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Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis, told Campaign: “I have followed Mark Read for over 25 years as a senior leader at WPP, first behind the scene as the steady pair of hands holding the ship together through hundreds of acquisitions and integrations and for seven years as the CEO of a complete simplification to clear business units, ably led by imaginative new management.

“WPP has struggled against stronger headwinds than its peers, largely due to its UK history and listing. Mark Read has never lost his cool head in 26 years of unbelievable turbulence [since Enders first met him]. I am certain his vast experience will be recognised at the global corporate level and many new challenges await his successor.”

François Godard, an analyst at media consultancy Enders Analysis, described Bertelsmann, which retains its global headquarters in Gütersloh, a town of just 100,000 people, as a “certain type of German company — provincial but global.”

Dana Strong, the group chief executive of Sky, compared the proposal to its own battles against TV piracy and said individuals and small companies would not have the experience and financial resources to protect their intellectual property.

“Sky is one of the leading forces in trying to fight against piracy,” she said, speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Media and Telecoms conference.

“All consoles are ultimately going to be affected by tariffs, not just Switch, and in that context, the longer Nintendo can maintain a sub-$500 price point, the better,” said Gareth Sutcliffe at Enders Analysis. “They will clearly be holding on as long as possible, squeezing margins if necessary, to maintain run rate.”

“It’s clear Microsoft and Sony’s console model needs a radical overhaul to compete,” said Sutcliffe. “Switch 2 is the only hardware growth story in gaming.”

Netflix’s vice president of content for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Larry Tanz, dismissed that the streaming giant would not have commissioned Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, at the event, which is hosted by Enders Analysis and Deloitte at Convene Sancroft in the St Paul’s area.

At the Media and Telecoms 2025 and Beyond Conference, from Enders Analysis and Deloitte, in London on Tuesday, Mr Davie said: “I want to justify the value that we have. I want that protected.

Later, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the event she is “determined to find a way forward that works for the creative industry and creators” and technology companies after Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney criticised the Government’s AI plans.

In part, this is due to the broadcasters retreating. “All kids viewing used to be with broadcasters, but they’ve taken their foot off the pedal over the last decade, more so than any other genre, because you can’t really monetise kids’ content,” says Tom Harrington of Enders Analysis. “There’s not much you can advertise against it, kids 0-4 viewing isn’t measured, and kids don’t really need new content because they love watching the same thing again and again so there’s no point commissioning 50 new episodes of Fireman Sam.”

“The kids don’t know what her politics are and if the kids watch and they’re quiet then I think that’s more powerful than probably any political belief,” says Harrington. “I would argue that you’d have to be quite a resilient person to say, well, I’m not going let the little ones watch that. I’d just prefer if they screamed for the next four hours.”

“We need to protect our national IP”, BBC boss Tim Davie told the Media & Telecoms 2025 and Beyond Conference, organized by Deloitte and Enders Analysis, in London on Tuesday. “That’s where the value is.” For example, “we need to decide if we’re going to invest in things like the World Service, which to me, is a no-brainer.”