Latest news with #filmstudio
Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Times
Sky invests in hit factory so it can thrive alongside streamers
Sky's television and film studio in Elstree was not even fully built when the set builders and production crews moved in to start shooting Wicked in summer 2022. Initially relying on back-up generators for power, Sky scrambled to ensure that the blockbuster tale set in the land of Oz before Dorothy arrived, was not faced with any more delays, as the studio grappled with the after-effects of the pandemic as well as soaring energy costs. The trophy 28-acre site in the historic heartland of Britain's film and TV industries in Hertfordshire, is symbolic of the growing strategic importance of original content for Sky, as broadcasters and streaming platforms alike battle to prove their worth to viewers. The site, which houses 12 sound stages — vast, soundproof hangars that can house realistic and intricate sets without fear of weather or noise interference — is the first production studio to be built in the UK by Comcast, the $133 billion American conglomerate that acquired Sky in 2018. Film and TV is produced here not only for Comcast, whose huge empire spans Universal Pictures, the maker of Wicked, DreamWorks Animations and CNBC, but also external production houses: Paddington in Peru and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy were both filmed there. The studio, which was given the green light in 2019 and finally completed in 2023 just before the Hollywood writers strike pushed the industry into fresh turmoil, was not built with the assumption that it was going to be a huge revenue opportunity, Cécile Frot-Coutaz, chief executive of Sky Studios and Sky's chief content officer, said. It is more of a strategic asset for Comcast, allowing it to better plan its production slate, instead of competing for space available elsewhere, she said. It is also evidence, however, of the growing importance for Sky, led by Dana Strong, its American chief executive, of building its own hit factory in an ever-crowded marketplace, where the explosion in streaming has changed viewing habits and the economics of the industry. Originals such as The Day of the Jackal and The Tattooist of Auschwitz are 'critical' in the face of intensifying competition, Frot-Coutaz said, particularly if Sky is to set itself apart from its rivals. 'You want to be offering something that you've commissioned for a UK audience', she said. 'The originals are those shows that are going to be what's distinctive about your offering. Anybody can buy the American shows.' Sky, created by Rupert Murdoch, the ultimate owner of The Times, as the UK's first satellite television service in 1989, has become a titan of the European media and entertainment market. It has attempted to diversify its revenue streams through its faster-growing broadband and mobile businesses but television, which also includes sport and news, remains the centrepiece of its operations. Under Strong, Sky has invested heavily in building its entertainment offering, particularly in sport, the engine of its pay-TV business. A record £5.2 billion Premier League deal that gives the broadcaster the rights to more matches than ever before, kicks in next month. It has also been spending about £500 million on the drama, comedy and documentaries that populate its TV channels and streaming services such as Now TV, split across originals and acquiring content from its rivals. The challenges are gathering, however, for Sky and its content business, which was built on unique access to sports, TV and films. Since its acquisition by Comcast, Sky no longer discloses its subscriber numbers. Frot-Coutaz insisted that the business had had 'a really good year overall'. Several analysts have painted a less rosy picture, though, assuming customer numbers that are flat at best, or in decline. In a research note last month the specialist research firm Enders Analysis pointed towards Sky's 'mature' pay-TV and telecoms businesses, which like its peers had declined because of the cost of living crisis and the 'abundance of video choices available'. The rise of streamers such as Netflix, which is to invest $18 billion this year on content, and the cost of living crisis have pushed people to reevaluate their spending on telecoms and media products, Paolo Pescatore, of PP Foresight, said: 'They're probably saying, 'Why am I spending so much for channels I barely watch?' ' Along with customer numbers, there is also a question mark over how much Sky's brand actually resonates with younger audiences, Ian Whittaker, an independent media analyst, said. 'That's also where the new content strategy fits in because Sky can produce content targeted at younger audiences and which gets them to say, 'There's actually content on Sky that we like and we want to watch.' That both keeps Sky relevant to such audiences and potentially makes them more open to becoming subscribers.' In Sky's most recent accounts filed at Companies House, revenue, which also included mobile and broadband, was flat and pre-tax losses rose from £563 million to £773 million, reflecting a writedown in loans to its Italian and German businesses, the latter of which was sold last month. It also wrote down the value of SkyShowtime, a streaming service jointly owned with Paramount, the owner of Channel 5, that went live in Europe in 2022. In 2022, four years after Comcast bought Sky for $39 billion, it wrote down the company's value by $8.6 billion, which it blamed on a 'challenging economic environment' in Europe after the war in Ukraine. Sky has been attempting to manoeuvre its business towards what Frot-Coutaz described as an 'aggregator' approach, instead of attempting to go toe-to-toe with the streamers. Netflix is now bundled into its packages and the company is open to more such deals, she said. She emphasised the practical appeal of the technology platform that Sky has, allowing customers to access Sky content as well as streaming from public service broadcasters and the big American players across one interface. 'People don't buy Sky for a single piece of programming,' she said. Sky's content may, though, need to shine brighter. From April next year a deal with Warner Bros Discovery that gives it the sole right to air HBO shows including hits such as Game of Thrones, Succession and The White Lotus on its own services in the UK will come to an end when Max, WBD's new streaming service, is available in the UK. The ad-supported version of Max will then be bundled in for Sky customers at no extra cost but it will lose the element of exclusivity and it opens the door for WBD to negotiate deals with other providers. Frot-Coutaz insisted that because 'the customer is not losing' access to HBO shows, there will be a 'continuity of experience' that counts in pinning down an audience. She also points towards eight out of the top ten best watched shows over the past 12 months across its services being Sky Originals. At Elstree an expansion of the studios to the north is planned, which would more than double its size, adding an extra ten sound stages. It hopes to receive a planning decision before the end of the year.
