Ukraine’s Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool: Is Moscow competing, can Russia vote and are they broadcasting it? May 12, 2023 The 67th Eurovision Song Contest is taking place in Liverpool this year after the UK was chosen to host on behalf of war-torn Ukraine. It is the first time the competition has been held in the UK for 25 years – and Russia will not be competing. Why is Russia absent from the contest? Russia, [...]
ITV: Love Island and I’m A Celeb help maker reports 10 per cent ad revenue drop – and warns it’s only getting tougher May 11, 2023 ITV is looking for Love Island and the Rugby World Cup to boost revenues, which fell 10 per cent year on year in the first quarter. The broadcaster revealed a 10 per cent drop in advertising revenues and warned trading will get tougher in the second quarter as firms rein in marketing spend against a [...]
Reach sales slump: Mirror, Express and Star publisher says Facebook changes hit digital ads hard May 3, 2023 News publisher Reach reported a slump in sales for the first quarter of 2023, with digital revenue hit by changes to how Facebook presents its news content, the company said on Wednesday. The publisher — those titles include the Mirror, Express and Daily Star — said revenue fell by 5.9 per cent in the four [...]
Thomson Reuters reports higher sales as it sells stakes in businesses May 2, 2023 Thomson Reuters reported higher revenue growth than expected today as the company sold off stakes in other businesses. The news and information conglomerate reported revenue growth of four per cent, jumping to $1.7bn (£1.4bn), beating analyst estimates, the firm said in a quarterly update. The company also earned $2.3bn (£1.8bn) from the sell-off of 24.5 [...]
Disney to cut thousands of jobs this week, reports say April 24, 2023 Disney will cut thousands of jobs this week, taking the total number of layoffs to 4,000, according to media reports. Disney first announced it would start axing jobs in February as part of a $5.5bn (£4.54bn) cost-cutting drive under chief executive, Bob Iger. Iger – who returned as Disney’s chief in November following the tumultuous [...]
Twitter: Elon Musk launches new long-form platform allowing 10,000 characters April 14, 2023 Twitter has launched a new platform to support writers move from micro-blogging to longer-form pieces, with posts of 10,000 characters permitted. The Elon Musk-owned social media giant announced the launch of Twitter Write on Friday, offering “improvements to the writing and reading experience” for users. “Starting today, Twitter now supports Tweets up to 10,000 characters [...]
Dame Mary Quant: British fashion designer who popularised the mini skirt dies aged 93 April 13, 2023 Fashion designer Dame Mary Quant, who was widely credited with popularising the mini skirt, has died at the age of 93, her family said. The British fashion designer died peacefully at her home in Surrey on Thursday morning, a statement from her family to the PA news agency said. A statement released on behalf of her family [...]
Elon Musk gives BBC rare tell-all interview after Twitter labelled broadcaster ‘government-funded media’ April 12, 2023 Twitter owner Elon Musk has said the social media site will update the BBC’s “government-funded media” tag after the broadcaster objected to the label. The BBC contacted Twitter last week after the designation was attached to the main @BBC account. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Musk said he has the “utmost respect” for [...]
Under a cloud: Dominance of Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure questioned as Ofcom considers CMA referral April 5, 2023 Ofcom has proposed referring UK cloud services to the competition regulator, citing concerns that key players Amazon and Microsoft could stifle competition. The communications regulator said it has proposed referring the sector to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after it identified features which make it harder for customers to switch or use multiple providers. [...]
Australia follows UK, US, Canada and New Zealand in banning TikTok from government devices April 4, 2023 Australia has become the last of the Five Eyes security partners to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from its federal government’s devices. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement on Tuesday that based on intelligence and security agencies’ advice, that ban would come into effect “as soon as practicable”. The so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing [...]