We’re in the news. Flashes & Flames has formed a strategic alliance with PA Media, the UK and Ireland’s national news agency, under which we will collaborate on subscriptions marketing, editorial content, data, and events.
PA Media (formerly known as the Press Association) delivers words, pictures, video and graphics to hundreds of customers across print, broadcast and digital. It publishes the comprehensive PA Media Briefing, which comprises:
- Daily, rapid-read emails
- Weekend round-up
- Breaking news alerts
- Access to the archive
Alan Marshall, Managing Director, of Business Information Services at PA Media, says: “This is a partnership of two complementary digital publications that all our respective subscribers will support. By combining the daily intelligence of The PA Media Briefing and the analysis and insights of Flashes & Flames, we are creating a powerful information package for TMT executives worldwide. This content-sharing partnership will help senior executives be even better informed in the months and years ahead.”
Colin Morrison, of Flashes & Flames, says: “The key to this partnership is that all Flashes & Flames subscribers will want to read PA Media Briefing and vice versa. It’s the perfect combination for media executives and entrepreneurs. We have clear ideas about new content, data, and events we will be developing in the future as we develop this strategic collaboration. I believe many Flashes & Flames readers across the world will want to subscribe to the PA Media Briefing and will benefit from our plans for the future.”
PA Media Group is a 154-year-old, £100m-revenue company whose largest shareholders include: DMGT plc, Informa plc, News UK plc, and Reach plc. While it is best known for its eponymous news agency service, PA Media now earns the majority of its revenue and profit from a diverse portfolio of specialist media services including: Alamy (photo library), Sticky Content (digital content marketing), Globelynx (a network of experts remotely interviewable on TV), StreamAMG (sports streaming), EBS (electronic programme guide data), and TNR (communications consultancy).
Most of the specialist subsidiaries were acquired during the last 10 years, effectively from the £150m proceeds of PA’s sale of the Meteo weather group and its 50% stake in Canada Newswire. The smart strategy was reinforced by the 2019 sale of the company’s London headquarters for some £40m which wiped out PA’s longtime pension deficit – and armed it to acquire Alamy for a total of £47.3m.
The PA Media Group transformation is reflected in 2021 revenue of £100m (2020: £90m) and EBITDA of £15m. It is also increasingly international: 30% of revenue came from outside the UK/Ireland, compared with 15% just two years previously.
It is 11 years since Colin Morrison launched Flashes & Flames as a blog. Yes. It became a subscription newsletter in 2020. The strategic alliance with PA Media Group creates the opportunity for two independent but complementary organisations to expand the provision of intelligence for media industry professionals worldwide.
