UK radio listening remains very healthy, with the plethora of internet radio and music streaming services now available barely affecting average listening time which has decreased by only 6% (11 minutes per day) since 2008

Commercial radio has maintained a consistent 43% share over this period, but its audience is getting older, as those that grew up with it remain loyal, and the population itself gets older. In a stable and benign market, the three major players of Bauer Media, Global Radio and UTV Media are focussed on increasing audiences, multi-platform propositions and digital opportunities

DAB growth remains slow, although the recently advertised national commercial multiplex may provide the impetus DAB badly needs, as it will allow for the launch of up to 11 national digital stations. Bauer, UTV and Arqiva have announced a new consortium to apply for the licence, and we believe Global is also looking to form a consortium

The UK’s love affair with mobile devices continued in Q1 2014, with four times as many smartphones and tablets as PCs shipped during the quarter. Smartphones now account for three quarters of mobile phone sales, and shipments of tablets exceed sales of PCs, though the latter improved during the quarter

The device mix for internet access is changing rapidly: more people now have a smartphone than have a laptop in the home, though the overall PC audience (including desktop) is still larger. For many people, smartphones are becoming the core device to get online, and almost half of all households have a tablet

Commercial revenues derived from mobile devices still trail their share of internet usage but the gap is closing: in Q1, smartphones and tablets generated a third of e-retail sales, while mobile ads represented a fifth of internet search and display advertising

The British Video Association has released full year figures for 2013 for the UK home video market, which reveal that growth in digital video, especially in over-the-top subscription services e.g. Netflix, offset the fall in spend on physical media last year, reversing the previous downward trend

The bad news is that DVD’s decline is set to quicken, as the number of households with stand-alone players has begun to fall, though there should be some respite this year from sales of huge box office hits such as Disney's Frozen and Warner Bros.' Gravity

Ultimately, we see rising penetration of high speed broadband and connected devices including the TV set as a net positive, as more people have more ways to spend money on video, but the shift from purchase to rental and subscription options will mitigate the benefits

After a three-week long “messy and opaque” high drama auction Sky retained its broadcast rights for all Italy’s Serie A games for 2015-18 with a negligible 1% price increase.

Its rival Mediaset managed to keep hold of the top fixtures, but its coverage shrinks by 18% whilst paying 35% more. A deal earlier this year for the Champions’ League rights will add considerably to Mediaset’s total costs.

In the stagnating Italian economy, Sky may manage a return to more comfortable profitability. Mediaset’s pay-TV business model looks much more challenging, even if a new investor were to be lured in.

Ofcom’s fibre margin squeeze test’s initial indicative assessment concludes that BT’s current wholesale/retail pricing is ‘close to the boundary’ of creating a squeeze on its competitors

While BT can take comfort that it is at least close to passing the test, its DSL competitors (Sky, TalkTalk et al) can take comfort that BT cannot make life materially more difficult for them without failing it

Crucially, the costs of BT Sport are included in the test, so BT is now heavily dis-incentivised from further aggressive bids for sports rights, which is positive news for the prospective cashflows of both Sky and indeed BT itself

Amazon has announced a new smartphone, the Fire Phone – a premium-priced device with some unique features and solid hardware; only available in the US at first, its high price and small number of apps limit its appeal

Although initial sales are likely to be low and mainly confined to Amazon Prime members, in the short term the purpose of Fire Phone is simple: to drive increased mobile sales of everything Amazon sells

In the longer term, Amazon needs to avoid being locked out of digital media purchasing on smartphones, increasingly the primary connected device – this is a first, although insufficient, step in that direction

National newspaper advertising fell 8% last year (and by 28% since 2007), but we believe a stronger economic outlook will slow the decline in 2014 to about 6%, even if volatility month-to-month makes budgeting and management a relentless challenge.

The local and regional press should also experience some—but smaller—reprieve, though the sector will continue to haemorrhage national display advertising, so the sector focus must return to local enterprises.

Digital advertising has reached meaningful scale at some titles, but growth in online display is slowing. Platform sales are growing quickly and are essential to resist the devaluing of context for digital marketing in content media.

Market revenue growth in the UK residential communications sector was surprisingly robust in Q1 2014, rising a touch to over 5% (or around 4% excluding the direct impact of BT Sport) from just under 5% the previous quarter, despite facing a number of headwinds

Revenue growth at the top four operators has converged to around 4% for all, which marks a major long term turnaround for BT and TalkTalk, who back in 2012 were both experiencing firmly declining revenue well below market growth, and have since done much to stabilise their subscriber bases and sustain ARPU growth

Looking forward, we expect that BT will continue to do well in the June quarter given Sky’s continued focus on TV products, but thereafter its focus may change, and whether BT's recent competitive boost from fibre will continue growing is uncertain. Having said this, any likely market share shifts are relatively minor in the context of the market, with the general theme likely to remain that the rising tide is lifting all boats

Strong growth in the UK economy has created a very positive short term outlook for display advertising, with TV Net Advertising Revenues (NAR) expected to increase by 5% in 2014.

That bright prospect is nonetheless overshadowed by online video advertising, where 2014 is expected to add almost £200 million to the estimated £300 million spent in 2013. YouTube is leading the way, but the TV broadcasters also stand to benefit.

All the indicators point to yet more rapid growth in online video advertising over the next three to five years. So far it has had little apparent impact on TV NAR, but this should change from 2015 as TV and online video become more closely meshed.

The latest vision of Sky Europe under discussion between 21st Century Fox and BSkyB has 21st Century Fox maintaining its share in BSkyB at 39%, while BSkyB buys out 21st Century Fox’s interests in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia

Agreeing the right price will be complicated by the contrasting fortunes of Sky Deutschland, which is enjoying a sustainable boom, and Sky Italia, which, although well run, is holding on to marginal profits in Europe’s most inflated football rights market and in a structurally stagnant and weak economic climate

Today, there appear only modest operating efficiencies to be gained from bonding the three Skys into Sky Europe; however, centralised content and service strategies may become much more important in coming years in an increasingly scale-driven European marketplace