Record digital sales of The Greatest Showman boost UK home entertainment market January 3, 2019 Hit movie The Greatest Showman helped the UK home entertainment market grow by 10 per cent in 2018, new figures have revealed. The popular musical, which stars Hugh Jackman as the head of a circus troupe, was the best-selling film of the year, with more than 2.7m copies sold. A majority of the film's sales [...]
Ex-Virgin Money boss among two women replacing men on Bank of England’s financial policy committee January 3, 2019 Former boss of Virgin Money Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia has been added to the Bank of England’s financial policy committee alongside the chair of the Banking Standards Board Dame Colette Bowe, chancellor Philip Hammond announced today. The pair will replace Richard Sharp and Martin Taylor, who are stepping down at the end of the first quarter [...]
Russian regulator retaliates against Ofcom with legal checks on BBC December 21, 2018 Russia's media regulator has said it will carry out checks on the BBC following an announcment from Ofcom that it was considering imposing sanctions on Russian state-financed media service RT. The Russian regulator, Roskomnadzor, released a statement on Friday saying it would check whether the BBC's World Service and internet sites complied with Russian law. “The results of our check [...]
RT broke broadcasting rules on impartiality, says Ofcom December 20, 2018 Kremlin-funded broadcaster RT broke impartiality in news programmes after the Salisbury novichok poisoning in March, Ofcom said today. The media regulator said RT, formerly known as Russia Today, failed to preserve due impartiality in seven news and current affairs programmes over a six-week period. “Taken together, the seven breaches represent a serious failure of compliance with [...]
UK watchdog calls for new powers on tackling £4bn ‘loyalty penalty’ after super-complaint December 19, 2018 The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has said it will seek new powers to fight the so-called loyalty penalty faced by consumers across multiple industries, including insurance, mobile phones, broadband, savings accounts and mortgages. The challenge comes off the back of a super-complaint made by consumer body Citizens Advice in September, a practice designed to end [...]
Ofcom unveils new rules on spectrum auction amid mobile blackspot crackdown December 18, 2018 Ofcom today unveiled new rules to make operators improve mobile coverage as it vows to crack down on blackspots in rural areas. While 66 per cent of the UK has good 4G coverage, too many rural areas are left with “patchy or unreliable” mobile reception, Ofcom’s Connected Nations report found. Ofcom said complete 4G coverage in [...]
Half of homes could boost their broadband Ofcom says December 14, 2018 Half of British homes could switch to a faster broadband service, Ofcom said today as it plans new rules to encourage people to get the best deal. The media regulator’s research showed that 94 per cent of UK homes and offices can now get superfast broadband but less than half have taken it up. It also [...]
Broadband speeds fall below minimum requirement in quarter of UK homes, report finds December 12, 2018 More than a quarter of households in the UK suffer from insufficient broadband speeds, a new report has revealed. Over 26 per cent of homes receive broadband speeds of less than 10Mbps, which regulator Ofcom says is the minimum to meet the needs of most households. In addition, just over 13 per cent of homes [...]
Plenty for Just Eat to chew on as it falls out of FTSE 100 to be replaced by engineering firm Spirax-Sarco December 6, 2018 Just Eat shares were down five per cent this morning as the company took stock from being demoted from the FTSE 100 yesterday. The food delivery company, which has come under siege in recent years from competitors Deliveroo and Uber Eats, dropped out of the top tier index as FTSE Russell announced the winners and [...]
Royal Mail, Kier Group and Thomas Cook set to lose out in tomorrow’s FTSE reshuffle, as insurer Hiscox looks set to join the big league December 4, 2018 Royal Mail will need a miracle to avoid relegation from the FTSE 100 Index tomorrow, as insurer Hiscox looks ready to step into its place as a blue chip firm. The winners and losers of the last FTSE reshuffle of the year are to be announced tomorrow afternoon, with Thomas Cook, Kier Group and the [...]