Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at

Hearst UK Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televis ...

. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, films, music and show business to a global audience. As well as breaking news, in-depth features, reviews and editorial explainers, the site also features the DS

Forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

History

digiNews (1999)

In early January 1999, Iain Chapman launched the digiNEWS website, providing news, rumours and information on Sky's new digital satellite platform SkyDigital. At the same time, Chris Butcher launched the ONfaq website, offering similar news and information on the UK's new digital terrestrial platform

ONdigital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners o ...

. Both sites proved to be popular, attracting a lot of attention from visitors eager for more news about these rapidly developing TV platforms. Very soon Chapman and Butcher discussed the idea of a merger of the two sites, to create the digiNEWS Network. Digital Spy Logo

On 28 February 1999, digiNEWS and ONfaq merged and were rebranded as sites of the new 'digiNEWS network'. More websites joined the network, including Chris Norris's cablenews:uk (covering NTL and TeleWest cable services), Mark Hughes' DVDNews (DVD news and reviews) and Neil Wilkes' TV:uk (TV news and gossip). While the network grew, it was still served from personal webspace from ISPs such as Freeserve, so discussions with website guru Jose Cardoso began and work started on integrating the multitude of sites into a single portal. It was important for the new site to be easily accessible, so a .COM address was preferable but the diginews.com address was already taken. After many many emails back and forth, the name 'Digital Spy' was chosen.

Digital Spy (2000–2011)

The Digital Spy forums first went live on 1 March 2000, built on the UBB forum platform. The newly named 'Digital Spy' news portal went live on 19 May 2001, running on a custom-built content management system called RAMS (Remote Article Management System). Digital Spy Limited was incorporated in late 2001 by Alan Jay, Neil Wilkes and Mark Hughes, with Iain Chapman, Jose Cardoso and James Welsh joining later as shareholders. On 9 April 2008, it was announced that the website had been purchased by magazine publisher

Hachette Filipacchi UK Hachette may refer to: * Hachette (surname) * Hachette (publisher), a French publisher, the imprint of Lagardère Publishing ** Hachette Book Group, the American subsidiary ** Hachette Distribution Services, the distribution arm See also * Hachett ...

, a subsidiary of the

Lagardère Group Lagardère S.A. () is an international group with operations in over 40 countries. It is headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The group was created in 1992 as Matra, Hachette & Lagardère. Headed by Arnaud Lagardère, it is focuse ...

for a "significant" sum. In March 2011, former

NME.com ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

and FHM.com editor David Moynihan replaced Neil Wilkes as Editor.

Digital Spy at Hearst (2011–present)

On 1 August 2011, ownership of Hachette UK was sold to Hearst Magazines UK, with the Digital Spy editorial team and operations unaffected. On 2 May 2013, Digital Spy won the Media Editorial Team of the Year 2013 at the British Media Awards. On 3 July 2014, Digital Spy won Consumer Website of the Year 2014 at the AOP Digital Publishing Awards. In October 2015, Digital Spy moved its content management system from RAMS to Hearst's newly developed Media OS. In November 2015, former ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...

'' editor Julian Linley was appointed Editor in Chief. In November 2016, former T3 and Gizmodo UK editor Matt Hill was appointed Editor. In January 2017, Digital Spy was made an official partner of the

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted ...

, held at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

and broadcast live on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. In October 2017, Digital Spy won PPA Digital Content Team of the Year, and was shortlisted for Website of the Year and Content Team Leader of the Year. In December 2017, almost one million people voted in the DS Reader Awards. In March 2018, Digital Spy was shortlisted for International Website of the Year at the Hearst Editorial Excellence Awards. In October 2018, Digital Spy won PPA Digital Content Team of the Year for the second year in a row. On 22 March 2021 Digital Spy announced on its site that they would be closing their non-entertainment related discussion forums such as Politics and General Discussion forums and mainly retaining Film, Entertainment and Television based ones that same week in an effort to refocus its website, no confirmed date was given for the changes but the closure then occurred suddenly 24 hours later . No mention had been made prior to that, an announcement that upset many of its subscribed membership.Digital Spy announcement
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Digital Spy Awards

In 2008, the website held its first Digital Spy Soap Awards. The nominations shortlist was chosen by Digital Spy's soaps editor Kris Green. From 2014, the awards became the annual Digital Spy Reader Awards, which polls the site's readers for the best moments in various categories.

2008 winners

References

External links

* * {{Hearst British news websites Internet forums Internet properties established in 1999 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom Entertainment in the United Kingdom