Vinyl comeback led by David Bowie helps UK music to vintage 2016 January 3, 2017 The vinyl comeback, David Bowie and streaming helped 2016 become a vintage year for UK music consumption. Industry body the BPI counted a total of 123m album equivalent sales (AES) last year, a 1.5 per cent increase on 2015’s figures. This corresponded to an estimated retail value of £1bn. There were 45bn audio streams served in 2016, [...]
Trinity Mirror defends buyback amid pension shortfall criticism January 2, 2017 Newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror has defended a £10m share buyback amid criticism over its £426m pension shortfall. Frank Field, chair of the influential work and pensions select committee, has called on the Pensions Regulator to block the buyback, while the move has also been criticised by former Tory pensions minister Baroness Altmann. Read more: New [...]
Star Wars blasted way to top of UK box office in 2016 January 2, 2017 Walt Disney has described 2016 as a “phenomenal year” for its films in the UK and Ireland. The US media company said the new Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One, had taken over £50.7m, making it the biggest film of the year in the UK and Ireland. Read more: Star Wars spin-off feels the force after [...]
New Year’s honours 2017: The full rundown of the business community’s representatives on this year’s list December 31, 2016 The British business community was well represented on the New Years honours list, with entrepreneurs and executives featuring prominently amongst the more than 100 figures recognised for services to the industry and economy. Here's a run down of some the most notable business names who received the official seal of approval this year. Read more: Arise, Dame Inga – Lloyd's of [...]
Media union Bectu to merge into engineering counterpart Prospect taking membership to 140,000 December 24, 2016 Entertainment and media workers union Bectu will be swallowed by Prospect, the UK's largest engineer-dedicated union. Prospect numbers will swell to 140,000 following the merger which will go live from 1 January, putting it firmly inside the top 15 largest unions in the country and almost double in size of the likes of the Rail, Maritime and [...]
BBC spends £815,000 on counselling staff for stress, bullying and harassment among other issues December 21, 2016 The BBC has spent nearly £815,000 since 2010 counselling staff for stress, bullying and harassment among other issues, City A.M. can exclusively reveal. The corporation’s bill for counselling staff for the 2016/2017 financial year increased to over £102,000 from the previous period during which it forked out nearly £94,500. The BBC came under fire last [...]
Cast of the Trainspotting sequel gather for the film’s world premiere December 20, 2016 | City Talk The cast of the Trainspotting sequel have gathered in Edinburgh for the film's world premiere. When it was released in 1996 Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s source novel Trainspotting was a worldwide success and a cultural phenomenon. Twenty years on director Danny Boyle has reunited the original cast for the sequel T2: Trainspotting. T2: [...]
Radio Times publisher Immediate Media is set to be sold to a German media group for £260m December 19, 2016 One of Britain's most recognisable brands, Radio Times, will be sold to a German media giant. The television listings magazine's publisher Immediate Media will be sold this week to Germany's Hubert Burda in a £260m deal, Sky News reported. Hubert Burda, publisher of YourHome and Wedding lifestyle magazines, will take over the Exponent Private Equity-owned [...]
Capita helps to maximise BBC licence fees and is awarded contract extension until 2022 December 19, 2016 Support services firm Capita has sealed a contract extension with the BBC to ensure the broadcaster maximises TV licence collections. The two-year add-on means the FTSE 100 firm's partnership with Auntie will run until 2022, by which time it will have administered TV licensing for 20 years. Read more: Capita share price at 10-year low as it issues [...]
Rupert Murdoch pleads with newspaper to stop using “fake news” quote December 19, 2016 Rupert Murdoch has written to the Guardian, asking the newspaper to stop attributing a "fake" quote to him. The executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, which last week agreed an £11.7bn deal to takeover Sky, has taken issue with the following quote: “When I go into Downing Street, they do what I say; when I [...]