Mirror publisher reports 14 per cent slump in revenue as print sales plummet November 27, 2020 Daily Mirror publisher Reach has reported a 14 per cent in revenue for the five months to November, after lockdowns across the UK hammered print sales. Reach, which owns 240 regional news titles, booked a 19.6 per cent decline in print revenue for the period. The group is now consulting on proposals to permanently close [...]
Disney increases layoffs to 32,000 as pandemic hits theme parks November 26, 2020 Disney has increased the number of workers it plans to lay off to roughly 32,000 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to batter its theme park business. The US media giant plans to make the job cuts — which equate to roughly 15 per cent of its total workforce — in the first half of 2021, [...]
Chernobyl effect drives British TV exports to record high November 26, 2020 The value of UK TV exports hit a record high last year as blockbuster dramas such as Chernobyl sparked a boom in international demand. Hit TV shows generated £1.48bn in the year to March, a six per cent increase year on year, according to figures from industry body Pact. Scripted drama was the key driver [...]
Johnny Depp blocked from appealing Sun libel case and must pay paper £630,000 November 26, 2020 Johnny Depp has been blocked from appealing against a High Court ruling which deemed that he had assaulted his ex-wife Amber Heard. The Hollywood A-lister will also be forced to pay the Sun nearly £630,000 in legal costs for his failed libel action against the paper. The film star brought the case against the paper [...]
Fake news: How to fight the Covid infodemic November 26, 2020 With tensions on the rise towards the latest vaccine developments and the winter months looming large, remaining vigilant of fake news in relation to the virus is critical. As the country toils with life under lockdown for the second time this year, we are once again confined to spending more time indoors, looking at our [...]
Bertelsmann snaps up Simon & Schuster in $2.2bn deal November 25, 2020 The German media group behind Penguin Random House has acquired US publisher Simon & Schuster for $2.2bn (£1.6bn). Bertelsmann today confirmed it had secured the deal with owner Viacom CBS following a closely-fought bidding war. The takeover cements Bertelsmann’s position as the world’s largest book publisher, and strengthens its footprint in the US — its [...]
Selling like hot cakes: Bake Off final smashes Channel 4 ratings record November 25, 2020 Channel 4 last night smashed its ratings records after millions of Brits tuned in to the final of The Great British Bake Off. The final baked up a storm with a record-breaking average audience of 9.2m viewers, taking an almost 40 per cent slice of the audience pie. Viewing numbers for the baking bonanza peaked [...]
Sky beefs up content slate with Entertainment One film deal November 25, 2020 Sky today said it has inked a multi-million-pound film deal with Entertainment One as it looks to ramp up its content offering for the escalating streaming wars. The long-term deal covers almost 200 movies from eOne’s library, including the Twilight franchise and Dallas Buyers Club, which will now be available to Sky Cinema customers at [...]
Magazine publisher Future to buy Go Compare in £600m deal November 25, 2020 Publishing firm Future has agreed to buy Go Compare in a deal that values the price comparison website at almost £600m. The media group, which owns titles including Country Life, Four Four Two and Tech Radar, said the tie-up would allow it to tap into “growing consumer demand for informed and value driven purchasing decisions”. [...]
Labour’s bid to ban anti-vax content from the internet is well-meaning — but misguided November 24, 2020 How to combat anti-vaxxers spreading misinformation online and hampering the government’s efforts for UK-wide immunisation? The answer, according to the Labour party, is for an emergency law to be brought in introducing financial and criminal penalties for social media platforms who repeatedly fail to remove anti-vaccination content. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth suggested the law [...]
