Facebook launches new Instant Articles for speed reading online May 13, 2015 Tech giant Facebook made a leap into the publishing space yesterday, introducing Instant Articles, with big names signed up to launch it. The new product allows outlets to publish multimedia articles direct to Facebook, instead of them sharing links on the social network to drive users to their own website. News organisations can [...]
Trinity Mirror prepares for staff cuts in print and digital: Ampp3d and UsVsTh3m websites at risk May 13, 2015 Trinity Mirror, the media group that publishes the Daily Mirror as well as many local titles, is preparing to lay off 27 staff across both print and digital. Fourteen staff on the new formats team, which produce the website Row Zed on football, the data journalism site Ampp3d, and the virals based site UsVsTh3m, have [...]
Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May and Netflix could team up with ‘House of Cars’ May 13, 2015 The former Top Gear presenting team of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are reportedly in talks with Netflix to launch a spin-off of the popular show called House of Cars. The trio are currently out of action after Clarkson was sacked from the successful BBC show, prompting May and Hammond to leave too. Clarkson, [...]
Ricky Gervais agrees The Office feature film and will return as David Brent May 13, 2015 David Brent is coming to the big screen. Ricky Gervais has secured financing for a feature film spin-off of The Office, the classic sitcom which launched him to fame in 2001. According to Variety, Life on the Road will see Gervais reprise his role as David Brent, the excruciatingly awkward boss now be working as [...]
AOL share price rockets on $4.4bn Verizon deal May 12, 2015 Verizon is buying the sprawling online company AOL in a deal worth $4.4bn (£2.8bn). The US telecoms company has made an offer of $50 a share – a premium of 17.4 per cent on AOL's closing share price yesterday of $42.59. Shares in AOL, the owner of online publications such as Huffington Post and Techcrunch [...]
AOL Verizon deal: This is boss Tim Armstrong’s email to staff in full May 12, 2015 AOL boss Tim Armstrong has emailed staff about Verizon's $4.4bn offer to buy the online company. Here are his words in full. As you have heard me say many times over the last 5 years since we became an independent AOL, we are building toward becoming the largest media technology company in the world. While [...]
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 [...]