BBC agrees to Boris Johnson interview with Andrew Marr after terror attack November 30, 2019 Boris Johnson will be interviewed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show tomorrow, despite the Prime Minister’s failure to set a date to be grilled by Andrew Neil. The broadcaster had initially banned Johnson from appearing on the Sunday morning show until he agreed to a 30-minute primetime interview with Neil, as the other party leaders [...]
Better together: How media firms are teaming up to take on tech November 30, 2019 The media industry is in flux and embattled publishers and broadcasters are banding together. But will it be enough to fend off the might of big tech? In Succession, the hit HBO show about a crumbling media dynasty, virtually every conversation is a power struggle. But for ageing patriarch Logan Roy, a thinly-veiled Rupert Murdoch, [...]
John McDonnell says Boris Johnson is ‘playing’ the BBC November 29, 2019 Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has accused Boris Johnson of “playing” the BBC over his appearance on Andrew Neil’s programme. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was interviewed by Andrew Neil earlier this week but the BBC has said it and the Prime Minister’s team have so far failed to agree a date for a similar sit down. [...]
Channel 4 replaces Boris Johnson with ice sculpture in climate debate November 29, 2019 The Conservatives have become engulfed in a standoff with Channel 4 after the broadcaster “empty chaired” Prime Minister Boris Johnson during its climate debate last night. The Tory party has written to Ofcom to complain that Channel 4’s decision to replace Johnson with an ice sculpture was a “provocative partisan stunt”. Read more: Boris Johnson [...]
Top Sky exec calls for regulatory overhaul as he takes swipe at ‘anachronistic’ ITV November 26, 2019 A senior Sky executive has called for a radical overhaul of broadcast regulation to adapt to the streaming age as he took a swipe at ITV’s “anachronistic” business model. David Wheeldon, Sky’s group director of policy and public affairs, said regulator Ofcom’s approach was “not particularly radical” and would not help public service broadcasters fulfil [...]
BBC chairman hits back at suggestions of Netflix-style subscription model November 20, 2019 Replacing the BBC’s licence fee with a Netflix-style subscription model would destroy its ability to serve everyone, the corporation’s chairman has said. Sir David Clementi urged advocates of a subscription service to be “realistic” and recognise that the broadcaster’s “principle of universality would be lost”. Read more: BBC signs on-demand deal with Sky as it [...]
Labour hasn’t factored BT’s pensions black hole into its nationalisation plan November 16, 2019 Here’s a riddle: how do you spend several billion pounds of taxpayers’ money and get nothing but a bunch of smiling accountants in return? The answer: tear Openreach out of BT, as Ofcom attempted a few years ago and Labour now proposes as part of its plan to nationalise the provision of ultrafast broadband. Read [...]
Four reasons to fear Labour’s plan to part-nationalise BT November 15, 2019 British businesses today poured scorn on Labour’s plans to provide Brits with free broadband and part-nationalise BT, slamming the policy as a major setback for the UK’s digital economy. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has set out plans to nationalise BT’s full-fibre arm, Openreach, along with other divisions, funding it by taxing multinational tech giants. Read [...]
General Election 2019: Tory candidate throws in the towel after backlash from ‘unacceptable’ rape comments November 7, 2019 A Conservative election candidate who said that women should “keep their knickers on” during a conversation about rape has stood down from the contest. Nick Conrad, a BBC Radio Norfolk host, made a series of comments during a live debate about footballer Ched Evans, who was convicted of rape five years ago, before the sentence [...]
BritBox launches in the UK – but can it challenge Netflix? November 7, 2019 BritBox, the new streaming service from the BBC and ITV, has launched in the UK this morning as broadcasters attempt to muscle in on the lucrative online television market. The platform, which announced this morning that it would also feature content from Channel 4 and Channel 5, is entering a crowded market, with market leaders [...]