Trials and tribulations: As Three announces a controversial ad-blocking experiment on some customers’ devices, is the technology gaining acceptance? May 29, 2016 In June, mobile carrier Three is to conduct an ad-blocking trial on the devices of some of its UK customers. Of course, it's only a trial. Three will invite 500,000 customers to partake for 24 hours. But Three's project could set a precedent which could threaten the revenue streams of online publishers and broadcasters which [...]
Gawker said to be exploring sale following Hulk Hogan lawsuit May 26, 2016 US news and gossip website Gawker Media is said to be exploring a sale after losing a court battle with wrestler Hulk Hogan. Gawker has reportedly hired investment bank Houlihan Lokey to explore options after it was ordered to pay out $140m (£95.6m) to Hogan. Read more: Media and entertainment execs want deals – and [...]
Daily Mail publisher’s share price tumbles as supermarkets pull print adverts May 26, 2016 Shares in DMGT fell by nine per cent today after the Daily Mail publisher reported a double-digit decline in print advertising led by cost-cutting supermarkets. DMGT issued a profit warning after its DMG Media division – which houses the Mail and Metro newspapers as well as Mail Online and makes up around a third of turnover – reported a four [...]
As the EU says 20 per cent of Netflix content should be made in the European Union, is this a good reason to back Brexit? May 26, 2016 Len Shackleton, professor of economics at the University of Buckingham and fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, says Yes. A quota for tedious German family sagas or subsidised reworkings of Napoleon’s triumphs, compulsorily advertised on the Netflix homepage, may not itself drive voters to Brexit. But attempting to regulate video-on-demand is symptomatic of the Commission’s ever-expanding [...]
Media and entertainment executives want deals – and they’re targeting the UK May 25, 2016 UK media and entertainment companies are attracting interest from across the world, a new international mergers and acquisitions (M&A) survey has found. The UK came ahead of the US, France, Canada and China to be named the most attractive investment destination in EY’s Capital Confidence Barometer report focusing on media and entertainment. Read more: Japanese [...]
More national newspaper job losses (and a canteen closure) as Telegraph seeks savings May 24, 2016 More national newspaper jobs are being lost this week as part of a cost-cutting push by the publisher of the Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group (TMG) chief executive Murdoch MacLennan set out several money-saving measures on Monday, including the closure of the staff canteen. And the company, which is owned by the Barclay brothers, Sir David [...]
Entertainment One plans to ease off on acquisitions and let Peppa Pig bring home the bacon May 24, 2016 Entertainment One (EOne) is planning to ease off on acquisitions and let Peppa Pig lead its growth. The FTSE 250 company's chief executive told City A.M. 2016 is likely to be quieter in terms of M&A. His statement comes after a shareholder last week condemned the board's acquisitions strategy. EOne chief executive Darren Throop also today talked down [...]
Minister: The Guardian newspaper, not Rupert Murdoch, lobbied to clip BBC wings May 24, 2016 The Guardian, rather than the Rupert Murdoch press, lobbied the government to "clip the wings" of the BBC, a minister has revealed. Ed Vaizey, minister of state for culture and the digital economy, has told MPs the Guardian was not happy about BBC expansion in Australia and the US, two areas the newspaper group has [...]
Man Utd’s PR over Van Gaal sacking was as cryptic and obfuscatory as a Panamanian tax return May 23, 2016 Louis van Gaal is said to have heard of his sacking from his wife after she’d seen a breaking news alert. Harsh stuff. Despite the FA Cup win there clearly was no love lost between the Dutchman and Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family. As the bungled leaking of Van Gaal’s sacking showed – first [...]
Contagious content: Don’t Panic’s Joe Wade on why Jon Snow, GoPro and The LAD Bible hold the secrets to making a video ad go viral May 23, 2016 A number of advertisers have won a Cannes Gold Lion. But few can claim a Bafta on top of it, and say they’ve dug up the lawn of a former frontbench MP. “We wanted to repackage social and political issues in a different way,” says Joe Wade, film-maker and co-founder of Don’t Panic London, speaking of [...]