Ever ready to make a quick buck, Richard Desmond’s Express Newspapers group is now wanting to make charges to broadcasters for the right to have their channels included in his papers. He wants digital channels to pay for their appearance in his rags!
It seems as though all the channels are holding firm, in the full knowledge that TV listings are one of the major reasons people buy newspapers. I hope that some of these channels also stop providing his paper with preview tapes, photos, or access to personalities.
Of course the prim and proper Express still finds the space to provide listings for his porn channels despite being aimed at Middle England – not that I’d dispute the fact that many Middle-Englanders do subscribe to such services…
Still it’s nice to see that the Associated/Express war-of-words is alive and kicking with reports about Desmond’s tangential involvement in a mob-case being heard in New York at the moment. You just have to sit back and enjoy it all.