TalkTalk maintained recent momentum despite increased competition in the quarter, delivering 5k broadband net adds and 167k pay TV net adds, although increased churn required higher marketing spend to achieve this

TalkTalk restructured its pricing towards the end of the quarter, increasing certain prices, introducing a lower cost broadband option and bringing pay TV to its (now) mid-tier plan; the net impact appears as if it will be positive

TalkTalk is fairly well insulated from the ongoing BT/Sky battle, with little enthusiasm for sports content within its base, and pricing that is already very competitive, but extra marketing costs may still weigh going forward

The Vivendi empire is shrinking in revenues, cash flow and also in debt: Activision Blizzard and Maroc Télécom were sold in 2013, SFR will be spun off

We expect SFR’s topline revenue decline to halt in H1 2014, ending the pain from the disruptive launch of Free Mobile in 2012. With SFR and Bouygues Telecom intending to conclude a network-sharing agreement outside urban areas by the end of 2013, SFR should have a more positive story to tell investors when it comes to the Paris stock market in late 2014

With SFR spun off, Vivendi 3.0 will own just Canal+, Universal Music Group (UMG) and GVT (telecoms operator in Brazil), three companies without visible synergies. The end point appears to be the full dissolution of the Vivendi conglomerate

BT has doubled the price of the live ECL/EEL rights to £900m in order to outbid Sky and ITV and become the sole owner from 2015/16 to 2017/18 BT can easily absorb these extra costs through cost savings in other parts of its business, but the direct revenue returns through subscription charges and advertising on BT Sport are expected to fall far below the annual rights payments of £300m BT’s Euro victory is not a game changer in itself, but eyes are now firmly fixed on the next auction in about 18 months time of live PL rights, which could prove to be an inflationary bloodbath for all market participants

Virgin Media had a very solid quarter, with cable households returning to growth, cable revenue up 4%, underlying group revenue up 2%, and underlying OCF up 3% despite extra content costs weighing

Subscriber net adds were not as strong as last year, when DSL competitors were weakened by supply constraints, but there is little sign of a substantial impact from BT Sport or TalkTalk and BT’s YouView-based TV offerings

BT’s foray into sport has however had an effect on profitability, as it has with BT itself and Sky, with Virgin Media’s premium content costs rising from both BT and Sky

BT’s subscriber and revenue results continued to show strong progress, with its consumer business gathering momentum even excluding the direct impact of BT Sport

BT Sport had a discernible impact, but this was modest given the spend levels involved. However, the negative impact will only improve from this point, with BT sounding cautious about bidding for new rights

Fibre growth has at last started to accelerate at BT’s competitors, with the potential wholesale revenue from this truly game-changing for BT

Our annual series of reports on expenditure on advertising in the classified verticals of jobs, property and autos, kicks off with an overview of the print-to-digital transition that has lifted the share of digital to close to 50% by 2012. The advantages of online for professional classified advertisers in relation to print include: national reach; measurability and tracking software; value-for-money for listings; dense user experience; and advertiser add-ons. Aside from the fragmented recruitment market, the UK’s online classified marketplaces for property and autos are highly consolidated around one or just two suppliers. Second-tier property supplier Zoopla Property Group is slated for an IPO in 2014 or in 2015, and the sale will be helped by the buoyant housing market. An IPO of AutoTrader is also widely expected, amidst a more general recovery of transactions in the sector. Our recruitment segment analysis highlights the more positive trends in the labour market in 2013, which are to continue in 2014 and 2015. However, the online recruitment market is highly fragmented on the advertiser side due to the myriad of companies and positions being filled, also splintering the online market across a large number of job boards, aggregated by Indeed. On the jobseekers side, professionals are increasingly being drawn to LinkedIn or category-specific professional networks, attracting employer expenditure on recruitment advertising. LinkedIn is the single biggest online supplier in the UK and is also the more dynamic through network effects and price competition on listings. We project about 5-7% annual growth of expenditure on online recruitment to 2017, amidst a terminal collapse in advertising in print.

Property is the second category in our annual series of reports on UK classified advertising, following Recruitment [2013-090] and with Autos to follow. Our Property market report analyses the key drivers in the communications marketplace for UK domestic property, notably transaction rates and house prices, but also substantial developments in government policy. We analyse the Estate Agent marketplace and drill down into expenditure patterns for property advertising across all media, and provide five year forecasts. In digital the competitive battle between Rightmove and Zoopla is heating up, and we analyse the implications for this in the next few years.

Auto is the third category in our annual series of reports in UK classified advertising, following UK classifieds and recruitment category outlook [2013-090] and Property classified advertising [2013-091]. Our Auto market report analyses the key drivers in the communications marketplace for used cars, notably transaction volumes and pricing. Overall the auto market is reasonably stable, with new car sales picking up substantially in recent months, while used car sales are roughly flat. AutoTrader remains the big beast in the marketplace, having closed its print product and now focused on developing its digital services alongside its core search. Our report analyses media usage by Car Dealers, and provides five year expenditure forecasts.

2014 will be a tough year for Sky as it strives to improve the connectivity across its base while facing the challenge of BT in premium sports. 2014 has started well in terms of product growth and BT Sport has had no discernible impact on Sky broadband take-up and little, if any, impact on acquisition and retention discounts offered to new and existing Sky customers. With eyes focused on the impending auction of European Champions League pay-TV rights, we think BT has every incentive to push the price up, but not actually to win them.

For the BBC’s DG Tony Hall, “Where next?” primarily means more digital, expanding its iPlayer internet TV and radio application and offering greater personalisation

These moves form part of a wider strategy to ensure BBC services and programming can be delivered seamlessly across devices in the most relevant form, whilst maintaining access and appeal to all age groups

Reaction from commercial rivals and commentators has been muted, likely saving powder for the soon-to-begin battle over the BBC’s scope and funding from 2017, when the current Royal Charter expires