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Francois Godard was quoted in an article on Altice’s shares, which have almost halved in the past few weeks after poor third-quarter results were compounded by worries over its high levels of debt. In 2014, Altice acquired SFR, which still accounts for almost half of its revenues. This deal making has left Altice saddled with about €51bn of debt, much larger than the company’s €15bn market capitalisation and more than five times its earnings before interest, taxes, amortisation and depreciation. Investors want to see that Altice can manage the businesses that it has expensively assembled — particularly in France, its largest market. Francois said “besides sustaining network deployments, to turn around SFR, Altice needs to abandon short-term fixes, invest in its workforce and customer service and differentiate through valuable innovation — in other words the opposite of the model followed so far”.

Enders Analysis was quoted in an article on the expensive competition for entertainment content. In the past 12 months, Netflix has spent $8.5 billion on programming for its subscription video-on-demand service. With consumers increasingly watching movies and television via on-demand streaming, the Netflix subscription model is gaining on traditional models of advertising-funded viewing. As a result, Netflix and other streaming services have proved themselves nimbler and more willing to take risks than Hollywood studios. They also have several advantages over traditional television incumbents, not least the fact that in the UK they are not bound by regulations such as the 9pm watershed (only a quarter of Netflix’s original content would be allowed before the UK watershed). They also have such deep pockets that the team at Enders Analysis believes it is doubtful whether in a decade’s time Britain’s public service broadcasters will still be able to compete.

Claire Enders was quoted in an article on the change of viewing habits, as the increasing appeal of programmes available from streaming services is shaking up the world of television. For decades, the bosses at Hollywood studio giants, including Disney, had controlled the biggest stars and had signed the fattest pay cheques in the global entertainment business. Suddenly, it was upstarts such as Netflix and Amazon that seemed to be in charge, hiring the best talent, drawing hundreds of millions of subscribers to their booming internet streaming services and making the industry dance to their tune. With consumers increasingly choosing to watch movies and television shows via on-demand streaming, often on smartphone or tablet, traditional models of advertising-funded viewing are being hit hard, forcing the industry to come up with new strategies to compete. Claire believes that Netflix is trying to cut out the studios and that this is forcing many to consider defensive mergers and acquisitions. Everybody, she said, “is thinking about how to circle the wagons”.

Claire Enders was quoted in an article on the prospect of Mr Murdoch and his sons to sale 21st Century Fox prime film and television assets to Walt Disney. Claire said “you will not find the Murdochs selling a damn thing unless they are forced to — or humiliated politically. They’ve never been sellers and don’t need the money”. She added that James Murdoch was particularly personally invested in acquiring Sky, saying “he has spent 10 years trying to buy it. [James] has always been a one-track guy”. Six years ago, the family’s reputation took a knock from the phone-hacking scandal, which led to Rupert Murdoch apologising to MPs and the eventual withdrawal of its first Sky bid. Claire said “there are huge reputational advantages to James and the Murdochs of this [latest] deal clearing”.