Sky News plans to ditch business bulletins, putting more jobs at risk July 13, 2016 Sky News is planning to scrap business bulletins, with six jobs at risk. The proposal comes shortly after it emerged that around 50 studio roles across Sky News and Sky Sports News could also be made redundant in an automation move. The channel said the business cuts will not affect its flagship business programme, Ian [...]
More magic from Harry Potter? Bloomsbury reports nine per cent revenue growth July 13, 2016 Bloomsbury Publishing’s shares leapt this morning as it reported a nine per cent jump in revenue. The publisher will today unveil a 2020 growth plan to investors and analysts, targeting “significant growth in digital revenues over the next five years”. The company also wants to take steps towards “being a non-consumer publisher in the B2B [...]
BBC spends £26m on severance payments… reduces headcount by 54 July 12, 2016 The BBC spent £25.9m on severance payments in 2015/16, a 43.6 per cent year-on-year increase. The total was spread across 448 staff, with 75 of them receiving between £100,000 and £150,000. In 2014/15, 303 staff were paid £18m in severance payments. However, the BBC’s annual report showed the corporation’s average annual headcount in 2015/16 reduced by [...]
Job cuts, celebrity pay and further savings: What we learned from the BBC annual report July 12, 2016 The BBC today published its annual review for 2015/16. Here are some of the things we have learned from the report. Job cuts might not cut it During a year in which cost savings at the BBC came under close scrutiny, as the government prepared its white paper for its next royal charter period, the [...]
BBC set to highlight cuts, savings and the Night Manager in annual report July 12, 2016 The BBC is set to highlight reductions and savings made in relation to senior managers and “talent” in its annual report today. Published at 11am today, the corporation will report that it has cut one in 10 senior manager roles in the last year, reducing the number from 401 to 356. The report will also [...]
Thomson Reuters agrees $3.55bn deal to sell intellectual property and science business July 11, 2016 Thomson Reuters has agreed a $3.55bn (£2.73bn) deal to sell its intellectual property and science business. Canadian buyout group Onex and Baring Private Equity Asia have agreed to acquire the units in cash. The share price of Thomson Reuters was up 1.3 per cent to $40.89 in out-of-hours trading at the time of writing. Read [...]
Lords back Channel 4 to withstand Brexit volatility and warn against privatisation July 11, 2016 Channel 4 has been backed to withstand Brexit volatility by a group of peers calling on the government not to privatise the broadcaster. The House of Lords Communications Committee noted in a report, published today, that culture secretary John Whittingdale is concerned the future of the publicly owned, commercially funded channel is “very uncertain”. He is [...]
Brexit, Bond and Star Wars boost film studio and production group Pinewood July 11, 2016 Film studio and production company Pinewood Group today reported an 11 per cent growth in revenue, boosted by Brexit, Star Wars and James Bond. The company’s share price was up by more than two per cent on Monday morning after it announced the results. Its shares are already up by around 25 per cent since [...]
Predictive power: Black Swan’s Jeff Headley on marketing intelligence, flu prevention and why the internet is the largest real-time focus group in the world July 11, 2016 Marketing is fundamentally about prediction: what does the consumer want, and when do they want it? From New Coke in 1985, the modernisation of the Gap logo in 2010, and BIC’s pink “for her” biros just four years ago, the history of marketing is littered with flops which better consumer testing could have avoided. Since 2011, [...]
JWT Europe boss: After Brexit, what now for Britain’s brands and “Brand Britain”? July 11, 2016 What does Brexit mean for British brands and “Brand Britain”? The Friday after the referendum, we conducted a field survey of 1,000 people to gauge public attitudes, and try to get a clearer idea of how consumers expect British brands to behave in the wake of the EU vote. Here are some of our findings. [...]