Italians are taking to the court with factors including the pandemic and broadcasting also said to be fuelling enthusiasm
At the age of 47, diehard AC Milan fan Ninni Licata has hung up his football boots in exchange for a tennis racket.
Like thousands of Italians in recent years, Licata has been unable to resist the lure of a game that for years had been relegated to the sidelines of the country’s national sports, overshadowed by football and Formula One.
Continue reading...Italians are taking to the court with factors including the pandemic and broadcasting also said to be fuelling enthusiasm
At the age of 47, diehard AC Milan fan Ninni Licata has hung up his football boots in exchange for a tennis racket.
Like thousands of Italians in recent years, Licata has been unable to resist the lure of a game that for years had been relegated to the sidelines of the country’s national sports, overshadowed by football and Formula One.
Continue reading...Producer says ‘courage has gone out of broadcasting’ and audiences want to see grittier issues
The creator of some of Britain’s best-loved soaps has said the “courage has gone out of broadcasting” and suggested that television bosses should not be afraid to flout Ofcom rules.
Phil Redmond – the brains behind Hollyoaks, Grange Hill and Brookside – said there was “too much risk aversion” in television, with producers afraid to upset regulators even if it meant pleasing audiences.
Continue reading...A slew of accusations have emerged of inappropriate remarks and behaviour dating back as far as 19 years
Gregg Wallace has been accused of making sexualised jokes and other inappropriate remarks towards a range of women dating back nearly two decades.
The 60-year-old MasterChef presenter announced last week that he was stepping back from the BBC show amid an investigation into his conduct. Wallace’s lawyers have said it is entirely false to suggest he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
Continue reading...Plan is forming for digitally focused show to expand and grow the brand in a fractured media landscape
When the BBC confirmed the news this week that Gary Lineker was leaving Match of the Day at the end of this season, the presenter’s official reaction was limited to a terse 21-word statement that he was “delighted” at signing a new contract to cover the FA Cup and 2026 World Cup.
The former England striker was – unsurprisingly – more expansive about leaving the BBC’s flagship football programme after 25 years on his own podcast, the Rest is Football, on Thursday. “All things have to come to an end,” he mused. “I think the next contract, they’re looking to do Match of the Day slightly differently. So I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.”
Continue reading...Channel 14, which counts Netanyahu as a supporter, has denied allegations that its coverage has incited war crimes
An ultranationalist Israeli television channel backed by the government is fast emerging as one of the country’s most-watched news sources, despite allegations from liberal groups that it is inciting war crimes, and claims from the army that it is riling up hatred of its generals for not being far enough to the right.
Last month Channel 14, also known as Now 14, beat Israel’s principal mainstream news outlet, Channel 12, in viewer ratings when 343,000 Israelis watched Channel 14’s “Patriots” talkshow, known for its virulent rhetoric on Gaza.
Continue reading...GB News to challenge decision and watchdog will not enforce sanction until proceedings are concluded
Ofcom has fined the rightwing broadcaster GB News £100,000 for “breaking due impartiality rules” after an interview with the former prime minister Rishi Sunak earlier this year.
The media regulator said it chose to impose a fine over the programme titled People’s Forum: The Prime Minister because it considered the breach serious, and because of GB News’s track record of breaking impartiality rules.
Continue reading...Unique experiment in German-language public broadcasting 3sat faces pressure from populist right
In many countries around the world, breakfast TV means celebrity interviews, soap operas and last night’s football highlights. On the German-language channel 3sat this Sunday morning, it means a one-hour philosophical discussion on trauma psychology, followed by a book review programme and a classical concert by the Munich Radio Orchestra.
The collaboration between public broadcasters in Austria, Germany and Switzerland is a unique experiment in pan-European broadcasting that has defied doubters for almost four decades: highbrow television.
Continue reading...Law firm advises company to review use of non-disclosure agreements after allegations about their use
ITN has faced criticism from senior journalists and staff after a report on how it deals with internal complaints raised concerns about “low trust and psychological safety”.
The media company has been told to review its use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and improve its whistleblowing processes after allegations that it used NDAs to cover up gender pay discrimination, harassment and bullying.
Continue reading...Beth Rigby’s withdrawal after not being allowed to record conversation follows BBC cancellation over notes gaffe
Sky News has pulled out of an interview with Boris Johnson after its political editor, Beth Rigby, was told she could not make an audio recording or transcript of the talk.
