Harry and Meghan sign exclusive podcast deal with Spotify December 15, 2020 Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have signed an exclusive podcast partnership with Spotify just months after inking a Netflix deal. Under the multi-year deal the couple will produce the podcasts through their newly-formed production company Archewell Audio, which will produce programming “aimed to uplift and entertain audiences”. They have no previous experience as producers [...]
UK to regulate social media firms such as Facebook and Twitter over content removal December 11, 2020 The UK government will announce plans for a new law next week under which social media companies will have a duty to be impartial and be barred from “arbitrarily” removing comments because they are controversial, according to a report in The Times today. UK ministers will announce plans on Tuesday for a statutory duty of [...]
Sky’s Kay Burley to be off-air for six months following Covid rule breach December 10, 2020 Sky News presenter Kay Burley has agreed to be off-air for the next six months after breaking coronavirus restrictions rules. Last weekend Burley celebrated her 60th birthday with a group of 10 friends the Century Club, a private members’ club on London’s Shaftesbury Avenue. The party sat across two tables, with six at one and [...]
10 of the most popular shows of 2020 December 9, 2020 Following a record-breaking year for streaming services as a result of the pandemic and two national-lockdowns, we take a look at 10 of the most streamed shows of 2020. The Witcher (Netflix) The first season of The Witcher is Netflix’s most successful show of the year, with around 76 million views. The fantasy show is [...]
Normal People and Killing Eve are iPlayer’s biggest successes of the year December 8, 2020 The BBC adaptation of Normal people, Sally Rooney’s romantic novel has been iPlayer’s biggest success of the year so far, closely followed by Killing Eve. Between the 1 January and the end of November there were 62 million views of Normal people on iPlayer. The romantic drama tops a record-breaking year for iPlayer, with the [...]
Screenshot: Can social media win the anti-vax war? December 4, 2020 A weekly column from Morning Wire bringing you all the biggest stories and trends in technology, media and telecoms This week **Media Moment of the Week: A very British scandal **Social media gears up for the vaccine information war **How data dominates financial markets Media Moment of the Week It was quite possibly the most [...]
Pearson taps former British diplomat for new consumer push December 2, 2020 Pearson today said it has hired a former British diplomat as its chief strategy officer as the education group pushes ahead with a new strategy of targeting consumers directly. The FTSE 100 firm said Mike Howells will be tasked with strengthening its relationships with learning institutions. The appointment is the latest move by new boss [...]
Mast giant Arqiva pulls out of Freeview venture amid streaming row December 1, 2020 British mast giant Arqiva is pulling its investment in digital TV platform Freeview in the wake of a row over how to stave off pressure from streaming rivals. The telecoms group said it will step down as a shareholder in Digital UK, the company that controls its joint venture with the BBC, ITV and Channel [...]
Facebook to pay UK news publishers for use of articles December 1, 2020 Facebook will pay UK news publishers to use some of their articles as the tech giant looks to fend off the looming threat of regulation. From January the site will launch a dedicated news section with a selection of articles from top publishing groups. The companies behind the Guardian, the Independent and the Evening Standard [...]
London set for major new music venue after £1.3bn Olympia revamp December 1, 2020 London’s music scene will be given a much-needed boost with the launch of a major new music venue as part of a £1.3bn overhaul of the Olympia exhibition centre. The iconic west London site, which first opened its doors in 1886, has played host to some of the biggest names in pop and rock, including [...]