NBCUniversal quietly offloads $500m Snapchat stake March 9, 2020 NBCUniversal has quietly offloaded its $500m (£381m) stake in Snapchat as the US media giant ramps up preparations for its new streaming service. Parent company Comcast acquired the shareholding in March 2017 when Snap completed its initial public offering. The investment was passed to NBCUniversal, which then quietly sold off the stake last year. NBCUniversal [...]
Suitors line up bids for troubled ad agency M&C Saatchi March 8, 2020 Hedge funds and private equity firms are said to be lining up bids for M&C Saatchi as the City prepares to pounce on the embattled advertising agency. Asset management firm Dbay Advisors, which took a controlling stake in Eddie Stobart in December, and Exponent, which owns publishing firm Dennis, are among the suitors circling the [...]
Virgin Media data breach hits 900,000 customers March 6, 2020 Virgin Media last night admitted that a data breach had seen the personal details of around 900,000 people left unsecured and accessible online for 10 months. The company said that it had not been hacked, but that the breach had been caused because the database was incorrectly configured. It stressed that the database did not [...]
Cityfibre extends full fibre roll-out to 36 more cities March 6, 2020 Cityfibre will extend the roll-out of its full fibre network to 36 more towns and cities around the country, with an additional £1.5bn in construction contracts to be awarded by July. The new investment, which is part of a £4bn national programme targeting up to 8m premises in the UK, will bring full fibre to [...]
The Simpsons WILL be on Disney Plus: Here’s the streaming service’s full list of shows March 6, 2020 Springfield super fans breathed a sigh of relief this morning after Disney revealed that The Simpsons will feature on its full list of content. The US media giant sparked outrage last month when the cartoon classic was omitted from an initial list of titles for its upcoming streaming service in the UK. But Disney today [...]
Entertainment sales hit £7.8bn as streaming growth continues March 6, 2020 Sales of video, music and games grew 2.4 per cent last year to hit an all-time record of £7.8bn, according to figures published today. The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) said the rising sales, which mark the seventh consecutive year of growth, was once again driven by the popularity of digital streaming. In 2019 streaming accounted [...]
Exclusive: Theatre producers mull plans to stream shows amid coronavirus fears March 5, 2020 Theatre production companies behind some of the West End’s biggest hits are considering streaming performances of their shows as the coronavirus sparks fears of mass cancellations. City A.M. has learnt that Delfont Mackintosh, whose shows include Hamilton, Les Miserables and Mamma Mia, has held discussions with broadcasting firms as they ramp up their contingency plans. [...]
Sky and Virgin Media down: Outages leave customers across UK without broadband March 5, 2020 Sky and Virgin Media are down across the country, leaving customers without broadband. The issue has affected more than 60 towns and cities in the South East, which both companies said had been caused by a “fibre break”. Customers took to Twitter to complain about the issue throughout the day using the hashtag Virgin Media [...]
The Independent claims $1bn valuation as it hails ‘unicorn’ status March 5, 2020 The Independent today posted its third consecutive year of profit thanks to a successful shift to digital, prompting its chairman to hail its “unicorn” status. The newspaper’s turnover grew nine per cent to £27m in the last financial year, while advertising revenue grew 10 per cent. Operating profit for the year was £2.3m, down from [...]
BBC must avoid ‘narrow urban outlook’, warns new culture secretary March 5, 2020 The BBC must avoid a “narrow urban outlook” if it is to survive in the modern media landscape, the new culture secretary has warned. In his first major attack on the broadcaster, Oliver Dowden took aim at the BBC’s perceived bias and its failure to reflect the whole of the UK. “If we’re all honest, [...]