With no major men’s football tournament, ITV’s advertising revenue fell well short of a tough YoY comparison (-7%, £824 million) while Studios appears to be settling after a demanding last couple of years (+3%, £893 million)

ITVX is showing encouraging momentum—especially in terms of its usage profile—however, as a whole, ITV saw viewing share again decline, while losing another 600k regular-viewing households

This market demands proactivity—hence the announcement of collaboration between the three major sale houses, and further measures by ITV to target small to medium-sized businesses

Netflix improved on its Q2 revenue and profit forecasts, driven by successful implementation of price rises and USD weakness. There continues to be little substantive information offered about the advertising business

Most of Netflix’s engagement growth is derived from its existing heavy users. Lighter users, who are more susceptible to churn, appear to be most under pressure from YouTube

In the UK, new Netflix original content no longer appears to be driving new subscriptions. This means it can be better used to shape engagement in a way that optimises monetisation

CityFibre has announced that its long-awaited £1.5 to £2.3 billion financing round is finally agreed, with it now able to use this money to fund its remaining organic build, integrating acquisitions, and covering operating losses until it reaches cashflow breakeven.

This capital raise will not be the first of many across the altnet sector in our view, as CityFibre’s business model is unique, and now partially dependent on the struggles of others to encourage consolidation.

CityFibre now has all the pieces in place to accelerate consolidation of the altnet sector, which will ultimately benefit the whole sector in ending unsustainable retail altnet competition.

Fixing an allocation quirk at BT pushed UK broadband revenue back into growth in Q1, albeit a very modest 0.8%, thanks to continued altnet growth and a very weak underlying market.

Broadband pricing is dipping down overall, but there is not yet evidence of pricing cuts targeted in altnet areas, a massive missed opportunity in our view.

The market will remain under pressure in the short term, but in the longer term altnet pressure will fall under all realistic consolidation scenarios.
 

The largest UK altnets are now all at or close to EBITDA positive, but still heavily cashflow negative even pre-interest costs and with paused builds, due to various below-the-line cash costs requiring continuous funding. EBITDA margins of as much as 35%+ are required to actually be cashflow breakeven.

Altnet economics are still challenging even if debts are fully written off, with a payback of more than 5 years on customer acquisition and connection costs alone.

The consolidation endgame is increasingly imminent, with the outcome likely to be a mix of CityFibre/VMO2 acquisitions, stand-alone niche players continuing, and abandoned assets, with the outcome for the rest of the sector more benign under any scenario than current trends.
 

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 Four, covering: the impact of AI on advertising; the future of advertising; and Ofcom’s approach to regulation.

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.

ITV's total external revenue rose 4% year-on-year in Q1 (to £756 million), although a material drop in internal Studios sales (down by £41 million) meant a decline in total group revenue (-1% to £875 million). Ad revenue was down 2% and will face tough men's Euros comparisons for the next two quarters 

Even with continuing online growth, ITV's overall viewing continues to decline. However, ITVX usage is displaying favourable characteristics that could foretell greater resilience and volume

Further, although the levels of viewing on the ad-tiers of the major SVOD services is analogous to ITVX, the difference in how well that viewing is monetised is stark

Disney continued to grow profitability across its three segments, even as streaming subs and revenue remain stagnant. Stoked by Trump-uncertainty, headwinds could have ramifications for leadership succession planning

Challenges to Disney+ engagement may not yet be impacting subscriptions but it will compromise the fame of core IP assets and therefore monetisation opportunities

Green shoots are finally emerging from Disney's games strategy with Disney+ entering Fortnite

UEFA and Relevent, a newly appointed media rights sales partner, are already surveying the rights market for the next cycle starting in 2027.

With minimal competitive tension in major European markets, incumbent broadcasters are unlikely to increase their bids.

Relevent will, however, try to leverage increased US appetite for soccer to lure a streamer into a global deal.