BBC News
22-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Council says deal to sell Bottle Yard Studios 'not possible'
Plans to sell a council-owned TV and film studio are on hold after the potential purchase of the site City Council voted to explore plans to sell the Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove in October a statement, the council has now confirmed that it has "not been possible to conclude an agreement" for the sale of the leasehold of the studios to an unknown buyer."This has been a necessarily lengthy process to ensure all possible factors are considered and that an extensive level of due diligence is carried out throughout," said councillor Tony Dyer, leader and chair of its strategy and resources committee. "We entered into this process with the objective of securing a sustainable future for the studios and the opportunity to grow into its huge potential," he added."Those aims remain the same, as does our determination to ensure that one of our city's most successful regeneration projects continues an upward trajectory to deliver more jobs and more investment for Bristol."The council said that the sale of the site had been under an exclusivity agreement to the preferred bidder for three time was to allow for "detailed negotiations and the drawing up of fuller proposals for the potential sale." Bottle Yard Studios is the largest film and TV facility in the West of England, with shows such as The Outlaws, Rivals and Boarders filmed potential sale had drawn criticism from a performing arts and entertainment trade union over concerns around job losses."Bristol's film and TV sector forms a critical part of our local economy, providing a catalyst for new jobs, new investment and bolstering our city's reputation at home and abroad," said councillor Ani Townsend, co-chair of the Bristol One City Culture Board."I can say with confidence that a key element of the growth seen in the sector over the past decade and a half has been the role played by The Bottle Yard Studios in providing a home for Bristol-based productions," she studios will continue to operate as normal but the council said it had not ruled out selling them in the future and that officers would "now assess the various options open to us".The film and TV industry was worth approximately £55m to the local economy in 2024, according to Bristol Film Office.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trending tickers: Lionsgate, Nio, Boeing, AstraZeneca and Fresnillo
Shares in Lionsgate (LION) surged nearly 20% on Friday and were up nearly another 2% in pre-market trading on Monday morning, following reports that Legendary Entertainment was considering a takeover of the film studio. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Legendary first approached the company after Lionsgate finalised its separation from Starz Entertainment Corp in May, citing people familiar with the matter. Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: FTSE up and European markets dip amid fresh Trump tariff threats Lionsgate owns the rights to popular franchises John Wick and The Hunger Games, while Legendary is the studio behind the Dune trilogy. Legendary is backed by Apollo Global Management (APO), which owns Yahoo. Spokespeople for Lionsgate and Legendary had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment at the time of writing. Hong Kong-listed shares in Nio ( jumped more than 11% on Monday, after the Chinese electric vehicle company unveiled a new line of SUVs. Nio founder and CEO William Li announced the start of pre-orders for its ONVO L90 SUVs at a launch event last week. According to statement from the company on Thursday, prices for SUVs will start at RMB 279,900 for full purchase and RMB 193,900 with Battery as a Service (BaaS) option. Nio said that the ONVO L90 SUVs will officially be launched by the end of July, with deliveries starting on 1 August in the Chinese market. The seven-seater vehicle was designed by former Bentley designer Raul Pires. Shares in Boeing (BA) were in focus after it was reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a notification that fuel switch locks on its planes were safe. Reuters reported on Sunday that the FAA's Continued Airworthiness Notification to Civil Aviation Authorities said: "Although the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on various Boeing airplane models, the FAA does not consider this issue to be an unsafe condition that would warrant an Airworthiness Directive on any Boeing airplane models, including the Model 787." Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio The notification on 11 July came after a preliminary report into Air India's Boeing 787-8 crash last month, in which 260 people were killed. The report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), released on Friday, said that fuel to the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner engines was cut off shortly after the flight's take off on 12 June. The report said that switches controlling the fuel flow to the jet's engines had transitioned from "run" to "cutoff", hampering the thrust of the plane. On the London market, AstraZeneca (AZN.L) was one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) on Monday morning, with shares up 1.8%. The rise in shares came after AstraZeneca said on Monday morning that its experimental drug baxdrostat had been successful in lowering high blood pressure in a late-stage