BBC sells White City site for £87m to Stanhope and Japanese firm Mitsui Fudosan June 5, 2015 The BBC has announced the sale and sublet of its Media Village site in an £87m deal with Stanhope and Mitsui Fudosan. Read more: BBC offers James May and Richard Hammond £1m to stay Following an 18-month negotiating process, four acres of freehold land will be sold and six buildings in White City leased as part [...]
Culture secretary says BBC licence free is “regressive” and hits poor hardest June 4, 2015 Culture secretary John Whittingdale has dubbed the BBC licence fee "regressive", saying that it hits the "poorest people" hardest. Speaking in Parliament, Mr Whittingdale told MPs that charging all viewers the same annual fee forced those on lower incomes to pay more for the BBC's television services. It is his most critical comment on the [...]
New guidance issued for payday loan adverts to prevent trivialisation of short-term high-cost borrowing June 4, 2015 New guidance has been published on the regulation of adverts for payday loan products, designed to prevent ads from trivialising taking out short-term high-cost loans. The Committee of Advertising Practice's rules, which come into immediate effect, say that ads must be responsible to the audience and society, and should not encourage consumers to make ill-considered or [...]
Top Gear: BBC offers James May and Richard Hammond £1m to stay June 4, 2015 The BBC is understood to have offered former Top Gear co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond a multi-million pound deal to stay on the show. Read more: BBC loses 5m viewers from Top Gear cancellation The pair have both been offered deals in the region of £1m a year according to The Times, contracts that would make [...]
Gary Lineker lined up to present BT Sport’s £897m Champions League coverage June 3, 2015 Forget David De Gea to Real Madrid, the signing of the summer is set to be Gary Lineker to BT Sport. Read more: BT to reveal subscription prices for European Champions League coverage Lineker, the face of the BBC's football coverage for 20 years, could front BT Sport's Champions League coverage from next season onwards. According [...]
Five surprising projections for the UK entertainment and media market June 3, 2015 The imminent releases of big blockbusters such as Star Wars and Spectre, music lovers' penchant for streaming services such as Spotify – as well as the increasing popularity of e-books – mean the outlook for the UK media and entertainment market is shaping up nicely, according to professional services firm PWC. Here are five surprising projections [...]
Yves Saint Laurent ad banned over “unhealthily underweight” model by ASA June 3, 2015 An advert for luxury fashion brand Yves Saint Lauren has been banned over its use of a model considered "unhealthily underweight". The ad, which shows a model with thin legs posing on the floor and appeared in Elle magazine, has been banned by the ad regulator after concluding that it was irresponsible. The ruling comes [...]
ITV buys Poldark producer Mammoth Screen to bolster original drama assets June 1, 2015 ITV has acquired Mammoth Screen, the independent production company behind highly rated shows such as Poldark and Parade's End. Read more: ITV eyes new $950m deal with television arm of The Weinstein Company By tripling the 25 per cent in the stake it bought for £1m in 2008, ITV has acquired the full business which is [...]
BT to reveal subscription prices for European Champions League coverage May 28, 2015 BT Sport is close to announcing a payment structure for subscriptions to its upcoming exclusive live coverage of the European Champions League. The broadcaster began showing Premier League matches during the 2013-14 season. It has since upped its football offering by paying £897m to show the Champions League for the next three seasons. Industry sources [...]
These are the most valuable brands in the world: Apple, Google, Microsft and IBM dominate in BrandZ 2015 ranking as tech triumphs May 27, 2015 Apple has overtaken Google as the most valuable brand in the world, reassuming the top spot in an annual ranking in which technology dominates. The value of the Apple brand grew 67 per cent, with an estimated worth of more than $245bn. The stellar performance of Apple over the past year pushed Google into second [...]