BBC radio stations under threat as No 10 vows to scrap licence fee February 16, 2020 The BBC could reportedly be forced to sell off the majority of its radio stations as the government looks to overhaul the broadcaster and “prune” back its services. Senior aides to the prime minister told the Sunday Times that they were “not bluffing” about plans to scrap the licence fee and make viewers pay a [...]
Scrap the TV licence, the BBC should just stick to the national news February 15, 2020 It is good that the BBC model is being disrupted by social media — allowing isolated individuals threatened by brown envelopes and sinister demands to be united in their opposition to the multi-billion pound media enterprise. Essentially, the broadcaster needs to be radically stripped down to just one channel: BBC News and Weather. All other [...]
Don’t frame it as a front in the culture war, BBC reform can be in everyone’s interests February 14, 2020 With the announcement last week of a consultation on decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee, ministers boycotting core programmes following accusations of bias, and veiled threats from the government about its potential demise, fans of the BBC would be forgiven for thinking that their treasured broadcaster is under attack. But by framing this as a [...]
House of Lords committee opens inquiry into future of journalism February 13, 2020 The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee has opened a new inquiry into the future of journalism amid concerns about the impact of tech giants. The committee today said it was seeking evidence on how digital technologies such as social media had changed the way journalism is produced and consumed, and how journalists could [...]
Car manual publisher Haynes soars as it agrees £115m takeover February 13, 2020 Shares in Haynes surged 60 per cent this morning after the car manual publisher said it has agreed a £114.5m takeover deal by a French rival. Under the terms of the deal Infopro Digital will pay 700p per share, representing a premium of roughly 62 per cent on Haynes’ closing price yesterday. It marks the [...]
Exhibition giant Relx boosts profit but coronavirus risk looms February 13, 2020 Relx today posted a rise in revenue and profit for the full year, but warned it could not predict how the coronavirus outbreak would impact its business in China. The FTSE 15 publishing and exhibitions giant reported revenue of £7.9bn in the year to the end of December, up four per cent on an underlying [...]
Soundcloud bags $75m funding from Pandora owner Sirius XM February 11, 2020 Veteran music streaming site Soundcloud today announced it has received a $75m (£58m) cash injection from Sirius XM, the owner of US streaming giant Pandora. Soundcloud said it will use the funding to speed up its product development and enhance services for its users. The investment follows an ad sales partnership between Soundcloud and Pandora, [...]
Top BBC boss apologises over £12,000 banking conference fee February 11, 2020 The BBC’s editorial director Kamal Ahmed has apologised to staff for accepting £12,000 to speak at a banking conference last week. Ahmed, who was previously the broadcaster’s economics editor, accepted the fee for a 40-minute appearance at Aberdeen Standard Investments’ Investing for the Future event. In an email to staff, shared with the Financial Times, [...]
Kantar appoints former ITV boss Adam Crozier as chairman February 11, 2020 Kantar today announced it has appointed former ITV chief executive Adam Crozier to chair the market research firm after it was spun out of WPP last year. Crozier, who currently chairs Asos, Whitbread and cinema chain Vue, has previously held the top jobs at Saatchi & Saatchi, the Football association and Royal Mail. The appointment [...]
Former Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie calls for radio licence overhaul February 10, 2020 Former Sun editor Kelvin Mackenzie has urged the government to auction the UK’s analogue radio licences to the highest bidder, arguing that market forces should dictate their value. The government has launched a consultation into the renewal of commercial FM and AM licences for national stations Classic FM, Talksport and Absolute Radio, which are set [...]