Google grants €500,000 to regional UK publishers for podcast venture March 21, 2019 Local publishers Reach and JPI Media have secured €500,000 (£433,000) in funding from Google to launch a new podcast project for local news. The grant will help the two regional publishers, which have partnered with podcast platform Entale, to develop the new audio project known as Laudable. Read more: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism secures £800,000 [...]
Amazon brings in BT Sport for Premier League matchday coverage March 21, 2019 Amazon has hired BT Sport to produce its studio and live action matchday coverage for Premier League games next season. The tech giant last year revealed it had secured exclusive rights to livestream 20 matches per season, which will be available to its Prime customers. Read more: Disney closes $71bn takeover of 21st Century Fox But [...]
Record label income grows amid rise in streaming subscriptions March 21, 2019 UK recorded music revenues rose more than three per cent last year as the popularity of streaming services shows no signs of slowing. New figures from trade body BPI revealed record label revenues hit £865.5m in 2018, the highest level in almost a decade. Read more: Music streaming revenues overtake ownership for the first time [...]
TV advertising revenue stalls as viewers switch to streaming March 21, 2019 TV advertising revenue growth stalled last year as traditional broadcasters continue to lose ground to streaming services. Overall revenue totalled £5.11bn in 2018, equal to the amount invested during the previous year, according to figures from industry body Thinkbox. Read more: Advertising outlook clouds picture at ITV The stagnating figures highlight the challenge faced by [...]
Disney closes $71bn takeover of 21st Century Fox as it puts Netflix in its sights March 20, 2019 Disney has completed its mammoth $71bn (£54bn) takeover of 21st Century Fox in a deal that transforms the media landscape and puts Netflix’s domination at risk. The deal, which went through shortly after midnight in New York, sees Disney take control of Rupert Murdoch’s film and TV business, as well as National Geographic and a controlling [...]
BBC failings to blame for Eastenders set revamp delay, report finds March 20, 2019 The delayed and over-budget project to rebuild the Eastenders set was doomed from the start due to management failings by the BBC, a government report has found. A damning report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), published today, states the BBC underestimated the scale and complexity of the E20 project, which is now £27m over [...]
Netflix will not partner with Apple’s streaming service, says boss March 19, 2019 Streaming giant Netflix has said it will not make its films and TV shows available on Apple’s on-demand video platform, as competition in the sector begins to heat up. Chief executive Reed Hastings told reporters in Hollywood the firm will not cooperate with Apple, which is expected to unveil a new video platform at an [...]
Myspace loses 12 years worth of music in botcher server migration March 19, 2019 Fallen social media giant Myspace has admitted to losing 12 years worth of music following a botched server migration. Read more: European data breaches hit 60,000 in eight months An estimated 50m songs from 14m artists that were uploaded onto the website between 2003 and 2015 are lost, the once-great social network said. The firm blamed a [...]
No, you’re not ‘innovative’ – you’re lazy March 19, 2019 Companies are engaged today in what can only be described as the wholesale destruction of meaning. They overwhelm us with dreary, overused platitudes that serve only to obscure the messages that they are trying to communicate. So why is it that companies continue to hark on endlessly about their innovative solutions, unique insights, enhanced experiences, [...]
Widecells calls in Unilad bosses to launch new media marketing firm March 18, 2019 Stem cell firm Widecells has enlisted the help of three former Unilad executives to launch a new media marketing firm as part of a rebrand that will see it renamed to Iconic Labs. John Quinlan, Liam Harrington and Sam Asante will run the new business, which will be focused on providing online marketing, content and [...]