British book worms are spending more on reading this year, sending sales up £100m March 13, 2017 Britons are reading more than last year and increased spending by six per cent on books by as much as £100m more compared to 2016, according to research from Nielsen Book Research UK. Printed book sales were up seven per cent, driven by greater reading amongst younger generations, despite commonly held assumptions that young people [...]
It’s not rocket science! How code written for a manned mission to Mars ended up selling advertising March 13, 2017 It's a question we’ve all faced: what to do when you’ve written machine learning code to help Nasa determine the optimal configuration of components for a manned mission to Mars? Use it to sell advertising, obviously. Such is the story of DataXu, one of the pioneers of Real Time Bidding. Founded way back in 2007, [...]
Ticket touts threatened with unlimited fines March 11, 2017 Ticket touts who bulk buy music concert tickets and them re-sell them online will be hit with unlimited fines under new government plans. The department for culture, media and sport (DCMS) is making it illegal for touts to hack ticket-buying websites to buy more than the maximum amount of concert tickets normally available to consumers. [...]
Editor’s notes: Hammond falls down the cracks between politics and policy, the bigger threats to the media than Rupert Murdoch and why the UK needs a new army of trade negotiators March 10, 2017 There are plenty of people willing to defend the chancellor’s controversial raid on the self-employed, not least the chancellor himself who was out and about yesterday claiming that the government faced “some new challenges” and that it has “to pay for these things somehow”. As opposition to the move grows on his own backbenches, he [...]
Hit Makers by Derek Thompson: Read this book if you want to learn how to write March 9, 2017 I have a confession to make: I don’t like reading books about consumer culture. I often find the subject slight, the writing bland and the overall effort insubstantial. But I read Hit Makers by Derek Thompson. Thompson, a senior editor at The Atlantic, is a distinct voice in liberal American journalism, and Hit Makers, his [...]
“Microinfluencers” could hold the key for marketers when trust in media is thin March 9, 2017 Trust is the currency of the Internet. At a time when trust in media is thin on the ground there is one group of publishers who are followed by many for their authenticity. No wonder brands are now interested in “microinfluencers”. Early each year, communications agency Edelman issues its “Trust Barometer”. It measures public [...]
WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell’s share scheme pay falls more than 30 per cent (to £42m) March 9, 2017 Sir Martin Sorrell, the FTSE 100’s best-paid chief executive, raked in £42m from WPP’s long-term incentive scheme last year, it emerged today. The £41.56m is a reduction on £63m Sorrell made from the LEAP share scheme last year, meaning his overall package for the year is likely to reduce from 2015’s £70m to around £50m. [...]
Newspaper industry calls for “urgent investigation” into Facebook, Google and fake news March 9, 2017 The newspaper industry has today cranked up the pressure of Google and Facebook, calling for an “urgent investigation” into their impact on the media landscape and fake news. The News Media Association (NMA) wants broadcast regulator Ofcom and/ or the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to examine the “Google-Facebook duopoly”. In its submission to a [...]
Former culture secretary John Whittingdale sees no problem with 21st Century Fox-Sky deal (but would refer it to Ofcom) March 8, 2017 Former culture secretary John Whittingdale has said he does not have a problem with 21st Century Fox’s Sky takeover and believes Channel 4 could thrive if sold off by the government. Whittingdale, who held the position until last year, was speaking at a time when his successor, Karen Bradley, is considering whether to refer Fox’s [...]
Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox tells government: Sky takeover is “in the interest of the UK” March 8, 2017 Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox has written to the government setting out why its Sky takeover is “in the interest of the UK, its creative economy and its consumers”. Culture secretary Karen Bradley is currently considering whether to refer the £11.7bn deal to broadcasting regulator Ofcom. Read more: Murdoch Empire 2.0 or socialist witch-hunt? MPs [...]