LONDON -- Tennis great Boris Becker could face a jail sentence after being found guilty on Friday of illicitly moving thousands of dollars from a bank account after he was declared bankrupt.A jury at London’s Southwark Crown Court convicted Becker on four charges under the Insolvency Act, including removal of property, concealing debt and two counts of failing to disclose estate.The German star was found to have transferred hundreds of thousands of pounds (dollars) after his June 2017 bankruptcy from his business account to other accounts, including those of his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.He was also convicted of failing to declare a property in Germany and hiding an 825,000 euro ($895,000) bank loan and shares in a tech firm.He was acquitted on 20 other counts, including charges that he failed to hand over his many awards, including two Wimbledon trophies and an Olympic gold medal.The six-time Grand Slam champion had denied all the charges, saying he had cooperated with trustees tasked with securing his assets - even offering up his wedding ring - and had acted on expert advice.Becker’s bankruptcy stemmed from a 4.6 million euro ($5 million) loan from a private bank in 2013, as well as about $1.6 million borrowed from a British businessman the year after, according to testimony at the trial.During the trial Becker, 54, said his $50 million career earnings had been swallowed up by payments for an “expensive divorce” and debts when he lost large chunks of his income after retirement.He said he had “expensive lifestyle commitments” including a house in Wimbledon that cost 22,000 pounds ($28,800) in rent each month.
NBCU Quickens Pace to Find Smaller Crowds Within TV’s Bigger Audience
22.03.2022 - 18:33 / variety.com
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorAdvertisers still want TV to deliver big audiences, but they are also increasingly demanding new abilities to find smaller ones.NBCUniversal on Tuesday used an annual technology conference to keep demonstrating new technologies that help Madison Avenue track all the discrete consumer niches that may be found within the broader audiences watching TV programs. One new effort, an artificial-intelligence engine known as a “harmonizer,” aims to help marketers “make sure we are finding consumers at the right moment based on specific behavior,” says Josh Feldman, global chief marketing officer of NBCUniversal’s ad-sales unit.Using NBCU’s data about how viewers watch programs on the company’s streaming site Peacock, he says, advertisers might be able to assign an ad specifically created to “welcome” a new subscriber to the service, or feed particular commercials to customers who often watch programming late at night — even if they are tuning in at other times of the day.
The company believes there is a growing “opportunity for marketers to know who to reach with the right message at the right time,” the executive says.NBCU isn’t the only media company making such efforts. Paramount Global has for years offered Vantage, an advertising technology that identifies specific audience segments, such as consumers likely to be interested in a new car, and then helps advertisers find the programs most likely to attract them.
WarnerMedia, Interpublic Group Will Test Three New Audience Measures
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorBefore the TV industry can claim to have a new yardstick in place for measuring audiences, it will need to test many different ones.WarnerMedia, slated to be acquired by Discovery within days, has struck an alliance with Interpublic Group’s Mediabrands that will allow advertisers to test how three different measurement services gauge the performance of ad campaigns. The results from the test could influence the sorts of measurement deals Warner offers in the industry’s next “upfront” ad-sales market and will aid Mediabrands’ review of measurement providers.
The story behind MIC Victoria Baker-Harber's jailed ex fiancé and baby daddy
Made in Chelsea's Victoria Baker-Harber surprised fans last year when she returned to the show with a baby in tow. Having kept her pregnancy and the birth of her daughter secret, she welcomed baby Gaia Grace in October 2020 with her gallery owner ex-fiancé Inigo Philbrick, 34, who is currently in prison in the US.The star mentions in the show that while she’s visited her ex-partner, he hasn’t yet met their daughter.
Chris Rock Tells Audience to ‘Lower Your Expectations’ Regarding Will Smith Slap Jokes
Staying quiet. Chris Rock told an excited crowd that he wouldn’t be speaking out about getting slapped by Will Smith just yet.
Streaming Pressures Push MSNBC to Cut Back on Hard News
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorOne of cable’s biggest news outlets has started to fill more of its schedule with something other than traditional news coverage.MSNBC has defined itself for the past few years by using the bulk of its daytime schedule to air breaking reports from NBC News personnel on the news of the moment, then amping up analysis and progressive opinion-making in the early afternoon and evening. Now, as media companies intensify their efforts to attract audiences via streaming video, the business behind the TV home of Joe Scarborough and Nicolle Wallace is in flux.Three different people familiar with the relationship between NBC News and MSNBC — each outlet is supervised by a different top manager — say that some NBC News correspondents have been directed to bring breaking-news coverage first to NBC News Now, the company’s ad-supported streaming news service, or other digital NBC News properties before any appearance on MSNBC is considered.
