BT Sport scores strong result in battle with Sky October 31, 2013 BT DECLARED its £1bn investment in sports a huge success yesterday, as the company stemmed customer losses for the quarter and enticed the majority of new broadband customers to sign up its new service. “BT Sport has made a confident start and is already delivering for viewers,” said chief executive Gavin Patterson. The investment in [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of BT’s second quarter financial results? October 31, 2013 JERRY DELLIS | JEFFERIESUnchanged outlook suggests new chief executive plans an evolutionary approach. Early impact from BT Sport is encouraging. Consumer line loss reduced more sharply than expected, retail broadband net adds nearly double the second quarter last year. ROBIN BIENENSTOCK | BERNSTEINThese are the first set of results presided over by new chief executive [...]
Chancellor considers taxing foreign home owners in bid to curb bubble October 31, 2013 The UK is considering imposing new taxes on foreign property owners in a move to check what many see as an emerging housing bubble in London and the South East, reports Sky News' economics editor, Ed Conway. Chancellor George Osborne is investigating the possibility of enforcing capital gains tax on foreign owners of British properties [...]
Sky and UKTV coming closer together with new distribution deal October 30, 2013 SKY HAS signed a new multi-year deal with UKTV bringing its channels, such as Dave and Good Food, across all of Sky’s services for the first time. “We are delighted to have extended our partnership with UKTV so that we can offer our customers even more great ways to enjoy some of their favourite shows,” [...]
The end of the rental shop October 30, 2013 As Blockbuster goes into administration again, Alex Dymoke looks to the future of online TV and film rentals BLINKBOX WHAT IS IT? Founded in 2006, Blinkbox is now owned by Tesco. It allows you to rent or buy films and TV shows online, which expire after 30 days. WHAT’S ON IT? The latest film and [...]
Owner of AA on hunt for new boss to replace Strong October 30, 2013 The AA is searching for a new boss, calling into question the future of Andrew Strong, its long-serving chief executive officer, reports Sky News' Mark Kleinman. Sky News understands that the owner of the AA, Acromas Holdings, has approached several leading businessmen about the role of chief executive and taking over in the new year. [...]
Sky challenges online TV rivals with £5 bundle October 29, 2013 BSKYB will take on Netflix and Lovefilm with its latest living room offering, with 10 of its top premium channels for a pay-as-you-go monthly fee of just £4.99. This is the first time that Sky has offered access to its premium channels without signing up to a monthly contract and moves the company further into [...]
Lloyds looks to hike PPI redress bill to £8bn October 28, 2013 LLOYDS Banking Group is this morning expected to set aside hundreds of millions of pounds more to cover the costs of its mounting PPI compensation bill. Its total provision could rise as high as £8bn, as much as the other three biggest banks combined. The lender had hoped it had finally reached the final sum in [...]
BT revamps TV offering with a la carte bolt-ons October 28, 2013 BT IS stepping up its efforts to win television subscribers from rivals by giving customers the ability to build their own TV packages. The telecoms giant, which has been going head to head with Sky after launching its own sports channels in August, said yesterday it would offer new entertainment and kids bolt-ons to its [...]
Reaching out to jargon haters October 28, 2013 The management speak that makes us want to drill down into our own heads Is there anybody out there who claims to like office jargon? Straw poll 100 people and every single one will claim to be an ardent devotee of straight-talking. Half the fun of watching The Apprentice (if there is still a drop [...]