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“There never really seemed to be a clear digital strategy at the Standard, with traffic largely driven by Google News and Discover and often by sport-led spikes around clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea,” said Abi Watson at Enders Analysis.

“Folding the Standard’s digital operations into the Independent looks less like a sudden strategic pivot and more like a formal acknowledgement of where the economics now sit.

While London is “underserved” for local news, Watson says many community titles and small independents are “thriving” in the capital, particularly those focused on local politics and neighbourhood issues.

“One open question is what this means for the coherence of the Standard as a product,” added Watson. “With digital effectively moving elsewhere while print continues as a separate entity, there’s a real risk that the two become increasingly disjointed.”

While FMC has driven a lot of mergers and acquisitions activity, “it has almost always been a disappointment”, says Karen Egan, managing director and head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, a leading industry consultant.

Bundling mobile and fixed products into one package has been pitched as a means of retaining customers and reducing churn. The argument is that the more services subscribers take, the less likely they are to leave. Egan is sceptical. “The operator might convince a subscriber to take on an additional product, yet these are the customers that tend to be happy, not the ones likely to leave.”

There can also be a cost to bundling: it usually involves a discount on one or more products, which puts pressure on margins. If the return on FMC is questionable and the cost is real, Egan argues, “it is probably ill advised to pay a premium for convergence”.

Instead of allowing the post-match debate or attention between matchdays to be channeled by media companies, a creator platform deal keeps sports organisers in the conversation. “It’s a way for them to become a partner and to have their say, a bit of their say, in how their material is presented on second screens,” says François Godard of the media research company Enders Analysis

Creators present an efficient and effective way of reaching audiences with a defined message. Godard, however, is sceptical of how useful they might be in driving audience growth for sport. “In our data, we see that the viewership of traditional TV by the 16-to-34 age group has collapsed over the past 10 years, but not in sports,” he says. “That’s because sports is unique. It’s live, and there’s no alternative.”

In a note, Enders Analysis said CityFibre is progressing well on subscriber growth and EBITDA, but noted consolidation has moved more slowly than expected. In a note to clients, Enders added that recent developments point to UK altnet consolidation accelerating in 2026, with CityFibre and VMO2 still the most likely acquirors, potentially easing pressure in the retail broadband market while accelerating wholesale gains.

But veteran analyst Claire Enders is doubtful Trump’s latest posturing turns European regulators against U.S. media companies already established on the continent.

“It’s a very long road before the EU competition rules would ever be muscled over by political pressure,” Enders tells me. “There is legislation, there are processes, and they’ve been in place for a very long time. The companies are used to navigating them.”

There are more than a hundred altnets — the result of years of low-cost funding — battling with a rapid escalation in the cost of capital, as well as fierce competition from BT’s Openreach and each other. They collectively racked up £1.5bn of net losses and burned through £3bn of cash in 2024, according to Enders Analysis.   

The reason consolidation is not happening is that it is hard to agree on price. As a group, altnets are unlikely to be worth the sum of the investments they have made, many of them debt financed. Indeed, the sector is trying to balance £9bn of net debt, according to Enders Analysis, on £544mn of revenue and negative operating profit. Even with the benefits of merging, it is hard to see these numbers stacking up.