Things we like

GoThinkBig gets even bigger

Channel 4, Spotify and Chime Communications will add to a range of work experience and skills development opportunities for young people after signing to O2 and Bauer Media’s social initiative, GoThinkBig. Launched towards the end of last year, GoThinkBig is designed to kick back against the current challenges around work opportunities to provide practical support and inspiration to young people. In its first two months, the partnership has already found placements for more than 2,500 people, and the founding partners are committed to placing 9,000 over the next 12 months.

LoveFilm expands content offering

LoveFilm has kick-started 2013 by continuing to add to its raft of partnerships with media owners.
A new content deal with Channel 4 will offer subscribers access to entertainment from the broadcaster’s 4oD archive service. The deal will enable LoveFilm to stream many of Channel 4’s best-loved titles, including Peep Show (pictured), Father Ted and The Inbetweeners. The content will be collated in a specially branded 4oD collection that will expand over time to feature more popular Channel 4 shows, including Shameless and The IT Crowd. LoveFilm has also landed a deal with NBC Universal that paves the way for on-demand access to hundreds of episodes of US TV series, including the US version of The Office and 30 Rock.

‘Salut’ to French Stylist

Mike Soutar’s ShortList Media has unveiled plans to launch a French edition of its free women’s weekly magazine Stylist via a joint venture with Groupe Marie Claire. Scheduled for a spring launch, the French title will be distributed in nine cities, including Paris and Lyon, with a target launch circulation of 400,000 copies per week. Soutar has done a great job of making a success of ShortList Media, which has prospered as an ad-funded proposition in a challenging climate. However, he continues to try to reposition the term "freemium", where you offer a certain amount of content for free while charging for additional elements, to mean "free" and "premium".

AND ONE THING WE DON'T…

Confusion a sign of The Times

The somewhat botched appointment of John Witherow as the acting editor of The Times presents more questions than answers. The editor of The Sunday Times since 1994 had been widely tipped to succeed James Harding. But his "acting editor" role serves to highlight the unresolved issues between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation and The Times’ independent publishing directors. Speculation mounts surrounding plans to merge the two newspapers in light of what the company describes as their "very difficult financial position".

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk