10 of the most popular shows of 2020 December 9, 2020 Following a record-breaking year for streaming services as a result of the pandemic and two national-lockdowns, we take a look at 10 of the most streamed shows of 2020. The Witcher (Netflix) The first season of The Witcher is Netflix’s most successful show of the year, with around 76 million views. The fantasy show is [...]
Black Friday: Union calls for inquiry into Amazon over ‘dehumanising’ conditions November 27, 2020 Union members have called for a parliamentary inquiry into Amazon over “dehumanising” conditions at the ecommerce giant’s warehouses. Disgruntled unionists have projected a banner reading ‘Make Amazon Pay’ outside the tech firm’s London headquarters as part of protests coinciding with Black Friday. “Amazon is well known for unsafe, dehumanising work practices which see our members [...]
Amazon to give frontline staff $500m in bonuses amid safety concerns November 26, 2020 Amazon will give its frontline staff working over the holiday period combined bonuses worth $500m, the firm confirmed today. The bonus comes at the end of a year in which the e-commerce giant has come under intense scrutiny over working practices for employees amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sales at the tech firm have soared this [...]
Amazon ‘sacks dozens of staff’ on drone delivery programme November 19, 2020 Amazon has reportedly laid off dozens of employees working on its drone delivery programme as it looks to third-party firms to help kickstart its eagerly-awaited project. Staff in research and development and manufacturing have been made redundant after Amazon reached preliminary deals with two external companies to build component parts of its drones. Final terms [...]
Bookshop.org: How a ‘scrappy’ online bookseller is trying to take on Amazon November 15, 2020 While the tech revolution has worked its way into all parts of daily life, few industries have experienced as extreme an overhaul as publishing. US bookstore sales have dropped from highs of more than $17bn (£12.9bn) to less than $10bn, while Amazon’s market share has grown to over 50 per cent. But now there’s a [...]
Brands’ battle for the eyeballs: watch all the Christmas ads here November 13, 2020 As some of the UK’s biggest brands have rolled out their seasonal ads, it’s starting to feel a lot more festive. The battle for the eyeballs started in earnest this morning as John Lewis launched its annual television advertisement, gaining over one million views within just two hours. However, Aldi’s ad so far tops the [...]
Explained: Why Amazon Prime Video is showing the Autumn Nations Cup and what it means for rugby November 10, 2020 Amazon Prime Video acquired the rights to rugby’s Autumn Nations Cup for an estimated fee of £16m-£20m and it looks a potential win for all parties. Years ago, it may have been seen as a risk selling your media rights to Amazon. But now the e-commerce giant looks like it could make a lasting impact [...]
EU accuses Amazon of ‘distorting’ competition in ecommerce market November 10, 2020 The EU has accused Amazon of distorting competition in online retail markets by misusing data from third-party sellers on its platform. In a statement today, competition tsar Margrethe Vestager said Amazon “systematically” relied on non-public business data of traders on its site. She accused the tech firm of using this data to benefit its own [...]
Screenshot: Will Tim Davie win the generation game? October 30, 2020 A weekly column from City A.M. bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week: ** Media Moment of the Week: A sorry soy saga ** Tim Davie and the BBC’s tug of war ** The tech titans’ tumultuous year Media Moment of the Week This week it’s another [...]
Amazon quarterly sales near $100bn amid online shopping boom October 29, 2020 Amazon has continued its bumper year of trading, posting quarterly sales of nearly $100bn (£77.4bn) as the pandemic sparked a surge in demand for online shopping. The ecommerce giant said net sales had increased 37 per cent year on year to hit $96.1bn in the three months to the end of September. Net profit hit [...]