Channel 4 advertising bounces back amid privatisation threat October 29, 2020 Channel 4 today said its advertising revenue had rebounded strongly from a coronavirus-induced slump as it shrugged off renewed threats of privatisation. Earlier this month media minister John Whittingdale hinted that the government was mulling a sale of Channel 4, adding that its business model was under strain and may not be sustainable. But the [...]
BBC bans ‘virtue signalling’ as it cracks down on stars’ social media use October 29, 2020 The BBC has banned presenters from “virtue signalling” on social media as part of tough new rules on how its top talent maintains impartiality online. As part of a sweeping overhaul unveiled today, BBC stars have been told not to express personal opinions on public policy, politics or controversial subjects. The overhaul marks a major [...]
Meghan Markle wins court bid to delay Mail on Sunday privacy trial October 29, 2020 Meghan Markle has won her bid to have her privacy case against the Mail on Sunday pushed back until next autumn after citing confidential reasons. The Duchess of Sussex is suing parent company Associated Newspapers over articles in the Mail on Sunday that published parts of a letter she sent to her father in 2018. [...]
WPP client wins help revenue decline slow October 29, 2020 Ad giant WPP reported another fall in sales in the third quarter but the pace of decline slowed from the previous quarter. The British owner of the Ogilvy, Grey and GroupM agencies said its like-for-like sales had dropped by 5.5 per cent to £2.97bn, compared with a 11.5 per cent drop in the previous quarter. [...]
Music scouting platform Instrumental secures Tencent backing October 27, 2020 A British music scouting firm that uses algorithms to discover new artists is said to have secured fresh investment from Chinese tech giant Tencent. Instrumental is set to announce the strategic partnership, which will see Tencent take a minority stake in the company, as early as tomorrow, Sky News reported. The deal will come as [...]
Bloomsbury profit surges on lockdown reading boom October 27, 2020 Bloomsbury has reported its highest first-half profit in 12 years after the coronavirus lockdown sparked a steep rise in online book sales. The publishing house said pre-tax profit excluding the cost of acquisitions jumped 60 per cent to £4m in the six months to the end of August. This was ahead of the board’s expectations [...]
No Time To Die: James Bond studio hits back at reports of streaming release October 26, 2020 The Hollywood studio behind the James Bond film franchise has hit back at reports it is mulling a streaming launch for No Time To Die due to multiple delays to its release date. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) is said to have held discussions with Netflix, Amazon and Apple about a potential on-demand release for the 25th instalment [...]
Google has until 19 December to respond to antitrust lawsuit October 23, 2020 Google has until 19 December to respond to a major antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice earlier this week. A court filing today revealed the date by which the tech giant would have to answer the case that officials have brought. The lawsuit accuses the $1 trillion company of breaking the law [...]
Screenshot: Will the UK’s live music industry ever recover? October 23, 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: Sky History gets tattoo regret ** Can the live music sector survive this crisis? ** The tide turns against Google Media Moment of the Week This week we [...]
Exclusive: Portland financial PR chief Steffan Williams steps down October 22, 2020 The head of Portland Communications’ financial practice is stepping down to start his own venture after two years at the public relations giant. Steffan Williams was hired in 2018 to establish Portland’s new financial comms division, which now boasts a number of high-profile clients, including Astra, Robert Walters and Ince Group. But Morning Wire has [...]