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BBC plays dangerous game, again

Let’s not be coy, the demise of the Conservative government in the UK was a relief to the BBC. The relationship between the two was tense, at best, wilfully frictional at worst. The next Charter review begins this year, and the BBC will feel more relaxed about preserving the universal licence fee intact with a […]

January 21, 2025 Nick Snow

AI: Devil and Deep Blue Sea

Remember Deep Blue, the IBM computer that beat a Grandmaster at chess? Sometimes seen as the moment Artificial Intelligence entered the public consciousness? These days, it is front and centre in both the tech and the creative industries. Uniquely, you can find protagonists in both who regard it as humankind’s next great step, and those […]

December 17, 2024 Nick Snow

News bump from Trump

How did he do that? A question asked many times about Donald Trump, now to be the 47th President of the US, having already been the 45th. It turns out he’s better at politics than business. When that question is asked about him in the business world, it usually relates to how did he lose […]

November 6, 2024 Nick Snow

AI, AI, AI what’s all this then?

AI: Artificial Intelligence, it may as well have been the sub head of the recent IBC. Was there an exhibitor or a product that didn’t have an AI tale to spin? We have been here before, the years when AR, VR or 3D were the letter pairs de jour. But AI is different, it isn’t […]

September 25, 2024 Nick Snow

Nepo babies fight for control

It seems a bit unkind to refer to players in their 40s, 60s and 70s as nepo babies but, as they say in Hollywood: “whatever”. Is it just a coincidence that a third nepo has joined the fray – the never-ending fray – over who will win control of Paramount? Edgar Bronfman Jr – scion […]

August 21, 2024 Nick Snow

Paramount 2.0

We have a deal, say Paramount and Skydance, and this time it will stick. Shari Redstone got a slightly sweeter price and proved she was no pushover, just in case anyone thought she was. That’s the trouble with being the 2.0 in a dynasty, everyone, and I mean everyone, assumes you only get to run […]

July 10, 2024 Nick Snow

The law is the law?

‘The law is the law’ is often a less black and white statement than it appears, even when talking about a single country. When talking about international or global issues, the law becomes ever more uncertain, in its interpretation and, even more, in its implementation. And that is why it is close to impossible to […]

June 6, 2024 Nick Snow

Paramount ‘location, location, location’

The Paramount logo is a mountain with a coronet of stars. Its sale still has a mountain to climb and the final outcome – pre-deal or post – is likely to be the current contenders, and others, picking and choosing between those star divisions of the business. When the movie (low budget straight to streaming) […]

May 1, 2024 Nick Snow

Ride to thrive

Full Disclosure: I write this piece without any pretence to journalistic objectivity. I ride a motorcycle, l love to do it, and I am a huge fan of motorcycle racing. Therefore, I wish Liberty Media all the best with their acquisition of Dorna, the organiser behind MotoGP and World Superbikes. MotoGP is the top, prototype […]

April 2, 2024 Nick Snow

Here isn’t the news

Strange times in the UK news market. GB News continues to generate its own headlines by setting new records for Ofcom breaches, while Talk TV announces it is shutting down its broadcast version. News UK has decided its niche news channel was a bit too niche – the fact star turn Piers Morgan had already […]

March 5, 2024 Nick Snow