• Rees Given Reins Of ESPN Global Digital Media
    Arne Rees, VP for ESPN in the U.S., will take over from Tom Gleeson, who will consult for ESPN. Rees will be international digital media VP for ESPN International, overseeing ESPNCricinfo, ESPNScrum, ESPNF1, ESPNSoccernet and other properties. Among ESPN's most prestigious overseas TV rights is 23 live matches in the UK of England's Premier League soccer. It also holds mobile highlights rights to all the tournament's games.
  • Award-winning Columnist Quits Paper For Online Gig
    Anatole Kaletsky, who has written about economics and government at The Times for 22 years, implied in his leave-taking that he is glad to be out from behind the newspaper's paywall, saying that "news and analysis for business readers and policymakers is shifting irrevocably from print to digital". Kaletsky said he believes the "reinvention of capitalism" is the big story and is best told through an online column.
  • UK Shoppers Still Flock To Daily Deal Sites
    Groupon is the most popular site, a Kantar Media study finds, with 80% share and 8.1 million monthly visitors. LivingSocial.com and KGBDeals.co.uk follow with 10% share each. Two-thirds of online shoppers agree that 'I always look out for special offers'. Still, the study finds that only 37% of buyers make a second purchase from the same supplier. Recently, the Office of Fair Trading reprimanded Groupon for misleading trading practises and exaggerating deals.
  • Now Twitter Follows You Into The Loo
    Australian entrepreneurs David Gillespie, Matthew Delprado and Johny Mair have made a get-rich-quick gimmick. With the tagline, "Social media has never been so disposable" and a pile of poo for an icon, they've created Shitter. Shitter takes your Twitter feeds and prints them on four rolls of toilet paper. The rolls cost GBP22 plus shipping.
  • Facebook Says Data Goes Underused On Most Web Sites
    Speaking at Facebook's first event dedicated to UK marketers, Christian Hernandez-Gallardo, director of platform relationships EMEA, talked about how social data can be used to create services out of marketing. Karl-Heinz Land of Microstrategy said, "If we well [with data], then marketing will be received as a service, and not only that but a paid service. ... If you are in a situation of trust with your customers then you shouldn't have an issue [with data and privacy]".
  • Murdoch Tweets Attack Aussie Malpractice Allegations
    Railing against "lies and libels" by "old toffs and right wingers" stuck in the last century, media mogul Rupert Murdoch took to Twitter after the Australian Financial Review accused News Corp of sabotaging competitors, which led to calls for the case to be referred to Federal police. It follows similar accusations in the UK, where his firm is accused of hacking rivals ITV Digital and posting access codes online. It was later reported in The Australian that the AFR would not be passing evidence to the police.
  • Hootsuite Gets $20 Million Shot In The Arm
    Canadian fund OMERS Ventures has acquired a stake in the social media management platform by making secondary purchases from employees and earlier investors in the four-year-old Vancouver-based company. Hootsuite, which has already raised $4.9 million in debt and equity, allows marketers to track their presence of Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and the like.
  • Expect To See Channel 5's VOD Player On More Devices
    Celebrating its 15th anniversary this week, the broadcaster says it will extend its TV catch-up player to Android devices, connected TVs and the PS3 this summer. James Tatum, head of digital, says viewing across Demand 5 has doubled over the past year, which has increased inventory. Syndication remains a core part of the strategy and has driven "huge" amounts of traffic to the VOD player. Thus, the extension.
  • For Best Facebook Engagement, It's PG Tips
    The tea brand zoomed past such brands as Apple, Rolex and Jaguar to get to the top of iProspect's Engagement Index, specifically on Facebook. Managementtoday.co.uk reports that nearly 2 in 10 PG Tips fans were active on the brand's page during February, although it could be attributed to a Valentine's Day campaign. But its long-term attitude is what Angus Wood, iProspect's director, attributes to its winning ways.
  • Entertainment One Revenues Soar On Digital
    Revenues from such formats as downloads and online streaming are gaining steam at the distribution company behind Peppa Pig and the film "Twilight." Group turnover has doubled in digital in the year to March and is growing at a faster rate than a year earlier. New online services like LoveFilm and Netflix are boosting the value of E1's rights and encouraging consumers to watch more as they have more choice on more devices.
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