100% Media Roundup: 18 July- 22 July

This is a daily digest of news stories from around the media world, updated by The Media Leader team, to ensure you’re 100% up-to-date.

 

Friday, 22 July

Twitter misses expectations on revenue, earnings, and users

Twitter missed revenue expectations in Q2, with revenue totaling $1.18bn against Wall Street expectations of $1.32bn.

The social media company reported a loss of $0.08/share adjusted against a gain of $0.14/share expected.

Twitter also reported average monetizable daily users hit 237.8 million compared to 238.08 million expected.

The social media company’s operating loss amounted to $344m, representing a -29% operating margin as total costs and expenses totaled $1.52bn (31% year-over-year increase).

Net loss was $270m, representing a net margin of -23% and diluted earnings-per-share of -$0.35.

Twitter cited the Musk debacle and a weakening digital ad market as reasons for the drop in revenue.

The company announced it would not be holding an earnings call this quarter due to the pending status of Elon Musk’s acquisition; Twitter has sued Musk to force him to buy the company after the billionaire attempted to leave the deal.

Shares of Twitter dropped over 2% on the news.

Dentsu UK becomes first UK ad partner with 55/Redefined to take on ageism in the industry

Dentsu UK has partnered with 55/Redefined, an organisation redefining life after 50, to improve representation of over 50-year-olds in the advertising industry.

This move also means Dentsu UK becomes an accredited “age-aware employer” and will commit to several initiatives including:

• Improving technical training and re-skilling for the over 50s including an apprenticeship programme retraining this group across the agency.
• Ensuring recruitment processes are inclusive and accessible to the over 50s.
• Reviewing HR retirement guidance and policies to ensure people are not encouraged to retire at a set age.
• Engaging with its own over-50 community of employees to better understand the experiences they feel would help them remain engaged at work longer.
• Communicating and promoting job vacancies to better reach this group.

Currently, the UK ad industry skews significantly towards the younger generation than the general population, with the All In Census revealing only 5% were aged over 55.

ITV sets working-class background recruitment target for the first time

ITV has set a target to increase the number of colleagues from working-class backgrounds to 33% by 2025, the first time it has set a socio-economic background target.

Earlier this week, ITV published its latest Diversity Acceleration Plan Report for 2022 outlining the next phase of its diversity and inclusion strategy alongside its progress so far.

In another first since the Diversity Acceleration Plan was launched two years ago, the broadcaster has published intersectional data for the first time to show the representation of colleagues with multiple protected characteristics such as d/Deaf, disabled or neurodiverse people of colour to help remove barriers and better understand experiences. This data found the proportion of women of colour and Black women at ITV exceeded the national average of 7% and 1.7%, registering 8.7% and 2.1% respectively.

ITV has also launched Disability Access Passports, Amplify, Fresh Cuts and an £80m Diversity Commissioning Fund for the next three years which will put aside at least £20m for production companies led by people of colour or d/Deaf, disabled or neurodiverse people. An additional £500k Development Fund will be allocated to develop ideas that will qualify for the Diversity Commissioning fund.

It has also continued its Step Up 60 initiative, and its ongoing strategy will be to create and showcase content by, with and for everyone, connecting and reflecting modern audiences.

Fox News again does not carry primetime coverage of January 6 committee hearing

Fox again refused to carry coverage of the January 6 committee hearing last night in primetime, opting instead to air its usual slate of primetime pundits Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham.

Fox previously did not carry the committee’s first primetime hearing in June; it did cover subsequent hearings that took place during the daytime.

FoxNews.com, the channel’s digital arm, was this week downgraded by ratings company NewsGuard for failing “to adhere to basic journalistic standards”.

Read more on Fox News here: Passion, conspiracy, and friendly fire: the pursuit of cleaning up digital media

Instagram to turn all videos under 15 minutes into Reels, expand recommended content

All new video posts on Instagram that clock in under 15 minutes in length will now be shared as Reels.

Users with public accounts will also now have all newly posted Reels eligible to be recommended to be seen by more people on the platform.

The move comes as Instagram parent company Meta is increasingly instituting changes to its platforms to compete more directly with short-form video sharing app TikTok, itself under government scrutiny over US user data practices.

