The Only Way Is Essex star Lewis Bloor accused of conning 200 people in £3m diamond scam September 21, 2021 A cast member of the popular TV show The Only Way Is Essex allegedly used a fake name to con hundreds of people in a £3m diamond scam, a London court was told today. Lewis Bloor 31, who joined the cast of the ITV2 reality show for three years from 2013, allegedly posed as “Thomas [...]
Universal Music IPO shares surge as Lucian Grainge spies £105m payday September 21, 2021 Universal Music, which landed on the Amsterdam stock exchange today, had shares surge by more than a third in its first few minutes. The well-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) could secure the world’s largest music label group a valuation close to $46bn. Shares were initially listed for €18.50 each but have since jumped to around [...]
Twitter to stump up £592m to settle claims it misled investors about user base growth September 21, 2021 Social media giant Twitter said early this morning UK time it has agreed to pay $809.5m, about £592m, to settle a consolidated class action lawsuit alleging that the company misled investors about how much its user base was growing and how much users interacted with its platform. The San Francisco-based company said the proposed settlement, [...]
M&C Saatchi revenues of £118m mark ‘key turning point’ September 21, 2021 M&C Saatchi Plc has reported net revenue of £118m for its half-year results, up by 14 per cent compared to the same period last year, as profits at the advertising giant have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. The results were also ahead of the London-listed firm’s initial expectations. The Group said its “strong financial governance” had [...]
Video games company Keywords Studio appoints new CEO September 20, 2021 The video games company has named Bertrand Bodson as its new chief executive officer, after Andrew Day forwarded his retirement plans. Bodson, who will be appointed as CEO in December, is currently the chief digital officer at healthcare provider Novartis. Prior to joining Novartis in 2018, Bodson acted as the chief marketing officer at Sainsbury’s [...]
BBC failed to properly search for Babes in the Wood victim’s clothes taken by Martin Bashir September 19, 2021 The BBC failed to conduct a proper search for a murdered schoolgirl’s clothes which were taken by journalist Martin Bashir and never returned, a Mail on Sunday investigation has claimed. Michelle Hadaway says Bashir obtained the clothes for DNA testing for BBC Two’s Public Eye programme 30 years ago, but the investigation did not air [...]
Andrew Neil was in a ‘minority of one’ about future of beleaguered GB News channel September 17, 2021 Differences over the direction in which channel GB News was heading prompted Andrew Neil to step down as chairman. The journalist and broadcaster, 72, appeared on BBC’s Question Time days after announcing his departure from the fledgling channel in a tweet where he said it was “time to reduce my commitments on a number of [...]
Piers Morgan set to join new Murdoch-backed TV channel September 16, 2021 Piers Morgan will join News Corp and Fox News Media for the launch of its new channel early next year after signing a global deal, according to reports. The new channel, touted as a “global TV show”, will air in the UK, the US and Australia on weeknights and cover a wide range of genres, [...]
New ‘Britishness’ requirements for public service broadcasters set out by Govt September 16, 2021 Plans to protect “distinctively British” shows and broadcasters have been set out by the Media Minister today at the Royal Television Society Convention. Media Minister John Whittingdale announced the new rules for public service broadcasters (PSBs) to make “iconic, not generic” British shows in a bid to help them compete with US streaming giants. The [...]
Dowden defends Channel 4 privatisation push as ‘needed’ to fend off streaming giants September 15, 2021 UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden has restated his view that changing Channel 4’s ownership is the best path for the channel, in the latest sign that the government intends to push forward with plans to privatise the state-owned broadcaster. Speaking publicly for the first time since the government launched a consultation on the future of [...]