BBC Three relaunch faces delay as Ofcom opens competition probe July 20, 2021 The BBC’s plans to relaunch BBC Three as a traditional TV channel have been put in doubt after Ofcom said it would launch a full competition investigation into the proposal. Earlier this year the public service broadcaster said BBC Three would return to screens six years after it was made online-only as part of a [...]
Pegasus spyware investigation reveals scale of surveillance July 19, 2021 Human rights activists, journalists and lawyers have been targeted by spyware sold to authoritarian governments by the Israeli technology firm NSO Group, according to media reports. An investigation into a data leak by human rights group Amnesty International and NGO Forbidden Stories revealed a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers that may have been [...]
Bill Ackman remixes Universal Music deal after SPAC plan questioned July 19, 2021 Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has been forced to rejig a $4bn deal to buy a 10 per cent stake in Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, after investors and regulators criticised his original SPAC plan. Pershing had agreed last month to buy 10 per cent of the world’s largest music company through a blank-cheque company called Pershing [...]
Tencent pushes British gaming group Sumo to hit $1.27bn valuation in bid to buy July 19, 2021 Chinese tech giant Tencent has pushed the valuation of video game group Sumo to hit $1.27bn today in its bid to buy the British firm. Sumo’s shareholders will gain 513p per share, Tencent said, at a 43 per cent premium to Sumo’s last closing price of 358p. The British video game group, behind games like [...]
GB News director John McAndrew quits to avoid fuelling culture-wars July 16, 2021 The director of GB News John McAndrew has quit the new rightwing broadcaster today, according to reports. It has been suggested McAndrew had come under pressure to up culture war topics instead of his local reporting focus, and so chose to resign. The senior executive handed in his resignation after a row regarding the gesture [...]
Screenshot: Will a streaming overhaul tidy up the UK’s messy music sector? July 16, 2021 This week: **Media Moment of the Week: ‘Oh fiddlesticks’ **Could a streaming crackdown tidy up Britain’s messy music sector? Media Moment of the Week: ‘Oh fiddlesticks’ In a situation you wouldn’t have thought possible in 2021, the BBC somehow found a man in Nottingham on Monday morning who still didn’t know the result of the [...]
STV advertising revenue grows by a third thanks to Euros boost July 15, 2021 STV has posted a further rise in advertising revenue for the first half of the year as Euro 2020 coverage helped the Scottish broadcaster continue a recent run of good form. The network, which holds the channel 3 licence north of the border, said total ad revenue grew 32 per cent to the end of [...]
MPs call for probe into record labels amid music streaming overhaul July 15, 2021 MPs have urged regulators to probe major UK record labels and Youtube as part of a radical overhaul of the music streaming market aimed at tackling “pitiful returns” for artists. In an eagerly-awaiting report published today, the culture select committee called for comprehensive reform to existing legislation as well as new regulations to “reset” the [...]
French tycoons plot media buying spree with €250m blank-cheque firm July 14, 2021 Two of France’s best-known business figures have teamed up to launch a new blank-cheque firm that will target deals in the media and entertainment industry. The holding companies of billionaire Francois Pinault’s family and banker Matthieu Pigasse today announced the launch of I2PO, a special purpose acquisition company (Spac) that will list in Paris. The [...]
Tate Modern to turn into walk-in mass vaccine hub July 13, 2021 The Tate Modern will turn into a mass walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre this Friday night, offering first and second Pfizer jabs to anyone over 18. The iconic venue will be hosting the pop-up vaccine site in its Turbine Hall, offering Londoners exclusive access to galleries for the night and a unique setting to get protected [...]