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David Cameron’s cabinet reshuffle sets new government up for BBC clash as John Whittingdale named secretary for culture, media and sport May 11, 2015 David Cameron set his government on a collision course with the BBC yesterday, appointing John Whittingdale as the new secretary of state for culture, media and sport. Whittingdale, who chaired the culture, media and sport committee in the last parliament, has previously been highly critical of the licence fee system used to fund the public [...]
21st Century Fox revenue falls as Rupert Murdoch deals with falling TV viewership May 6, 2015 The figures 21st Century Fox's share price jumped in after-hours trading after the media conglomerate reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' expectations – although revenues missed targets. Revenues fell from $8.2bn to $6.84bn (£4.49bn). However, excluding turnover from the Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia businesses which have since been sold to Sky, revenues actually increased one [...]
Tesco moves £90m media account to WPP’s Mediacom ending 20 years with IPG’s Initiative April 30, 2015 Tesco boss Dave Lewis has done some more kitchen-sinking, ditching the company that has been in charge of placing its advertising for the last 20 years. The beleaguered supermarket has switched its media planning and buying account – worth £90m a year – to WPP's Mediacom from IPG's Initiative after a review, MediaWeek reports. It's [...]
Don’t Look Now remake: Why Hollywood keeps resorting to reboots April 29, 2015 Don't Look Now, the 1976 horror film, is the latest classic film to get a modern makeover. The spooky psychological thriller, directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, is one of the most critically acclaimed horror films of all time and is widely regarded as a classic of the genre. A [...]
Average Seinfeld episode valued at $1m by Hulu in Sony Pictures deal April 29, 2015 Video streaming site Hulu is believed to have paid $180m for the rights to classic 90s sitcom Seinfeld. The site, which is expected to announce the acquisition at a presentation later today, acquired the rights to all 180 episodes from Sony Pictures Television, valuing each one at $1m on average, according to Variety. Other estimates [...]
eSports streaming site DingIt.tv secures $1.5m seed funding from Black Green Capital April 28, 2015 Money continues to be pumped into the UK eSports market with leading streaming platform DingIt.tv the latest to raise seven-figure sums of capital. DingIt.tv, which offers a HD streaming platform to eSports firms around the world, has secured $1.5m of seed funding from London venture capital firm Black Green Capital. The seed and A-round investment [...]
Broadcasters told by Ofcom to make phone-in charges simpler April 28, 2015 Telecoms regulator Ofcom has forced TV companies to change how they advertise phone-in and mobile voting competitions – because, it says, they're currently too confusing. The watchdog has changed the broadcasting code – the rules which govern TV and radio in the UK – to reflect how they can make pricing clearer. Viewers [...]
Avengers: Age of Ultron box office tops $200m with biggest UK opening weekend for a superhero film April 27, 2015 Marvel Studios' superheroes continued to conjure super-size box office revenues as Avengers: Age of Ultron raked in $201.1m (£132.5m) around the world, almost eating up its entire $205m production budget. The sequel to The Avengers – the third-highest grossing film of all time – smashed its way to the top of the box office charts in all [...]
Burberry boss Christopher Bailey hails new supermodel James Corden – in pictures April 21, 2015 James Corden graced the catwalk as part of fashion brand Burberry's London in Los Angeles event last week, prompting the retailer's somewhat reclusive boss Christopher Bailey to quip: “Fashion has a new icon and his name is Corden.” The British film and TV star was performing a sketch for his CBS “The Late Late Show [...]
Netflix v HBO: Streaming site chief exec says rivalry will be like the “Yankees and the Red Sox” April 20, 2015 Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings has a simple message to HBO as the cable TV giant steps into the online streaming market: bring it on. The American billionaire who also sits on the board of Facebook founded Netflix in 1997 originally as a rental-by-post DVD service before moulding it into the dominant player in the [...]