“Disney’s parks, cruises, theatre shows and merchandise is 30-40 per cent of revenue and a big majority of profits,” says Tom Harrington of industry experts Enders Analysis. Although Netflix is some way behind them, Disney, he says, “is the obvious North Star when it comes to creating entire worlds around IP creations and characters”. “In the US the company’s growth is now driven by getting existing subscribers to pay more – or getting freeloading users to pay for the first time – which will inevitably reach a ceiling,” explains Harrington. “Netflix needs to start building complementary businesses if it wants to keep an upward trajectory. These include gaming and advertising but also growing merchandising and experiences which if executed should only intensify fandom of its bigger brands and increase engagement.”

Douglas McCabe, the chief executive and director of publishing and technology at the research group Enders Analysis told the House of Lords committee in February that the 13,000 journalists in UK local media before the 2008 financial crisis has shrunk to about 4,000.

Karen Egan, head of telecoms at Enders Analysis, said: “Margherita Della Valle has been showing herself to be decisive and pragmatic with regard to the Vodafone asset base and this is another string to that bow.”

Many experts have suggested that now could be a good time to strike. Karen Egan, telecoms expert at Enders Analysis, said BT could be a good bet for investors who are looking for long-term gains. While acknowledging that 'it's not going to be an easy year for the sector', she backed BT's efforts to drive up profits

Francois Godard, senior media analyst at Enders and author of the recently published book “Germany, France and Postwar Democratic Capitalism: Expert Rule,” says France’s standing with international financiers is crucial to the local economy because the “country is Europe’s primary destination for foreign direct investments.” Addressing potential consequences on the French media industry and ongoing consolidation, Godard said “if foreign financiers start deserting, it will put French companies in a difficult situation to borrow money because interest rates will inevitably go up.” France is home of some of Europe’s biggest media groups, including Vivendi, Banijay and Mediawan.

James Barford at Enders Analysis said: “He might want some influence over the company’s strategy.” Mr Barford said the Mexican tycoon may have been attracted to the potential payouts on offer from BT.

Karen Egan, telecoms expert at Enders Analysis, said the swoop from Slim showed the group was still ‘undervalued’. ‘The telecoms sector as a whole has been out of favour with investors for a long time,’ she said.

Francois Godard, a senior media analyst for Enders Analysis based in France, said the situation was “a sad one” for French football. “The lack of competition in the domestic TV industry is the big problem,” he said. “The league has made such a big mistake when it sold the rights to Mediapro and then to Amazon instead of agreeing a deal with Canal+.” Godard believes the LFP suffered from “over-confidence” after its 2021 agreement to sell a 13 per cent stake in its commercial operations to CVC Capital Partners for €1.5billion. The money was shared out between the clubs but means that CVC will take a cut of future TV money meaning even less for the teams. Godard said selling the football rights directly to consumers was “very risky” as it was untested. “You are giving up the value of exclusivity,” he added. “I am worried they are going to be burning their boats.”

Commenting on the expansion in the context of the Standard’s decline, Douglas McCabe, director of publishing at Enders Analysis, told City A.M.: “It’s impossible not to feel sad about the retreat of the Evening Standard as a great city newspaper of outstanding heritage. “It all too elegantly illustrates some of the fears about local news droughts our research has been describing in recent years. “A small, agile, journalism-focused service like The Mill is a sound idea, though London’s enormous footprint is both prize and challenge. “

The New York Times in 2012 brought in former BBC boss Mark Thompson. In his eight years as chief executive, he was credited with steering a digital transformation that has made the paper a staggering exception to its industry’s malaise. It is “a good case study that other media owners are hoping to follow”, said Claire Enders, a US-born media analyst based in the UK.