News has entered a new phase, defined by the disruptive forces of mobile, social media and video, effecting rapid changes in consumption and the underlying economics for news businesses: the level of change and innovation is rewiring the structure and financial models for news more quickly than many news providers are able to respond. While charging for news looks to be a successful route for some brands, we note that the scale of charging for the industry is substantially smaller than in print. Apart from this, three models are gathering traction: selling audience engagement; selling news services; and selling news to businesses. Each of these options involves very different strategies and opposing objectives which can only be pursued at the same time by those with the deepest pockets. Everyone else has to choose.
TalkTalk’s revenue growth accelerated to over 4% in Q3, despite a tough comparative, with a price increase towards the end of the quarter and robust corporate revenue growth helping, giving it good momentum into 2015
Broadband net adds of 15k were unchanged on the previous quarter, disappointing given a broader market bounce, but the company expects acceleration next quarter
The company warned of lower than expected EBITDA margin in H2 2014/15, making its medium term 25% target look more challenging, but margins are still likely to improve going forward
UK broadband net additions in Q3 2008 fell sequentially, the first time this has happened in a third quarter. Q3 net adds almost halved year-on-year to 320,000
Unity Media sold its 14.58% stake in German pay-TV operator Premiere to News Corporation at the start of 2008, prompting speculation of a full takeover by News Corporation later in the year