Category Archives: Television industry

Nigel Farage can host GB News show during election, says Ofcom

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Media regulator says no clear consensus among British public to ban politicians presenting on news channels

Nigel Farage will be allowed to present his nightly GB News programme throughout the general election campaign, Ofcom has confirmed, after the media regulator said there was no clear consensus among the British public to stop politicians presenting shows on news channels.

The founder of the Reform UK party, which has the backing of 10% of voters in opinion polls, will be allowed to keep broadcasting until polling day providing he does not stand as a parliamentary candidate.

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Bruce Lehrmann should pay Ten’s entire legal bill after ‘deliberately wicked’ decision to sue, network says

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In court submissions, Ten’s lawyers argue Lehrmann should indemnify the network for its legal costs, estimated at $8m

Bruce Lehrmann should pay all Network Ten’s legal costs because suing The Project for defamation was “deliberately wicked and calculated” and an abuse of process, Ten has told the federal court.

The former Liberal staffer lost the defamation case he brought against Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, with Justice Michael Lee finding that on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins on a minister’s couch in Parliament House in 2019.

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Italian author accuses state broadcaster of censorship of antifascist monologue

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Outcry over cancellation of Antonio Scurati’s Rai talkshow appearance as note says move was taken ‘for editorial reasons’

A high-profile Italian author has accused Rai of censorship after his antifascist monologue was abruptly stopped from being aired, in what he called the “definitive demonstration” of alleged attempts by Giorgia Meloni’s government to wield its power over the state broadcaster.

Antonio Scurati was due to read the monologue marking the 25 April national holiday, which celebrates Italy’s liberation from fascism, on the Rai 3 talkshow Chesarà on Saturday night.

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Seven CEO James Warburton departs network

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Media executive’s exit comes as broadcaster faces a number of controversies

James Warburton, the chief executive and managing director of Seven West Media, left the company on Thursday, amid a tumultuous period for the broadcaster.

The prominent media executive was due to step down before the end of the financial year, according to executive changes first announced late last year.

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TV has become exploitative and cruel, says Ofcom chair Michael Grade

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The boss of the broadcast regulator has expressed concern about how the chase for audience ratings is harming the industry

Television has become more “exploitative and cruel”, according to Michael Grade, the chair of the broadcasting regulator, Ofcom.

“The exploitation dial has been switched up more and more for ratings,” said the peer and former chair of the BBC board. “It makes me mad. I really don’t like it or enjoy it.

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‘I’ve got the yarn’: Taylor Auerbach cautioned over spending as he courted Bruce Lehrmann, texts reveal

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Fellow Spotlight producer told Auerbach he found it ‘bizarre’ he was taking Lehrmann to dinner every night

Spotlight producers warned Taylor Auerbach about dropping too much money on Seven’s company card while he courted Bruce Lehrmann over several months for an exclusive interview, text messages have revealed.

The text messages between the former Seven producer and his senior colleagues were tendered in federal court after the Lehrmann defamation trial was reopened for Auerbach to give additional evidence as part of Channel Ten’s defence.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: Channel Ten wins bid to present fresh evidence

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Justice Michael Lee has reopened high-profile case to allow fresh evidence from former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach

Justice Michael Lee will allow Channel Ten to present additional evidence in its defence of the defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann, delaying the judgment until next week.

The case will be reopened and the evidence of a new witness, former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach, will now be tested on Thursday, the day the judgment was to have been handed down.

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Tehran denies involvement in London attack on TV presenter

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Met police say investigation into stabbing of Iranian journalist near home in Wimbledon is being led by counter-terrorism officers

Iran’s most senior diplomat in Britain has denied claims that the Iranian government was behind a knife attack on a TV presenter in London amid growing fears over threats to dissidents.

The country’s charge d’affaires, Mehdi Hosseini Matin, said Iran “denies any link” to the stabbing of Pouria Zeraati, 36, a presenter at Iran International, outside his home in Wimbledon on Friday. He is in a stable condition and was looking forward to being discharged from hospital soon.

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Iran International targeted by Tehran, says channel after London stabbing

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Spokesperson tells Today programme that UK-based broadcaster has been under ‘heavy threat for last 18 months’

Tehran’s Revolutionary Guards have been targeting the broadcaster Iran International, a spokesperson for the channel said after a leading journalist was stabbed in London.

The Persian-language news television channel that employed Pouria Zeraati, who was attacked outside his London home, had received an increased level of threats beforehand, Adam Baillie told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Saturday.

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Channel 4 boss apologises over failure in investigation of Russell Brand claim

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Alex Mahon says former staff member made ‘serious’ allegation in 2009 that was not ‘investigated as it should have been’

The head of Channel 4 has apologised to a former staff member for the organisation not properly investigating a “serious” allegation made against Russell Brand in 2009.

However, the broadcaster found “no evidence” that staff at Channel 4 knew about the accusations made by four women in a Dispatches documentary before it was aired in September.

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It’s too late to replace Sunak so Tories must ‘march towards the sound of the guns’, Ben Wallace says – as it happened

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Former defence secretary tells colleagues there is no alternative to Rishi Sunak and to ‘get on with’ preparing for an election. This live blog is closed

Ofcom has ruled today that GB News broke impartiality rules on five occasions by using Tory MPs as news presenters.

