Music streaming revenues overtake ownership for the first time amid shift to ‘rental’ market March 4, 2019 The popularity of subscription services reached record levels in the UK last year as music streaming revenues overtook ownership formats for the first time. Revenues from paid-for music subscription services such as Spotify jumped 39 per cent last year to £829m, meaning subscriptions now account for 62 per cent of all music revenues, according to figures [...]
Number of late night alcohol licences falls as consumer behaviour changes March 3, 2019 The number of pubs, bars and nightclubs with late-night licences has fallen by a fifth over the last five years as would-be revellers opt for dating apps and Netflix over boozy nights out, according to new research. While the number of pubs and clubs with 24-hour licences has dropped from 919 in 2018 to 742 [...]
ITV and BBC announce online streaming service to rival Netflix February 27, 2019 ITV has reported boosted revenue this morning as the broadcaster announced it is in final talks with the BBC to launch Netflix rival Britbox. The figures Total external revenue was up three per cent to £3.2bn and total non-advertising revenues grew five per cent to £1.9bn, ITV said in its full-year year results for [...]
US Court of Appeals backs AT&T takeover of Time Warner February 26, 2019 US telecoms giant AT&T’s takeover with Time Warner was given the green light today by a federal appeals judge that ruled in favour of the acquisition. An appeals court rejected the Justice Department's bid to overturn a ruling that approved the $80bn (£60bn) merger, which has led to one of the largest US anti-trust lawsuits in [...]
DEBATE: With the Oscars success of Roma, has Netflix broken the dominance of the traditional film studios? February 26, 2019 With the Oscars success of Roma, has Netflix broken the dominance of the traditional film studios? Abbie Llewelyn, freelance writer and commentator, says YES. Just six years after Netflix started producing original content, it has scored 15 nominations and three wins at the Oscars. This is a huge breakthrough for streaming platforms, as up until [...]
This time with Alan Partridge: Lessons from the great man February 25, 2019 I'm fairly certain that whatever the creators of Alan Partridge intended for him, it wasn’t to provide guidance for businesses. He has, however, become an unlikely icon, and when he eventually passes to the tiny studio in the sky, he’ll be granted a period of national re-runs. Many brands also aspire to becoming “iconic”, so [...]
Netflix is first choice for almost half of Brits wanting new movie releases February 20, 2019 Almost half of UK film lovers prefer watching new release movies on Netflix over going to the cinemas, according to data released today. The survey from consumer profiling firm GlobalWebIndex reveals that 46 per cent of Brits would rather watch a film from the comfort of their own home on than head out to the cinema. [...]
Make your business spark joy using Marie Kondo’s KonMari approach to tidying up February 15, 2019 When Marie Kondo released “The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up” in 2011, it soon became a bestseller. Clearly, the KonMari approach – the notion of removing anything from our homes that doesn’t bring us happiness – resonates. Kondo is now taking Netflix by storm with her TV show, encouraging more people to get purging. Whether [...]
Editor’s Notes: The EU simply chooses which rules to enforce and which to ignore February 14, 2019 Allow me a moment away from our own Brexit turmoil and to focus instead on a nasty spot of rot right at the heart of the European Commission. While the Brexit process has made some of the EU’s top brass more recognisable to a British audience, it’s unlikely that many could identify one of its [...]
Revolut’s Valentine’s Day advert caused a social media storm – and shows the pitfalls of using comedy in marketing February 11, 2019 Roses are red, violets are blue, there’s a company in hot water and it’s called Revolut. The fintech challenger bank, which offers a mobile-based banking service, recently launched a new ad campaign of Tube posters that joked about the spending habits of its customers. One of the four adverts read: “To the 11,867 people who [...]