UK newspapers to lose £50m as advertisers ‘blacklist’ coronavirus April 1, 2020 UK newspapers are set to lose as much as £50m in online advertising revenue as brands use so-called blacklists to prevent their ads appearing next to stories about coronavirus. Advertisers use blacklists to automatically block their digital campaigns from running next to any articles that feature undesirable keywords — such as ‘bomb’ or ‘crash’ — [...]
Music rights firm One Media boosts profit after acquisition spree March 31, 2020 Music rights company One Media today posted a sharp rise in revenue and profit for the full year after snapping up a string of new catalogues. The Aim-listed firm reported revenue of £3.5m in the year to the end of October, up 30 per cent on 2018. Pre-tax profit rose 11 per cent to £547,222. [...]
Licence fee could be linked to broadband bills, says BBC March 31, 2020 The licence fee could be replaced by a levy linked to existing household bills such as broadband, the BBC said today as it hit back at the government’s consultation into decriminalising non-payment of the TV charge. While the corporation insisted the existing model was the fairest, it said it was willing to explore a household [...]
Houseparty offers $1m reward amid claims of smear campaign March 31, 2020 Video chat app Houseparty today said it was offering a $1m (£809,000) reward for any evidence the company had been targeted by a commercial smear campaign. The online rumour mill has gone into overdrive in recent days, with social media users alleging that their email, Spotify and Netflix accounts had been hacked after downloading Houseparty. [...]
Advertising recession ‘highly probable’ as coronavirus hits key media owners March 30, 2020 An advertising recession in the first half of 2020 is now highly probable as brands slash spending due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a new report. Industry body Warc today warned that the advertising industry was all but certain to follow the wider global economy and fall into a recession sparked by the pandemic. [...]
Sharing fake news about coronavirus should be an offence, says top Tory MP March 30, 2020 Sharing fake news related to the coronavirus outbreak on social media should be an offence, a top Tory MP said today. Damian Collins, former chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee, called for sanctions against organisations and individuals that were “maliciously, deliberately, and at scale pushing disinformation through social media networks”. [...]
UK Music appoints former Labour MP Tom Watson as chair March 30, 2020 UK Music today said it has appointed former Labour party deputy leader Tom Watson as its new chairman. Watson, who also served as shadow culture secretary during his two-decade stint in parliament, said his priority would be to secure support for the music industry during the coronavirus crisis and help steer the sector back to [...]
Facebook unveils $100m support package for news industry March 30, 2020 Facebook today said it will invest $100m (£80.6m) to support the news industry as the coronavirus crisis decimates advertising revenue. The social media firm said $25m will be given as emergency grant funding for local news through the Facebook Journalism Project, while $75m will be granted as additional marketing spend for news organisations around the [...]
Hipgnosis secures music catalogue of Bon Jovi songwriter March 30, 2020 Music royalties investment firm Hipgnosis today said it has bagged the rights to the complete catalogue of Bon Jovi lead guitarist and songwriter Richie Sambora. The London-listed company said it has acquired all 186 songs inked by Sambora, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 alongside Jon Bon Jovi. [...]
Huawei partners with Discover Film to embed streaming service on devices March 27, 2020 Huawei has signed a deal with Discover Film to embed the streaming service’s app in 100m mobile devices worldwide. The tie-up means the streaming platform will be pre-loaded onto Huawei Video alongside a selection of other video providers such as the BBC and Rakuten TV. Discover Film, which describes itself as the “Netflix for short [...]