he global success of Fifty Shades Of Grey and other copycat erotic books hit Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury as it lost out to rivals in the first half.

Fears that media giants BSkyB and BT overpaid in their £3bn (€3.7bn) Premier League deal sent shares in the pair sharply lower today.

The controversial hiring of former Sky Sports pair Andy Gray and Richard Keys at TalkSport is paying off after the radio station said it was on course to deliver a boost to full-year revenues.

ITV today said it had rejected a new proposal from a consortium seeking to take control of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster because it carried too much risk.