The change will not apply to videos posted from before the switch.

Verizon Fios drops far-right One America News Network

One America News Network (OANN) has lost its last major TV carrier after Verizon Fios announced it would be remove the outlet from its line-up at the end of the month.

The decision, which was first reported by The Daily Beast, was attributed to OANN’s failure “to agree to fair terms” related to the economics of their deal with Verizon.

DirecTV previously dropped OANN in January, adding to the outlet’s woes after being sued last August by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation over spreading lies related to the 2020 election.

IPG announces 7.9% organic growth in Q2

Interpublic has reported organic net revenue increase of 7.9% to $2.38bn in the second quarter of 2022 in its latest earnings.

This was made up of an organic net revenue increase of 8.3% in the US and 7.1% internationally.

First half 2022 net revenue was $4.6bn, marking an organic net revenue increase of 9.6% breaking down into an increase of 10.2% in the US, and 8.6% internationally.

The company also announced a share repurchase programme in the first half of 2022 where it repurchased 4.5 million shares of its common stock at an aggregate cost of $147.9 million and an average price of $32.84 per share, including fees.

Philippe Krakowsky, CEO of IPG said despite period of macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, and “limited visibility” in such conditions, they believe they will exceed 6.5% organic growth for the full year after upgrading their 2022 organic growth forecast in April to 6%.

Snap misses earnings expectations, stock tanks

Shares of Snap dropped more than 28% in after-market trading after the company reported it missed earnings and revenue expectations and did not offer Q3 guidance.

While revenue increased 13% year-over-year to $1.1bn, the company’s net loss was $422m compared to $152m in the prior year, and adjusted EBITDA was just $7m compared to $117m in the prior year.

Snap also announced it would be buying back up to $500m worth of common stock, an unusual move for a company with a disappointing financial report.

Snap also said it would slow its rate of hiring and operating expense growth.

Shares of Snap had been beaten down previously after the company suddenly reduced its Q2 guidance; the social media company has lost more than two-thirds of its value year-to-date.

The company attributed missing the reduced guidance to “platform policy changes” (such as Apple’s privacy changes to iOS), macroeconomic challenges, and increased competition from other digital advertising companies like TikTok.

Thursday, 21 July 

IPG Mediabrands restructures leadership

Daryl Lee, IPG Mediabrands’ global chief executive, will replace Bill Kolb as CEO of agency McCann Worldgroup.

Kolb, former McCann Worldwide CEO and chairman, was in the role for two years but will stay on as chair.

Lee has been IPG Mediabrands’ CEO for nearly three years and previously held senior roles at McCann.

UM global chief executive, Eileen Kiernan will succeed Lee as IPG Mediabrands global CEO.

Read an interview with Daryl Lee from this year’s Cannes Media Lions: IPG Mediabrands CEO Daryl Lee: Metaverse’s $5tn potential will not be realised at Cannes’ Media Lions

Facebook redesigns home feed

Facebook has officially redesigned its homepage, with two new options for browsing: “Home” and “Feeds”.

Home, the first tab you see when opening the Facebook app, is a “discovery engine” where users will receive primarily recommended content, including featured Reels from creators, in a bid to compete with TikTok.

Feeds provides a chronologically ordered list of updates from accounts you are friends with or follow, without any recommended content.

The change is similar to Instagram’s redesign.

Ads will run on both versions of the homepage.

The new feeds could have ripple effects across the advertising industry.

Publicis reports all-time high H1 earnings, ‘way beyond expectations’

Publicis Groupe has reported all-time high H1 2022 results and has upgraded their FY 2022 guidance on all KPIs after organic growth ‘way above expectations’ according to CEO and chairman Arthur Sadoun.

The company reported Q2 net revenue at €3.1bn and organic growth at 10.3% (overall growth at 21%), with strong performance across regions (US +10.1%, Europe +10.1%, Asia +6.5).

Publicis Groupe now expects organic growth for 2022 to reach 6-7%, with free cash flow to be at least €1.5bn.

Viaplay acquires Premier Sports for reported £30m

Streaming platform operator, Viaplay, has acquired UK sports streamer and TV channel operator Premier Sports for £30m on a cash and debt-free basis.

