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Joseph said “For more sophisticated games, we know brands are keen to experiment, as in-game is a chance to get in front of hard-to-reach audiences in an immersive context."

He added “[Y]ou either have custom branded integrations that involve huge investment and a high creative bar for one-off experiences, or you’re sticking virtual posters on in-game ad environments. That looks tacky and there’s none of the attribution you would get with web banners. The data brands get out of gaming platforms is pretty basic: number of visitors to the experience, and from which regions. If you build a custom app then you can measure in-game activity and get the usual analytics, but then you don’t have the built-in audience, and it’s an even bigger development challenge.”

Joseph said “Meta wanted to invest in the metaverse while the core business was still churning out cash, but pressure from its competitors and the subsequent revenue decline means it is now under pressure to clamp down on these rather over-the-top experiments to develop a virtual world that no one wants to spend time in.”

Enders Analysis’ Karen Egan told City A.M. that Niel’s swoop for Vodafone was undoubtedly driven by his firm’s failed bid to buy Vodafone’s Italian unit for more than €11bn (£9.6bn) in February. 

She said this, combined with shareholder frustration, was a key driver for the businessman, who also has an expansive portfolio across Europe and Africa.

Enders Analysis’ Karen Egan told City A.M. that Niel’s swoop for Vodafone was undoubtedly driven by his firm’s failed bid to buy Vodafone’s Italian unit for more than €11bn (£9.6bn) in February. 

She said this, combined with shareholder frustration, was a key driver for the businessman, who also has an expansive portfolio across Europe and Africa.

Douglas McCabe, CEO and director of publishing and tech at Enders Analysis, estimated the lost advertising could equate to around 15 million pounds ($17 million) a day for TV companies, 2 million pounds ($2.3 million) for radio, 2 million pounds for billboard owners, and 1 million pounds ($1.1 million) for newspapers.

Not all that money will completely disappear, McCabe said. There is likely to be pent-up demand from brands who want to return to advertising at an appropriate time. Many publishers and out-of-home media owners will have received ads from companies looking to pay tribute to the Queen, McCabe added. 

He added "They could have sold three or four times more. Demand for newspapers was greater on Friday [September 9] than it has been for many decades, with retailers selling out early in the morning."

Francois said "Bertelsmann had great ambitions that are now completely turned upside down. What will happen now in the Netherlands? The Dutch and German regulators will look at the French case very closely."

A few months later, TIM underwent a change of management and “realised they had a very high debt,” explains François Godard, Senior Media and Telecoms Analyst at Enders Analysis. They renegotiated the DAZN deal, reduced their payments and relinquished exclusivity, meaning the sports streamer is again available on the Sky STB.

“The commercial conditions for consumers are not very generous,” notes Godard. DAZN is not bundled in a sports package for Sky customers – in fact DAZN subscribers wishing to watch on Sky’s satellite feed have to pay an extra €5 per month on top of their monthly fee. “If you want the satellite feed, because you want the better picture quality, you have to pay more."

James said “Emergency services network offers far higher data bandwidth and in theory it should be much cheaper, because you are using an existing network.”

He added “The problem with divestiture is it could take some time to do.” Another option is price controls, which “are in some ways more straightforward”, Barford says, but notes both are “very significant interventions."