Gareth said that Microsoft believed the console would soon be “irrelevant” and that the future would be subscription-based. Not everyone can afford or is interested in buying a device and then paying extra for expensive games.

He added that his deal was about excellent timing and price. An investigation into Activision’s alleged history of employee abuse and harassment has resulted in numerous lawsuits. “Activision was a distressed asset when [Microsoft] made the offer, in terms of management and toxicity in its business practices which was damaging the brand,” he said. He said Microsoft thought it had got a bargain.

Julian said a key consideration moving forward for the joint venture would be which brand will be at the forefront of this new combined offering.

He explained that whilst BT is a household name in the UK, “it may be difficult to keep the BT brand at the forefront given that the service is going to be integrated into the global operator."

Gill said Turness will provide welcome reinforcements as the BBC navigates huge amounts of political pressure. “Deborah Turness coming will be helpful. She is hugely respected within the industry and was head and shoulders above everyone else for that role.” 

She added “There is a lot riding on how she handles it over the next six months to a year because there is infighting at the BBC. They have pulled in a heavy hitter and it will be interesting if she can turn things around.”

Tom said "Maybe up to half of that decrease you could put down to general decline in television viewing, while the rest would be due to some combination of fixture quality, competition in slots and loss of interest in the event itself." 

Music expert from Enders Analysis Alice Enders said that while master recordings are still valuable, US non-digital radio play does not pay royalties for masters: thereby undermining the full financial gains on the deal.

Alice said “The heartland of cinema is young people and they broke the habit and are not returning. Cineworld won’t be the last cinema to go bust.”

Douglas said “It’s an industry that during [the past ten to 15 years] has literally changed its definition.

“You would struggle to find a large publisher that would even describe itself as being in an industry called ‘magazines’. These businesses now think of themselves as passion businesses, hobby businesses or audience businesses.

“That’s completely different to how these companies were seeing themselves just ten years ago, where they would have described themselves as magazine businesses that are trying to diversify revenue streams into other areas.”

He added Instagram does a very good magazine job for a lot of consumers. It satisfies their level of interest in fashion or food or design. That's been the real challenge. The men's category completely collapsed for that reason. The women’s collapse is a little bit more recent."

Claire Enders of media consultancy Enders Analysis argues that people won’t pay to see non-blockbusters in the cinema: that’s the content they expect to stream on release.

Tom said “People get through $100mn of TV in a day and say: ‘what’s next?’ From a consumer point of view that is great. But for a video operator, it’s clearly unsustainable.”

Claire Enders of Enders Analysis suspects that “where this review is heading is where all the reviews have always headed”—that is, a recommendation that the licence fee should remain. That may not be the end of it: the Lords committee argued that the bbc’s funding model should be made fairer, which could suggest more means testing. Discounts could be extended to households on universal credit, say, with the rich making up the shortfall.