Culture secretary Nicky Morgan warns BBC not to ignore licence fee row January 23, 2020 The culture secretary has warned the BBC it would be making a “big mistake” if it thought the row over the licence fee was not an issue of public concern. Baroness Nicky Morgan dismissed the notion that the broadcaster’s funding model was only relevant to those in Westminster, arguing instead that it affect the wider [...]
Advertising veterans team up to launch specialist press agency January 23, 2020 Two top advertising executives have teamed up to launch a specialist press planning and buying agency called The Press Business. Steve Goodman, who served at WPP for 36 years, and former Omnicom director Peter Thomson said the new venture will exploit the opportunities created by an evolving media landscape. The London-based agency will focus on [...]
Brexit bill granted royal assent and signed into law January 23, 2020 The Brexit bill has been granted royal assent and has now been signed into law, paving the way for the UK’s exit from the European Union next week. Deputy speaker Nigel Evans today announced in the Commons that the bill, dubbed the EU Withdrawal Agreement Act, has been approved by the Queen after passing parliament. [...]
Tiktok inks licensing deal as it gears up for music streaming launch January 23, 2020 Tiktok has secured a licensing deal with a major music rights agency, marking a key step forward in the social media firm’s plans to launch a new rival to Spotify. The Chinese video app today said it has entered into a multi-territory partnership with Merlin, which represents tens of thousands of independent record labels. The [...]
Comcast hikes dividend as broadband boost pushes up revenue January 23, 2020 Comcast today said it had ramped up its dividend after reporting a rise in both revenue and profit in the fourth quarter. The US media titan posted revenue of $28.4bn (£21.6bn), up two per cent on the same period last year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose three per cent to $8.4bn. [...]
Former Speaker John Bercow faces bullying complaint from top aide January 23, 2020 John Bercow’s chances of bagging a peerage could be in tatters following reports his most senior former official has filed a formal bullying complaint. Lord Lisvane, who was chief clerk of the House of Commons at the beginning of Bercow’s stint as Speaker, has handed a dossier of allegations to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, [...]
Wework sells software firm Teem as it slims down after float fiasco January 22, 2020 Wework today said it has sold management software firm Teem as the troubled coworking company offloads fringe businesses after its botched initial public offering (IPO) last year. The sale to digital workplace solutions provider iOffice came as Wework also offloaded its minority stake in coworking startup The Wing. Wework said the deals, whose values were [...]
Tax system gives tech giants ‘unfair advantage’, says Publicis boss January 22, 2020 Tech giants have an “unfair advantage” and a clampdown on the amount of tax they pay will help to level the playing field, the boss of Publicis has said. Maurice Levy, chairman of the French media giant, today said he did not believe it was fair that digital firms could benefit from infrastructure and consumers [...]
BBC ‘set to slash jobs’ as it revamps news output in cost-cutting plan January 22, 2020 The BBC is said to be on the brink of announcing a wave of job cuts in its news division as it looks to revamp its output before the next director general takes the reins. The cuts are likely to affect popular news programmes such as Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Two and Radio 4’s Word [...]
Privacy ‘cannot be a luxury good’, says Google boss Sundar Pichai January 22, 2020 Privacy “cannot be a luxury good”, Google’s chief executive said today, while vowing his company would protect its users’ information. Sundar Pichai, who also leads parent company Alphabet, said privacy was “at the heart of what we do”. “Users come to Google at very important moments, ask us questions, we deal with people’s sensitive information [...]