The former prime minister had promised to “reveal what really happened during my time as [London] mayor, foreign secretary and PM” during the conversation next week as he promotes his memoir Unleashed. Johnson’s interview with the BBC was dropped earlier this week after the presenter Laura Kuenssberg mistakenly sent him her briefing notes.
Continue reading...Former This Morning presenter says he was ‘so, so close’ to taking his own life after scandal that saw him quit ITV
Phillip Schofield has said he will be “forever sorry” in his first television appearance in more than a year since his shock downfall.
Schofield, now 62, quit ITV and admitted to having lied about an “unwise, but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague at This Morning last May. His agent parted ways with him and he has stayed out of the spotlight since.
Continue reading...Media regulator describes change as a ‘generational shift in the balance of news media’
Online platforms have overtaken TV channels as the most popular sources for news in the UK, according to figures described as a “generational shift” in viewing habits.
More than seven out of 10 UK adults (71%) consume online news, said the UK’s communications regulator, slightly ahead of TV, which is used by 70% of adults. Ofcom described the survey result, the first time websites and apps have moved in front of TV, as marking a “generational shift in the balance of news media”.
Continue reading...Programme uses simpler sentences and explains topics slowly for people who struggle with Dutch language
The Dutch public broadcaster NOS has launched an evening news programme using “easy language” aimed at 2.5 million people in the Netherlands who struggle with the language.
English speakers may joke about “double Dutch”, but foreigners are not the only ones who sometimes fail to comprehend the west Germanic language of long words, convoluted sentences and guttural sounds.
Continue reading...Fubo TV accuses Venu Sports – which also involves Hulu and Warner Bros Discovery – of anti-competitive practices
The launch of Venu Sports will be delayed after a federal judge granted FuboTV’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the planned sports streaming venture by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros Discovery.
US district judge Margaret M Garnett in New York said in her 69-page ruling that Fubo was likely to be successful in proving during a trial that the joint venture would violate antitrust laws, and Fubo and consumers would “face irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction”.
Continue reading...Corporation says journalist brought BBC ‘into disrepute’ and requests return of money paid since his arrest
The BBC has asked Huw Edwards to return £200,000 that he was paid following his arrest in November last year, after the disgraced presenter admitted making indecent images of children.
A statement from the corporation said Edwards, who announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II, had “undermined trust in the BBC and brought us into disrepute” and they wanted him to repay his salary.
Continue reading...Complaints followed Balls’ interview with his wife, Yvette Cooper, and Labour MP Zarah Sultana on Monday
The media regulator Ofcom has received more than 8,000 complaints after an episode of Good Morning Britain in which the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, was interviewed by her husband, Ed Balls.
Balls, a former Labour cabinet minister and a regular presenter on the ITV breakfast programme, questioned his wife’s response to far-right riots during Monday’s edition of the programme.
Continue reading...Mural featuring disgraced presenter also painted over in his home village of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire
A plaque honouring Huw Edwards at Cardiff Castle has been removed after the disgraced presenter pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.
Cardiff council took away the wall-mounted plaque after Edwards admitted to having 41 indecent images of children, sent to him by another man on WhatsApp.
Continue reading...Staff feel disillusioned with senior management and bitter that his pay had become an unstoppable snowball
For Huw Edwards, once the most trusted newsreader in Britain, now a convicted user of images of the most serious child sexual abuse, the disgrace is total – and nowhere more than in his home country of Wales.
Hours after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children as young as seven, a plaque on a building at Cardiff castle commemorating its unveiling by Edwards had already been wrenched off; his voice was also deleted from its guide. He is likely to be stripped of honorary titles at Bangor and Cardiff universities. A mural of the newsreader’s face in his home village of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire has already been painted over by the artist.
Continue reading...Ex-CNN anchor alleges fraud and breach of contract after X Corp owner abruptly ended video series partnership
The former CNN anchor Don Lemon has sued Elon Musk and X over a cancelled deal with the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
His filing in California superior court in San Francisco includes claims of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, misappropriation of Lemon’s name and likeness and breach of express contract.
Continue reading...Production workers at Strictly Come Dancing allege BBC refused to take their complaints seriously
Production staff who formerly worked on Strictly Come Dancing have complained of a toxic work culture and accused the BBC of failing to take their complaints seriously, in a fresh blow to the corporation’s primetime show, the Observer can reveal.
One former staff member alleged they had been subjected to sexist and sexualised comments, including intrusive questions about their sex life, while another claimed they witnessed “talented co-workers treated with cruelty”.
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