City Moves for 16 June 2014 | Who’s switching jobs June 16, 2014 Wilmington Pedro Ros has been appointed chief executive officer, as incumbent Charles Brady prepares to retire from the business-to-business information firm. Ros joins from Creston, where he is head of strategic insight. He was previously chief executive and chairman of WPP-owned TNS. UBS Global Asset Management Martina Kay has been appointed global head of human [...]
FinnCap chief exec Sam Smith nabs a First Women gong June 12, 2014 “It’s a refreshing change to look out at a room full of women,” Katja Hall, deputy director- general of the CBI, told the crowd at the Lloyds-sponsored First Women Awards last night. “Most of the events I go to are full of white, middle-aged, slightly balding men.” Her boss at the CBI, John Cridland, took [...]
BT Sport’s free online content ad ruled offside after complaints June 11, 2014 THE ADVERTISING Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a series of complaints against a BT Sport advert, ruling that the ad must not be shown again. The campaign, which depicted BT Sport presenter Jake Humphries talking over various shots of customers watching the channel on TV, a tablet and a computer, was shown on TV and received [...]
BSkyB launches new footie channel for Europe to block BT June 10, 2014 BSKYB has unveiled its seventh sports channel, dedicated to European football for next season, but the move got a tepid response from investors. Shares in Britain’s biggest pay-TV operator fell 0.8 per cent yesterday and one analyst said the move would “not drive customer growth or upgrades”. Sky Sports 5, which will be free to [...]
Bottom Line: A new front opens in the football wars June 10, 2014 DING ding, seconds out. Another round in the ongoing fight between BT and BSkyB, and this time Sky is the one landing a hard punch. BT shares fell 2.8 per cent on the pay-TV firm’s offer to bundle unlimited broadband free for two years with its new European football channel. The announcement took some shine [...]
London Report: BT falls on Sky’s sports news as FTSE closes flat June 10, 2014 AFTER two days of gains in which the FTSE 100 moved ever closer to its record high, London’s main share index yesterday dipped slightly as warring pay TV broadcasters dragged on the index. The London market closed on 6873.55, down 1.45 points or 0.02 per cent. BT Group fell 2.36 per cent to 396.50, the [...]
BT in talks for $50m investment in Curzon independent film fund June 9, 2014 TELECOMS giant BT is in talks with Curzon World to make a $50m (£30m) investment that would bolster its independent film offering on BT TV. BT is reportedly looking to invest in Curzon’s third film fund to buy exclusive cinema and on-demand rights for independent films, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph. Discussions [...]
The week in brief June 8, 2014 UK E&M market to be worth £64bn by 2018 According to PwC’s latest Global entertainment & media (E&M) outlook report, the UK E&M market is expected to grow by 3.1 per cent from 2013 to 2018 – to a value of £64bn in 2018. In 2013, Britain had the second largest E&M market in Europe, [...]
Broadcasters plough £100m into Freeview June 5, 2014 The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have agreed to plough £100m into a new connected TV service from Freeview in a move that could challenge YouView, as the same broadcasters withdraw their financial support for the platform. Freeview Connect, the new platform, comes as the same free-to-air broadcasters scale back their financial investment in YouView [...]
Brutal simplicity June 1, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud talks to M&C Saatchi worldwide chief executive Moray MacLennan BORN of an unhappy schism at Saatchi & Saatchi (brothers Maurice and Charles were forced out by the board in 1995), M&C Saatchi has since overtaken its near-namesake in the agency pecking order. UK billings were down 7 per cent in 2013 to £188m [...]