Media
FeedBBC staff rage over pensions 'robbery'
Martin Cloake
Sep 2nd 2010
Filed under: Public Services, Media
BBC staff have voted overwhelmingly in favour of striking over proposed changes to their pension scheme. It's potentially the biggest staff revolt in years. The combination of journalists, the BBC and pensions may not initially prompt sympathetic feelings among our readers. So do staff have a point?Ad regulations extended to websites
Press Association
Sep 1st 2010
Filed under: News , Media, Retail
Full advertising regulations are to be extended to retailers' own websites and online areas like Twitter and Facebook, it has been announced.The online extension has "the protection of children and consumers at its heart" and will come into effect in March next year, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said.
Profits up at confident Johnston Press
Martin Cloake
Aug 25th 2010
This morning's results from Johnston Press showed not only that the publisher of The Scotsman and the Yorkshire Evening Post increased profits for the first time in four years, but also gave some indication of recovery in advertising in the beleaguered print industry, and challenged some assumptions.Beatles sales help troubled EMI
David Burrows
Aug 19th 2010
The plight of music group EMI has been eased a little by the release of a re-mastered Beatles back catalogue but the company is still saddled with high debt levels.
Sales of the Fab Four's music, 40 years after the group split up has helped to reduce annual losses but the record producer and publisher still needs more capital to pay off debts.
Toy Story's happy ending for Disney
David Burrows
Aug 11th 2010
The success of two children's films at the Box office has helped turn around entertainment giant Walt Disney's latest performance figures.
Disney has reported a 40% jump in profits primarily due to hit movies such as Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland.
Pick of the early market news
Helen Fowler
Aug 9th 2010
Filed under: Company, News , Energy, Media, Leisure & hospitality
BP has so far spent more than $6bn responding to the Gulf of Mexico spill, the firm revealed. Oil has at last stopped flowing into the sea, more than three months after it started, thanks to the efforts of over 30,000 people.Pouring cement into the well has succeeded in capping the spill, the firm said. It expects the relief well it is drilling to be operational by next weekend.
Box office hit boosts Times Warner
David Burrows
Aug 5th 2010
Box office hits, including Sex and the City II, (pictured) have helped Time Warner's profits for the quarter. The company announced a profit of $562m (£353) for the three months to June – a 7% rise.
However, its former partner AOL revealed a loss of $1.06bn largely because of write-downs on the sale of social networking site Bebo and a fall in advertising revenue.
Women are becoming property tycoons
Helen Fowler
Aug 4th 2010
Filed under: Mortgages, Property, Media
Blame it on Sarah Beeny's Property Ladder: it's time to say hello to the female property tycoon. Egged on by Beeny's example, more women are looking to make their fortune from donning a hard hat and gambling on bricks and mortar. In less than a year numbers of women buying properties they plan to rent out have risen dramatically, going from just over a third of the total to nearly half.
Pick of the early market news
Helen Fowler
Aug 3rd 2010
Filed under: Company, Economy, Markets, News , Property, Media, Creative industries
Terrestrial TV network ITV has confirmed rumours it may move into paid television, saying it will make programmes available on Rupert Murdoch's Sky. In other words, it could soon cost to watch flagship soap Coronation Street (production set pictured, right). "For the past decade ITV has not faced up to the challenges presented by the rise of internet-based platforms and the continuing growth of pay TV," said chief executive Adam Crozier. The Rovers Return crowd will be hysterical with excitement. They're going global.
Why BBC licence fee is great value
Chris Wheal
Aug 2nd 2010
Filed under: Taxes, Media, Creative industries
Right-wing free-market think tank the Adam Smith Foundation has convinced a former BBC producer, David Graham, to demand the end of the BBC's licence fee and a switch to subscription services.This is like the worst TV repeats - how many other reports have urged the end of the licence fee? But it also comes at a time when Rupert Murdoch's Times' subscription service is struggling and Sky TV's income has been hit by OfCom interference.
Pick of the early market news
Helen Fowler
Jul 27th 2010
Filed under: News , Energy, Media, Retail
BP's Tony Hayward (pictured) is to achieve his stated desire to get his life back. He steps down as the oil firm's chief executive from October. His replacement is Robert Dudley, a native American and the BP director running clean-up operations in the Gulf. Few in the US will mourn Hayward's departure. Following the fatal Gulf accident, he angered many by saying he wanted his 'life back'.
Ofcom refuses BT charges hike
David Burrows
Jul 23rd 2010
The share price of BT fell sharply this morning after it was announced by industry watchdog Ofcom that the company could not ask wholesale customers to pay more in order to plug BT's huge pension deficit.
BT had asked Ofcom to reconsider the prices it allows the company to charge other communications providers to deliver services to consumers.
Playboy Hefner turns Penthouse down
Helen Fowler
Jul 16th 2010
Filed under: Markets, News , Media, Retail, Creative industries
Octogenarian Playboy tycoon Hugh Hefner is refusing to submit to a $210m seduction by rival soft porn publisher Penthouse. Many of Hefner's assets have seen better days - Playboy magazine has become a loss-leader. Shares in the firm have collapsed. But the 'bunny head' logo (pictured) remains perky as ever.
Photo giants Getty, Rex pull merger
Martin Cloake
Jul 12th 2010
Filed under: Media, Creative industries
The sale of photo agency Rex Features to the giant Getty Images is off. Both parties have walked away from a deal, announced in April, after it was referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. The news has been greeted with some relief by business and individual photographers.In a letter to staff, Rex features owner Mike Selby said: "Although the MMC may ultimately have cleared the deal, we feel that the six- to eight- month process... would be too disruptive and unsettling for our loyal staff and suppliers who have already had to endure weeks of uncertainty.
UK advertising spend battered in Q2
Adrian Holliday
Jul 12th 2010
Filed under: Debt, Economy, Media, Creative industries
Advertising is yet again under attack, fuelling fears that a recession double dipper may be swinging closer. The latest IPA/BDO Wellwether survey reveals more marketing budgets have been clipped across the range. Although advertising experienced a modest bounce-back in the last quarter, some of the optimism seems to have been largely snuffed out. Budgets across all main categories have been revised down, with only the Internet and direct marketing escaping cut-backs.
