UK Regulator Blocks Microsoft’s $68.7 Billion Activision Blizzard Acquisition

Broadband engineers installing new superfast internet cables have upset residents of another Scots street after claims the firm behind the plans broke a promise to warn of its arrival for a second time.

Naman Ramachandran Weeks after the U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority blocked Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion deal to buy video games giant Activision Blizzard, the European Commission (EC) has granted approval under the EU Merger Regulation. However, the approval, which arrived after an EC investigation, comes with conditions that require Microsoft to fully comply with specific commitments that address the competition concerns raised. The preliminary investigation conducted by the EC revealed that Microsoft’s acquisition could potentially harm competition in two key areas: the distribution of console and PC video games, including multi-game subscription services and cloud game streaming services, as well as the supply of PC operating systems. It determined that Microsoft would not have the ability to harm rival consoles or multi-game subscription services. However, it concluded that Microsoft’s position in the distribution of games through cloud game streaming services would likely lead to a reduction in competition. Additionally, the acquisition would strengthen Microsoft’s position in the market for PC operating systems.

The EU’s antitrust regulator has gone against the grain of its U.S. and UK counterparts by waving through Microsoft’s proposed $69B takeover of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.

NBC is opening up a new fall comedy block on Tuesday nights and has pushed a couple of its drama series to midseason.

Eurovision Song Contest.The finale is set to take place tomorrow (May 13), following the closing of the two semi-final rounds which occurred on Tuesday (May 9) and Thursday (May 11).This year’s instalment will take place in the UK city of Liverpool, which is hosting the ceremony on behalf of last year’s winners, Ukraine, due to the country’s ongoing war with Russia. Despite this, however, it has been revealed that the Ukrainian president will not be granted permission to address the public at tomorrow night’s final.As per reports, this lack of airtime is because the organising committee of the annual song contest wish to retain the programme’s non-political basis, and “strict rules” prohibit such statements from being made using Eurovision as the platform.“The Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment show and governed by strict rules and principles which have been established since its creation,” read a statement from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organisers behind Eurovision (via the Independent).It continues: “As part of these, one of the cornerstones of the contest is the non-political nature of the event.

Gogglebox star and popular Tiktok influencer George Baggs reportedly broke advertising rules by promoting vapes on his social media, despite being under the legal age to do so, investigators have found in new reports.

K.J. Yossman Naomi Wolf’s claims about the COVID-19 vaccine on U.K. network GB News have resulted in the controversial TV channel being hauled into a meeting with British media regulator Ofcom. Wolf, best known for her feminist book “The Beauty Myth,” made the comments on GB News’s “Mark Steyn” show, hosted by anchor Mark Steyn, in Oct. 2022. During a segment on the show discussing the vaccine, Wolf compared doctors who assisted the vaccine rollout as being akin to those in “pre-Nazi Germany” and said the rollout itself had resulted in “mass murder.” “I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I’m a journalist,” she said at the beginning of the segment, before adding later: “I believe [the mRNA vaccines] are bio-weapons because they are literally sterilizing people, they are poisoning breast milk.”

NewJeans have become the fastest K-pop group to reach 1billion streams on Spotify.The K-pop girl group’s Guinness World Record breaking feat – across both group and solo K-pop acts, regardless of gender – was confirmed by their label ADOR, a subsidiary of HYBE, in a press release.The quintet reached this milestone in 219 days and with only seven released songs, breaking previous records held by Jungkook of BTS (409 days) and Lisa of BLACKPINK (411 days).NewJeans’ most streamed songs are ‘Ditto’ and ‘Omg’ with 313.2million and 312.4million as of May 2023, per the official Guinness World Record website.NewJeans have taken the K-pop industry by storm since their debut in July of 2022 with ‘Attention’. They’ve since charted on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as other major charts across the globe, including the UK, Canada, Australia and more.The girl group’s latest release is their Coca-Cola collaboration single ‘Zero’.

Despite their fortune, Mohsin and Zuber Issa still live just 10 minutes from the terraced house in the area they grew up in.

Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ has become the fastest song to reach a billion streams on Spotify.‘Flowers’ was released January 12 as the lead single to Cyrus’ ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ and went on to become the longest-running UK Number One single for a female artist since Adele’s ‘Easy On Me’ in 2021.It was also the most-streamed song on Spotify, for two consecutive weeks and spent eight nonconsecutive weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 .On May 4, ‘Flowers’ broke a billion listens on the streamer. “Some Flowers never fade,” wrote Spotify before confirming that the track had become “the fastest song to reach one billion streams in Spotify history.”“Thanks a billion, I love you,” wrote Cyrus. A post shared by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) ‘Flowers’ is the second song by Miley Cyrus to join the “billions club” after her 2009 single ‘Party In The U.S.A.’The record was previously shared by Harry Styles for ‘As It Was’ and Justin Bieber’s collab with The Kid LAROI, ‘Stay’, which both broke the milestone after 118 days.In a four-star review, NME said that Miley Cyrus’ ‘Endless Summer Vacation’ “certainly feels like an accurate reflection of who she is as an artist – and a person – in 2023”.“She’s still working out what she wants from a relationship.

Naman Ramachandran English Football [soccer] League (EFL) clubs have unanimously approved a record domestic rights deal with broadcaster Sky Sports worth £935 million ($1.1 billion) over a five-year period. More than 1,000 matches will be broadcast each season – a record number of games for any club soccer agreement. Running from the 2024-25 season to the 2028-29 season, the arrangement will be made up of guaranteed payments of £895 million and £40 million in marketing benefits. The new deal represents a 50% increase on the value of the current rights agreement. A total of 1,059 EFL games will be broadcast exclusively across existing Sky Sports channels or live via a Sky Sports streaming destination available on TV and mobile devices. Each season, Sky Sports will broadcast a minimum of: 328 Sky Bet Championship matches; 248 Sky Bet League One matches; 248 Sky Bet League Two matches; all 15 Play-Off matches; all 93 Carabao Cup matches; and all 127 EFL Trophy matches.

UK record industry trade group BPI has announced the first recipients of its new BRIT Billion award, handed out to artists who have achieved more than a billion UK streams. Among them are Abba, Coldplay, Mariah Carey, Ellie Goulding, AJ Tracey and Lewis Capaldi.Announced last year and joining the existing platinum, silver and gold BRIT Certified awards, the BRIT Billion trophy is the first such award to recognise an artists’ success across multiple projects.

The BPI - the voice of independent and major record labels across the UK - has revealed the first artists to receive its prestigious BRIT Billion award.

The BPI - the voice of independent and major record labels across the UK - has revealed the first artists to receive its prestigious BRIT Billion award.

Delays are expected this morning after a car burst onto flames on a major UK motorway.

Microsoft president Brad Smith has described yesterday (April 26) as the company’s “darkest day in our four decades in Britain,” after its proposed £55billion purchase of Activision Blizzard was blocked in the UK.Yesterday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it was blocking Microsoft’s proposed acquisition, over concerns that ownership of Activision Blizzard‘s catalogue — which includes the likes of Call Of Duty, Overwatch and World Of Warcraft — would harm competition in the cloud gaming market.Speaking on the BBC‘s Wake Up To Money podcast (via GamesIndustry.biz), Brad Smith accused the decision of being “bad for Britain,” and claimed it will “discourage innovation and investment in the UK”.“Microsoft has been in the United Kingdom for 40 years and we play a vital role, not just supporting businesses and non-profits but even defending the nation from cyber-security threats,” said Smith. “But this decision, I have to say, is probably the darkest day in our four decades in Britain.

232.5 million subscribers globally as of the first quarter of 2023, including 77.37 million in its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. EMEA revenue declined 6% year over year to $2.5 billion during the quarter and average revenue per user for the region came in at $10.89.“It is hugely welcome to see Netflix significantly increase its investment in the UK, demonstrating the sheer strength of our TV and film industry as the largest in Europe.

Microsoft’s $68.7BN deal for games giant Activision Blizzard has been blocked by regulators in the UK.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority has blocked Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion deal to buy video games giant Activision. – More to follow.

Sarandos said. “I have no doubt that our investment will strengthen our long-term partnership with Korea and Korea’s creative ecosystem.”Sarandos says the sum is double what Netflix has spent in Korea since 2016.