Consolidation in UK commercial radio – positioning for a digital future

8 October 2012

Global Radio’s acquisition of GMG Radio has cemented its dominant position in the commercial radio sector, giving it a 51% share of revenues and a 47% share of listening.

If approved by the Competition Commission, the deal will allow Global to extend the Heart brand to the North of England and Scotland, helping to establish a stable listener base ahead of the digital switchover.

We believe there is scope for further consolidation, which is likely to focus around Planet Rock and Absolute Radio – two groups that are leading the way on digital platforms.

Recent reports

DAZN goes for growth: Global expansion postpones breakeven

10 February 2025

Recent deals for Ligue 1, the Fifa Club World Cup and Foxtel signal DAZN is focused on global expansion, but this has postponed group breakeven.

Rights have been renewed at lower costs due to tepid competition and wider uncertainty in the broadcasting landscape, which support its improving margins.

Global scale may be a competitive advantage, but DAZN must still prove that global synergies improve local economics and generate a positive margin.

Access report

UK Altnets: CityFibre hits profitability (of sorts)

11 February 2025

CityFibre has reported positive EBITDA in 2024, albeit at a slim 4% margin, and still needs further scale—and to successfully onboard its new wholesale customer Sky—to drive decent investment returns.

CityFibre’s organic build rate is dropping sharply as it (sensibly) looks set to rely on consolidation to achieve the required scale, with its organic build focused on Project Gigabit areas.

CityFibre remains well-positioned for consolidation, but this may take some time yet, with the altnet sector set to slow organic progress anyway in the interim.

Access report

Disney Q1 2025: Subscriptions firm, but engagement threatened

6 February 2025

Disney's phase of consolidation began with profit growth for its streaming business, pushed up by price rises with subscriber numbers reasonably flat. Emboldened by less churn than expected, Disney+ will be more expensive sooner rather than later

Disney+'s UK reach—a proxy for subscriptions—remains firm but under pressure with engagement materially suffering as the flow of new programming has slowed. Library content is D+'s strength, but viewing of it is correlated with new releases

The creation of sports channel bundle Venu ran the risk of accelerating the decline of Disney's linear business. The service's delay and failure to launch may have given time for the company to reappraise its approach to linear

Access report