Jamie said “What is interesting here is that the Chinese Communist party has done a good job of cultivating huge tech giants, national champions. But there has always been a split under the surface between those who want to encourage the great tech leap forward and a growing unease among those worried about these huge companies and the big public figures at the head of them, like Ma, outgrowing the patronage of the [Chinese communist] party.”

Francois said "It's rubbish. Young people can sustain a full night binge watching series."

"If the content is of interest young people can be much more dedicated. So, I don't think it is a good characterisation of young viewers."

Francois said "Some buyers seem after a trophy asset, maybe lured by the hope of political influence,” but the views of the competition regulators were “the big question mark."

“Industrial rationale calls for consolidation. Will regulators reset their worldview to accept that the relevant market now includes online platforms competing with national TV channels for viewers and advertising spend?”

Claire said “Murdoch has displayed an extraordinary capacity to let go. While I don’t see Fox News as saleable, like the Wall Street Journal and the Sun I can’t see anything happening with them while he is alive. He is a real news man, but no one says his children love the mandatory political elements of the news businesses the way their father does.”

Sanchit said "There has been so much hype around the interview over the last week or so [that] it's hard to think of any other reason behind a sharp recent increase in the UK. The interview is likely to be one of the biggest stories of the year. People in the UK want any way to watch it and a VPN is really the only option."

Claire said “He has the money. He has huge amounts of political power. He has it all."

Tom said “Charging people for the licence fee is a lot easier if they think that they’re getting value, and they can only think they’re getting value if they’re watching the programmes. But will it attract the hardest-to-reach viewers? Probably not, because they’re watching a declining amount of linear TV.”

Francois said “We often talk about war in streaming, especially between Netflix and Disney, as if only one was going to remain. They are rivals but we can see that the two manage to grow. It's like TF1 and M6. And there is also room for other groups." 

Joseph said “[Tech companies] weren’t as far ahead as you might think with remote working before. They had that image, but expectations at these companies, particularly in head office, were the same as in other sectors – to be present in the office. The pandemic changed that, and unquestionably companies such as Facebook have embraced the change.”

He added “All the tech companies have gone on a back and forth journey regarding remote working. They are settling on the idea that it has worked better than hoped, but that fully distributed teams on a permanent basis isn’t an optimum situation."

Claire said “Part of the decline is, of course, Covid related . . . but the overall trend has been very well established."