BBC appoints Laura Kuenssberg as political editor amid shake up July 22, 2015 The BBC yesterday announced the appointment of Laura Kuenssberg as political editor, taking over from Nick Robinson. Kuenssberg, who has been chief correspondent and a presenter on Newsnight since February 2014, previously served as business editor at ITV News between 2011 and 2014. She said yesterday: “I’m completely delighted and I recognise the responsibility on [...]
BBC sees red in Bill Turnbull’s breakfast blast July 21, 2015 With the BBC preparing to go to war with David Cameron over the broadcaster’s future, Breakfast Show host Bill Turnbull’s balls-up couldn’t have come at a better time. Turnball made a little slip on national television yesterday morning, confusing the words “customer” and “client” with a most unsavoury outcome. It’s not the first time the [...]
John Whittingdale is surprised by defensive BBC after green paper published July 19, 2015 Cukture secretary John Whittingdale said yesterday that he was surprised by the BBC’s defensive response towards a governmental review of its remit. Whittingdale published a green paper in the Commons last week, posing questions regarding the future of the BBC, which parliament will debate before the renewal of the network’s soon-to-expire Royal Charter. Following the [...]
BBC shows the strain over Tory reform plan: “Aunty has very much pulled up her sleeves” July 16, 2015 The BBC ramped up its fight with the government yesterday as a groundbreaking Conservative review threatened the broadcaster’s size, funding, content and regulation. Culture secretary John Whittingdale revealed a green paper on the future of the corporation, questioning whether it should aim to be “all things to all people”, attacking its “regressive” licence fee scheme [...]
Supermarket price wars prove a potent aid to popularity July 14, 2015 German discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl hold on to their positions as the highest performing brands in YouGov BrandIndex’s mid-year Buzz Score Rankings, while we have positive news for the Co-Op group in the most improved brand list. The rankings are based on YouGov’s BrandIndex Buzz scores, which measures whether consumers have heard anything [...]
BBC charter review panel: Meet the eight people deciding the broadcaster’s future July 12, 2015 The government has selected a panel of independent advisors to lead a review of the BBC's royal charter, which will shape the future of the public broadcaster. An eight-person team of media professionals and experts, with backgrounds in broadcasting, production, technology and media regulation, have been chosen by the culture secretary John Whittingdale to conduct [...]
ITV and BBC to share Six Nations coverage in £300m deal July 9, 2015 The BBC will share Six Nations coverage with ITV from 2016, keeping the European rugby tournament on free-to-air television until 2021. Read more: BBC loses Olympic broadcast rights as Eurosport signs £922m deal The deal, thought to be worth around £50m a year, will mean England's home matches are broadcast on ITV and their away fixtures [...]
James Naughtie: Veteran BBC radio presenter to leave Radio 4’s Today programme after 21 years July 7, 2015 BBC radio presenter James Naughtie will leave Radio 4's Today programme after 21 years. The veteran broadcaster will instead become the station's special correspondent. The BBC says that he will follow key political and constitutional debates such as the EU referendum and elections, present documentaries, and act as a roving reporter for the station. Naughtie, [...]
BBC Trust fires shot over the bows of government over licence fees for over 75s July 7, 2015 BBC director general Tony Hall insisted that the broadcaster had achieved “the right deal” yesterday, after it was confirmed that the broadcaster would start paying the licence fee for Brits over 75 from 2018. However, Rona Fairhead, the chairman of the BBC Trust, which represents licence fee payers, appeared to be less happy about the [...]
July Budget 2015: From benefits caps and child tax credits cuts to pension and inheritance tax changes, here’s what to expect July 7, 2015 Tomorrow, George Osborne takes to the despatch box for his first truly Conservative Budget – indeed, the first majority Conservative Budget since 1996. The chancellor is notoriously good at trailing the contents of his Budgets before he stands up – so what do we know so far? Read more: Budget live – all the key announcements [...]