Weekly news round-up: Trump's spectrum strategy & Saudi pirates targeted

Trump calls for spectrum strategy
The US President has actioned work to develop a spectrum management plan to be implemented across the country in a bid for the US to become a leader in 5G wireless technologies. The opportunities to grow America’s digital economy is heavily reliant on high-speed wireless connections Trump said in a Presidential Memorandum, reported Advanced Television.    

C4 moves HQ to Leeds
Competition for the broadcaster’s new outpost saw Leeds triumph over Birmingham and Manchester with over 200 staff planned to relocate from London by the end of 2019. According to The Guardian, the move will also include the build of a new TV studio and Channel 4 News bureau. The new national headquarters in Leeds will have two sister creative hubs located in Bristol and Glasgow, seeing a total of 300 staff moving outside of London. 

BBC and Sky demand action against BeoutQ
The BBC and Sky have called on the European Commission to take action against the Saudi pirate TV streaming service BeoutQ, which illegally aired the World Cup during the summer. It has now emerged that BBC and Sky have been targets of the illegal transmission of series including Little Drummer Girl and Game of Thrones. According to Broadband TV News, the pirate TV station is damaging commercial revenues and rights ownership of content.   

Facebook expands Watch to UK
The Facebook Watch platform has funded several series from UK-based production companies including Barcroft Media and ZigZag Productions under a new content strategy with approximately 10-minute episodic series opening a new avenue for production companies. According to Digiday, the success is driven through the Facebook community where audiences can interact within the narrative.

Google staff walkout in protest
Thousands of Google employees walked out of more than 20 offices around the world in protest at the company’s management of sexual misconduct. According to the BBC, organisers of the walkout have demanded more transparency across pay and equal opportunities after over a year of turbulent news on the lack of diversity across the organisation. The New York Times has reported Andriod creator Andy Rubin was accused of sexual misconduct and then asked for his resignation, which was followed by a $90m payout in October 2014.

UK’s 2% tax levy for tech companies 
The UK Treasury chief Philip Hammond announced on Monday plans to tax the revenues of major technology companies who have global revenues of at least £500 million per year. According to CNN, it is likely Facebook, Google and Amazon will be among those impacted. The move will contribute to an estimated total of £400 million a year, however, experts fear a “chilling effect on investment” for the UK and that it could be perceived as an “anti-American measure”. 

Gaming business marks record profit for Sony
Sony Corporation announced a 17% increase in its Q2 operating profit due to a strong performance from its gaming business. The record figure sees the full-year earnings at $2.1 billion, which is expected to climb, raising its annual profit forecast to 870 billion yen from its inital estimate of 670 billion yen, Reuters reported.