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”.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...As the singer prepares to host the BBC’s new year special, it caps a stellar 2023 for the star who launched a meme phenomenon
Some may think: why is the BBC welcoming in 2024 with “Mr 1987”? Though that suggests they missed the memo about the spectacular revival of Rick Astley. On Sunday night, 1980s pop star Astley will host BBC One’s New Year’s Eve show from the Roundhouse in Camden, north-west London, following in the footsteps of Sam Ryder and Years & Years, fronted by Olly Alexander.
Stars come back. It’s what they do. But few manage to do it in a way that makes them look infinitely cooler than before. As Astley, 57, continues to ride the Rickrolling phenomenon (more of which anon), his 2023 has been stellar.
Continue reading...BBC showed nine out of 10 most popular shows, according to overnight data, with Strictly coming second and Doctor Who third
King Charles’s Christmas broadcast came top of the TV ratings on Christmas Day, with the BBC showing nine out of the 10 most watched shows.
The king’s message, which reflected on the “increasingly tragic conflict around the world”, attracted an average of 5.9 million viewers, according to overnight ratings.
Continue reading...Telegraph bidder RedBird IMI in talks to buy UK’s largest independent TV production group
The Abu Dhabi-backed investment group that has struck a deal to buy the Telegraph is close to securing a £1bn-plus takeover of another prize UK media asset – All3Media, the TV production group behind shows including Call the Midwife, Squid Game: The Challenge, Gogglebox and Midsomer Murders.
RedBird IMI, a joint-venture between the US company RedBird Capital and International Media Investments (IMI) of Abu Dhabi, the investment vehicle for the UAE vice-president, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, is understood to be in advanced negotiations to buy the UK’s largest independent TV production group.
Continue reading...Live and on-demand TV over broadband replaces BT TV as firm continues brand and service revamp
The BT-owned EE is rolling out its revamped TV over broadband offering, which delivers live and on-demand services streamed to a choice of set-top boxes that includes a customised Apple TV – a first for the UK.
The new IPTV service continues the firm’s replacement of the BT brand with EE and ditches the aerial while still offering free-to-air and premium channels in a range of packages starting at £18 a month on top of the required EE broadband subscription.
Continue reading...At defamation trial against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, Lehrmann says two later emails he sent Higgins failed to mention evening because it was ‘uneventful’
Bruce Lehrmann has denied during his defamation trial having sexual intercourse with Brittany Higgins while she was “semi-conscious or passed out” on a couch in Parliament House.
At Lehrmann’s civil case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, Matt Collins KC for Ten put a series of propositions to him about what happened between 1.48am and 2.30am on 23 March 2019.
Continue reading...Wael al-Dahdouh’s wife, children and grandson were killed in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on Tuesday
• Israel and Hamas at war – live updates
An Al Jazeera correspondent has returned to work just days after his entire immediate family were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.
Wael al-Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in the strike late on Tuesday. They had moved to a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza following Israel’s warning on 13 October.
Continue reading...Secretary of state Antony Blinken made request of Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed during frantic trip to Doha
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has reportedly asked Qatar to moderate Al Jazeera’s coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas, amid concerns within the Biden administration that the channel is inflaming public opinion and heightening the risks of a wider conflict.
Blinken raised the satellite news channel’s coverage with the Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, according to the website Axios, which said the US’s top diplomat had disclosed the request in a meeting with US Jewish leaders.
Continue reading...Former Autumnwatch presenter describes 8 Out Of 10 Bats show as ‘the Sex Pistols of wildlife TV’
A new upstart is entering the big-budget world of wildlife film-making. After the BBC scrapped Autumnwatch, Chris Packham is launching his own nature show, which will be broadcast for two weeks on YouTube.
In stark contrast to the multimillion-pound Planet Earth III, which premiered on Sunday night with 97-year-old Sir David Attenborough narrating, 8 Out of 10 Bats, which begins on Monday evening, is an “anarchic” DIY operation that cost just £50,000 and features a diverse roster of teenage and 20-something naturalist presenters.
