Premier League meltdown?

January 18, 2010

Interesting developments in the world of football rights and TV. Ofcom plans to cut the cost of watching sport via Sky, creating a market opportunity for BT and Virgin (among others). The Murdoch empire will not be happy, meaning that David Cameron has a tricky balancing act both in the run-up to the election and come the (inevitable) day he becomes Britain’s Prime Minister. As the Guardian has it here:

If the Conservative leader wins the general election, the timing of Ofcom’s intervention in sports broadcasting would result in one of his first choices as prime minister being whether to take the unprecedented step of overturning the decision of an independent regulator or to let it stand and risk infuriating the ­Murdoch empire, one of his party’s most powerful supporters.

Of course, there is more to it than mere political and media wrangling. For how much longer will Premier League clubs be able sustain payments to players in the region of £100,000 to £175,000 a week when much of the funding for such wages comes from the supposedly unassailable value of the media rights to matches?

For some time now, it has struck Blade that the Premier League faces meltdown. The fate of Portsmouth could become endemic as players’ wages become more and more out of kilter with market reality. Ofcom’s plans could have wide-ranging, not to say catatrophic, consequences.

 

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Not so right said Fred

February 2, 2012
fred hat

So Farewell, then, Sir Fred Goodwin.

Now you are just Fred.

Not Right Said Fred, but plain Fred.

The Forfeiture Committee did for you.

No one had heard of it before,

But Dave said it had to act, and it did.

Trouble is that no one knows what to think.

Is it ‘Alas, poor Fred‘,

Or ‘Hurray! Sir Fred is dead!’?

We don’t know.

Do you?

By A. Mob, aged 1,378 and a half.

London Goes AWOL

January 31, 2012
CNN

STOP PRESS:

Fed up with being stuck on the Thames in south-east England, London yesterday decided to move. In a dramatic gesture which augurs ill for the Olympics, the city upped sticks and relocated to East Anglia.

Lawyers were not consulted about the move, and the city’s precise motivation remains unclear. However, financiers fear that London’s decision is a sign that it wishes to downsize. Moreover, a source from London said: “We no longer want to be Britain’s seat of power. If the Scots can deregulate, why can’t we? East Anglia is a nice place where nothing happens. It’s time for a quiet life. Please respect our right to privacy.”

Elsewhere, Birmingham did not do anything, but Manchester was seen to be packing its bags. “There’s an opportunity for us,” said Manchester. “We can become London.”

East Anglia said: “We don’t mind. It’ll be refreshing to be associated with something other than fens and flatness.”

A cartologist at CNN, which broke the extraordinary news, was later fired.

An excellent ad if ever there was one

January 25, 2012
legovader

We seem to be visually led this week but sometimes words proliferate far too much and letting an image do the talking is no bad thing. That’s another way of saying that ACCESS Agency’s work with Lego is absolutely top drawer.