Pearson bags Home Office contract to provide English language tests December 16, 2019 Publishing and education firm Pearson today said it has won a Home Office contract to provide English language tests for people seeking to work or live in the UK. The FTSE 100 company said it has secured a deal lasting a minimum of three years to provide Secure English Language Tests (SELTs), which are used [...]
Boris Johnson sets sights on BBC licence fee as bias row heats up December 15, 2019 Boris Johnson is reportedly ramping up plans to decriminalise non-payment of the BBC licence fee, in a move that could spark a showdown between No 10 and the broadcaster. The Prime Minister has asked aides to launch an urgent review into whether viewers should face prosecution for failing to pay the £154.50 fee, which applies [...]
Sky scuppers hopes of Britbox deal in blow for new streaming service December 15, 2019 ITV and the BBC have suffered a major setback to their plans for Britbox, as the chances of securing a highly sought-after distribution deal with Sky have all but disappeared. The streaming service, jointly run by the public service broadcasters, has already bagged partnerships with the likes of BT, Freeview and Samsung to deliver its [...]
General Election 2019: How to watch the results on live TV December 12, 2019 The UK has been plunged into a political broadcast blackout today, with channels forced to put their election coverage on hold as Brits go to the polls. But when voting closes at 10pm, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky will all fire up their cameras to provide rolling coverage until the UK’s next Prime [...]
Premier League appoints Richard Masters as chief executive after embarrassing saga December 12, 2019 The Premier League today approved the appointment of interim chief executive Richard Masters to the role on a permanent basis. Masters’ appointment follows an embarrassing saga for the football body, which gave the job to two previous candidates, neither of whom took up the role. Read more: The Premier League’s incoming CEO has quit before [...]
London media firm bags $100m for new film and TV projects December 12, 2019 The media firm behind hit shows such as Line of Duty today said it has secured $100m (£76m) of funding to help fund film and TV projects, while it will also look to build a new UK studio space. Great Point Media (GPM) has already committed $80m of its own funds to the investment, and [...]
WPP kicks off £300m share buyback December 12, 2019 WPP today said it has entered into an agreement with Goldman Sachs to buy back up to £300m in shares, following its $4bn sale of market research firm Kantar. Shares are up just over two per cent on the news. The advertising giant said the share buyback programme will begin today and continue until 18 [...]
Don’t cross the streams: Netflix to make series about the rise of Spotify December 11, 2019 As the streaming wars heat up, media firms are increasingly looking to get ahead of their rivals. But now it appears Netflix may be willing to bury the hatchet – by producing a series about its audio streaming rival Spotify. Netflix today said it will air an untitled scripted show that documents the rise of [...]
Hipgnosis profit surges as song catalogue hits the right notes December 11, 2019 Music royalties investment firm Hipgnosis has posted a huge rise in pre-tax profit after snapping up some of the biggest hits of the decade in an aggressive acquisition spree. The London-listed firm today reported pre-tax profit of £12.6m in the six months to the end of September, more than four times the £3m posted in [...]
Podcasts on brink of subscription boom as listeners ready to splash cash on content December 11, 2019 Podcasts could be on the verge of a Netflix-style subscription boom, as the majority of listeners say they would be willing to fork out for premium shows. Just under 60 per cent of podcast listeners said they would be happy to pay for content at an average of £4 per month, or roughly £50 per [...]