With the announcement of BBC3's closure in the same month that Disney paid $500m to buy Maker Studios, it's hard to ignore the continuing seismic shift affecting the media industry today. Programme makers are looking at ways of shaping and bending their stories to pull people into the action through any device, anywhere. They are no longer relying on the TV in the living room, and are focusing on second and third screens nestled in pockets and placed on laps. It's all happening - but is anyone actually making any money from it?

Rumours were flying around recently about Disney and a potential acquisition of YouTube multichannel producer, Maker Studios. On Tuesday, those rumours were confirmed. Disney decided to step in to the future by embracing the new digital world of video for $500m, a price that could rise to $950m if Maker reaches certain performance milestones...

During 2014, entrepreneurcountry Global is hosting a series of dinners with one goal in mind: To enable Davids and Goliaths to ‘dance.’ Each is based around an ecosystem – transportation, media, retail and so on – and sees the leaders of corporates and digital enablers meet to network and share ideas, encouraging collaboration rather than competition. 

To say that we’ve seen new digital platforms disrupt the media and entertainment sectors over the last decade would be a big understatement. Delivery of digital content is significantly changing news publishing models of distribution and monetisation, where national and multinational online audiences have the potential to dwarf those of printed publications.

There's no doubt that in the highly cynical yet hugely excitable world of business-enabled IT, we've seen a new kid on the block in the last year or so. If the flow of enthusiasm that greeted the idea of so-called 'wearable technology' started out as a trickle, there's no doubt that by now it's turned into a formidable flood.

entrepreneurcountry are happy to announce that UK-based startup Fantoo has successfully secured £530k investment from 159 investors, making it the latest business to have raised funding on the entrepreneurcountry Crowdcube platform.
The artificial-intelligence email messaging startup led by CEO and founder Jordan Fantaay, which lays claim to being “the future of email”.

In a world where disruption is becoming the norm, the worlds of media and technology are becoming so rapidly intertwined by the internet and mobile technology that they are no longer distinct sectors. As a powerful force for economic growth, their combination offers opportunities to those that embrace them and are willing to collaborate, suffocating old media in the heavy cloaks of its own legacy.

The spectrum and the number of mobile services and applications are growing steadily. In particular, the UK is one of the countries to have the highest mobile take up, with 7 in 10 mobile users (71%) owning a smartphone (Ofcom, 2012). Mobile tools are available for almost every area of ​​life. Everything at the moment is going mobile.

Snapchat is one of the most used apps in the world. Every day over 400 million photos are shared. It is clear that Snapchat has found its niche in the social media microcosm. When Evan Spiegel recently rejected Facebook's $3 billion buy out the world was divided, was he a brave entrepreneur staying loyal to his brand or making the most foolish mistake of his life?

Driving awareness is a key challenge for any start-up, and a major part of what I do with the businesses I work with. As a budget-efficient channel, PR is often called upon to help achieve this objective – and whilst we will often call our PR experts into the team – I do think business owners can do much themselves, particularly in B2B or service businesses.