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Alice Enders, director of research at media advisory firm Enders Analysis, said in a note this year that Spotify’s decision to “massively invest in podcasts” had “spectacularly failed to deliver the anticipated financial rewards to shareholders”. She said that, in general, “monetisation is extremely difficult” for large companies seeking to make serious revenues in podcasting because of shortcomings in the digital advertising market. One solution is to build paid-for subscription bases, but this is difficult when much content is free.

“What you’re seeing in the podcast area, which is basically a very fat head and a very thin tail and nothing in the middle, is what you already see in music,” said Enders. “Only the big-hitters make any money from it.”

Francois Godard, senior media and telecoms analyst at Enders Analysis, puts it another way: “European TV had it too good for too long.”

“We’ve seen a change of pace recently with ITVX and RTL+ in Germany,” Enders’ Godard. says “ITVX is releasing more content online before the linear channel. It is conceived as a destination rather than ITV Hub, which was catch up.”

As Europe’s commercial networks come to grips with streaming, they are also wrestling with shape of their wider businesses. Analysts expect consolidation of one form or the other to follow over the coming decades, as scale becomes ever more decisive. Enders’ Godard says it’s a “trial-and-error environment” right now but adds he would be “reassured” if the thinking was “more collective.”

“Microsoft has clearly missed the 2023 holiday marketing window given how long this approval process has taken,” Gareth Sutcliffe, senior games analyst at Enders Analysis, told IGN. “It’s going to be well into 2024 before we start to see the first signs of joint marketing and other combined initiatives with Activision franchises.”

“The replacement of senior leadership starting with CEO Bobby Kotick and Blizzard President Mike Ybarra is inevitable and long overdue,” Sutcliffe said. “It’s difficult to envisage much of the rest of the senior leadership at Activision remaining long term given their compensation was grossly out of proportion to Activision results, and which Microsoft would be wise to recalibrate quickly.”

Douglas McCabe, the chief executive of Enders Analysis, estimates the sunset on the traditional printed national newspaper model will potentially be around 2030.

McCabe, of Enders Analysis, says: “Newspapers still have tremendous influence, and are still originators of the news agenda. These assets do not come to market very often. The Telegraph represents an extraordinary and rare opportunity to buy influence that, if it wasn’t up for sale, money couldn’t buy.”

Disney's fight for the streaming crown causes further problems: Due to this focus, Disney reaches fewer people via other channels such as TV or cinema, which are particularly important for brand building for families, says François Godard, analyst at the London consulting firm Enders Analysis. “Disney not only needs to make its streaming service profitable, but also focus attention on its iconic content to feed theme parks and merchandising.”

“Mark has been a very good financial steward of the company,” Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis, adds, noting some doubters had predicted WPP “would fail or fall apart” after Sorrell left.

Enders says: “Mark is a decent and wise CEO who has the confidence of the investment community and his senior managers. He’s kept it together calmly and quietly and not sought attention – unlike Sir Martin Sorrell.”

Rupert Murdoch’s News UK is expected to chase the Spectator having shown interest in buying the magazine in the past, according to Claire Enders of Enders Analysis.

“Disney, Warners and NBC have had five years of trying to pivot to streaming services,” explains Tom Harrington, analyst at Enders Analysis. “They’re losing crazy money, but they’re supported by their legacy free-to-air networks, which are still very profitable and popular. But they’re not investing in those networks, they’re moving top programmes to streamers, fewer people are watching ads and they’re killing the cash cows.”

Harrington suggests this refinancing will be very expensive, with interest rates much higher, meaning that companies are going to start selling off subsidiaries, with Disney already touting ESPN and ABC for sale. A spate of M&A deals looms — in which the more sanguine and cash-rich operators such as Apple could clean up in a fire sale, acquiring, say, ESPN sports rights at bargain prices.