Peppa Pig gets Lionesses call-up as Football Association scores licensing deal with Hasbro Sport Business Peppa Pig maker Hasbro has struck a licensing deal with the Football Association that will see a new character, Libby Lioness, join the hit children’s animated TV show. The agreement also covers the creation of co-branded merchandise and will launch next year, ahead of the European champions’ campaign at the 2027 Women’s World Cup in [...]
BBC should be aggregator of best free sports content – or risk sinking for good Sport Business YouTube serves up live sport galore so why can’t the BBC do the same, with a more selective approach that fulfils its public service remit, asks Ed Warner. I’ve no problem with paying £180 for my annual TV licence. Gets me Celebrity Traitors and Blue Lights, after all. Plus the Shipping Forecast to wake up [...]
Gary Neville ups ante in media battle with Gary Lineker with launch of Overlap Daily Sport Business Gary Neville is increasing the frequency of The Overlap’s football talk shows to daily in the latest move in his battle for eyeballs with fellow player-turned-media mogul Gary Lineker. The Overlap Daily will launch on Friday and run every weekday thereafter, with a line-up that includes former players Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp [...]
The BBC’s bulletin cuts show how crowded sports broadcasting has become October 4, 2026 The BBC’s decision to drop lunchtime and overnight sports bulletins from its news channel has rightly had a few journalists loosening their collars. Savings must be found, but will people miss the content? It really reflects how crowded the race for sports audiences has become. Broadcasters used to be the thoroughbreds, with competitors left in [...]
‘The world of Cat TV is more cut throat than you would ever imagine’ – inside the strange business of TV… for cats October 1, 2026 On the internet, no one knows you’re a cat. But The Algorithm almost certainly knows if you’re a cat owner, and it will increasingly serve you content aimed at keeping your housebound feline entertained. Welcome to the YouTube phenomenon of Cat TV, a peculiar niche of video streaming whose primary audience (one has to assume) [...]
Pollock joins Haaland on YouTube after bumper new Saints deal September 22, 2026 Henry Pollock is following the Erling Haaland blueprint for stardom by joining YouTube having signed a bumper new contract at Northampton Saints. The 21-year-old flanker joined Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Talent Agency earlier this year and has been at the centre of a contract war with his club after the boxing promoter said his recent recruit [...]
Jamie Vardy bags Bundesliga rights as he steps up streaming war with Neville and Lineker August 28, 2026 Former England striker Jamie Vardy is stepping up his efforts to build a media empire to rival Gary Neville and Gary Lineker by acquiring the rights to show live Bundesliga games on his YouTube channel. Jamie Vardy’s Having A Party will stream seven Friday night games from the German top division, beginning tonight when Harry [...]
Cristiano Ronaldo on Mars: Where will sport take us in the next five years? July 30, 2026 Tech disruption, athlete power and new formats: sport has changed dramatically since Ed Warner started writing weekly about the industry in 2021. This column – based on my weekly newsletter, Sport Inc. – has just reached its fifth anniversary. The book of the same name is three years older. In this short span of time, [...]
‘Scale is survival’: UK broadcasters race to merge as streaming giants squeeze revenues July 29, 2026 British broadcasters are turning to mergers as television revenues come under pressure from streaming services, YouTube and online ads, according to Ofcom. The media regulator’s annual Media Nations report found commercial broadcaster revenues fell from £4.98bn to £4.83bn in 2025, despite the wider TV and online video market growing seven per cent to £18.4bn. Growth [...]
Ferdinand, Crouch, Foster: How footballers have built media empires for the future July 3, 2026 Footballers need to retire eventually. Calum Hopkins takes a look at how they can do it in a changing media landscape. With the World Cup knockouts well underway, it is time to consider whether the people sitting in the studio continue to have the power. We are seeing a massive shift in football; the audience [...]