ViralNova bought by ITV-backed Zealot Networks in $100m deal July 9, 2015 ViralNova, a website which publishes shareable content with titles such as "You probably didn't know that raccoons getting baths would be this cute", has been bought up by the US publishing startup which picked up $5m (£3.2m) backing from ITV last year. Zealot Networks has bought the website in a deal understood to be worth around [...]
ITV continues buying spree with £55m acquisition of Educating Yorkshire producer Twofour June 24, 2015 ITV has bought Boom Supervisory Limited, the holding group of production company Twofour for £55m, as part of its ongoing strategy to build its original content business. Read more: ITV buys Poldark producer Mammoth Screen to bolster original drama assets Plymouth-based Twofour has produced a number of hit shows for Channel 4 including Educating Yorkshire, The Jump [...]
Top Gear: BBC offers James May and Richard Hammond £1m to stay June 4, 2015 The BBC is understood to have offered former Top Gear co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond a multi-million pound deal to stay on the show. Read more: BBC loses 5m viewers from Top Gear cancellation The pair have both been offered deals in the region of £1m a year according to The Times, contracts that would make [...]
ITV buys Poldark producer Mammoth Screen to bolster original drama assets June 1, 2015 ITV has acquired Mammoth Screen, the independent production company behind highly rated shows such as Poldark and Parade's End. Read more: ITV eyes new $950m deal with television arm of The Weinstein Company By tripling the 25 per cent in the stake it bought for £1m in 2008, ITV has acquired the full business which is [...]
ITV a takeover target after Adam Crozier oversees dramatic turnaround May 14, 2015 Charlotte Henry watches a positive programme at ITV, unlike a few years ago. No wonder that takeover talk persists. In a conference centre in Westminster, some of ITV’s shareholders have assembled for the company’s annual general meeting (AGM). They broadly welcomed the progress of the share price, their positivity no doubt boosted by a [...]
ITV eyes new $950m deal with television arm of The Weinstein Company April 7, 2015 After buying Talpa in March, ITV is looking to the US again to expand its content creation arm. It has been less than a month since ITV’s acquisition of Talpa Media, the production company of BBC1’s The Voice. But already the broadcaster is back in the limelight – this time over talks to buy the [...]
ITV in countdown to legal scrap over pension plans for Charles Allen execs March 16, 2015 ITV is preparing for a legal battle to take back almost £40m from a pension scheme for former chief executive Lord Charles Allen and three of his former colleagues. The broadcaster is seeking to free up assets that were placed in a ring-fenced retirement plan 15 years ago, when Lord Allen was head of Granada, [...]
ITV buys The Voice production company Talpa Media with John de Mol on board March 12, 2015 ITV has turned its chair for the production company behind BBC talent show The Voice, buying up Talpa Media. The broadcaster has acquired the Dutch production company founded by Big Brother creator John de Mol, in a deal worth up to £781m. The deal includes keeping on de Mol and Talpa’s management team who will [...]
ITV share price jumps on double-digit growth and £250m special dividend payout – but audiences continue falling March 4, 2015 The figures ITV's shares shot up five per cent in early trading as revenue climbed eight per cent to £2.6bn in 2014 and adjusted pre-tax profit jumped 23 per cent to £712m. The UK's largest broadcaster will pay out a special dividend of £250m to shareholders, or 6.25 pence per share. That's in addition to a 3.3 [...]
ITV in talks to buy creator of The Voice – and John De Mol’s skills might come in the package February 27, 2015 ITV is on the brink of buying Talpa Media, the Dutch production company behind the hit TV show The Voice, which airs in the UK on BBC 1, and will have its owner John De Mol on board for at least three years. The UK television provider confirmed “exclusive discussions” were taking place in a [...]