study. Read more: Stocks that are trending today The pharma giant said that baxdrostat at two dose demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in mean seated systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared with placebo at 12 weeks. Dr Bryan Williams, chair of medicine at University College London and primary investigator in the trial, said: "The highly promising BaxHTN Phase III results show that once-daily baxdrostat on top of standard of care can meaningfully lower systolic blood pressure and offer a potential new treatment approach for controlling hypertension, the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease." Miner Fresnillo (FRES.L) was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), with shares up more than 3% on Monday morning, supported by the rally in precious metals. Gold futures (GC=F) were up 0.4% on Monday morning to $3,378.20, amid the latest concerns about US tariffs. US president Donald Trump said the US would impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU starting 1 August, following weeks of stalled negotiations with both trading partners. Fears about this latest escalation in trade tensions buoyed demand for gold as a safe-haven asset. Silver prices also advanced on Monday, with the rise in both precious metals boosting the shares of Fresnillo. Read more: Bank of England's Bailey opposes cornerstone of Rachel Reeve's pension plans Longest 0% balance transfer credit card deals of the week How to start investing with an employee share scheme
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trending tickers: The latest investor updates on Lionsgate, Nio, Boeing, AstraZeneca and Fresnillo
Shares in Lionsgate (LION) surged nearly 20% on Friday and were up nearly another 2% in pre-market trading on Monday morning, following reports that Legendary Entertainment was considering a takeover of the film studio. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Legendary first approached the company after Lionsgate finalised its separation from Starz Entertainment Corp in May, citing people familiar with the matter. Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: FTSE up and European markets dip amid fresh Trump tariff threats Lionsgate owns the rights to popular franchises John Wick and The Hunger Games, while Legendary is the studio behind the Dune trilogy. Legendary is backed by Apollo Global Management (APO), which owns Yahoo. Spokespeople for Lionsgate and Legendary had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment at the time of writing. Hong Kong-listed shares in Nio ( jumped more than 11% on Monday, after the Chinese electric vehicle company unveiled a new line of SUVs. Nio founder and CEO William Li announced the start of pre-orders for its ONVO L90 SUVs at a launch event last week. According to statement from the company on Thursday, prices for SUVs will start at RMB 279,900 for full purchase and RMB 193,900 with Battery as a Service (BaaS) option. Nio said that the ONVO L90 SUVs will officially be launched by the end of July, with deliveries starting on 1 August in the Chinese market. The seven-seater vehicle was designed by former Bentley designer Raul Pires. Shares in Boeing (BA) were in focus after it was reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a notification that fuel switch locks on its planes were safe. Reuters reported on Sunday that the FAA's Continued Airworthiness Notification to Civil Aviation Authorities said: "Although the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on various Boeing airplane models, the FAA does not consider this issue to be an unsafe condition that would warrant an Airworthiness Directive on any Boeing airplane models, including the Model 787." Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio The notification on 11 July came after a preliminary report into Air India's Boeing 787-8 crash last month, in which 260 people were killed. The report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), released on Friday, said that fuel to the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner engines was cut off shortly after the flight's take off on 12 June. The report said that switches controlling the fuel flow to the jet's engines had transitioned from "run" to "cutoff", hampering the thrust of the plane. On the London market, AstraZeneca (AZN.L) was one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) on Monday morning, with shares up 1.8%. The rise in shares came after AstraZeneca said on Monday morning that its experimental drug baxdrostat had been successful in lowering high blood pressure in a late-stage study. Read more: Stocks that are trending today The pharma giant said that baxdrostat at two dose demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in mean seated systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared with placebo at 12 weeks. Dr Bryan Williams, chair of medicine at University College London and primary investigator in the trial, said: "The highly promising BaxHTN Phase III results show that once-daily baxdrostat on top of standard of care can meaningfully lower systolic blood pressure and offer a potential new treatment approach for controlling hypertension, the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease." Miner Fresnillo (FRES.L) was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), with shares up more than 3% on Monday morning, supported by the rally in precious metals. Gold futures (GC=F) were up 0.4% on Monday morning to $3,378.20, amid the latest concerns about US tariffs. US president Donald Trump said the US would impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU starting 1 August, following weeks of stalled negotiations with both trading partners. Fears about this latest escalation in trade tensions buoyed demand for gold as a safe-haven asset. Silver prices also advanced on Monday, with the rise in both precious metals boosting the shares of Fresnillo. Read more: Bank of England's Bailey opposes cornerstone of Rachel Reeve's pension plans Longest 0% balance transfer credit card deals of the week How to start investing with an employee share scheme
