Cineworld confirms May reopening plans as it lines up film deal March 23, 2021 Cineworld today confirmed plans to reopen its 127 venues in the UK in May in line with the government’s roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions. Under current guidelines, indoor socialising and hospitality will resume from 17 May, while the government aims to lift all limits on social contact in June. Cineworld today also said it will [...]
CMA set to approve Viagogo’s £3.2bn takeover of StubHub March 22, 2021 The mega-deal between ticket reselling giants Viagogo and StubHub is heading for approval, after the companies reached a preliminary deal with the Competition and Markets Authority. The watchdog said earlier today it “proposes to accept” a series of promises from the companies, which would include selling off StubHub’s international arm. Viagogo’s £3.2bn deal to take [...]
CMA investigates publisher Penguin’s $2.2bn takeover of Simon & Schuster March 22, 2021 The competition watchdog is investigating if the $2.18bn takeover of Simon & Schuster by publisher Penguin Random House may hurt competition. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has until 19 May to decide whether to refer the merger to a more in-depth ‘phase two’ investigation, A spokesperson for Penguin Random House said: “We announced last November that Penguin Random [...]
Boris Johnson’s director of comms to join The Sun as deputy editor-in-chief March 19, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s director of communications will move to The Sun as the newspaper’s new deputy editor-in-chief, just a few months after he took on the top job at Number 10. James Slack took over as Johnson’s director of communications at the end of last year. The former political editor of the Daily Mail [...]
Exclusive: Daily Mirror publisher Reach to close a London office and make most staff permanent home workers March 19, 2021 Newspaper publisher Reach, which owns the Mirror and Express as well as a number of regional titles, is planning to close offices and make most of its employees permanent home workers. The company will close its Lower Thames Street office in central London and reduce its office space in Canary Wharf from two floors to [...]
Screenshot: Who’s invited to the UK’s summer of fun? March 19, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: No 10’s power vacuum **Who’s invited to the UK’s summer of fun? **BT gets a broadband boost Media Moment of the Week: No 10’s power vacuum There are two main things to remember when unveiling your grand £2.6m briefing room to the world: make sure it doesn’t look [...]
Hollywood real estate firm expands £350m east London film studio project March 19, 2021 Plans for a major new film studio complex in east London have been given a further boost after the scheme’s Hollywood backer announced it was pumping a further £50m into the project. Hackman Capital Partners (HCP), which owns studios where classics such as Citizen Kane and Gone With the Wind were filmed, last year took [...]
BBC to shift news jobs out of London in bid to win over regions March 18, 2021 The BBC will shift major parts of its news operation out of London as the broadcaster looks to stave off criticism of metropolitan bias. A number of major programmes and scores of journalists will be relocated from the capital to regional bases across the country over the next six years. “Our mission must be to [...]
Watchdog slams rule-breaking influencers over ‘unacceptable’ social media ads March 18, 2021 The UK advertising watchdog has ramped up the pressure on social media influencers over their continued failure to mark posts as adverts. Under the current rules online stars are required to clearly state when their posts are sponsored or when a brand has provided them with free products. But a three-week monitoring exercise carried out [...]
STV Group sets out digital growth plans after pandemic hits profit March 16, 2021 Scottish media firm STV Group saw its profit fall two-thirds in 2020 but said that it had achieved a record viewing performance amid the chaos of the pandemic. The firm, which runs the STV television channel north of the border, said that profit before tax had fallen from £19m to £6.7m in 2020. However, it [...]