Peppa Pig owner Entertainment One deepens losses days before £3.3bn Hasbro merger vote October 11, 2019 Peppa Pig owner Entertainment One has revealed a £43.9m loss in the first quarter of the year, just days before Hasbro puts a massive takeover offer to a shareholder vote. The media firm posted a £43.9m loss, up from a £6.8m loss this time last year, blaming higher debt and its acquisition of Audio Network. [...]
Government must reach funding deal with BBC over free TV licences, say MPs October 11, 2019 MPs have urged the government and the BBC to reach a funding arrangement to restore free TV licences for people aged over 75. In a damning report the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee slammed the government of 2015 for trying to “bounce” the BBC into accepting measures that left it liable to [...]
Dialling down: A quarter of mobile phone users make fewer than five calls a month October 10, 2019 A quarter of mobile phone users in the UK make fewer than five calls per month, while six per cent made no calls at all, new figures have revealed. Moreover, around 60 per cent of those people who did pick up the phone ended the call in under 90 seconds. Read more: Mobile shopping platform [...]
Nobel prize for literature awarded to Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke October 10, 2019 Polish author Olga Tokarczuk and Austrian writer Peter Handke have both been awarded the Nobel prize for literature. Tokarczuk, who was lauded for her “narrative imagination” and “encyclopedic passion”, was handed the prestigious award for 2018. Read more: Nationwide scoops £50m prize for small business lending Handke scooped up the prize for this year and [...]
Why piracy means the sports broadcasting rights bubble is ‘about to burst’ October 8, 2019 The value of sports broadcast rights is on the verge of collapse due to rampant piracy, the head of the world’s largest investor in managed rights has warned. Yousef Al-Obaidly, chief executive of Qatari media network beIN, said the “glorious media rights bubble” was set to burst due to the large-scale piracy of sports competitions [...]
BBC tried to block Ofcom probe into Naga Munchetty impartiality row October 7, 2019 Ofcom has slammed the BBC’s “lack of transparency” after the broadcaster attempted to block the regulator’s investigation into an impartiality row. BBC director general Tony Hall last week reversed the corporation’s decision to partially uphold a complaint into Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty over her comments about US President Donald Trump. Read more: BBC plots iPlayer [...]
How BBC plans to overhaul iPlayer for the Netflix age October 7, 2019 The BBC is gearing up to overhaul its on-demand iPlayer service as it braces for an onset of newcomers in the crowded streaming market. The corporation is planning to reposition the iPlayer as the main access point for its services amid a decline in traditional TV viewing among younger audiences. Read more: Ofcom gives green [...]
Magazine publisher TI Media narrows loss as digital shift helps cut costs October 6, 2019 The publishing group behind Country Life and Horse & Hound has slashed its loss for the full year, as cost-cutting moves helped offset a decline in revenue. TI Media posted a pre-tax loss of £3.2m in the year to 31 December 2018, compared to £13.7m in the previous 12 months. Read more: Marie Claire ends [...]
Netflix gets €57,000 tax rebate in the UK as binge-watching boosts profit October 3, 2019 Netflix has received a €57,000 (£51,000) tax rebate from the UK government last year, even as the success of hit shows such as The Crown and Stranger Things drove a rise in profit. The tax credit, granted as an incentive to produce films and TV shows in the UK, follows a rebate of €199,000 in [...]
Public relations firm Kekst CNC appoints Robbie Gibb as adviser October 2, 2019 Public relations firm Kekst CNC has appointed Sir Robbie Gibb, the former communications director to Theresa May, as a senior adviser. Gibb has been tapped to advise the Kekst CNC’s board and management teams both in the US and internationally. The former Downing Street spin doctor previously worked as head of BBC Westminster, overseeing the [...]
