He is “a very decent man” in the words of Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis.
Enders says: “It is an extraordinarily demanding job – physically, with huge amounts of travel. It’s a real global job. And it’s a sensitive and difficult job at this time, because of the number of clients with tariff issues, and trade will be a difficult issue throughout the Trump years.”
Research by the company Enders Analysis said Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have been guilty of “ambivalence and inertia” over the problem.
“At the beginning of 2024, DAZN was talking about reaching break-even,” says Francois Godard, senior media analyst of Enders Analysis. “That was the message. And then, this winter, it changed. They kept the message that they are doing better, but the main message was expansion. It shifted from a focus on break-even to a message of expansion.
“There was the deal in Australia and then the deal with the Saudis. That is probably allowing them to do the deal for the Club World Cup, which will allow them to gain prominence in many other markets where they had a lower profile, like the U.S. That was a big change in emphasis.”
So, how significant do the Club World Cup’s global rights become to a project of this scale?
“A subscription funding model would be antithetical to the BBC’s public service mission, necessarily ending universality of access and undermining its breadth of content,” said analysts at Enders Analysis.
Claire Enders, founder of Enders Analysis, told Campaign: “I have followed Mark Read for over 25 years as a senior leader at WPP, first behind the scene as the steady pair of hands holding the ship together through hundreds of acquisitions and integrations and for seven years as the CEO of a complete simplification to clear business units, ably led by imaginative new management.
“WPP has struggled against stronger headwinds than its peers, largely due to its UK history and listing. Mark Read has never lost his cool head in 26 years of unbelievable turbulence [since Enders first met him]. I am certain his vast experience will be recognised at the global corporate level and many new challenges await his successor.”
François Godard, an analyst at media consultancy Enders Analysis, described Bertelsmann, which retains its global headquarters in Gütersloh, a town of just 100,000 people, as a “certain type of German company — provincial but global.”
Dana Strong, the group chief executive of Sky, compared the proposal to its own battles against TV piracy and said individuals and small companies would not have the experience and financial resources to protect their intellectual property.
“Sky is one of the leading forces in trying to fight against piracy,” she said, speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Media and Telecoms conference.
“All consoles are ultimately going to be affected by tariffs, not just Switch, and in that context, the longer Nintendo can maintain a sub-$500 price point, the better,” said Gareth Sutcliffe at Enders Analysis. “They will clearly be holding on as long as possible, squeezing margins if necessary, to maintain run rate.”
“It’s clear Microsoft and Sony’s console model needs a radical overhaul to compete,” said Sutcliffe. “Switch 2 is the only hardware growth story in gaming.”
Netflix’s vice president of content for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Larry Tanz, dismissed that the streaming giant would not have commissioned Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, at the event, which is hosted by Enders Analysis and Deloitte at Convene Sancroft in the St Paul’s area.
At the Media and Telecoms 2025 and Beyond Conference, from Enders Analysis and Deloitte, in London on Tuesday, Mr Davie said: “I want to justify the value that we have. I want that protected.
Later, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told the event she is “determined to find a way forward that works for the creative industry and creators” and technology companies after Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney criticised the Government’s AI plans.