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“[Amazon’s Audible] is easily the dominant player in the space. If you’re a book publisher, they’ll welcome any competition into the market to weaken Amazon’s grasp”, said Abi Watson, analyst at Enders.
“It’s true: the two brothers, Lachlan and James, have hated each other for a long time and have opposing views. They haven't spoken to each other for five years. But the dynasty is far from over,” objects Claire Enders. For the founder of Enders Analysis, the London-based media research company, and one of the best experts on the Murdoch galaxy, Lachlan Murdoch can still count on the support of a solid staff.
Even though it had to part ways with its star host, Tucker Carlson, after the Fox News scandal , the group still has robust assets, such as the "Wall Street Journal", the "Times" or the publisher HarperCollins, piloted by Australian Robert Thomson. “Lachlan doesn’t have his father’s energy and charisma. But he was the only kid who ended up getting along with him. And he rebuilt Fox News after the 'Capitol Hill' affair and the flight of advertisers,” she emphasizes.
Gill Hind, the director of TV at the media advisory firm Enders Analysis, estimates that the £400 million savings figure will have to rise further. “The licence fee has been completely squeezed over the last ten, 12 years,” she said. “So in reality, between 2010 and 2022, they’re on about 30 per cent less in real terms, and over that period they’ve had to make a huge number of cuts. The BBC, like a lot of companies, has some sort of fat, but they’ve pretty much cut all of that out.
“We reckon it will end up having to save more than £400 million, because the number of licence fee payers is going down. So when you’re at that level, and if you’ve done a huge amount of cuts, you then get to the stage of: where do you cut next?”
Project Gigabit, the process of awarding subsidies to cover the hardest-to-reach 10-15% of the UK with gigabit broadband, is well underway, with altnets having been awarded all of the contracts won so far, although these are only 5-10% of the prospective total.
While wholesale provision is mandatory under the contracts, logic and experience suggests that this option may prove impractical, leaving the national ISPs (such as BT, Sky and TalkTalk) at risk of losing up to 15% of the market, and consumers being denied hard-won choice.
Openreach would be well advised to build its own network in these areas using the ducts and poles of the subsidy winners (also mandated), to protect the prospects of its ISP customers and maintain consumer choice.
“King have done a masterful job in keeping Candy Crush relevant and enticing,” said Gareth Sutcliffe, equities analyst at Enders analysis, “there is no reason to doubt that AI will provide a useful angle to attract and retain audience.”
“The broader issue is King’s lack of portfolio diversification and inability to replicate such a successful franchise. The eventual new owners, Microsoft, will be right to expect more,” he added.
Sports clubs, leagues and federations are accelerating investment in their direct-to-consumer strategies, developing next-generation apps and streaming services.
Objectives include gathering first-party fan data, diversifying revenue streams, and extending reach in growing markets and among younger audiences.
New league streaming apps supplement broadcaster coverage in core markets and enable new partnership arrangements with incumbent pay-TV operators and online video marketplaces.
But Canal+ has not given up on Ligue 1: if the call for tenders fails, the group could negotiate over the counter. Or even, in the event of failure, continue to offer Ligue 1 but as a distributor, thanks to its contracts with the Qatari channel BeIN Sports and the British platform Dazn (pronounced “da zone” ). “The contract with Dazn is a spare wheel for Canal+” , deciphers François Godard, of the Enders Analysis firm.
Claire Holubowskyj, senior research analyst at media research service Enders Analysis, said: 'Amazon working with other AI companies isn't new, but this is a big lean in.
'Amazon approaches AI at all levels, from the chips to the software, so this new investment is simply putting their money where their mouth is.'
