SEAN HARGRAVE
Sean Hargrave is MediaPost's London Editor. You can reach him at seanhargrave@btinternet.com.Articles by Sean All articles by Sean
- 'MAD London' Is Taking A Temporary Break in
MAD London on
05/29/2020
The MAD London team is taking a temporary break. We hope to resume a daily news service as soon as possible.
- Court Overturns EU's Block On O2 And Three Merger in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/29/2020
An EU court has overturned a decision by the EU's competition watchdog to oppose the merger of O2 and Three, "The Telegraph" reports. The court said several mistakes were made when the decision was made to block the move.
- Dentsu Aegis Predicts 15% to 20% Q2 Slump in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/29/2020
Dentsu Aegis is predicting a 15% to 20% slump in Q2 revenues, "Campaign" reveals.
- Google To Help More Than 5,300 Local Newsrooms in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/29/2020
"Press Gazette" is reporting that Google's efforts to help local news will see grants made to more than 5,300 newsrooms across the globe, including more than 100 in the UK.
- Global Ad Spend To Dip 8%, UK To See 16.4% Decline in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/29/2020
Warc is predicting global ad spend will slump 8% this year, according to "Campaign". However, UK ad spend is due to reduce by more than 16%, second only to France's 18.7% decline.
- Cinemas To Open Next Month in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/29/2020
Cinemas are due to open next month if Cineworld is anything to go by. It will be opening up again next month with safety measures in place, "Sky News" confirms.
- 1 in 5 Brits Signs Up For Streaming During Lockdown in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/29/2020
One in five Brits has signed up to a streaming service during lockdown and half of those new accounts have gone to Disney+, according to "BBC News."
- 'Daily Mail' Ad Revenue Plummets 70% in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/29/2020
The "Daily Mail" group saw ad revenue plummet 70% in April and May, "The Guardian" reports.
- Newspaper Circulations Slump Up To 39% During Lockdown in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/22/2020
The "Financial Times" and "i" newspapers have been the hardest hit during lockdown. Among a raft of large drops in circulations, the two hardest-hit titles have dropped by 39% and 38% respectively, "The Guardian" reports.
- Time Is Running Out For COVID-19 Tracing App, NHS Warns in
Around the Net In MAD London on
05/22/2020
Time is running out to launch a COVID-19 tracing app, NHS leaders are warning the Government, according to "ITV News."
Comments by Sean All comments by Sean
- 'Ok Boomer!' Let's Sort Out Hate Speech
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
03/09/2020)
Hi Craig, No offence meant. The phrase "ok boomer" is common parlance here in the UK and I"m sure it's the same in the US? The irony being it came amid calls to ban hate speech, hence showing the difficulty that 'ok boomer' is allowed but other phrases will not.That was the point being made here, no offence intended.Sean
- 'The Telegraph' Is Up For Sale, But For How Much?
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
10/28/2019)
Apologies, there were a bunch of figures around regarding pre tax and operating etc profits. Have adjust the change from 16m to 3m as 80%. Thanks for pointing this out.
- Tommy Robinson Is Convicted, But He's No Journalist
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
07/11/2019)
Thanks, that's a great save. Most definitely 'now' rather than 'not' - thanks for flagging this up. It's been amended.
- Forget Millennials -- Gen Z Will Make Brand Purpose A Priority
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
06/06/2019)
Good point Kevin,When the bank of mum and dad is no longer funding a greener more 'woke' lifestyle, will GenZ carry on worrying? I'm a little more confident they will because of the Extinction Rebellion movement making climate change a front page news story and concern plus greener products, I suspect, are going to become more mainstream, making them less of a financial stretch. But you're right, at the moment the 'woke' lifestyle is being funded by parents and guardians, we'll have to see what happens when the bills start landing on their own doorstep!
- Is Instagram's Free Ride Coming To An End?
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
06/07/2019)
Thanks, that's really helpful. I guess Instagram has the same issue as FB of far too many people wanting to get in each timeline and it makes sense to rank on quality and engagement. I can't help but think this ultimately still paves the way for Instagram to follow the FB example of encouraging wider reach through advertising. It's always been the case but with organic reach potentially harder to obtain, it's going to increase reliance on advertising, particularly boosting influencer posts. That's my prediction, for what it's worth!
- Fourteen Million Reasons To Block The Ad Blockers
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
06/04/2018)
As mentioned, publishers have a lot to do to get their own house in order first and the Coalition for Better Ads is a good starting point. I absolutely make that point first of all. But, still a publisher has nothing to lose from banning ad blockers. If readers don't want to be monetised, how do they expect the content to get to them? It's taking the content without playing the game. So ban them. Publishers have nothing to lose other than not wasting content on what I would call shoplifters and you would label people assuming a right to take content for free.
- Is Native Advertising The Latest Victim Of Publishing's Flight To Quality?
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
04/09/2018)
Thanks Paula, that just me "LOL" - somewhere along the way I succumbed to the modern, trendy word because that's what everyone now reports on. I remember years ago saying to people, "it's just advertorial, isn't it?" and getting the puzzled smile a digital native gives to a dinosaur!
- Did Facebook Just Admit TV Was Right About Video Ads All Along?
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
01/10/2018)
Yes, I'm not sure Facebook's record on video analytics is always trustworthy. I think with a shift towards 6 second pre and mid rolls, though, the majority of people watching the entire ad to get to the juicy content is realistic. Whether they're looking at the screen or wasting 6 seconds looking at their calendar instead, is anyone's guess.
- Did The UK Government Just Let Social Giants Off The Hook?
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
10/11/2017)
Agreed. I am surprised the social giants haven't done more to have blocking and reporting tools more prominently displayed. If you have a problem with a comment, it's very hard to know what to do, whom to report it to. Also, with kid education, you would think a nanosecond's worth of profit could be put in to some extra tools, a video or two, a microsite for education? It now kind of feels like they've been dragged in to doing the right thing rather late on rather than embracing it and being seen as decent corporate citizens.
- Ad Spend Figures Don't Lie -- Print's Worst Days Are Yet To Come
by
Sean Hargrave
(London Blog on
04/26/2017)
Thanks Vanessa. Print couldn't find a better well-wisher than I, and probably every other journalist who cut their teeth on locals before the move to nationals and freelancing.As I point out in the blog, not all channels are created equally and so the experience of reading a paper of magazine is far more immersive than a radio in the background or MPUs beside an article on a web site. Is that enough to make 3% of our attention equate to 12%. I'm not so sure and the AA/Warc figures, from memory, suggest 3% in a couple of years will earn around 10% I believe.Also, the gains in digital are tiny compared to the losses in print.I would far rather it weren't so, and recently blogged about Sorrell's kind words towards print, but revenue is clearly moving away from print and in to digital. One can only hope publishers find a way of navigating this shift without feeling they can only do so through cutting Facebook in on the action. However, when you look at the massive attention for Facebook, in news terms, and the BBC and then see the tiny blips on the chart for other publishers, it's definitely a huge challenge.Thanks for the link, I will check it out now.
About Edit
You haven't told us anything about yourself! Surely you've got something to say. Tell us a little something.