This move increases Viaplay’s presence in the UK as Premier Sports’ has its own portfolio of sports rights and its platforms are available across the country through long-term distribution agreements with Sky, Virgin, Amazon and Netgem TV.

BT Sport and Sky Sports discussed freelance pay rates, email suggests

Broadcasters BT Sport and Sky Sports consulted each other over increasing freelance pay increases in 2018, an email shared with the FT suggests.

The email is dated July 2018 and BT Sport said that following a session with Sky Sports activities, they would increase the freelance day price by £10 a day to £380.

This comes as the Competitor and Market’s Authority launched an investigation into whether BT, IMG Media, ITV and Sky colluded to buy freelance services.

Read more on this story here: BT, Sky and ITV face antitrust probe over sport broadcasts

UEFA Women’s Euros attracts peak 7.59 million audience

England’s quarter-final match against Spain last night pulled in a peak audience of 7.59 million viewers on BBC One at 10.30pm when the game had gone into extra time, according to overnight BARB figures.

There were a further 1.5 million streams of the match across BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

The match gained peak share of the timeslot of 34.5% with kick-off at 8pm and an average audience of 5.01 million.

A record in-person crowd of 28,994 watched England came from behind to win the match and go through to the semi-finals next Tuesday.

The highest peak television audience for women’s football in the UK is 11.7 million for England’s 2019 World Cup semi-final defeat by the United States.

S4 cuts earnings outlook as ‘hiring costs outweigh revenues’

S4 Capital issued a profit warning as its hiring costs have begun to outweigh its revenues, according to a report from The Financial Times.

The challenger marketing company, helmed by former WPP CEO Martin Sorrell (pictured-main), cut its full-year guidance to £120m from its consensus £154m-£165m expected range.

It has been a tumultuous year for S4, which earned impressive revenue in Q1 after an “unacceptable and embarrassing” publication delay.

The company’s stock tanked over 48% on the news and is now down nearly 80% year-to-date.

Ofcom finds TikTok news source reach on par with Sky News’ website and app

TikTok saw the largest increase in use of any news source between 2020 and 2022, from 0.8 million adults (1%) to 3.9 million adults (7%), on par with Sky News’ website and app, according to Ofcom’s News Consumption in the UK 2021.22 report.

In addition, the research found three in ten teenagers (29%) used Instagram to access the news, which was closely followed by TikTok and YouTube which each counted 28% of this age group coming to them to keep up to date with the news.

For adults, the reach of TV and internet platforms remained steady with 74% and 66% respectively, while reach of print newspapers decreased and online newspaper reach stayed consistent.

The Daily Mail and Mail On Sunday were the most widely-read print title overall and were joined at the top of the digital title table by The Guardian and The Observer.

The BBC were ranked as the news organisation with the highest cross-platform audience reach, pulling in 76% reach among those that follow news.

CNN chair names new leadership team

CNN chairman Chris Licht has announced a new leadership team, mostly from internal hires.

Among the new announcements include:

• Virginia Moseley as executive vice president of editorial.
• Michael Bass as executive vice president of programming.
• Amy Entelis as executive vice president of talent and content development.
• Ken Jauntz as executive vice president of news.
• Johnita Due as executive vice president of integrity and inclusion.
• Ramon Escobar as senior vice president of talent recruitment and development.
• Chris Marlin as executive vice president of strategy and business operations.
• Kris Coratti as chief communications officer.

The changes were reported earlier by Variety and The New York Times.

Wednesday, 20 July

Ad Council announces dentsu Americas CEO as new chair of directors

The Ad Council has appointed Jacki Kelley, CEO of dentsu Americas as chair of the Council’s Board of Directors.

As chair, Kelley will work in collaboration with the Ad Council’s governing body to further the organization’s mission to “use the power of communications to address the country’s critical social issues”.

Kelley succeeds Linda Yaccarino who is chairman, global advertising and partnerships of NBCUniversal.

Kelley, who joined the Ad Council Board of Directors in 2017 and became a member of its Executive Committee in 2018, will serve in the role until June 30, 2023.

Tina Walpert Levy, VP, Americas YouTube has also been elected vice chair alongside current vice  chair Diego Scotti, who will serve as chair after Kelley’s tenure.

