What’s hot (and what’s not) in UK media in 2011?

Friday, March 18, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Financing , Media sector | Tags: Grant Thornton, report, data, video, interview, analysis, Richard Eyre, Mark Smith, Sam Groves, David Harries, voxpops, media, survey, Mark Cullen

Want to know where to invest and where to avoid in the UK media sector? We interviewed five media figures to get their thoughts.

Recently, we reported on signs of life in the UK media sector as investors look to new growth areas and M&A activity picks up – see our post and special report on Where is the smart money going in media? for more details. Here, though, we get a snapshot of views from five media investors and senior business figures on the investment environment.

The questions
1. If you were given a pound, where would you invest in the media sector tomorrow?
2. In a digital context, what is meant by the term ‘lean back’?
3. With the economic climate as it is, do you think it’s wise to invest in British media and, if so, which sector?

The answers
Our interviewees favoured various options for investing their money – including: Tesco, which announced it was getting into the film industry in 2010; ITV for its unbeatable scale of advertising; and Facebook because it will “probably take over the world”.

There was a dissenting voice from Sam Groves of EMAP who felt that the social networking and digital environment were overhyped with few companies making big money as pure online businesses.

At the same time, Richard Eyre of the Eden Project, the Internet Advertising Bureau and Rapid Mobile and recently appointed non-executive director of Grant Thornton UK, said that the combined effect of the UK economy and the ‘digital headbutt’ of the internet had created opportunities through low media valuations.

There seemed to be some debate over ‘lean back’ media (consumption, on your sofa, TV) versus ‘lean forward’ media (creation, engagement, computer) media. But there is also a convergence happening in this area.

As for investment in the UK at the current time, there was a resounding cheer from Mark Smith of Chime Communications for sports marketing as a way to reach mass audiences and ticking lots of boxes for the media investor.

Meanwhile others seemed split over whether to invest in ‘the new stuff’ or to focus on businesses with more face-to-face interactions.

The interviews
Watch the videos below for the full overview.

1. If you were given a pound, where would you invest in the media sector tomorrow?

 

 

2. In a digital context, what is meant by the term ‘lean back’?

 

 

3. With the economic climate as it is, do you think it’s wise to invest in British media and, if so, which sector?

 

 

 

The credits
Interviews were filmed by Mark Hopkins at Grant Thornton’s Smart Money in Media launch event. We would also like to thank our interviewees from the day:

• David Harries, Chief Financial Officer, Icon UK Group
• Richard Eyre, Chairman of the Eden Project, the Internet Advertising Bureau and Rapid Mobile and recently appointed non-executive director of Grant Thornton UK
• Sam Groves, M&A Director, EMAP plc
• Mark Cullen, CEO, ETV Media Group
• Mark Smith, Finance Director, Chime Communications Plc

Download the free report
The findings of this research and interviews can be found in the Grant Thornton Where is the smart money going in Media? report, researched in conjunction with Mergermarket. It is also available to download as a free PDF.

You might also find these posts useful:
* Where is the smart money going in media? - an introduction to the 35-page research report.

* Alex Connock, CEO of Ten Alps, is our media blogger on Elevate – for business leaders – read his posts on TV and UK media.

* Chris Brogan’s advice for companies on how to use social media in business