Enders described a “cost crisis” for many publishers due to two decades of “eroding real prices” for trade books. When seen in the context of an increasingly competitive market for people’s attention, with free or low-priced entertainment and information options, books are also limited by how much prices can go up.  

But prices need to rise, according to Enders. There is little slack in the cost structure of publishers as staff and author pay is already generally low, but it proposes price discrimination based on sales channel, format and special editions as a way forward. “This would enable publishers to get a better average price, while still leaving squeezed and price-sensitive readers with low-cost options,” Enders said. 

It also “doesn’t deliver the measurable results that make it too important to boycott,” says Joseph Teasdale, head of tech at Enders Analysis. He doesn’t think the MrBeast experiment will change that. “We’ve been unable to figure out Musk’s rewarding of creators, with many saying they’ve been paid vast amounts and others almost nothing.

There’s very little transparency at Twitter. If Musk is smart he will cut a big cheque for this video – something he seems very keen to do.” But if he does, does that solve the transparency problem? “It’s only if the numbers are terrible that you can be sure they’re the real thing.”

“Our only hope is that Facebook reprioritises news.” Which is not much of a hope at all. Douglas McCabe, chief executive of Enders Analysis, calls the focus on social media and search for newspaper revenues a “flawed strategy” – and it’s hard not to agree.

Enders Analysis wrote in a note: “Despite recent reports that News UK wants to make TalkTV less reliant on Piers Morgan, its viewing is noticeably more concentrated around its star man and peak hours than GB News’.”

CVC’s proposition is that such a market also exists for rugby supporters and a broadcaster will be willing to pay a significant premium for exclusivity for a long-term period. According to Francois Godard, a media analyst at Enders Analysis, this will then create a symbiotic relationship between the broadcaster and the sport, in much the same way that Sky Sports has helped to propel the Premier League to its current stratospheric heights. “You need broadcasters to invest in the sport,” Godard said. “If you have a three-year contract then it is like having a three-year flat rental. Are you going to spend money on the apartment? No. If you have a 12-year contract then you are going to take a lot better care of it.”

For Alice Enders, head of research at Enders Analysis, these recent announcements were different to those in previous years.

She said: “The primary reasons for this round of cuts by Big Tech are strategic rather than cost-cutting. Google, for example, is reorienting its operations towards AI tools for advertisers and that requires a specific set of skills in its operations.

“And [it is] reducing or indeed eliminating non-strategic operations, such as resources occupied by the Voice Assistant or AR, which were all the rage a while ago. Amazon also cut its Voice Assistant investment, for example.”

However, Enders stressed it was not “the same driver” for job cuts in the case of every company.

More problematic was how few strings were attached to how the Premiership clubs spent their windfall. This directly influenced CVC’s subsequent moves into La Liga and Ligue 1 in Spain and France, according to Francois Godard, a media analyst at Enders Media.

“The mistake they made was not to control their spending,” Godard said. “They invested in these leagues but they did not have any commitments in contract terms on what the clubs could do with the liquidity. As a result, the clubs spend a lot on players as opposed to investing in their stadium, branding, infrastructure, digital services. As a result, the football clubs in France and Spain are committed to spending around 70 per cent of their liquidity on infrastructure.”

“She’s closer to the creative process than the really big TV producers like Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, which may be a product of the fact that she appears in most of the shows she produces,” says Tom Harrington, analyst at Enders Analysis.

“Her output deal with NBCU means she is more than an actor/writer who moves from project to project. She is linked to Lorne Michaels, but she’s far beyond other ex-SNL stars that leave, have a Lorne-produced film and then go back to a career of a jobbing comedic actor. Indeed, she tipped as his successor which would make her one of the most powerful women in comedy.”

Claire Enders, who runs media analyst Enders Analysis, argues Channel 4’s move had likely been a “long time in the works,” harking back to the network’s pre-pandemic nations and regions push, before it was almost sold.

She says the plan shows that “‘levelling up’ and going digital are still the priority for Channel 4.”

“The media industry these days requires lower overheads,” she adds. “Channel 4 should be commended for trying to get close to a sustainable size.”