Smart Outdoor partners with Crimestoppers to tackle knife crime

Smart Outdoor is showing ads for the charity’s “Silence Won’t Stop Violence” campaign across 250 of its high-football screens throughout June and July.

The campaign will feature on roadside, retail and petrol station sites across the UK and to raise public awareness and encourage people to report violent crime incidents or planned attacks using Crimestoppers’ unique anonymous reporting service.

The Guardian Media Group reports double-digit revenue growth

The Guardian Media Group’s reported revenues increased by £30.3m (13%) year-on-year, the highest level since 2007/8, in its annual results for the 12 months to 3 April 2022.

Earlier this year, The Guardian passed the one million digital subscriber milestone and reported digital reader revenues increased more than 10% to £76.1m, surpassing print reader revenues of £71.5m.

Digital revenues now account for two thirds of total revenue, while international revenue grew by more than 15% to £79.9m, making up more than 30% of total revenue and more than 50% of digital revenue.

At the end of March 2022, The Guardian had more than one million recurring digital supporters, 112,000 print subscriptions and 499,000 one-off financial contributions globally during the year.

‘Release the Snyder Cut’ campaign ‘used fake accounts’

Fake social media accounts drove the push for Warner Bros. to “release the Snyder Cut” of Justice League, according to a report by Rolling Stone.

At least 13% of the accounts that “took part in the conversation about the Snyder Cut were deemed fake” according to a report commissioned by WarnerMedia.

The number is two to three times the average number of fake accounts on Twitter.

The original Justice League film was released in 2017 and was a box office bomb, losing Warner Bros. $60m.

Director Zach Snyder had stepped down during post-production following the death of his daughter, and Joss Whedon was brought in to finish and reshoot the film, which received criticism.

Following public pressure on social media, which reports now say was done via astroturfing, Warner Bros. invested an additional $70m to re-shoot and re-finish the film and released Zach Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max in 2021.

Bauer Media Audio makes two senior appointments

Bauer Media Audio has hired a people and culture director and general counsel. 

Christiane Freund (pictured- above right) will join on 1 September from LVMH Group and lead people and culture strategy for Bauer Media Audio across Europe. She will also be responsible for the Audio HR team in Bauer Media Audio’s nine territories. 

Adrian Goss (pictured- above left) will join the business on 1 August from Are Media in Sydney, Australia’s largest magazine and digital publisher as general counsel for Bauer Media Audio & Publishing UK.  

He will be in charge of the strategic direction and centre of excellence for legal in Bauer Media Audio’s operations across its markets and lead the Audio legal team across Europe and provide services to Bauer Media Audio and Bauer Media Publishing in the UK.  

News UK has windows smashed by Extinction Rebellion

Extinction rebellion protestors smashed windows at News UK’s London headquarters on Tuesday, Britain’s hottest day in recorded history.

“’Breaking’ is what we did to The Sun’s windows this am. ‘Smashing’ is what happened to UK records this heatwave,” wrote the environmental advocacy group on Twitter.

“Breaking” is what we did to @TheSun‘s windows this am.

“Smashing” is what happened to UK records this #heatwave.

We’re not terrified by the the death and disruption caused by fires and heat today. We’re terrified this will become normal. If we don’t #ActNow. https://t.co/rlMsloxls1 pic.twitter.com/TdJiXnL1yR

— Extinction Rebellion UK 🌍 (@XRebellionUK) July 19, 2022

News UK was targeted due to its ownership by Rupert Murdoch, whose publications’ coverage they accuse of downplaying the climate crisis.

The environmental advocacy group told Press Gazette five had been arrested in relation to the protest.

Omnicom Media Group reports 11.3% organic growth in latest earnings

Omnicom Media Group (OMG) reported $403.8m or 11.3% organic growth in Q2 2022 compared to Q2 2021 in its latest quarterly results.

Across its fundamental disciplines, organic growth increased year-on-year; advertising and media by 8.2%, public relations by 15.8%, precision marketing b y 21%, healthcare by 9.2%, execution and support by 9.3%, commerce & brand consulting by 11.2% and experiential by 36.6%.

