Entain sets aside half a billion for investigation into alleged Turkish bribery offences August 10, 2023 Ladbrokes owner Entain has set aside an ‘eyewatering’ £585m to cover a potential settlement as it nears an end of a bribery investigation into its legacy Turkish facing business, launched in 2019. In an update posted this morning, the global betting giant said it has “a sufficient degree of confidence to take a provision of [...]
Sky drops Oscars coverage after 20 years August 9, 2023 UK film enthusiasts will no longer be able to watch the Oscars coverage via Sky as the TV giant has reportedly relinquished its two-decade hold on broadcasting the prestigious LA awards ceremony. Sky is set to end its deal to show the Oscars and Disney, the rights holder, is reportedly in advanced talks with an [...]
Sony warns sales will be hit by Hollywood strikes August 9, 2023 Japanese tech giant Sony lowered its full-year sales forecast today warning that the ongoing Hollywood strikes will wreak havoc with movie production schedules. In a trading update, Sony revised its annual movie sales forecast down 50bn yen to 1.47trn yen (£8bn). Sony blamed the potential lower revenues on the impact of actors and writers staking [...]
Taylor Swift helps Brits shake it off with entertainment spree but it’s a cruel summer for retailers August 8, 2023 Taylor Swift tickets, which went on sale in July, have powered a double-digit increase in entertainment spending so far this summer
Ofcom: Jacob Rees-Mogg in focus as GB News shows probed over impartiality claims August 7, 2023 Ofcom has launched four investigations into GB News’s compliance with due impartiality rules, including one by Conservative politician Jacob Rees-Mogg. The UK media watchdog said it is looking at three programmes, including an episode of Rees-Mogg’s show State Of The Nation. This in relation to the regulator’s rule that politicians must not act as newsreaders, interviewers [...]
Commercial radio giant Global shuffles management playlist August 6, 2023 Global, the owner of LBC, Heart and a host of commercial radio stations, has reshuffled its management deck despite maintaining its spot as the number one commercial radio company Both the finance and marketing chiefs of the UK’s largest commercial radio group have bid farewell to the company in recent weeks, according to Companies House [...]
WPP profits tumble 51 per cent as advertising giant shifts focus to AI plans August 4, 2023 The world’s biggest advertising firm WPP reported a “resilient” performance in the first half of the year despite plunging profits as they start to build out AI plans. WPP reported profit before tax for the first half of 2023 dropped 51 per cent to £204m, compared to £419m compared to the first half of 2022. [...]
Do viewers prefer the news or Netflix? Ofcom’s latest report reveals state of the nation August 3, 2023 Traditional news channels have beaten Netflix to secure the top spots on the nation’s television appetite as audiences increasingly drift to different media outlets, according to Ofcom’s latest annual Media Nations report. BBC One emerged as the viewers’ first port of call when switching on the TV last year, capturing 20 per cent of the [...]
What is the Wrexham effect and how is it impacting sports betting? August 3, 2023 Wrexham AFC’s meteoric rise to fame, thanks to the docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ has caused sports betting to skyrocket in a phenomenon that has been dubbed the ‘Wrexham Effect’. Gambling giant Entain’s UK sportsbook reported a nearly 60 per cent surge in bets during the National League’s 2021-22 season compared to 2017-18 – the 2019-20 [...]
BT: Social media is top sales driver for over a quarter of UK businesses August 2, 2023 Social media is the number one force helping businesses in the UK turn a profit according to new research from BT. A survey by the British telecoms firm has discovered 28 per cent of small businesses say they generate more sales through social platforms than from e-commerce or physical stores. Facebook was crowned as the [...]