Canal+ is the only publicly traded pay-TV company (along with Viaplay, which is tiny), so the market doesn’t have easy points of comparison.”
Broadband market revenue growth slightly worsened in Q4 to -1.4% as volume and ARPU pressures persist.
The altnet outlook remains highly uncertain with multiple developments pointing in different directions.
Continued market decline into 2026 is likely, with a coherent (and sustainable) altnet future likely to take some time to emerge.
ITV’s total revenue (£4.1 billion) was flat year-on-year, with growth from Studios balancing a drop from Media & Entertainment: advertising revenue ended 2025 down 5%.
Studios not only grew revenue (£2.1 billion, +5%) but was almost as profitable as the record-breaking 2024, with adjusted EBITA of £297 million. The domestic business remains strong, but US production is looking tough.
Overall engagement continues to fall (-5%) and although there is sizeable reach to be found on YouTube, viewing levels and completion rates markedly trail linear and ITVX.
While it is not clear how the Telegraph deal was funded, the media analyst firm Enders said that the split with KKR had left it with “cash to burn”.
“The media business was valued at €3.5 billion, debt-free, and with reportedly single-digit billions in cash,” Enders added.