There was also organic growth across all of its regional markets, 10.7% in the USA, 15.1% in the Euro markets and other Europe, 4.7% in Asia Pacific, 14% in Latin America and 28.3% for the Middle East & Africa.

Looking forward, John Wren, chairman and CEO of OMG said they were looking to expand in to high-growth areas like retail media and e-commerce and that as the second half of the year approaches, OMG is in “a strong financial position” to manage through economic headwinds.

Global economic challenges were specified as the impact of the war in Ukraine, the pandemic, rising inflation and supply-chain disruptions.

Nationwide and Innocent join The Conscious Advertising Network

Nationwide Building Society and Innocent have become members of The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN).

Nationwide is the first financial institution to sign up to CAN, a UK-based voluntary coalition of more than 150 organisations with a shared vision urging the ethics of the industry to catch up with the technology.

In order to retain membership, both companies need to commit to CAN’s manifestos which cover seven areas including: hate speech, dis/misinformation, diversity and inclusion, children’s wellbeing, climate and sustainability, informed consent, and advertising fraud.

Nationwide and Innocent are both clients of GroupM UK, WPP’s media investment arm, which became a member of CAN last year.

The GoodNet partners with Scope3 to make every campaign on its network carbon-neutral

Sustainability start-up, The GoodNet, has announced a partnership with Scope3, “the source of truth” for programmatic supply chain carbon emissions data.

As a result of the partnership, carbon emissions from campaigns through The GoodNet will now be measured and compensated for through a “high-quality portfolio” of carbon removal projects.

The GoodNet’s mission allows advertisers to reach an audience of ethical consumers, while directly funding publishers with content that inspires people to live greener, healthier and more socially positive lives.

Research from Purpose Disruptors found advertising added 28% to annual carbon footprint of every person in the UK.

Read more on The GoodNet here: Greener, healthier, fairer: what ‘good’ means in ex-Global execs’ start-up The Goodnet

Tuesday, 19 July

Shopify and YouTube launch YouTube shopping

Shopify and YouTube have announced a partnership enabling retailers and creators to sell to consumers on the entertainment platform with YouTube shopping.

It means Shopify merchants can now tag and pin products in a livestream on YouTube Live, create a curated list of products below on-demand videos and feature a selection of products through a new tab called the store tab.

YouTube has more than 2 billion monthly logged in users.

Amazon rolls out new Prime Video design and interface

Amazon Prime Video is receiving a significant touch-up.

The redesign features new navigation, a new top 10 list on the home screen, sub-sections for movies, TV, and sports, and new “super carousels”.

The rollout has begun today for Android, CTV devices, and game consoles, with plans to bring the change to iOS later this year.

Russia fines Google $373m for Ukraine war content

Russia has fined Google $373m for failure to remove content regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that the Russian government deems illegal, according to a report from Reuters.

Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, singled out Google’s YouTube in particular for not deleting “fakes about the course of the special military operation in Ukraine”.

The fine is the latest in an ongoing spat between Google and Russia—in May, Google’s Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy after authorities seized the company’s bank account.

Netflix popularity decreases by 20%

Netflix has dropped from second place to 22nd in the annual Mission Brand Bonding Index.

The research is based on a YouGov survey of 3000 respondents, more than 61,000 data points and 12 source categories, and found only 19% of respondents thought Netflix’s output was very good quality, 18% thought Netflix was customer-focused, 49% thought it offered good value and and positive sentiment for the brand was at 11%.

The streaming platform has said it expects to lose another two million subscribers in the three months to July, after decreasing by 200,000 earlier this year for the first time since it was founded.

This comes as there is increased competition from Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Paramount+, Netflix has increased its prices and announced plans for an ad-supported tier.

Disney Advertising attracts $9bn at strongest upfronts ever

Disney said 40% of its total upfront dollars, $3.6bn, went to streaming and digital platforms; Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu.

The company said it posted double-digit cost-per-thousand viewer price increases for its ABC Television Network prime-time inventory and high single-digit increases for addressable TV deal.

Additionally, Disney Advertising received “commitments” to Disney+ from all its media agency partners

Tug appoints head of biddable media UK

Digital performance marketing agency, Tug, has appointed Daniel Capon as head of biddable media in the UK.

