The UK population is ageing, with over-40s in the majority for the first time in 2014/15. Since 2002, Baby boomers (young in the 1960s) and Gen X (1970s) have increased their shares of the UK’s wealth, disposable income and consumer expenditure.

Baby boomers and Gen X remain very firmly engaged with traditional media alongside the internet – older demographics are much more multimedia than younger demographics, who are disengaged with traditional media to the benefit of digital media.

Baby boomers and Gen X are engaged consumers, inclined to switch brands and adopt technology, and brands that optimise exposure to them through traditional media will gain share.

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

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.

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.

At its f8 developer conference, under the slogan “Build, Grow, Monetise”, Facebook rolled out a slew of new policies and initiatives designed to boost its appeal amongst users, app developers and advertisers

In its drive to encourage developers to build more apps that support the social network, Facebook is attempting to position itself as a “cross-platform platform” with 1 billion+ users that sits on top of iOS, Android and other mobile operating systems

Key announcements included App Links, an open source solution enabling linking across apps, which may drive additional usage, and Facebook Audience Network, an app ad network rolling out this year, which should drive additional margin and could challenge Google AdSense

Facebook has successfully transitioned its business to mobile, with the number of mobile users now exceeding those on PC, and mobile newsfeed ads accounting for nearly all revenue growth and over half of total revenue, now on a $10 billion annual run-rate

North America and Europe continue to account for the vast majority of revenue and revenue growth, despite flat audience penetration in both regions, as increasing mobile consumption and advertiser take-up have driven sharp increases in ARPU, particularly in the US

Despite tougher comparables and declining desktop revenue going forward, the rapid ramp up in mobile ad revenue, plus initiatives such as video ads, ads on Instagram and planned mobile ad network, should deliver strong growth through 2014 and into 2015

The boom in mobile device sales accelerated in 2013, with more than four times as many smartphones and tablets as PCs shipped in the UK: smartphones accounted for three quarters of mobile phone sales, and shipments of tablets surpassed PC sales, which fell sharply

By 2020, we forecast that smartphone penetration will rise from two thirds of the population to over 80%, and the number of tablet users will exceed 60%, outstripping the PC internet audience, which we expect to shrink. We now predict that the majority of internet usage will go to mobile devices this year and three quarters by 2020

Mobile is well on its way to becoming the predominant access platform in the UK, as in the US, and most, if not all, future growth in commercial internet revenues will be driven by mobile devices

Netflix is making steady progress with the global expansion of its streaming business, which now makes up 20% of total revenues, but is still far short of its long term vision of 70-80% share

Building a large presence in Europe is vital to long term success. The signs are that Netflix is steadily growing its UK and Ireland base, and performing even more strongly in the Nordics and possibly also in the Netherlands

We are reaching the most critical point of Netflix’s European journey, as it contemplates entry into the key markets of France and Germany. Germany looks the more obvious first choice, with rumours of a September launch, but ideally Netflix will want an autumn launch in France too, if it can handle the extra strain on budgets