But it has not imposed sanctions on the broadaster. It says these count as first offence, and that there may be sanctions if it happens again.

Under the Broadcasting Code, news, in whatever form, must be presented with due impartiality. Additionally, a politician cannot be a newsreader, news interviewer or news reporter unless, exceptionally, there is editorial justification.

In line with the right to freedom of expression, broadcasters have editorial freedom to offer audiences a wide range of programme formats, including using politicians to present current affairs or other non-news programmes. Politicians may also appear in broadcast news content as an interviewee or any other type of guest.

These are the first breaches of Rules 5.1 and 5.3 recorded against GB News. Since opening these investigations, there has only been one further programme which has raised issues warranting investigation under these rules. We are clear, however, that GB News is put on notice that any repeated breaches of Rules 5.1 and 5.3 may result in the imposition of a statutory sanction.

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Holly Willoughby to make Netflix show in first major move since This Morning

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Jungle-based competition in which celebrities try to evade Bear Grylls part of a wide-ranging new Netflix slate

Holly Willoughby has made her first major move since leaving This Morning, signing up to host a new Netflix show, Bear Hunt with Bear Grylls.

In October she announced she was quitting the ITV show after 14 years “for me and my family” after it emerged she was the target of an alleged kidnap and murder plot.

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Up documentary series voted most influential UK TV show of last 50 years

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Programme that follows the lives of 14 children at seven-year intervals tops Broadcasting Press Guild’s 50th anniversary chart

The groundbreaking Up documentary series has been voted the programme that changed television the most over the past 50 years in a poll of the country’s leading TV writers.

The series, which follows a group of children from different social backgrounds and documents their progress every seven years, topped a list of the the most influential shows from the last five decades compiled by the Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG).

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‘We’re going back to silly’: what’s the next turn for British comedy in era of nostalgia?

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It’s no joke for new shows as classic favourites live on while investment in sitcoms and sketches falters

There is a quip beloved of comedians, when asked if their industry is going down the pan: “Nostalgia? It ain’t what it used to be.”

But for fans of well-worn jokes, and the shows in which they appear, 2024 could be truly a golden era.

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Telegraph suitor to buy Traitors and Fleabag maker All3Media for £1.15bn

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RedBird IMI, which is majority-owned by the UAE vice-president, has invested in five media firms since its launch a year ago

The Abu Dhabi-backed company that is trying to take over the Telegraph newspapers has announced a £1.15bn deal to buy the production company behind Fleabag and the Traitors.

Under the deal, RedBird IMI, which is headed by the former CNN president Jeff Zucker, will take over London-based All3Media with the agreement of its owners Warner Bros, Discovery and Liberty Global.

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Return of the zing: Jon Stewart is back at The Daily Show, amid a changed world

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Will Stewart’s satire still cut through in a post-pandemic world of disinformation, polarisation and fragmented media?

Barack Obama was US president. Britain was a lynchpin of the European Union. Harvey Weinstein was a powerful movie mogul. Meghan Markle was starring in Suits. “TikTok” did not mean anything and fake news meant a satirical TV program with pretend reporters.

That was the world Jon Stewart left behind when he hosted his last episode of The Daily Show on the Comedy Central network on 6 August 2015, denying a legion of fans his lacerating take on the election, presidency, impeachment, defeat, impeachment again and comeback of Donald Trump.

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CNN staff say network’s pro-Israel slant amounts to ‘journalistic malpractice’

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Insiders say pressure from the top results in credulous reporting of Israeli claims and silencing of Palestinian perspectives

CNN is facing a backlash from its own staff over editorial policies they say have led to a regurgitation of Israeli propaganda and the censoring of Palestinians perspectives in the network’s coverage of the war in Gaza.

Journalists in CNN newsrooms in the US and overseas say broadcasts have been skewed by management edicts and a story-approval process that has resulted in highly partial coverage of the Hamas massacre on 7 October and Israel’s retaliatory attack on Gaza.

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HBO hit TV series the White Lotus drops actor Miloš Biković over Russia ties

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Network says role will be recast after Ukraine hit out over casting of Serbian for new season

The makers of hit TV show the White Lotus have dropped actor Miloš Biković from the upcoming series after criticism from Ukraine over the Serbian native’s ties to Russia.

Biković, who was cast for the third season of the award-winning dark comedy just weeks ago, has protested against HBO’s decision as “the triumph of absurdity and the defeat of art”.

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Channel 4 in diversity row as four white directors appointed to board

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Chair says government-approved appointments lag behind broadcaster’s diversity targets

A row has broken out over the lack of ethnic diversity among Channel 4’s new board members, as the broadcaster’s chair criticised the government’s decision to appoint four white directors.

The culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, approved the appointments on Monday of five new non-executive directors to join the Channel 4 board and they were announced by the UK’s media regulator Ofcom.

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Channel 4 plans deepest job cuts in over 15 years after TV ad slump

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Exclusive: As many as 200 roles could go as firm seeks to accelerate digital streaming strategy and limit cuts to content budget

Channel 4 is drawing up plans to cut potentially as many as 200 jobs in its biggest round of layoffs in more than 15 years, as it seeks to make savings to weather the worst TV advertising downturn since 2008.

The broadcaster, which has undergone a rapid expansion in recent years with staff numbers swelling to a record level of more than 1,200, aims to dramatically reduce a wage bill that now stands at more than £108m a year.

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