IAG mulls stake in American to safeguard Oneworld alliance August 5, 2012 BRITISH AIRWAYS owner IAG is considering taking a stake in beleaguered US carrier American Airlines, according to the firm’s chief executive Willie Walsh. Taking a small holding in the firm in order to protect the Oneworld ticketing alliance is “something we are going to look at”, Walsh told the Financial Times. “If we can make [...]
Virgin Atlantic swings to full-year loss August 3, 2012 British airline Virgin Atlantic swung to a full-year loss as higher fuel costs and tough economic conditions took their toll, it said today The carrier, founded by serial entrepreneur Richard Branson, posted a pretax operating loss of £80.2m in the year to the end of February compared to a profit of £18.5m in 2010/11. The [...]
Cameron says Osborne will stay until 2015 August 2, 2012 GEORGE Osborne will remain as chancellor until the next general election in 2015, David Cameron insisted last night. In a bid to quash speculation that Osborne would be moved in his September reshuffle, the Prime Minister insisted that the chancellor had his “full support”. Pressed on whether Osborne would be chancellor at the next election, [...]
Sky dominance not a problem says watchdog August 2, 2012 SKY’S exclusive movie rights do not create a monopoly in the pay-TV market, the government’s media watchdog ruled yesterday, in a major victory for the broadcaster. Despite Sky enjoying special deals with major Hollywood studios, the arrival of online streaming services Netflix and Lovefilm into the market has loosened Sky’s grip, the competition commission declared. [...]
BSkyB cleared on pay-TV movie dominance August 2, 2012 Broadcaster BSkyB’s strong position in movies does not adversely affect Britain’s pay-TV retail market, a competition watchdog said this morning, pointing to increased choice with the arrival of new entrants Lovefilm and Netflix. “Sky Movies, which currently offers the first pay movies of all the big Hollywood studios, is not a sufficient driver of subscribers’ [...]
Hotmail to hit the trash as Microsoft rebrands its email August 2, 2012 Hotmail has become something of a bad joke among the tech community, lacking the polish or technological nous of rivals like Google’s Gmail. Now, as Microsoft prepares for its biggest product overhaul since Windows 95, it is ditching the name in favour of “Outlook.com” and revamping the interface to tie in with its new Windows [...]
LOVEFILM ADDS MIRAMAX FILMS TO CATALOGUE July 31, 2012 Lovefilm has announced a tie-up with studio Miramax to bring a roster of titles including Kill Bill (pictured), Pulp Fiction and Bridget Jones’s Diary to its on-demand film streaming service. The Amazon-owned business needs to expand its online catalogue in the wake of Sky’s move into online movie streaming with the launch of its Now [...]
Summer in grand style at Stockholm’s stateliest hotel July 29, 2012 SWEDEN has a wintry reputation: reindeer and igloos; massive cable knit sweaters with dorky prints and, of course, a depressing lack of daylight. But winter’s flipside is, in my view, the more compelling reason to visit. A 2AM sunrise, green fields and summer houses and lakes, sailing, country pursuits of all types, rolling in the [...]
Broadband and phone deals lift BSkyB earnings July 26, 2012 BSKYB posted record profits yesterday, as the broadcaster revealed plans to spend £500m on buying back shares. The pay-TV company added just 300,000 extra customers in the past year, but boosted income by signing up existing subscribers to its broadband and telephone deals. Sky also announced it was launching a £30m campaign to promote Now [...]
TalkTalk battles Sky with pay-TV service July 26, 2012 BUDGET broadband provider TalkTalk bid to take on Sky, Virgin Media and BT yesterday as it unveiled plans to launch a pay-TV service in tandem with the newly released YouView set-top box. The company also appointed Sony chairman Sir Howard Stringer to its board as it said it lost 19,000 customers in the quarter to [...]