New BBC chair Richard Sharp hints at licence fee reform January 14, 2021 The incoming chair of the BBC has hinted at a possible overhaul of the licence fee funding model as he vowed to shake up the culture of the public service broadcaster. Appearing in front of MPs today, Richard Sharp said he believed the licence fee was the “least worst” option and insisted it was fit [...]
BBC Sounds launches on Sky in latest streaming tie-up January 12, 2021 Sky has agreed a deal with the BBC to embed the Sounds app on its platform, marking the pay-TV giant’s latest effort to become a one-stop shop for streaming services. From today the BBC Sounds app will be available to all Sky Q customers in the UK, offering more than 80,000 hours of audio content. [...]
Screenshot: Will Sunak save music festival season? January 8, 2021 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: Reporting from the ruins of democracy **A rallying cry to save music festivals **Youtube, Talk Radio and the quagmire of online regulation Media Moment of the Week I usually [...]
Former City banker Richard Sharp ‘to be appointed’ as new BBC chair January 6, 2021 The government is reportedly poised to name former Goldman Sachs banker Richard Sharp as the new chair of the BBC. Ministers will this week announce that Sharp has been appointed to succeed Sir David Clementi at the helm of the broadcaster, Sky News reported. The appointment, which is made by the government rather than the [...]
Richard Sharp: Who is the surprise new frontrunner for the BBC top job? January 6, 2021 Speculation over the top contenders for the BBC chairmanship has been rife in recent weeks, with a string of well-known names entering (and exiting) the fray. But the race was this week thrown wide open after it emerged a relatively unknown candidate had emerged as the new frontrunner Richard Sharp, a multi-millionaire former Tory party [...]
Normal People and Killing Eve are iPlayer’s biggest successes of the year December 8, 2020 The BBC adaptation of Normal people, Sally Rooney’s romantic novel has been iPlayer’s biggest success of the year so far, closely followed by Killing Eve. Between the 1 January and the end of November there were 62 million views of Normal people on iPlayer. The romantic drama tops a record-breaking year for iPlayer, with the [...]
Mast giant Arqiva pulls out of Freeview venture amid streaming row December 1, 2020 British mast giant Arqiva is pulling its investment in digital TV platform Freeview in the wake of a row over how to stave off pressure from streaming rivals. The telecoms group said it will step down as a shareholder in Digital UK, the company that controls its joint venture with the BBC, ITV and Channel [...]
Economists lambast BBC over ‘misleading’ UK debt coverage November 30, 2020 A group of the country’s leading economists have written to the director-general of the BBC to complain about the broadcaster’s “misleading” financial coverage. Two-dozen finance wonks told Tim Davie that the BBC’s reporting on UK borrowing “misrepresented” the constraints facing the government and the economy due to the Covid-19 crisis. The complaint related to the [...]
Prue Leith among line-up of Radio 4’s Christmas guest editors November 30, 2020 Five guest editors, including Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith, will take over BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme during the festive period. Other guests this year include Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, Britain’s first black female bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin, and Evan Spiegel, co-founder and [...]
Chernobyl effect drives British TV exports to record high November 26, 2020 The value of UK TV exports hit a record high last year as blockbuster dramas such as Chernobyl sparked a boom in international demand. Hit TV shows generated £1.48bn in the year to March, a six per cent increase year on year, according to figures from industry body Pact. Scripted drama was the key driver [...]