Hedge funds bank on Sky takeover bid success February 12, 2017 Two US hedge funds have banked on the Murdoch family succeeding in taking over the UK-based communications giant, Sky plc. According to reports in the Sunday Telegraph, the two funds, HBK and Pentwater, each disclosed they have amassed positions worth £310m and £300m respectively. In December last year, 21st Century Fox announced that it would be [...]
British film and TV industries storm ahead with £1.6bn investment February 12, 2017 Spend on British film and TV production jumped 13 per cent in 2016 to 1.6bn, in a stellar year for the UK’s creative industries. Figures from the BFI showed that 48 major UK-based films accounted for 1.35bn of total investment. Last year’s top three grossing films at the UK box office were all filmed on [...]
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp posts second loss in a row amid print advertising headwinds February 9, 2017 Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, the owner of Dow Jones Newswires, The Wall Street Journal and The Times, has posted its second quarterly loss in a row. Read more: Rupert Murdoch pleads with newspaper to stop using "fake news" quote The figures The company has had difficulty offsetting the decline in advertising income in its newspaper business. [...]
Fake news and echo chambers help BBC Radio 4’s Today hit record listeners February 9, 2017 An "era of fake news" has helped the BBC's flagship radio news programme clock its biggest audience to date, new figures reveal. Radio 4's Today programme boasted 7.45m weekly listeners in the last four months of 2016. Listener numbers grew from 7.1m in the previous quarter and 7.03m in same quarter in 2015, according to the [...]
Disney revenue slides as it fails to find blockbuster success of last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens February 7, 2017 The Walt Disney company reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts' expectations, though revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates. The figures The firm posted first-quarter earnings per share of $1.55 on $14.78bn in revenue. Analysts had expected first-quarter earnings of $1.49 per share on $15.26bn in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates. At the [...]
Ascential buy: FTSE 250 media company behind Cannes Lions festival buys $69m US firm February 7, 2017 Ascential, the FTSE 250-listed media company formerly known as Emap, has agreed to buy US advisory and business services group MediaLink. The company behind the Cannes Lions advertising festival has agreed an initial cash consideration for MediaLink of $69m (£55m) plus future earnouts. The target company, which was founded in 2003 and has four offices [...]
London’s classic red phone boxes are getting a makeover – complete with Wi-Fi and touchscreens February 7, 2017 You may have noticed some rather different phone boxes to what you're used to popping up on the streets of the capital. Well that's because the iconic red phone box is getting a revamp and New World Payphones has been wheeling out swanky new versions complete with high-speed Wi-Fi, touchscreen functions for local services and digital [...]
21st Century Fox beats earnings forecasts thanks to US election boost February 6, 2017 The heated US presidential race provided a boost to 21st Century Fox as the Murdoch-controlled firm beat earnings forecasts. Revenues rose four per cent to $7.68bn (£6.2bn) for the three months ending in December, just short of forecasts. Operating income rose 27 per cent to $857m, compared to $674m for the same period a year [...]
The irony of the filter bubble for advertisers is bittersweet February 6, 2017 "Algorithm" became a dirty word in 2016; few know what one is, fewer know how one actually works. Sure sounds scary though. “Filter bubble” can be added to that list, the latter a product of the former. The notion that social media algorithms nurture confirmation bias through reflecting self-affirming views, and therefore prejudice, is rife. [...]
Making his mark on Mediacom UK: Meet chief executive Josh Krichefski February 6, 2017 I’m waiting in the lobby of MediaCom’s home in Holborn to meet Josh Krichefski; a six storey hive, buzzing with the to-and-fro of a thousand-strong population, tied together by a dominating atrium. Expecting to head straight to the executive suite on the top floor, his assistant instead guides me to the second: “he likes to [...]