Douglas said there has been a resurgence of simple and satisfying word puzzles, long the bread-and-butter of print newspapers. "On the one hand, all the talk and hype around the internet generally is around Web 3.0 and the metaverse, really immersive digital experiences," he said. "But simultaneously there is a kind of nostalgic love of quite simple products and interactions" like Wordle.
Alice Enders was quoted in Les Echos on "Catalog sales: musicians also sell their recordings"
2 February 2022Alice said “Recorded music catalogs, generally not placed by a musician in the same group as copyright catalogs, must be worked on more with other interlocutors: Spotify or Apple Music."
Karen Egan was quoted in the Financial Times on "Leading Vodafone shareholder signals support for activist campaign"
1 February 2022Karen Egan, a senior telecoms analyst at Enders Analysis, said that Vodafone’s high debt levels had been a “huge distraction” and that the Liberty Global acquisition has “in no way, shape or form lived up to its promise”.
But Egan said “it’s not at all obvious to me that Vodafone is doing the wrong things” and noted that it has faced regulatory obstacles to consolidation.
Karen Egan was quoted in The Telegraph on "Vodafone shares jump after activist investor dials in"
31 January 2022Karen said a merger with Three would be “by some margin the most value-enhancing move they could make in the UK"
She added “Certainly the signals that the CMA have been giving on other things recently does not make you optimistic.”
Gill Hind was quoted in The Times on "Can BBC3 win back the kids — and save the licence fee?"
31 January 2022Gill said “It is difficult to regain all the audience that the BBC once had, but they will make some inroads into attracting 16 to 34s again, and then the hope is that those viewers might move over to watch something on BBC1 or BBC2.”
Yet surely the young are all on streaming platforms? Gill warns: “There is a common media assumption that all young people are like the university-educated, London young — and it’s not the case. TV is still viewed.” Programmes such as ITV’s I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! still perform strongly with young audiences.
Alice said this dynamic is undoubtedly at play in the case of Rogan, who signed a $100m (£75m) exclusivity deal with Spotify back in 2020. “He’s their baby and Spotify doesn’t really have a choice between Young or Rogan."
“Like a Netflix model, Spotify commissioned him, gave him a platform, and he therefore drives a lot of usage for the service. The choice is clear.”
She added “To be honest, Joe Rogan himself is the issue here and the use of his podcast as a political platform. I would imagine that Spotify is currently having a serious conversation with him about hijacking the opportunity it has given him.”
Karen Egan was quoted in the Financial Times on "Virgin Media O2 plans fibre joint venture in broadband push"
31 January 2022Karen said the joint venture would have to offer a better price than BT Openreach to ensure it attracted enough customers. “BT Openreach will become a competitor in a short timeframe,” she said. “It’s difficult to see how the financials stack up.”
Karen said Cevian could call for Vodafone to sell down its stake in the phone masts business Vantage Towers.
Egan also speculated that Cevian could seek improvements in the German cable business. “They massively overpaid for it and there’s a question mark over whether they should replace it with fibre — that will be very expensive."
Niamh Burns was quoted in CITY A.M on "The labyrinth of the Online Safety Bill could fall over on complexity before its begun"
26 January 2022Niamh said “In a lot of cases we don’t really know what kind of content is actually harmful, how harmful it is, or how widespread it is."
Trying to legislate before we understand this is likely a fruitless task. Part of the problem is the labyrinthine workings of tech giants like Meta or Twitter to be able to “fight” against its safety issues.
Alice Pickthall was quoted in ADWEEK on "Rolling Stone Names Gus Wenner CEO as the Legacy Title Expands Its Focus"
25 January 2022Alice said “It’s positive when traditional media companies are willing to experiment. The brands that experiment are often the ones that find new ways to engage with their audience.”