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“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.

Niamh Burns at Enders Analysis says: “Meta wouldn’t be doing this if regulators weren’t forcing their hand.”

“[Pixel] was part of Google’s influence over the mobile market, but Google was never competing with the Apples or Samsungs of the world,” explained Joseph Teasdale, head of tech at Enders Analysis, “it never contributed much to Google’s top line.”

While this is unlikely to change, Teasdale asks the question: “Do the improved, AI-focused chips give Pixel phones new superpowers that are actually compelling for customers?”

“[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?”