Pearson profit falters as US courseware business drags it down February 21, 2020 Education publisher Pearson posted underlying profit at the top end of a reduced guidance range for 2019 today, and warned its ongoing transition to digital will drag profits even lower in 2020. Pearson’s share price sank 4.4 per cent to 558.2p as traders digested the figures. The figures Operating profit halved to £275m in 2019, [...]
London media hub Outernet signs video production deal with Ridley Scott February 20, 2020 London entertainment hub Outernet Global today said it has inked a deal with veteran filmmaker Ridley Scott to launch a new development and production platform for branded content. Outernet, which is due to open in December, has teamed up with the Ridley Scott Creative Group to provide early-stage funding for visual content producers. The initiative, [...]
WH Smith removes Telegraph from railway station stores February 19, 2020 WH Smith has stopped selling the Telegraph in some of its branches following a dispute over prices. The decision to stop selling the newspaper in its railway station shops comes after the Telegraph increased the price of its daily, Saturday and Sunday editions earlier this month. However, the newspaper publisher has not yet increased the [...]
Tiktok launches family mode in latest bid to improve user safety February 19, 2020 Tiktok today unveiled a new feature aimed at helping parents and guardians keep their children safe, marking the social media platform’s latest effort to fight off concerns about harmful material. The video-sharing app’s family safety mode will link a parent’s Tiktok account to their teenager’s, allowing them to control a range of features remotely. Parents [...]
UK live entertainment sector poised for £2.3bn 5G boost February 19, 2020 The UK’s live entertainment industry could be given a boost of as much as £2.3bn over the next 10 years thanks to a raft of benefits brought by 5G, new research has revealed. Figures compiled by O2, seen exclusively by Morning Wire, showed consumer spending on live music and sports events could surge in the [...]
US film company plots launch of UK’s largest studio complex February 19, 2020 A US-based film company has today unveiled plans to create the UK’s largest purpose-built studio complex as the British film industry’s gold rush shows no signs of slowing down. Blackhall Studios has inked a £150m deal with the University of Reading to build 1m square feet of sound stages and digital production facilities in a [...]
Hamilton promoter Reach 4 Entertainment jumps on higher forecasts February 18, 2020 Shares in Reach 4 Entertainment (R4E) jumped as much as 17 per cent this morning after the theatre marketing firm upped its forecasts for full-year trading. R4E, which runs marketing campaigns for West Ends shows such as Hamilton and The Lion King, said it expected to report revenue and profit “significantly” ahead of market expectations. [...]
Think carefully before shaking up the BBC licence fee February 18, 2020 The future of the BBC is in the spotlight once again. The government is running a consultation on the decriminalisation of the licence fee, and there has been plenty of speculation in the press as to whether there could be further changes to the way the BBC is funded or what its remit should be. [...]
BT unveils new flexible TV packages in bid to beef up content offering February 18, 2020 BT today rolled out a string of new flexible TV packages as it looks to flex its muscles in the increasingly cut-throat content wars. The telecoms giant has unveiled a range of subscription options that allow customers to choose the TV shows, films and sport they want, with the flexibility to change their package each [...]
Kantar boss ousted ahead of departure as Bain lays down the law February 17, 2020 Kantar chief executive Eric Salama has been ousted just months ahead of his planned departure as new owner Bain Capital turned its fire on the market research firm’s long-serving boss. Salama announced in December that he would step down from the company in 2020, citing “personal priorities” after he was stabbed in an attack in [...]