ITV is right to launch a new streaming service, but it needs to make good content as well August 29, 2018 ITV’s plans to join forces with its fellow public service broadcasters BBC and Channel 4 to combat the growing threat from Netflix, Amazon, and other US streaming service giants may have seemed like too little too late. However, given the success of ITV’s current video offering – the ITV Hub – which has had a bumper [...]
Online revenues dive as Johnston Press falls victim to Google and Facebook changes August 29, 2018 The share price in major UK newspaper group Johnston Press plummeted as much as 21 per cent today as the firm reported a fall in half-year revenue amid privacy changes to social media giants such as Google and Facebook. Total revenues dropped to £93m in the first six months of 2018, falling 10 per cent compared [...]
Trump takes aim at Google for biased ‘leftwing media’ search results August 28, 2018 US President Donald Trump has lashed out at search giant Google in a series of tweets, accusing the site of “rigging” a feed of biased, negative news articles when searching the phrase “Trump news”. The president said most of the stories that appear when searching the site are “bad” news articles, written by the “National Left-Wing Media”. He [...]
Corbyn plots to establish publicly owned rival to Facebook August 23, 2018 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has outlined plans to build a publicly owned social media platform to rival the likes of Facebook. In a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Corbyn set out his idea to create the British Digital Corporation (BDC), a publicly owned entity that would also create entertainment content to rival streaming giants Netflix [...]
Comcast extends deadline for Sky shareholders to accept £26bn offer August 23, 2018 Comcast has extended the deadline for Sky investors to accept its £26bn offer to buyout the company, a statement revealed last night. Shareholders now have until 12 September to green light the US media company's 14.75 per share offer. It follows 0.2 per cent of Sky investors giving their consent by the previous deadline yesterday. Most [...]
Culture secretary Jeremy Wright outlines plans to safeguard UK broadcasting post-Brexit August 22, 2018 Culture secretary Jeremy Wright will today address fears Brexit could hit the TV broadcasting industry's workforce by outlining the government's ambitions to ensure talent are granted mobility between Europe and the UK. Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival today, Wright will hail the strength of the UK's public service broadcasting sector, while assuring industry figures the government [...]
Vice Media’s online food brand Munchies is to expand its physical presence with a food hall venture August 21, 2018 Munchies, the online food channel owned by Vice Media, is to expand its presence in the physical world. The publisher has agreed to a brand licensing contract for a food hall at American Dream Meadowlands, a retail complex an under construction in New Jersey. Agreed between the online brand and the centre owner, Triple Five [...]
Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton gives £1m to anti-Brexit campaign August 19, 2018 Julian Dunkerton, co-founder of the fashion label Superdry, has given £1m to the People's Vote campaign, a group with cross-party support that has called for a second public vote on any Brexit deal. The donation is the largest ever received by the campaign group, and is expected to go towards funding opinion polls to rally [...]
Martin Sorrell vs WPP: The king of adland wages war on the company he founded with his new venture S4 August 8, 2018 When a couple break up, sage advice is that it’s best to part ways amicably. This advice, however, has not been heeded by Martin Sorrell and WPP, the company Sorrell founded in 1985, turned into a global powerhouse, then exited in controversial fashion in April this year. Sorrell and WPP have been engaged in a war of [...]
Silence is golden – someone should tell Thomas Markle July 30, 2018 DENIS THATCHER FAMOUSLY once said, “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” Clearly, this concept is not one that applies to Thomas Markle Senior, father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. His latest incendiary comments to the Mail on Sunday this weekend have [...]