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.

Advertising is in a structural shift due to AI and the video boom. AI tools are growing the reach and capabilities of smaller advertisers, fuelling robust demand. 

WPP must challenge Publicis’s dominance in 2026 and show it is positioned to benefit from AI even as Omnicom and IPG combine to create a new global behemoth.

Amazon is taking the fight to adtech by strengthening its connected TV and retail media positions. Adtech is building partnerships and becoming more end-to-end in response.

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.

Service revenues were flat this quarter, pointing to strong underlying performance in spite of the drag from changing in-contract price increases and subscriber decline.

Traffic growth has picked up to 15% over the past couple of quarters, suggesting that at least some of the recent sharp slowdown was somewhat one-off in nature.

The outlook for revenue growth is positive, particularly thanks to BT/EE leading the way on ramping in-contract price increases, but there are also inherent risks in such moves.

Defined roles within the advertising ecosystem are a thing of the past: everyone is adapting by building out functionality to claim share as the constants underpinning advertising—attribution, discoverability, and regulation—change.

There is a new wave of M&A, partnerships and developments from agencies, adtech, and big tech in data and AI, as all sides position themselves to reshape the terms of online advertising at a time of maximum uncertainty.

Big tech platforms are leveraging their scale and AI investments in attempts to reset broad swathes of the market. Publishers are exposed; their way forward relies on asserting their value through direct audiences and collaboration on sector-wide innovations

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.

The slowdown in telecoms traffic volume growth post-pandemic has persisted for far longer than a simple hangover effect would imply, and has spread from fixed broadband to mobile in many markets

The eventual emergence of the metaverse and/or AI-generated traffic may mitigate this trend, but it is hard to see growth ever returning to a sustained 30%+ per annum level, with around 10-15% likely to prove the new normal

While far from disastrous for telcos, it does have important implications, such as the need to structure pricing more carefully, focus on network quality over capacity, and be more wary of the threat (or opportunity) from MVNOs, FWA and satellite