Ofcom victory for Piers Morgan as Good Morning Britain is cleared over Meghan comments September 1, 2021 ITV’s early-morning show Good Morning Britain was not in breach of the broadcasting code over Piers Morgan’s controversial comments about the Duchess of Sussex, which sparked more than 50,000 complaints, watchdog Ofcom has said. The regulator said Morgan’s comments were “potentially harmful and offensive” but said it also “took full account of freedom of expression”. [...]
Ofcom slaps Chinese state-owned CGTN broadcaster with £200k fine August 26, 2021 Media watchdog Ofcom has fined a Chinese state-owned broadcaster £200,000 for failing to comply with broadcasting rules. The regulator said it had imposed the fine on Star China Media Limited, the licence holder for the China Global Television Network (CGTN), for breaches of its rules around fairness and privacy. CGTN, an international, English-language satellite news [...]
Channel 4 launches real-time digital ad bidding amid privatisation threat August 23, 2021 Channel 4 is rolling out technology that will allow advertisers to bid for ad space on its streaming service in real time as the state-owned broadcaster battles the threat of privatisation. The Gogglebox broadcaster has launched a new platform that enables ad space to be auctioned in milliseconds across All 4’s 14,500 hours of programming. [...]
Channel 4 bring in ex-Ofcom chief in bid to fight privatisation August 15, 2021 Channel 4 has brought in the former head of media watchdog Ofcom to help try and fight off the network’s planned privatisation. Flint Global, a firm founded by former Ofcom boss Ed Richards, has been drafted in by the network as it tries to avoid being sold in private hands. The Sunday Telegraph also reports [...]
London-listed Seraphim injects $6.5bn into space tech in just six months – CityAM : CityAM August 12, 2021 Seraphim has injected $6.5bn into space tech in the past six months, 85 per cent of what it invested in the whole of last year. The total half-year figure spans 172 transactions, dwarfing the 221 the space investor secured in 2020’s full-year. The space tech sector experienced a record-breaking quarter in terms of financing in [...]
BT poaches Asos chairman Adam Crozier August 8, 2021 BT has poached the chairman of online fashion giant Asos in a bid to boost the telecoms company’s standing during a crucial period. Adam Crozier is expected to resign from Asos to take up the chairmanship of BT, but is set to remain in similar roles for data analytics firm Kantar and Premier Inn owner [...]
Inmarsat takes on Elon Musk and Oneweb with satellite network launch July 29, 2021 British satellite giant Inmarsat is launching a new network of satellites to offer global broadband and 5G services, joining an escalating space race alongside rivals Elon Musk and Oneweb. The project, dubbed Orchestra, will bring together the company’s existing geosynchronous satellites (Geo) with low-earth orbit satellites (Leo) and land-based 5G services to create a single [...]
MPs and peers launch ‘super committee’ to scrutinise online harms laws July 29, 2021 A joint committee of MPs and lords has been launched today to scrutinise controversial government plans to tackle online harms. The new super committee will be tasked with seeking views on the online safety bill, which was published in draft form in May. The bill is designed to hold tech giants such as Facebook and [...]
eBay bolsters logistics options for sellers as platform surges with SMEs July 26, 2021 eBay UK has bolstered protections and logistics for its sellers after seeing a 237 per cent surge in new businesses joining the online marketplace giant amid the pandemic. The pandemic pushed many employees into furlough, unemployment and a general revaluation of working life and with many looking for extra income, side-hustles on online platforms took [...]
Ofcom targets Musk’s SpaceX and Oneweb with satellite rule revamp July 26, 2021 Ofcom has outlined proposals for tighter rules on the satellite broadband sector in a move that would impact Elon Musk’s SpaceX and British rival Oneweb. Space X and Oneweb are racing to launch constellations of low-orbit satellites that will provide high-speed broadband services to remote rural locations worldwide. While the systems can bring faster speeds [...]