Why White House Officials Are Descending on TV News
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe nation’s biggest TV-news outlets have made it increasingly easy for top officials in the White House to have a presence in your house.If White House press secretary Jen Psaki joins MSNBC as expected, she will be the second Biden official to land at the NBCUniversal-owned network in the space of less than a year. She will join Symone Sanders, a former campaign adviser to President Biden and Sen.
Nipsey Hussle’s GF Lauren London Vows To Love Him Forever On 3rd Anniversary Of His Death
It’s been three years since Nipsey Hussle’s death at age 33. His wife Lauren London, 37, shared a photo of the rapper smiling along with a loving message to her late husband. The model and actress wrote that she’d always love Nipsey in the remembrance shared on her Instagram on Thursday March 31.
NBCU News Group Taps Consumer Reports For Product Reviews to Spur Online Shopping
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWhy go to the mall when you can shop via NBC’s “Today” program?NBCUniveral News Group, the parent of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC, has for several years worked to weave e-commerce into the digital counterpart to its venerable “Today” show as well as other areas, and now it hopes to facilitate more purchases by providing users with product reviews from Consumer Reports.The venerable consumer advocacy organization will contribute product reviews that are normally placed behind a paywall to a new digital destination on two NBCU e-commerce sites, Shop Today and Select. The “Best Product Reviews” area will provide Consumer Reports findings around different product categories, including cooking, bed and bath, and tools and appliances.
Jennifer Garner Elliot Page Reunite For 15th Anniversary Of ‘Juno’ At The Oscars
There was a Juno reunion at the 94th Annual Academy Awards on March 27. Elliot Page, Jennifer Garner, and J.K. Simmons came out on stage to present the award for Best Original Screenplay, which went to Belfast. 15 years ago, that award went to their beloved coming-of-age film. Juno remains a classic to this day, so it was pretty awesome to see the reunion happen on the Oscars stage a decade and a half later.
TV Needs to Measure Audiences, but Won’t Have Nielsen or Comscore Accreditation for Upfront’s Start
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe TV industry is getting ready for its annual “upfront” market, when billions of dollars in advertising trade hands. And almost everything is in place — except a firm backing of the economics that guide all the deals.Both Nielsen and its rival, Comscore, are unlikely to win accreditation of their national TV ratings services in time for the upfront, which typically kicks off in May and lasts through much of the summer.
Mae Whitman To Star In ‘Up Here’ Hulu Musical Series
EXCLUSIVE: Former Good Girls star Mae Whitman has been tapped as the female lead in Up Here, Hulu’s musical romantic comedy series from Tick, Tick… Boom! and Dear Evan Hansen writer Steven Levenson, The Carmichael Show‘s Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, Hamilton director Thomas Kail; and the Frozen and WandaVision songwriting duo of Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
Shout! Factory Snaps Up ‘Candid Camera’ Distribution Rights, Including Feature Doc About Allen Funt TV Phenomenon
EXCLUSIVE: Shout! Factory has snapped up North American distribution rights to Candid Camera, the hidden-camera show known for its decades-long run as a television pioneer.
Peter Lazarus Gains New Oversight of Sports Ad Sales in NBCU Overhaul
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorA new NBCUniversal advertising executive is taking on the task of tackling advertisers to link themselves to such sports properties as “Sunday Night Football” and the soon-to-launch USFL.Peter Lazarus will take the lead on selling ads behind the bulk of NBCUniversal’s sports programming, part of a gradual overhaul of the company’s work behind connecting Madison Avenue with some of TV’s biggest and most-watched properties.Lazarus has been named executive vice president of sports ad-sales, taking up responsibilities previously held by Dan Lovinger, a longtime NBCU ad-sales exec who has been assigned to focus more intently on the company’s efforts behind Olympics advertising. Lovinger was elevated to president in January and will lead Olympics ad-sales efforts as NBCU works harder to fulfill a commitment it has made along the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, pledging to offer long-term deals to partners for TV, digital, and live event advertising, as well as brand activations and associations with Team USA.
Thora Birch Was Asked To Return as Dani in 'Hocus Pocus 2' (Report)
When the sequel to Hocus Pocus was originally announced, there was a rumor that in addition to Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker, another original star might return for it.
Paul Wilson, NBCU’s Olympics Ad-Sales Guru, Passes The Torch
Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorPaul Wilson never ran a 10,000 meter race at the Olympics, but he sure must feel like it.Wilson has supervised much of the work that NBCUniversal’s ad-sales team has had to do over the past two decade to make the company’s investment in the Olympics pay off. He is stepping down from his role as senior vice president of Olympics ad sales at NBCU, ending a streak of selling commercial inventory for the past ten editions of the Games, eight as the leader — making him directly responsible for $10 billion in ad revenue.