Sky scuppers hopes of Britbox deal in blow for new streaming service December 15, 2019 ITV and the BBC have suffered a major setback to their plans for Britbox, as the chances of securing a highly sought-after distribution deal with Sky have all but disappeared. The streaming service, jointly run by the public service broadcasters, has already bagged partnerships with the likes of BT, Freeview and Samsung to deliver its [...]
General Election 2019: How to watch the results on live TV December 12, 2019 The UK has been plunged into a political broadcast blackout today, with channels forced to put their election coverage on hold as Brits go to the polls. But when voting closes at 10pm, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky will all fire up their cameras to provide rolling coverage until the UK’s next Prime [...]
Premier League appoints Richard Masters as chief executive after embarrassing saga December 12, 2019 The Premier League today approved the appointment of interim chief executive Richard Masters to the role on a permanent basis. Masters’ appointment follows an embarrassing saga for the football body, which gave the job to two previous candidates, neither of whom took up the role. Read more: The Premier League’s incoming CEO has quit before [...]
London media firm bags $100m for new film and TV projects December 12, 2019 The media firm behind hit shows such as Line of Duty today said it has secured $100m (£76m) of funding to help fund film and TV projects, while it will also look to build a new UK studio space. Great Point Media (GPM) has already committed $80m of its own funds to the investment, and [...]
WPP kicks off £300m share buyback December 12, 2019 WPP today said it has entered into an agreement with Goldman Sachs to buy back up to £300m in shares, following its $4bn sale of market research firm Kantar. Shares are up just over two per cent on the news. The advertising giant said the share buyback programme will begin today and continue until 18 [...]
Don’t cross the streams: Netflix to make series about the rise of Spotify December 11, 2019 As the streaming wars heat up, media firms are increasingly looking to get ahead of their rivals. But now it appears Netflix may be willing to bury the hatchet – by producing a series about its audio streaming rival Spotify. Netflix today said it will air an untitled scripted show that documents the rise of [...]
Hipgnosis profit surges as song catalogue hits the right notes December 11, 2019 Music royalties investment firm Hipgnosis has posted a huge rise in pre-tax profit after snapping up some of the biggest hits of the decade in an aggressive acquisition spree. The London-listed firm today reported pre-tax profit of £12.6m in the six months to the end of September, more than four times the £3m posted in [...]
Podcasts on brink of subscription boom as listeners ready to splash cash on content December 11, 2019 Podcasts could be on the verge of a Netflix-style subscription boom, as the majority of listeners say they would be willing to fork out for premium shows. Just under 60 per cent of podcast listeners said they would be happy to pay for content at an average of £4 per month, or roughly £50 per [...]
Are the televised election debates a waste of time in their current format? December 11, 2019 Are the televised election debates a waste of time in their current format? Stuart Thomson, head of public affairs at BDB Pitmans, says YES. Despite everyone’s hopes, the televised leadership debates have been a complete damp squib. They have been a waste of everyone’s time, revealing little that we didn’t already know and failing to [...]
BBC wins battle for social media buzz as streaming giants lag behind December 11, 2019 Traditional broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV are winning the battle to create a buzz around new shows, as they generate more social media chatter than their streaming rivals. Figures published today by market research firm Kantar revealed that the BBC generated more tweets than any other broadcaster in the year to the end [...]