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The National “is distributed in the Middle East and it is reflective of the dominant culture and narratives in its audience — as is the case of UK titles as well”, said Alice Enders, a UK media analyst.
“The core principle of Middle East investors in media and other assets in the UK is to recycle the gusher of petrodollars to safe haven countries,” Enders said.
“The socially native strategy poses a definite commercial challenge, though engaging with platforms as your primary distribution channel is really interesting from an editorial perspective,” said Niamh Burns, a research analyst at Enders Analysis. “It takes seriously the challenges of present-day digital trends, including the shift to short-form video that is occurring across platforms, and the difficulties of reaching and engaging younger audiences.”
“The News Movement has built up a decent audience on TikTok from scratch and is producing really good content that fits that format better than lots of established publishers,” said Burns. “The question is: can this be more than an interesting editorial experiment?”
Analysts agree that this is a good opportunity for the UK broadcaster. “The future of the BBC at this point as an international player may be to strike deals with [streaming companies],” says Francois Godard, senior media and telecoms analyst at Enders Analysis, the media research firm. Platforms are, he continues, looking for “outside content, third party content, because they are cutting costs.”
Godard also noted the advantages for companies that have produced popular shows to partner with streaming media companies: “Disney has a capacity to leverage, to monetize brands that the BBC doesn't have.” But he added a caveat: “The only worry for me about the BBC is that they find themselves dependent on Disney. Dependent on Disney for the budget of new episodes … and the international brand of Doctor Who.”
This fringe group of “extremely wealthy financiers… in favour of unconstrained profit-seeking”, as tech analyst Joseph Teasdale put it, do however have significant influence. Not least because amongst their count include Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, and Andreessen, who is the co-founder of a $35bn venture capital firm az16
James Barford, head of telecoms research at Enders Analysis, said any acquisition would be “very small” from BT’s perspective but that the FTSE 100 company was “likely interested in bulking up its presence in the refurbished/recycled smartphone market, an area that all of the operators have taken more interest in recently”.
Interest in women’s football is unprecedentedly high, with record attendances, TV audiences and importantly participation.
Investment into the Women’s Super League is critical to the long-term success of the game. Strong broadcast partnerships must continue to play a vital role.
WSL viewing is low but increasing. Currently, it is a cost-effective filler for Sky, and good for the BBC’s profile. Rights value should rise but the WSL needs broadcasters more than they need the WSL.
Rupert’s standing-down manoeuvre looks like a strategic ploy to improve optics on Wall Street ahead of a $2.7bn Smartmatic defamation suit against Fox News, says Claire Enders, a media analyst. “I don’t think anything has changed about Mr Murdoch’s life. This was a market, stock-driven event.”
The deep-pocketed Marshall, a chief investor in GB News and founder of the opinion-based website UnHerd, is on a mission to influence British political debate. “Sir Paul Marshall will bid with his whole heart for the Telegraph,” says Enders. “He is really deeply interested in having an impact on conservatism.”
Tom Harrington, head of television at media consultants Enders Analysis, questioned whether the line-up would retain enough of Netflix’s early-adopters, who first signed up for The Crown and innovative award-winning series like House of Cards and Stranger Things.
Mr Harrington told i: “The Crown is limping a bit to the finish line in terms of critical resonance but its viewing remains very strong. The gap it leaves is an important one.”
He said Netflix should explore a Crown spin-off, in the way that the hit historical drama series Bridgerton spawned a prequel, Queen Charlotte.
Metrics in Vodafone's Q3 results pointed in various directions with the main positive being revenue growth in Germany, but there were also concerning data points including continued subscriber decline there, and EBITDA across all of Europe.
The company reiterated its guidance for EBITDA and FCF for the year which looks achievable but a stretch. More importantly, these numbers exist only in theory with the Euro-based results looking set to be lower—with implications for the outlook and dividend cover.
Ridding the Group of its Spanish business, and possibly the Italian one too, will be helpful in delivering on the promise of growth, but whether it creates value for shareholders is another matter.