Capon (pictured- above) joins from Publicis Groupe agency Starcom and be responsible for Tug’s paid media team in London, delivering data-driven campaigns for blue-chip brands and driving growth across paid search and paid social.

Alight Media becomes exclusive out-of-home six-sheet partner in Warrington

Alight Media has been appointed the exclusive out-of-home six-sheet partner in Warrington, Cheshire, following a competitive tender.

The deal will see Alight Media install 80 digital screens, 164 classic posters and FSUs in the town centre and will increase Alight Media’s national six-sheet reach by 45% to 3.7 million adults every two weeks.

All of the Alight bus shelters (pictured- above) will include a combination of recycled materials, living roof shelters and use of wind and solar power.

This builds on contracts with Bournemouth, Telford and The South Yorkshire Combined Authority, including Rotherham, Doncaster, Barnsley and Sheffield.

BARB appoints audiences director

BARB, the UK’s television audience measurement service, has appointed Matt Laycock to the newly-created role of audiences director.

Laycock (pictured- below) will join BARB on 26 September 2022 from InSites Consulting, and prior to this he spent nine years at The Walt Disney Company, most recently as research director, UK & Ireland, and before this he was research manager, sponsorship and online ad sales for Channel 4.

In the new leadership team role, he will be responsible for BARB’s four strategic priorities:

• Enhancing data accessibility for users
• Extending BARB’s reporting of TV and TV-like viewing across linear, broadcast video-on-demand, subscription video-on-demand and relevant content on video-sharing platforms
• Developing BARB’s Advanced Campaign Hub and overseeing BARB’s input into development of CFlight
• Delivering an effective communications programme

He will work closely with Caroline Baxter, recently appointed research operations director

OMD USA names Christina Hanson CEO

Christian Hanson has been named as the new head of Omnicom Media Group agency OMD USA.

Hanson has previously worked as OMD’s global chief strategy officer since 2018.

She replaces John Osborn, who is leaving the network after five years in the role.

Monday, 18 July

Snapchat launches on desktop

Snap has launched a web-based version of Snapchat on desktop today.

The web version of the popular app contains many features found on phones—sending snaps to friends, posting stories, and using photo lenses—and it will also soon feature video calls.

The launch is currently only available for Snapchat Plus subscribers; Snap rolled out its paid subscription tier last month, which costs $3.99/month.

The launch comes amid a difficult financial year for Snap, which has seen its stock decline over 70% year-to-date.

Sky News cancels televised Conservative leadership debate

Sky News has cancelled its Conservative leadership debate due to air tomorrow evening after candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss pulled out.

Conservative MPs are reported to be “concerned” about the damage the debates are doing to the image of the party, revealing disagreements and splits.

House of Lords debates alternatives to BBC licence fee

Members of the Communications and Digital Committee of the UK House of Lords, chaired by Baroness Stowell of Beeston, have published a report today urging the BBC to set out “a bold new plan” including costed options for future funding models or face “stagnation and decline”.

In Licence to change: BBC future funding, the Committee found while the BBC has “a vital role” delivering value and benefit to audiences, it needs to do a better job representing diverse communities and perspectives.

Additionally, the report said the current licence fee system’s link to a television looks “increasingly outdated”.

The debated alternatives included a universal household levy linked to council tax bills, a ring-fenced income tax and reforming the existing licence fee to provide discounts to low income households.

The report said a model based fully on subscription or advertising would not work, nor would a BBC funded wholly by government grants.

However, the Committee also said the BBC would need to be “open-minded about exploring more ambitious commercial options, such as domestic or international hybrid subscription services.”

Reach launches AI audience engagement tool

Regional and national publisher Reach has launched Neptune Recommender, an artificial intelligence-powered tool that serves “more tightly relevant” content to users’ interests than ever before.

The tool is now integrated into Reach’s sites and page-views through Neptune Recommender currently account for 40% of Reach’s page-view growth since the start of 2022.

Neptune Recommender is powered by Mantis, Reach’s AI-powered contextual safety tool, and uses machine learning and increased data points such as category, concept, comment engagement and sentiment to provide “genuinely helpful and relevant content that resonates with detail”.

The tool updates each time a user visits a page and will be made commercially available to other publishers in the marketplace as it can be customised to advertising.

