Here’s when and where the best 2016 Christmas TV programmes are being shown December 14, 2016 Gathering around the television with the family is now one of the great Christmas traditions. It's the perfect time of year to snuggle up with a mince pie or four and indulge in some of the best British TV. Use our list to plan your viewing. Our top picks: The Great British Bake-Off BBC1: Christmas [...]
News industry contributes £5bn to UK economy, but is at risk of being “fatally undermined” by digital giants December 14, 2016 The news media industry contributes more than £5bn to the UK economy, according to a new report out today. But the sector is at risk of being “fatally undermined” by digital giants that benefit from its content without contributing to the costs. The study by Deloitte, commissioned by the News Media Association (NMA) and published today, [...]
EastEnders, Holby City and Cold Feet heading to America as BBC and ITV launch new Netflix-style platform December 13, 2016 BBC and ITV have teamed up to step onto the turf of Netflix, announcing the launch of a new on-demand TV service. BritBox will initially target the United States, taking the likes of EastEnders, Cold Feet and Holby City across the pond. Read more: BBC World Service launches 11 new language services with government funding [...]
More pressure on Fox-Sky deal as pensions lobby group wades in December 13, 2016 Rupert Murdoch’s proposed Sky takeover came under further scrutiny today as a pensions lobby group stressed the need for an appropriate premium to be paid for the business. Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is expected to make a firm £10.75-per-share cash bid for the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own before the end [...]
UBM buys Allworld for almost $500m December 13, 2016 Event organiser UBM is to buy Asian exhibitions company Allworld for $485m (£382.55m) in cash, in an effort to strengthen its position in Asia and provide an entry into the Middle East. The deal will be debt-funded with a new bridge facility, and is expected to add to earnings in 2017, UBM said this morning. UBM [...]
How will Christmas dinner be different after Brexit? Here are 2016’s best alternative Christmas cracker jokes December 13, 2016 With Brexit, Donald Trump and mad political party leadership races dominating the nation’s attention, 2016 will be remembered as a year when people really got interested in politics. The final piece of proof? Brexit – surely no laughing matter – has won a joke competition, narrowly beating Sports Direct and BHS (proving that it has even [...]
Fox set to make formal cash bid for Sky this week amid scrutiny from investors and politicians December 12, 2016 Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is set to push ahead with a formal £10.75-per-share cash offer for Sky this week amid discontent from certain shareholders and politicians. The bid, to increase Fox’s shareholding in Sky from 39 per cent to 100 per cent, values the broadcaster at around £18.5bn. Sky shareholder Standard Life, which has a [...]
UK video startup Newsflare lands £2.4m December 12, 2016 Newsflare, a British media startup, has landed a multimillion pound cash injection from a young investment fund aimed at boosting the country's creative industries. The £2.4m fresh funding comes from Edge Investments' Creative Enterprise Fund and will help the three-year-old startup's expansion. Read more: The Memo proves investors still like media startups, with six-digit funding The Newsflare platform connects user [...]
Standard Life adds to pressure on Sky to demand more from Murdoch’s Fox December 12, 2016 Sky is coming under increasing pressure to push for a higher takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox. The two companies said at the end of last week that they had reached a deal in principle at £10.75 per share for Fox to acquire the 61 per cent of Sky it does not currently [...]
The Memo proves investors still like media startups, landing six-digit funding December 12, 2016 London-based media startup The Memo has landed a new round of funding for international expansion, proving investor appetite for media despite the well-documented struggles of established print media. The more than quarter of a million pounds in cash comes as the 18-month-old online tech publication turned a profit for the first time. Investors ploughing in £280,000 [...]