Continue reading...Hunterian had listed stillborn child of African descent as viewable for medical research but removed it after criticism from author
The remains of a stillborn Bambuti baby have been removed from a museum’s catalogue of items that can be viewed for medical research after criticism from a Booker prize-shortlisted author.
Novelist Nadifa Mohamed is the presenter of an upcoming Channel 4 documentary examining the history of “human zoos” in Britain, in which African and Asian people were put on display to the wider public in a practice which is now deemed to have been deeply racist.
Britain’s Human Zoos is on Channel 4 on Saturday 28 October
Continue reading...Policy reportedly includes sexual relationships and friendships, and launch follows Phillip Schofield’s resignation over workplace affair
ITV has drawn up strict new rules requiring staff to declare all relationships with colleagues – which could even include friendships – in the wake of Phillip Schofield’s resignation earlier this year over a workplace affair, according to a report.
The This Morning presenter quit after admitting that he had lied about an “unwise, but not illegal” affair, amid allegations that ITV bosses had turned a blind eye to the relationship.
Continue reading...Case follows Walliams’ exit as BGT judge after transcript surfaced of him making offensive off-air comments about contestants
David Walliams has filed a case against the production company that makes the ITV show Britain’s Got Talent.
The action being taken by the show’s former judge against FremantleMedia is listed as dealing with data protection, according to the BBC. No other details have been given.
Continue reading...Studios behind Harry Potter films to undergo 400,000 sq ft expansion by 2027, in boost to struggling industry
The Warner Bros studios behind the Harry Potter film series are to undergo a major expansion, creating 4,000 jobs and providing a boost to Britain’s beleaguered film and TV production industry.
The development in Hertfordshire, expected to be complete in 2027, will add 400,000 sq ft (37,000 sq metres) to Warner Bros Studios Leavesden (WBSL).
Continue reading...Claims related to seven-year period are detailed in Times and Channel 4 investigation after actor had already denied allegations
Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse over a seven-year period at the height of his fame.
The allegations between 2006 and 2013 were the result of a joint investigation by the Sunday Times, the Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. Brand denies the allegations.
Continue reading...The former BBC and New York Times chief has been tasked with revitalizing a news network that seems to have lost its way
In late summer, CNN found itself in crisis. Under the disastrous tenure of chief executive Chris Licht, the news channel had seen top anchors leave and ratings plunge.
Behind the scenes, CNN staff were grumbling about an apparent attempt to move the network’s political coverage to a rapidly disappearing center – an effort typified by the widely criticized decision to host a town hall with Donald Trump in May.
Continue reading...The Fall will be published next month and promises to chronicle the rightwing network and the Murdoch family’s downfall
The author Michael Wolff, whose bestselling books have chronicled the rise and fall of Donald Trump, promised on Tuesday to tell readers how Fox News will end.
“I have been telling the story of the great power of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News for many years,” Wolff said, announcing his new book, The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty. “This power is now reaching a natural end and The Fall brings the story to its closing act.”
Continue reading...Maritime horror, after Dutch sailing ship Batavia wrecked off western Australia, set TV show in motion
The hit TV reality show The Traitors was originally going to involve a recreation of a real-life murderous mutiny onboard a 17th-century Dutch ship, with programme contestants pushed into the sea when voted out.
Jasper Hoogendoorn, who oversaw the programme’s development, said the show was inspired by the voyage of the Batavia, a Dutch ship which was shipwrecked off Australia in 1629.
Continue reading...Location, Location, Location star’s parents, Anne and David, died after their car toppled off a bridge into river
The TV presenter Phil Spencer has said his parents “would have held hands” after their car crashed into a river on their farm.
The Location, Location, Location presenter paid an emotional tribute to Anne and David Spencer on Instagram after the accident on Friday.
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