The&Partnership and mSix&Partners launch earn-while-you-learn training apprenticeship programme

The&Partnership and mSix&Partners have launched The&Academy, a new apprenticeship scheme for the advertising industry in Birmingham.

The&Academy will offer full-time training and work experience in digital and creative industries to “the next generation of diverse talent”.

The scheme will start with 25 apprentices aged 18- 24 at a brand-new Birmingham Campus, with plans to expand to North America and Europe.

The training will be delivered by Multiverse and will partner with Meta, Google and TikTok.

On the Beach sponsors Bauer’s Magic Breakfast

UK travel company On the Beach has secured a 12-month sponsorship of Magic Radio’s Breakfast Show with Ronan Keating and Harriet Scott (pictured- below).

The deal was brokered by Goodstuff Communications and will run on the Monday- Friday show starting on 18 July 2022, running until 16 July 2023.

The campaign will additionally peak at key holiday booking points throughout the year, including July, November, the start of the new year.

Listeners will have the chance to win a holiday every Monday, which was identified as the highest booking day of the week and January will see Ronan and Harriet broadcasting a show live from the airport.

In addition, there will be digital audio ads booked through Octave Audio and advertorials in Bauer titles Grazia and Closer.

Disney hikes ESPN+ price 43%

Disney has increased the price of its sports streaming service ESPN+ by 43% from $6.99/month to $9.99/month.

The company had previously hiked the price of ESPN+ less dramatically, with $1 price increases in 2020 and 2021.

Disney’s streaming bundle offering, which includes Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+, has been left unchanged at $13.99/month.

The move will incentivize ESPN+ subscribers to pay more for the bundle, or otherwise increase revenue for Disney so long as demand proves inelastic in response to the price hike.

Talon Outdoor UK co-founder steps down

Frank Bryant, one of the founders of specialist outdoor agency Talon Outdoor, has stepped down from the board with immediate effect.

According to a statement from the company, Bryant (pictured- below) has decided that it is “the right time” to step down and enjoy retirement following the recent announcement Talon had secured investment from Equistone Partners Europe.

He first set up the business with Eric Newnham and James Copley in 2013 and it is now a global independent out-of-home agency.

Bryant also built up Talon’s charity work during his time on the board, raising £2m for charity to date through “Talon Turns” parties and other fundraising initiatives.

TikTok’s global chief security officer steps down

TikTok’s global chief security officer, Roland Cloutier, has stepped down from his role as the company’s US data management strategy transitions to using Oracle, the company shared in a message late last week.

Cloutier will move to a “strategic advisory role” to focus on the business impact of security and trust programs.

TikTok has come under intense scrutiny from the US government in recent weeks after a BuzzFeed News article revealed Americans’ data was accessible to China.

Cloutier’s stepping down will be effective 2 September, with head of security risk, vendor and client assurance Kim Albarella serving as interim head of TikTok’s Global Security Organization.

Havas Media Manchester creates and fills joint general manager position

Havas Media Group UK has promoted Lucy Barnes and James Reddington (pictured- below) to the newly created role of joint general manager at Havas Media Manchester.

Barnes was previously strategy partner and Reddington was managing partner.

Both will sit on the Havas Media Group UK leadership team and aim to “build on positive momentum” to turn Havas Media Manchester into the fastest growing agency presence in the region.

This comes as Havas Media Manchester retained the BBC last year, and won Matalan and Stagecoach accounts, increasing billings by 150% in a year.

Trainline appoints Wavemaker to handle media planning

Trainline, the independent rail and coach platform, has appointed Wavemaker to handle media strategy and planning across the UK, Italy and France following a competitive pitch.

The WPP agency will now coordinate Trainline’s campaign activations in these three core markets across social media, addressable TV, digital audio, out-of-home, digital out-of-home alongside digital, radio and influencer partnerships.

Online Safety Bill put on pause during Tory Leadership contest

The Online Safety Bill, which was set to enter its final stages and be discussed in Parliament next week, will be paused until MPs return from their summer break.

The bill is currently at the report stage and was due to set out rules on how platforms should deal with harmful content.

In case you missed it last week:

Channel 4 reports record-breaking year amid push to privatise