Sir Martin Sorrell’s ad agency terminates office leases to go fully hybrid June 7, 2021 London-based S4 Capital, the advertising agency run by Sir Martin Sorrell, has terminated several office leases as staff are being encouraged to adopt fully flexible hybrid working practices. The advertising guru, who resigned from his previous firm WPP in 2018, said creativity is not being lost by the arrangements. “We always knew that our people, [...]
Dennis Publishing ‘puts up for sale flagship title The Week’ June 6, 2021 Dennis Publishing has hired Liontree Advisors to oversee an auction of The Week, the publisher’s flagship news and current affairs magazine. The sale process only relates to The Week and does not include any other Dennis Publishing titles, which include AutoExpress, Minecraft World and Money Week among others, Sky News first reported. Analysts have reportedly [...]
Hipgnosis buys music rights from Taylor Swift and Lorde songwriter June 4, 2021 Music royalty fund Hipgnosis has beefed up its slate of songs after snapping up the catalogue of the songwriter and producer behind top hits by artists such as Taylor Swift and Lorde. Joel Little is best known for his collaboration with Lorde, co-writing and producing her debut EP The Love Club, which featured smash hit [...]
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible pauses UK filming after crew Covid cases June 4, 2021 UK-based production of Tom Cruise’s latest Mission: Impossible film has been stopped for two weeks after people tested positive for Covid-19, studio giant Paramount said today. While it is unclear how many tested positive for the virus, which has prolonged releases since March last year, the blockbuster action sequel will resume shooting on 14 June, [...]
Bill Ackman’s Spac closes in on $40bn deal with Universal Music June 4, 2021 Billionaire Bill Ackman’s blank-cheque company is closing in on a deal to buy a 10 per cent stake in Universal Music Group for roughly $4bn (£2.8bn). Pershing Square Tontine Holdings is in talks with Universal’s French owner Vivendi over the deal, which would value the record label at around $40bn. Vivendi, controlled by billionaire Vincent [...]
Screenshot: Is Channel 4 facing a Great British Sell-Off? June 4, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Baby Musk (Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo) **Is Channel 4 facing a Great British Sell-Off? **Etsy dials into Gen Z fashion Media Moment of the Week: Baby Musk (Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo) It’s fair to say Elon Musk has a bit of a reputation for [...]
Twitter’s first-ever subscription service goes live June 3, 2021 Twitter today rolled out Twitter Blue, its first subscription service, in Australia and Canada. Users will pay either $3.49 CAD or $4.49 AUD depending on location for access to new features. The service includes features such as a reader mode, the ability to “undo” or edit sent tweets for 30 seconds before they are published, [...]
AMC shares drop over 35 per cent after stock sale announcement June 3, 2021 AMC shares plummeted by over 35% today, prompting the NYSE to briefly halt the stock shortly after open. Shares in AMC turned negative premarket as AMC filed to sell 11.5m in shares. In an SEC filling, the company said: “In accordance with the terms of the Distribution Agreement, we may, through our sales agents, offer [...]
Reality TV stars’ Instagram debt ads banned by watchdog June 2, 2021 Instagram posts by three reality TV stars promoting a debt advice service claiming it could wipe out 85 per cent of people’s debt have been banned by the advertising watchdog. Geordie Shore’s Chloe Ferry, Helen Briggs from Ex On The Beach and Towie’s Myles Barnett, who have more than 4m followers between them, all posted [...]
ITV returns to the FTSE 100 amid summer rebound hopes June 2, 2021 ITV is set to return to the FTSE 100 this month after its shares staged a major rebound since its lows at the height of the pandemic last year. The broadcaster was kicked out of the top flight of the index in September after a major slump in advertising and the cancellation of summer hit [...]