The year ended on a strong note, as Sky broke passed its milestone of ten million homes and achieved yet another record breaking quarter for multi-product take-up

Home communications once more achieved exceptional growth, with triple play penetration jumping from 18% to 24%, while HD take-up resumed strong momentum after halving in Q1 2011

Financially, the company has never looked in better shape, with good prospects for continuing strong multi-product growth, leaving the question of where Sky will choose to invest next to drive further revenue growth

Jeremy Hunt announced on 25 January his intention to refer News Corp’s bid for BSkyB to the Competition Commission

However, he is first providing News Corp with the opportunity to address Ofcom’s concerns, and in so doing protecting his department and Ofcom from any legal threats

If Ofcom or the OFT say the News Corp remedies don’t go far enough, Jeremy Hunt will be then almost obliged to refer the transaction to the CC

HMV’s poor trading update for the crucial Christmas period was due to the decline in demand for CDs, DVDs and games, and competition from supermarkets and e-tailers, compounded by bad weather

Waterstone’s outperformed HMV as the challenges of high street book retailing are not (yet) as acute as for CDs and DVDs – we consider it possible that HMV will divest the chain

HMV’s strategy for the store network is a key challenge for 2011 – in addition to planned store closures, further closures may be needed to maintain current profitability