Andy Duncan, Channel 4 chief executive, has said that there have only been two incidents of possible racial abuse on Celebrity Big Brother, and that he has no intention of taking the show off air.Duncan said: “The latest series of Celebrity Big Brother has strayed into particularly controversial territory – the issue of racism and… Continue reading Duncan Defends Big Brother

Celebrity Big Brother is continuing to make headlines across the globe, and the controversy over the current series shows no sign of abating, with the audience for tonight’s eviction banned and Endemol being inundated with calls from potential sponsors.Jade Goody is up against Shilpa Shetty in tonight’s eviction programme, with Goody, who has been at… Continue reading Audience Banned From Big Brother Eviction

News Magazines is believed to have shelved plans to publish a new women’s weekly, which was being developed under the name Project Dannii.News magazines, the magazine publishing division of News International, had suffered a series of delays in launching the title, which was first meant to hit the market last September.Karl Marsden, News Magazine’s commercial… Continue reading News Magazines Shelves Project Danni

Johnston Press has conditionally acquired the assets and titles of the Scottish Newspaper operations of Archant for a cash consideration of £11.2 million funded from existing bank facilities. The business comprises eight weekly titles, of which three are paid-for newspapers circulating in the North East of Scotland around Peterhead and Fraserburgh and five are on… Continue reading Johnston Press Acquires Archant Scottish Titles

The BBC licence fee is expected to rise by 3% over each of the next two years, seeing the current price rise from £131.50 currently to a maximum of £151 by 2012.Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is also expected to announce today that a borrowing limit of between £220 million and £230 million will be set,… Continue reading BBC Licence Fee To Rise 3%

The Food Standards Agency last night launched a series of TV advertisements raising awareness of traffic light colour-coded front of pack food labelsThe ad aired for the first time last night at 7.45pm on ITV during Coronation Street. Other marketing activity to accompany the TV work will feature in the press, on poster sites and… Continue reading Food Standards Agency Launches Ad Campaign

Regulator Ofcom is to revamp its regulation of short-term radio licences, which could see a host of new stations able to cover events such as conferences.Following a consultation which showed backing for proposals to liberalise restrictions on 28-day restricted service licences (RSLs), Ofcom has decided to extend the number of short-term RSLs.Long-term RSLs will also… Continue reading Ofcom Reviews Regulation Of Short-Term Radio Licences

The Carphone Warehouse has pulled out of its sponsorship of the latest series of Celebrity Big Brother, apparently unhappy with the furore surrounding alleged racism and bullying.The Carphone Warehouse began its sponsorship of Big Brother two years ago with its TalkTalk brand before moving the sponsorship to its main brand last year.Complaints about the show… Continue reading Carphone Warehouse Suspends Celeb Big Bro Sponsorship

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is expected to announce today that the BBC will be set a borrowing limit of between £220 million and £230 million, a figure far less than the £400 million the BBC had sought. The licence fee is expected to rise by 3% over each of the next two years, following which… Continue reading BBC Borrowing Limit To Be £230 Million

Shares in Pearson, publisher of the Financial Times have reached a five year high, amid speculation that the FT could be sold off or that there could be a US buyout of the entire group. Shares had reached 835.5p as of 9am today, a five year high following an increase of 24.5p yesterday. The Financial… Continue reading Pearson Could Sell FT