“Ad revenue can help subsidize lower subscription fees or bring a newsletter into profit,” said Jamie MacEwan, senior research analyst at Enders Analysis. “At the same time there’s never been more competition in the newsletter market, so there is pressure to remove restrictions any of these authors may be feeling, as we’ve seen with Beehiiv’s recent introduction of ads.”

“Newsletters may be a small part of the ads market, but they can provide an attractive option to up-market or B2B advertisers, as audiences tend to be more affluent and feel a strong connection to the author and the topic, which is presented in a premium context,” MacEwan said.

The move comes as altnets, whose networks now cover about 40 per cent of the country according to consultancy Enders, have stepped up their hunt for financing and deals. 

Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders, estimated that Connexin’s shareholder, asset manager Patrizia, would take a 1.5 per cent stake in CityFibre as part of the agreement. Patrizia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Enders Analysis published a report on the state of UK podcasting this week, which estimated the UK podcast ad market is worth about £70m. “We are not yet at a point where the size of the market in the UK is proportionate to the size of the market in the US,” Pastor said. “Their population may be five times ours. The size of their advertising budgets are many more than five times greater. We’re still playing catch-up.”

Enders said: “The industry remains small overall, with podcasts treated as a slice of advertisers’ audio budgets, currently limiting growth and resulting in overall revenue representing a tiny part of the audio advertising pie, at around £70m compared to the £738m spent on radio last year.” However, Enders added: “An industry move into video – on both YouTube and Spotify – offers substantial reach and monetisation opportunities.”

François Godard at Enders Analysis said the tournament had proved a “hard sell” to both traditional broadcasters and streamers, and that the DAZN deal was the “best Fifa could get” after pressure from participating clubs to lock something in. “The Club World Cup has a grand name, but it looks more like a promotional event,” said Godard.

France is thus taking inspiration from other European countries such as the United Kingdom, which already allows instant blocking, which has earned it recognition as an example in the fight against piracy. But its reputation isn't just based on the legal measures it has adopted, points out François Godard, an analyst at Enders Analysis. "Broadcaster Sky and the Premier League are investing a lot of money in the fight against piracy, which makes all the difference."

Karen said “Over the past decade, the cost side of the equation has really just been ramping up, with Ofcom becoming super pro-consumer and the decision to rip out Huawei infrastructure costing billions. Meanwhile, revenues have been tumbling — in real terms, around 30 per cent.”

Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, said the target would likely be “reliant on consolidation of a number of smaller altnets”.

Egan said its goal to reach 8mn homes by 2029 was a “big ask given the current funding environment . . . Expanding through consolidation is easier from a funding perspective but nonetheless it’s an uncertain path as there hasn’t yet been much appetite for smaller altnets to accept deals,” she added.

Cumulative losses among the altnets were £1.3 billion in 2023, according to an analysis of the companies’ most recently published accounts by Enders, the telecommunications consultancy, which does not expect an improvement in last year’s figures.

“Scaling this business requires a lot of strategic planning, investment, possibly some kind of M&A, and building out a trusted voice and authority to grow it past that point,” says Abi Watson, analyst at Enders Analysis. “That’s the reason why someone like IndyBest is doing better because it’s been part of their brand for so long.”

At least many of CityFibre’s challenges are shared by its peers. Dozens of smaller alt-nets are struggling to make the numbers add up amid crippling build costs and surging interest rates. The 20 largest alt-nets collectively lost more than £1.3bn in 2023, according to Enders Analysis.