“Much of this success can, of course, be attributed to the accessibility of the English language, which is a unifying force as a second language in much of the world and in most of the intense subscriber-growth areas,” wrote Enders Analysis head of television Tom Harrington.

However, he added that, given an estimated 40% of Netflix’s user base would likely view UK programming with local-language dubbing or subtitles, there is “something innate in the shows that makes them comparatively more attractive to the global Netflix view than content from other countries.

“Perhaps British exceptionalism in terms of the quality of its television product is not as over-egged as it has usually appeared.”

Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, said that the Italian business had been “quite a thorn in the side of BT over the years” and that Kirkby “will be very pleased to have done a deal to sell it”. 

“The Italian accounting scandal was particularly bruising for the company, denting confidence in the entire non-UK business,” Egan added.

“Other direct-from-China platforms will be impacted more than Amazon from the dual impact of tariffs and the end of the de minimis exemption,” said Claire Holubowskyj, senior research analyst at Enders Analysis. “This advantages Amazon by leveling out the other platforms’ price advantage, and shifting the momentum back towards Amazon’s USPs of fast delivery and enormously sticky Prime membership.”

Still, the key factor isn’t so much that Amazon can sell ads through their DSP, but rather that they have designed their platform to make advertising a necessary cost of doing business, added Holubowskyj. 

“The commodified nature of goods on the platform make advertising essential for visibility: pulling back on spend due to broader uncertainty simply isn’t an option for sellers that want to continue selling on Amazon,” she explained. “And selling elsewhere is a difficult proposition as most sellers have optimised for the platform and lack brand recognition.”

“The App Store aside, Apple’s other big services like Music, TV+ and Arcade are all smaller players in their sectors so you wouldn’t expect them to support a huge ads business even if ads were switched on,” said Jamie MacEwan, senior research analyst at Enders Analysis. “There have been reports of Apple considering an ads tier on Apple TV+, one benefit might be to extend the reach of the product and maintain its market relevance while plugging some of the content spend deficit, but this would still be a tiny player in the context of the US or UK TV advertising markets.”

"Being a broadcaster is a profession," insists François Godard, an analyst at Enders Analysis. "You have to set up a studio, recruit animators, create an efficient 4K broadcasting system, create a payment solution, find advertisers..."

"It is actually very difficult to build up a direct subscriber base and it would take the LFP several years," emphasizes François Godard.

"The League would then have to enter into contracts with telecom operators who have the leverage to sell subscriptions, but this would be done under conditions that would surely be unfavorable to the LFP, which is starting from scratch with this project," adds the expert, who is relatively pessimistic about the viability of this solution.

François Godard, an analyst with Enders Analysis, added that starting a channel from scratch was risky.

“If the league wanted to launch their own channel, I think it’s a dead end. You’ll end up doing contracts with Canal+ and DAZN to distribute it, so it’s back to square one,” he said. “And it’s not a business you’re good at as a league.”

Niamh Burns, senior research analyst at Enders Analysis, told The Media Leader that the latest Bellwether’s main media splits “encapsulate the theme that has characterised the last decade: online is growing (though modestly here) while everyone else is under pressure”.

She added: “This is a well-worn path for business as budgets are squeezed: a flight to direct-response channels, which offer more certainty in the short term.”

“If you can connect brands to a strong source of robust data and [sales] conversions, that could be powerful, but stitching it all together is very hard work,” says Jamie MacEwan, an analyst at Enders Analysis. “On paper, it looks simple. You have great customer data and you can see when sales complete, but the metrics and data aren’t easy to match up.”

“A streamer tax is never, never going to happen [in the U.K.], forget about it,” says Claire Enders, founder of media research group Enders Analysis. “Netflix invested $6 billion in U.K. production, they aren’t stealing anything, they are writing checks to good people.” With British public broadcasters under pressure from rising costs and budget constraints and commercial networks suffering from a chronically-weak ad market, she notes, “we are absolutely lucky to have Netflix, Disney+ and anyone else who wants to make shows here.”

“Europe isn’t moving, but the U.K. will acquiesce to all the demands of the Americans in the digital space,” says Enders

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."