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Even this option wouldn't be a perfect solution for the LFP, given the degradation of the "L1 product" since the Mediapro incident. Since then, viewership has declined and rights prices have plummeted. "L1 needs to rebuild its brand, and to do that, the option of broadcasting on free TV shouldn't be ruled out," says François Godard, an analyst at Enders Analysis. "At the current price, I'm convinced that TF1 could buy one match per week, or even ten matches per season. And the rest would remain on a paid service. This would be the real way to get out of the rut and rebuild the bond with the French people."

Karen Egan, of Enders Analysis, said: “There are certainly some opportunities for cross-selling Vodafone’s broadband product to Three’s 9.3m mobile subscribers, but broadband is a really tough market right now with very slim margins so they’ll be quite constrained in the level of incentive discounts they can offer.”

But few analysts believe the scale of the cost increases was predicted. “I’m not sure anyone would have put together a model with a 46 per cent tariff, so this is going to be the key question as in the US market they may well have to move the price,” says Gareth Sutcliffe at Enders Analysis.

The industry, however, welcomes the relatively high pricing of the games — hoping that it sets a new standard. “Nintendo can clearly move its pricing on its top franchises,” says Sutcliffe. “That is clearly the new premium price point for all AAA games and they are providing premium games.”

Gaming revenue has been broadly flat for several years, according to Sutcliffe of Enders Analysis, with software sales compensating for declining demand for ageing Xbox and PlayStation consoles.

Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, said the extent of Sky’s commitment had previously been unclear. “As such, any indications that they are fully backing CityFibre will be very well received,” she added.

But as Jamie MacEwan, senior research analyst at Enders Analysis pointed out, Substack only makes money by taking a 10% cut of its writers’ subscriptions, so it has no financial stake in a free newsletter whose sole purpose is to reach as wide an audience as possible.

“That eliminates some risk, but it’s no cast-iron guarantee – anyone could start a far-right newsletter, for example, and then it’s up to Substack to determine if it should be taken down,” MacEwan said. “Last year it faced a user backlash for refusing to demonetize newsletters that were publishing extreme right-wing views. These questions aren’t just going to go away, especially if Substack rolls out new personalization or discoverability features.”