Times Radio poaches veteran BBC presenter John Pienaar February 17, 2020 Times Radio has hired veteran BBC journalist John Pienaar, marking the nascent radio station’s first major poach from the embattled public service broadcaster. Pienaar, who is currently deputy political editor of BBC News, today confirmed he will join Rupert Murdoch’s new venture as drive time presenter. Times Radio, which will launch later this year, is [...]
Times Radio circles BBC stars ahead of hiring spree February 16, 2020 Times Radio is said to be making generous offers to some of the BBC’s biggest stars as Rupert Murdoch’s new radio venture looks to lure in top talent. The station, which will launch later this year, is in talks with Radio 4 Any Questions host Chris Mason and has approached Today programme frontman Nick Robinson, [...]
Youtube TV withdraws from App Store in blow to Apple February 16, 2020 Youtube TV is set to become the latest subscription service to cut ties with Apple’s App Store amid complaints about the hefty fees charged by the tech giant. The TV streaming service last week told customers that from next month it will no longer accept payments through Apple in-app purchases. The iPhone maker takes a [...]
BBC radio stations under threat as No 10 vows to scrap licence fee February 16, 2020 The BBC could reportedly be forced to sell off the majority of its radio stations as the government looks to overhaul the broadcaster and “prune” back its services. Senior aides to the prime minister told the Sunday Times that they were “not bluffing” about plans to scrap the licence fee and make viewers pay a [...]
Scrap the TV licence, the BBC should just stick to the national news February 15, 2020 It is good that the BBC model is being disrupted by social media — allowing isolated individuals threatened by brown envelopes and sinister demands to be united in their opposition to the multi-billion pound media enterprise. Essentially, the broadcaster needs to be radically stripped down to just one channel: BBC News and Weather. All other [...]
Don’t frame it as a front in the culture war, BBC reform can be in everyone’s interests February 14, 2020 With the announcement last week of a consultation on decriminalising non-payment of the licence fee, ministers boycotting core programmes following accusations of bias, and veiled threats from the government about its potential demise, fans of the BBC would be forgiven for thinking that their treasured broadcaster is under attack. But by framing this as a [...]
House of Lords committee opens inquiry into future of journalism February 13, 2020 The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee has opened a new inquiry into the future of journalism amid concerns about the impact of tech giants. The committee today said it was seeking evidence on how digital technologies such as social media had changed the way journalism is produced and consumed, and how journalists could [...]
Car manual publisher Haynes soars as it agrees £115m takeover February 13, 2020 Shares in Haynes surged 60 per cent this morning after the car manual publisher said it has agreed a £114.5m takeover deal by a French rival. Under the terms of the deal Infopro Digital will pay 700p per share, representing a premium of roughly 62 per cent on Haynes’ closing price yesterday. It marks the [...]
Exhibition giant Relx boosts profit but coronavirus risk looms February 13, 2020 Relx today posted a rise in revenue and profit for the full year, but warned it could not predict how the coronavirus outbreak would impact its business in China. The FTSE 15 publishing and exhibitions giant reported revenue of £7.9bn in the year to the end of December, up four per cent on an underlying [...]
Soundcloud bags $75m funding from Pandora owner Sirius XM February 11, 2020 Veteran music streaming site Soundcloud today announced it has received a $75m (£58m) cash injection from Sirius XM, the owner of US streaming giant Pandora. Soundcloud said it will use the funding to speed up its product development and enhance services for its users. The investment follows an ad sales partnership between Soundcloud and Pandora, [...]