The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) sets out the best practices to ensure the independence of Public Service Media providers (PSMs), though it is toothless.
PSMs play a unique democracy-sustaining role in the digital age by providing the population with balanced news coverage, thus combatting misinformation.
The UK’s BBC is the blueprint for the EMFA and the comparison with Czechia and France demonstrates how political forces challenge independence.
At the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) 2025, vendors and broadcasters showcased plenty of incremental improvements to production using AI—but the show also previewed significant future disruption to traditional production methods.
Distribution is a focus for innovation: Formula 1 demonstrates a compelling personalised product and delivery that takes superfans beyond what can be offered in a single broadcast.
Broadcasters are adapting to a rapidly changing technical landscape at a time of increased pressure on audience trust and the geopolitical climate.
Europe experienced flat service revenue growth in Q2, with French trends worsening as SFR’s woes intensified.
There are signs of better pricing momentum in several markets, particularly in Italy and in Germany where O2 has softened its aggressiveness.
This, together with expected improved momentum in the UK, and a likely resolution in France, paints a more positive outlook—and will be particularly helpful for Vodafone’s German turnaround ambitions.
The PSBs’ ability to fulfil their public service objectives is becoming compromised by declining TV audiences, mainly due to the rise of online platforms and the decline in funding levels.
Part of the solution lies in collaboration between the PSBs themselves, potentially through shared tech stacks across players.
Collaboration with third-party online platforms is also required. The Media Act is introducing prominence requirements for connected TVs, but extending this regulatory regime to video-sharing and AI platforms needs much more developed thought to clearly articulate its aims and begin to iron out its practical challenges.
Revenue growth in mature markets is now price-driven and therefore lumpier. While the US leans on bundling, European scale requires wholesale distribution with pay-TV incumbents. Fledgling streamer to streamer/PSB deals are more of a distribution nudge than a step towards the US model.
Profit momentum is real but fragile: H2 content/sports ramps will test margins; the Versant/Discovery Global carve-outs are about protecting multiples while ring-fencing legacy decline.
Engagement is the key battleground: live sport is increasingly important although streamers remain reticent on rights spending. While sport boosts acquisition and ad reach, ROI hinges on price discipline and shoulder programming. Europe remains a tougher nut to crack.
On 3 June 2025, Enders Analysis co-hosted the annual Media and Telecoms 2025 & Beyond Conference with Deloitte, sponsored by Adobe, Barclays, Salesforce, Financial Times and SAS.
With over 700 attendees and more than 50 speakers from the TMT sector, including leading executives and industry experts, the conference focused on how new technologies, regulation, and infrastructure will impact the future of the industry.
This is the edited transcript of Session One, covering: Sky’s strategy; the BBC's strategy; audience behaviour; trends in commissions; and the businesses of Vivendi and the National Lottery. Videos of the presentations are available on the conference website.
On 3 June 2025, Enders Analysis co-hosted the annual Media and Telecoms 2025 & Beyond Conference with Deloitte, sponsored by Adobe, Barclays, Salesforce, Financial Times and SAS.
With over 700 attendees and more than 50 speakers from the TMT sector, including leading executives and industry experts, the conference focused on how new technologies, regulation, and infrastructure will impact the future of the industry.
This is the edited transcript of Session Two, covering: The Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP; Meta’s AI strategy; Channel 4 on Gen Z and trust; news and media in the AI age; and diversity in the age of economic challenge. Videos of the presentations are available on the conference website.
Service revenue growth remained firmly negative at -1.0% in spite of inflation of +2.1%, as competition remains intense and pricing power weak.
Operators are guiding to a 2025 EBITDA performance that is broadly in-line with, or weaker than, their 2024 performance, with SFR choosing to abstain from guidance this year.
In-market consolidation cries are getting louder, with France, Italy and Germany the most obvious candidates.
Globally, subscriber growth remains the driver of topline streaming improvements—86% of Netflix’s 2024 global revenue growth came from subscriber additions, with 85% for WBD and 54% for Disney
However, in mature markets growth is underpinned by ARPU. Subs growth is becoming volatile with more customers churning in and out of services around key releases
Relevantly, the race to scale up SVOD ad-tiers will continue to have an ARPU-dilutive effect: CPMs are lower than expected and the growing price divide between premium and ad tiers will persuade more existing users to spin down
Podcast reach and share continue to grow, albeit slowly, aided by need-state differentiation and increasingly online, on-demand media habits.
The ad market remains small with the long tail of podcasts difficult to monetise, but an industry move into video—on both YouTube and Spotify—offers substantial reach and monetisation opportunities.
Publishers and broadcasters see podcasts as an essential brand extension enabling greater reach, whilst successful podcast networks have tapped into more relaxed, commercial formats.