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trending tickers: The latest investor updates on Lionsgate, Nio, Boeing, AstraZeneca and Fresnillo
Shares in Lionsgate (LION) surged nearly 20% on Friday and were up nearly another 2% in pre-market trading on Monday morning, following reports that Legendary Entertainment was considering a takeover of the film studio. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Legendary first approached the company after Lionsgate finalised its separation from Starz Entertainment Corp in May, citing people familiar with the matter. Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: FTSE up and European markets dip amid fresh Trump tariff threats Lionsgate owns the rights to popular franchises John Wick and The Hunger Games, while Legendary is the studio behind the Dune trilogy. Legendary is backed by Apollo Global Management (APO), which owns Yahoo. Spokespeople for Lionsgate and Legendary had not responded to Yahoo Finance UK's request for comment at the time of writing. Hong Kong-listed shares in Nio ( jumped more than 11% on Monday, after the Chinese electric vehicle company unveiled a new line of SUVs. Nio founder and CEO William Li announced the start of pre-orders for its ONVO L90 SUVs at a launch event last week. According to statement from the company on Thursday, prices for SUVs will start at RMB 279,900 for full purchase and RMB 193,900 with Battery as a Service (BaaS) option. Nio said that the ONVO L90 SUVs will officially be launched by the end of July, with deliveries starting on 1 August in the Chinese market. The seven-seater vehicle was designed by former Bentley designer Raul Pires. Shares in Boeing (BA) were in focus after it was reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a notification that fuel switch locks on its planes were safe. Reuters reported on Sunday that the FAA's Continued Airworthiness Notification to Civil Aviation Authorities said: "Although the fuel control switch design, including the locking feature, is similar on various Boeing airplane models, the FAA does not consider this issue to be an unsafe condition that would warrant an Airworthiness Directive on any Boeing airplane models, including the Model 787." Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio The notification on 11 July came after a preliminary report into Air India's Boeing 787-8 crash last month, in which 260 people were killed. The report by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), released on Friday, said that fuel to the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner engines was cut off shortly after the flight's take off on 12 June. The report said that switches controlling the fuel flow to the jet's engines had transitioned from "run" to "cutoff", hampering the thrust of the plane. On the London market, AstraZeneca (AZN.L) was one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) on Monday morning, with shares up 1.8%. The rise in shares came after AstraZeneca said on Monday morning that its experimental drug baxdrostat had been successful in lowering high blood pressure in a late-stage study. Read more: Stocks that are trending today The pharma giant said that baxdrostat at two dose demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in mean seated systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared with placebo at 12 weeks. Dr Bryan Williams, chair of medicine at University College London and primary investigator in the trial, said: "The highly promising BaxHTN Phase III results show that once-daily baxdrostat on top of standard of care can meaningfully lower systolic blood pressure and offer a potential new treatment approach for controlling hypertension, the leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease." Miner Fresnillo (FRES.L) was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE), with shares up more than 3% on Monday morning, supported by the rally in precious metals. Gold futures (GC=F) were up 0.4% on Monday morning to $3,378.20, amid the latest concerns about US tariffs. US president Donald Trump said the US would impose a 30% tariff on imports from Mexico and the EU starting 1 August, following weeks of stalled negotiations with both trading partners. Fears about this latest escalation in trade tensions buoyed demand for gold as a safe-haven asset. Silver prices also advanced on Monday, with the rise in both precious metals boosting the shares of Fresnillo. Read more: Bank of England's Bailey opposes cornerstone of Rachel Reeve's pension plans Longest 0% balance transfer credit card deals of the week How to start investing with an employee share schemeError while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
