Between Netflix, Hulu, SlingTV, Amazon Prime and other similar companies, cord-cutting consumers (or those considering cutting the cord) have several options for streaming video. The latest entrant into the over-the-top [OTT] ring comes from the other side of the pond: the BBC. [More]
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Amazon Reportedly Dumping ‘Doctor Who’ & Other BBC Shows From Prime Instant Video On Feb. 15
By 2.2.15
Just a few weeks after Netflix subscribers were forced to deal with the potential reality of losing access to some of their favorite BBC shows (a move that Netflix reversed later, sparing titles like Doctor Who and Luther, after all that worry), Amazon Prime customers will be seeing certain titles from across the pond disappear starting Feb. 15. [More]
Not All Those BBC Shows Will Be Vanishing From Netflix Next Month
By 1.19.15
Last week, we told you that a large slate of BBC shows — from Doctor Who to Luther to the original House of Cards to Red Dwarf were in danger of disappearing from Netflix come Feb. 1. But the good news is that not all of these series will vaporize before Groundhog Day. [More]
Doctor Who & Other BBC Faves May Vanish From Netflix At Month’s End
By 1.13.15
Maybe you’re a newcomer to the long-running BBC classic Doctor Who and you’ve been meaning to watch the dozens of older episodes — dating back 51 years — available on Netflix. Or maybe you like the Kevin Spacey version of House of Cards and want to see the BBC’s original miniseries starring the inimitable Ian Richardson? Or perhaps you just like looking at Idris Elba and watch episodes of Luther on repeat so frequently that it freaks out your friends? Well, it looks like you may only have a couple of weeks left to enjoy these shows on Netflix before they disappear. [More]
Apple Supplier Pegatron Promises To Investigate BBC Claims Of Poor Employee Treatment
By 12.22.14
While Apple was the company that drew headlines after a report on electronics factories in China, the company that was one of the subjects of a recent BBC documentary was Pegatron, one of Apple’s partners that does the actual assembly of Apple’s iPhones. Apple countered that its own audits show that its partners’ workers aren’t mistreated, but Pegatron filed a statement with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that it plans to investigate the BBC’s claims. [More]
Apple Condemns BBC Reports About Factory And Tin Supplier Conditions
By 12.19.14
Earlier this week, the BBC aired an hourlong documentary program on conditions for workers in factories assembling Apple products in China, and conditions in tin mines in Indonesia that supply Apple. Factory footage showed iPhone assemblers begging for time off and dozing off on the assembly line, and an illegal tin mine in Indonesia that is purportedly part of Apple’s supply chain. [More]
Watch Out For Camera Lens Thieves
By 9.27.11
You might think that it’s safe to walk around as a tourist with your big fancy SLR or DSLR camera as long as the strap is around your neck. But who needs the whole camera when the lens itself is worth a bunch of coin? That quick-release button means it’s easy on, easy off, and easy to miss the pickpocketing if you’re distracted. The BBC’s The Real Hustle shows how the con goes down. [More]
SiriusXM Drops BBC Radio 1, Picks Up Customer Ire
By 8.22.11
Sometimes, a group of organized and determined customers working together can affect change and make a company see things from their point of view. For North American customers annoyed that SiriusXM abruptly dropped BBC Radio 1, that tactic isn’t working. But hey, at least the outcry got SiriusXM to put BBC Radio 1 back on the PC streaming lineup. Which would be meaningful if the BBC didn’t already provide free streaming access to the station. [More]
MRI Shows Apple Stimulates Fan's Brain Like Religion
By 5.20.11
Apple fanboys are sometimes referred to as “zealots” or “fanatics” in terms of their devotion to their beloved brand and the intensity with which they defend it and proselytize its virtues. Especially in online comments sections. And it turns out that perhaps those descriptions are not too far off. A recently screened BBC doc Secrets of the Superbrands (unfortunately not available for online streaming in the States) analyzed an MRI of an Apple devotee and found that the brand stimulated the same areas of the brain as religious imagery does to people of faith. [More]
Loaf Of Bread Comes With Baked-In Rodent Goodness
By 6.11.09 — Updated: 2.24.14
Back in 2007, a man in Northern Ireland opened up a loaf of bread and found a whole, mercifully dead, rat. (The BBC is reporting that it’s a mouse, but it’s either a giant mutant mouse or a rat.) A judge heard the case this week, and fined the bakery ÔøΩ1,000 ($1,653) “plus costs.”
Cuddly Banker Makes Way for Ducklings
By 5.21.09
Bankers have an bad rap these days, don’t they? Joel Armstrong of Spokane, Washington was nice enough to initiate an intensive bailout of his neighbors, who could no longer stay in their home. His neighbors: a family of ducks.
Papa John's Founder Says Don't Eat Too Much Of His Pizza
By 2.6.09
Marketing and PR folks probably dread stories like this one: John Schnatter, the founder of Papa John’s, said on a BBC radio interview yesterday that you shouldn’t eat too much of their pizza.
Europe vs USA: Who's Handling The Crisis Better?
By 10.13.08
The debate on the BBC news right now is who is cooler, America or Europe. Europe is getting props for acting speedily and decisively in contrast to Paulson’s pace, which is getting characterized as dawdling and indecisive. Some of the very policies Treasury derided, they’re now considering since Europe enacted them. The ex-Reagan economic adviser talking head says it’s nationalizing risk, a backdoor way of calling them socialists. However, it wasn’t until Europe’s “socialistic” actions did the markets rebound. Who is right? Only time will tell; we’ll see if the rally sustains or is just another fitful shiver in this economic fever dream. The key here is confidence, and it seems to be the most precious and rare commodity on the face of the earth right now.
By 5.24.08
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The Brits are amused by a Missouri car dealership that is rewarding buyers with either a $250 gas card or a gun. According to owner Mark Muller, everyone chose the gun, “except one guy from Canada and one old guy.” Muller, whose sales have quadrupled since the start of the offer, explains to the BBC: “We’re just damn glad to live in a free country where you can have a gun if you want to.” [BBC] (Thanks to Jodie!)
Charter Decides To Care That Reader Can't Watch Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares
By 11.12.07
After we posted Charlie’s complaint, “Charter Doesn’t Care If You Can’t Watch BBC America,” a Charter Communications Corporate Escalation Specialist emailed The Consumerist and we put her in touch with Charlie.
Guy Kewney’s Congoese Doppelganger to be Deported
By 5.22.06
Poor Guy Goma! For a brief moment, that Congoese crackerjack who expertly bullshitted his way through a BBC interview on the Apple Records vs. Apple Computers judgment when he was mistaken for Guy Kewney looked like he was well on his way to television stardom. We personally envisioned a syndicated call-in show where Guy Goma fielded questions about subjects on which he knew absolutely nothing. While the real Guy Kewney fumed and sputtered, Guy Goma became a star, dreaming of capitalizing on his sudden fame to find work.
UPDATE: Will The Real Guy Kewney Please Stand Up?
By 5.15.06
Earlier we noted how the BBC mistakenly interviewed a French-Algerian taxi driver on his views about Apple iTunes downloads on national television, thinking he was Guy Kewney, editor of newswireless.net.
Will The Real Guy Kewney Please Stand Up?
By 5.15.06
Guy Kewney, editor of newswireless.net, describes himself on his blog as “fair-haired, blue-eyed, prominent-nosed, and with the sort of pale skin that makes my dermatologist wince each time I complain about an itchy mole.” That’s him to the right, looking like every philosophy professor we ever had.
