MPs urge Johnson to ditch Huawei deal March 4, 2020 MPs will today urge the government to drop Huawei’s involvement with the UK’s 5G network, amid growing concerns surrounding the Chinese firm. A cross-party group of around 40 MPs will today call on the Prime Minister to pedal back on his controversial decision to grant the Chinese state-subsidised firm permission to supply equipment to more [...]
Premier League broadcasting: What does Amazon’s initial success with Prime Video mean for the market? March 3, 2020 Amazon broadcast its first live football matches in December, showing 20 Premier League games to subscribers on its Prime Video platform. The decision to make a first foray into the sector was a brave, albeit relatively small, one for the US retail giant. Now that the dust has settled, it looks increasingly like an intelligent [...]
Sky confirms Disney Plus deal as it ramps up streaming war chest March 3, 2020 Sky today confirmed it has signed a multi-year deal with Disney Plus to make the nascent streaming service available to its pay-TV customers. The deal means Disney Plus will be fully-integrated on Sky Q, while Now TV subscribers will be able to access the service in the coming months. Disney Plus, which launches in the [...]
Streaming firm Dazn looks to shake up sports market with UK launch March 2, 2020 Streaming platform Dazn is set to expand to more than 200 countries, including the UK, as it looks to break the stranglehold of traditional broadcasters over sports rights. London-based Dazn, dubbed the “Netflix of sports”, currently operates in nine countries but has yet to break into the UK market, which is dominated by Sky and [...]
Nokia replaces chief executive as 5G strategy fails to win over investors March 2, 2020 Nokia today announced plans to replace its chief executive as the Finnish telecoms firm battles escalating 5G costs and fierce competition from rivals. Rajeev Suri will step down as president and chief executive after more than a decade in the role, and will be replaced by Pekka Lundmark. Lundmark, who currently leads Finnish energy company [...]
Hungary for UK growth March 2, 2020 Last Friday, after four years, I stepped down as the ambassador of Hungary to the Court of St. James’s. I arrived just days before the Brexit referendum — a referendum that, of course, shaped almost everything I did in the role here. It became apparent that the two priorities for me would be the representation [...]
Sky closes in on bumper £300m Six Nations broadcasting deal March 1, 2020 Sky is said to be closing in on a £300m deal for the broadcast rights to the Six Nations in a controversial move that could wipe the rugby tournament from terrestrial TV. The tender process for the new broadcasting contract is set to close when this year’s tournament wraps up on 14 March, with Sky [...]
Goldman-backed Neyber set to be rescued by rival Salary Finance March 1, 2020 The Goldman-Sachs backed lender Neyber will reportedly sell its assets to rival Salary Finance. Neyber is expected to appoint administrators this week, according to Sky News reports. The consumer finance provider will offload its assets including its blue-chip customer contracts to Salary Finance. Sky News sources said the deal was almost certain to happen in [...]
Salesforce promotes former BT chief in management shake-up February 26, 2020 Salesforce has promoted former BT chief executive Gavin Patterson to a top role as part of a wider shake-up of its management team. Patterson, who joined the business software firm in September last year, will now serve as president and chief executive of Salesforce International. He will be based in Salesforce’s UK headquarters in the [...]
Outsourcing giants to discuss contracts reform with Whitehall officials February 24, 2020 The country’s biggest outsourcers will hold Whitehall talks with top civil servants to discuss changes to the public sector’s procurement process. Twenty chief executives – from companies such as BT Group, Capita and G4S – will meet with civil service chief executive John Manzoni tomorrow. City sources told Sky News the meeting will address “new [...]