Tom said “Being the fifth, sixth or seventh-biggest content creator is not enough. People will take only a few services — there has to be consolidation.”

Francois said  “The Warner-Discovery and TF1-M6 merger plans have dramatically pushed consolidation up European commercial television’s agenda.  Wave after wave of consolidation in the entertainment industry has progressively dwarfed European operators. In 2010, the revenues of the region’s largest broadcaster, the RTL Group, already amounted to just 20 percent of Disney’s, and by 2020 this ratio had halved. The last decade has seen the emergence of global vertically integrated content producers and distributors, such as Netflix and Amazon, and the spread of this model to Hollywood-based studios, while the likes of Facebook and Google have grown to become direct competitors to TV channels that used to be seen as ‘licenses to print money."

Claire said “Decriminalizing the license fee could cost the BBC 10 percent of its budget, which would force deep cuts in programming and staff. But under the current timetable for reviewing public-service broadcasting in Britain, the fee is safe until 2027"

She added "They’re going to make sure this never happens again. They’re going to make sure the Diana interview is wiped from the annals of history, that they can’t make money from it again.”

Tom said "When that deal comes up it could certainly go behind a paywall - Amazon or elsewhere - as it did with Sky for a bit. Major difference with having it on a big streaming service, however, is that it would cannibalise renting or buying the film online."

He added "At the moment ITV's rights are very limited when it comes to catch-up or live streaming of James Bond, so renting or buying is protected. Amazon might see their value to Prime trumps the foregone revenues there though."

Sanchit said 'As people spend more time consuming online content, having something that is fresh or adds value is more important than ever for streaming platforms."

Amazon understands the quality and depth of content is a really important differentiator. "With a name like MGM, it would add a very well-established library that customers can't get elsewhere."

Sanchit said “They may be prepared to pay more because you get people into Prime Video and two or three weeks later they go for fully-charged Amazon Prime with ecommerce, music etc. It makes the entry point to the Amazon flywheel more appealing. With Amazon it is all about subscription growth.”

Francois said “There are now two parallel attempts in Europe to reinvent free television: that of Mediaset of international concentration with the merger of its assets in Italy, Spain and Germany, and this merger project between TF1 and M6 that is to say -to say the creation of a powerful national actor that Bertelsmann is testing in France but would like to achieve in Germany. Because he strongly believes in this strategic approach."

Francois said “Will they become more willing to launch HBO Max in Sky countries [U.K., Italy, Germany]? So far, they have said they’ll do it eventually, but it’s unclear because they make money with Sky and it would cost them a lot to establish HBO Max.”

He added that the launch of HBO Max in territories where WarnerMedia and Sky have deals “could become more likely."

Francois said  “AT&T thought it needed to do something about Netflix, but never really thought it through. The one big synergy was to give HBO Max away to AT&T subscribers , but they could have done that without owning the company.”

Jamie said it is “at the lower end of already dire expectations and in contrast to the days following the GDPR roll out when publishers and ad tech vendors were boasting of pretty high consent rates."

He added “The market is always adapting, finding new ways to prove results. This can drive more value to the premium end of the market.”