Sky buys majority stake in production company behind the Lie Detective January 23, 2017 Sky has bought a majority stake in a northern indie production company backed by Channel 4 in 2014. The sale marks Channel 4’s first exit from a company backed by its £20m Indie Growth Fund. Founded in 2001, True North now employs more than 150 people across Leeds and Manchester. Read more: Bad news: People [...]
It’s time to get over the mythical “Brexit Effect” on advertising spend January 23, 2017 Brexit means Brexit; it’s neither black nor white, hard or soft, red, white or blue. We’re leaving the Single Market and possibly the Customs Union; disowning the ECJ, but keeping EU laws for now. The final deal will be presented to parliament, and we can all get on with our lives. For Adland, the news should [...]
Breaking news: Revenue woes are driving a wave of deals in the print media sector January 23, 2017 After the closure of the Independent, the failed launch of Trinity Mirror’s New Day newspaper and plummeting revenues across the industry, 2016 will likely be remembered as a messy year for the print media. Less than a month in, and with rows brewing over press regulation, part two of the Leveson Inquiry and fake news [...]
Mark Zuckerberg can no longer claim that Facebook is free January 23, 2017 For a business that began as a dorm-room start-up, no one can doubt Facebook’s dominance within the digital world. Valid or not – claims that the US presidential election result was swayed by fake news circulated on the platform illustrate the network’s extraordinary degree of perceived influence. It’s been an interesting time for the social [...]
How well do you know your audience? Not as well as Spredfast’s Leo Ryan January 23, 2017 In the 1970s German philosopher Jurgen Habermas concocted the notion of Offentlichkeit – better known as the public sphere, or “an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems”. Some 40 years on, the advent of social media has realised his ideal tenfold, and the mass sharing [...]
Shareholders move in on Johnston Press CEO January 22, 2017 Investors in the publisher behind the i newspaper, The Scotsman and The Yorkshire Post are expected to call for Ashley Highfield to step down from the firm in a meeting this week. The company’s biggest single shareholder, activist fund Crystal Amber, is believed to be meeting with Johnston’s interim chair, Camilla Rhodes to discuss ways [...]
Competition for football rights set to eat into Sky’s profits January 22, 2017 Sky is set to report a 10 per cent drop in profits on Thursday, according to a forecast by investment firm UBS. The broadcaster is expected to announce a fall in pre-tax profits to £673m in the six months to December, due to the increased costs of its Premier League coverage. However, the UBS report also predicted [...]
Nigel Farage lands Fox News punditry role January 20, 2017 Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has been signed up as a contributor to Fox News. The broadcaster said it would be using Farage, who recently made friends with incoming President Donald Trump, for political analysis. Read more: What's that coming over the hill? It's a Westmonster The Fox gig comes after Farage landed his own [...]
Forget the City – Peppa Pig should be at the heart of Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations, says Lib Dem peer January 20, 2017 Whether it’s bankers, Scots or farmers, everybody seems to want to be at, or near, the heart of Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations. And the Prime Minister has now been urged to include children’s TV star Peppa Pig in her thoughts. Floella Benjamin, a children’s TV presenter turned Liberal Democrat peer, spoke out for the animated [...]
Here comes the Son-y/ATV legal action: Paul McCartney steps up bid for Beatles rights January 19, 2017 All you need is love. Unless you’re Sir Paul McCartney, who also wants to get back the rights to some of his most famous songs. Yesterday, the Beatle filed a lawsuit in New York against Sony/ATV to regain the copyrights to songs including Hey Jude and the Long and Winding Road. Read more: Ron Howard [...]