PA Media (formerly the Press Association ) is a multimedia news agency . It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and regional newspaper publishers. The biggest shareholders include the Daily Mail and General Trust , News UK , and Informa .
31-574: PA Media Group also encompasses Globelynx, which provides TV-ready remotely monitored camera systems for corporate clients to connect with TV news broadcasters in the UK and worldwide; TNR, a specialist communications consultancy; Sticky, a digital copywriting and content strategy agency; and StreamAMG, a video streaming business. The group's photography arm, PA Images, has a portfolio comprising more than 20 million photographs online and around 10 million in physical archives dating back 150 years. Founded in 1868 by
62-549: A United Kingdom news agency. The character was devised as a virtual news presenter who would read news stories on demand via computer or mobile phone. Ananova was launched in April 2000. The Press Association soon renamed the division Ananova Ltd. and put the group up for sale. In July 2000, Ananova Ltd. was purchased by the French telecommunications company Orange S.A. as part of a £95m deal. The animated Ananova character
93-670: A book to accompany the series. The second series, subtitled The Bucket List , debuted on 23 September 2011 on Sky One and features Pilkington partaking in ultimate experiences from a list selected for him. In June 2011, he won the Best Presenter award for An Idiot Abroad at the Factual Entertainment Awards. The third series of the show, An Idiot Abroad: The Short Way Round , premiered in November 2012 and showed Pilkington and Warwick Davis travelling
124-462: A broadcast on Xfm, Merchant stated that he would be "ashamed" if the radio show had been scripted, adding that "I would not have squandered a character that good on this poxy radio station." Gervais concurred, pointing out that writing a single series's worth of six half-hour episodes of shows such as The Office and Extras consumed as long as a full year of their time. An interviewer for The Daily Telegraph concluded that Pilkington's behaviour
155-467: A child, but has supported Manchester United since the 1990s. In January 2020, he revealed on Sunday Brunch that he had been attempting to eat fewer animal products and described himself as a flexitarian . Regarding his experience of other religions during the production of An Idiot Abroad , Pilkington noted that "Religion was never a big part of my life. I wasn't christened." Nevertheless, he commented that "I've always thought of myself as sort of
186-525: A day. Ananova became a subsidiary of mobile telecommunication operator Orange S.A. , after it was purchased from the Press Association (PA) in a £95m deal in 2000, after which it was merged into the Orange main news site. The character Ananova was retired in 2004, but the website continued to provide written news articles until 2009. Ananova was developed by a division of the Press Association ,
217-581: A group of provincial newspaper proprietors, the PA provides a London-based service of news-collecting and reporting from around the United Kingdom. The news agency's founders sought to produce a more accurate and reliable alternative to the monopoly service of the telegraph companies. In January 1870 the agency moved from temporary offices into new headquarters at 7 Wine Office Court, off Fleet Street. At 5am on Saturday 5 February 1870, its first press telegram
248-592: Is an English presenter, actor, voice-artist, producer and author. After working with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as producer on their Xfm radio show, Pilkington became a co-host of The Ricky Gervais Show . He presented the Sky travel comedy series An Idiot Abroad and the Sky One travel comedy series The Moaning of Life . He made his acting debut in Gervais's comedy-drama series Derek and co-founded
279-469: Is genuine. In 2019, a species of insect from the Mutillidae family was named Traumatomutilla pilkingtoni after him. Pilkington appeared in an interview titled Meet Karl Pilkington on Gervais's live standup comedy DVD Politics (2004). The DVD of Gervais's film The Invention of Lying (2009) contains a special feature also called Meet Karl Pilkington that documents his participation in
310-423: Is often the victim of Gervais's pranks and insults directed towards the spherical appearance of his bald head, which has often been compared to an orange . During the podcast, Pilkington would often discuss his bizarre upbringing and worldview, alongside absurd news stories. In describing a challenge from I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in which contestants consumed a kangaroo penis , Pilkington claimed
341-681: The ITV drama The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe as DC Phil Bayley. Pilkington has also performed voice-over work for such clients as Sky TV, One Stop Office Shop, Freeview , Vodafone , HMV , PlayStation Portable , WHSmith , Wickes , Unilever and SMARTY . In 2023, Pilkington appeared in the comedy-drama series Rain Dogs . In 2024, Pilkington guest starred in the BBC detective dramedy Ludwig . In 2014, Pilkington designed and signed his own card for
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#1732787947156372-578: The Marco Polo route . Pilkington made his acting debut on 12 April 2012 in the Channel 4 comedy-drama Derek , portraying caretaker and bus driver Dougie. He left the show after the first episode of the second series. From 2013 to 2015, Pilkington starred in a two-series Sky One documentary called The Moaning of Life . From 2018 to 2020, he co-wrote and starred in a Sky One scripted sitcom called Sick of It . In 2022, Pilkington starred in
403-617: The Thomas Coram Foundation for Children charity. The campaign was launched by crafting company Stampin' Up! UK; his card, along with those designed and signed by other celebrities, was auctioned on eBay in May 2014. Pilkington resides in Sandbanks , Poole , Dorset . He is in a long-term cohabiting relationship with his partner, Suzanne, whom he frequently mentions in his work. Pilkington supported Manchester City as
434-509: The Internet. Reuters described Pilkington as a "phenomenon" who had made " Internet history ". On 23 November 2010, while appearing live on Richard Bacon 's Radio 5 Live afternoon show, Gervais surprised Pilkington with an on-air phone call. This led to a conversation in which Pilkington, who claimed to have been interrupted while grouting his kitchen, claimed that he had not yet been paid for his work on An Idiot Abroad and concluded
465-619: The Press Association acquired Trinity Mirror's training centre in Newcastle upon Tyne. The NCTJ course in Newcastle has been around since 1969. The business already owned the former Westminster Press-owned Editorial Centre and merged the two businesses to become PA Training. Alamy , a global stock photo agency with over 125 million images, was wholly acquired by PA Media in February 2020. The purchase enables PA Media to enter
496-535: The challenge was more difficult than presented due to contestants' consuming of the kangaroo penis on an empty stomach. Pilkington reasoned that he could perform the challenge should it occur later in the day: surmising "I could eat a knob at night". In response to Pilkington's claim, Gervais encouraged his listeners to sample the humorous sound bite and remix it into dance music. The phrase spawned several dance music mixes, T-shirts and other merchandise. Many of Pilkington's quotes have since gained publicity, particularly on
527-580: The film as a non-speaking caveman in another special feature, The Dawn of Lying . He was given a small role in the final episode of Extras . In September 2010, Pilkington starred in An Idiot Abroad , a light-hearted Sky One travel documentary series produced by Gervais and Merchant in which he visits the New 7 Wonders of the World while participating in various activities along the way. He wrote
558-426: The international stock photography market. Other subsidiaries include Globelynx, founded in 2001; Sticky Content, acquired in full between 2013 and 2015; StreamAMG (Advanced Media Group), acquired in April 2017; and RADAR, founded in 2017. Ananova Ananova was a web-oriented news service that originally featured a computer-simulated newscaster named Ananova programmed to read newscasts to users 24 hours
589-482: The interview with an improvised link into the hourly news. Pilkington has worked independently of Gervais and Merchant on several projects. He appeared as a guest on the shows Flipside TV and The Culture Show , and appeared in several short films as part of the Channel 4 project 3 Minute Wonders . Merchant and Gervais have repeatedly denied claims that Pilkington's persona is their creation. In an on-air response to similar claims made by Chris Campling during
620-603: The news agency is Pete Clifton , who was appointed in October 2014. In June 2024, the Central Arbitration Committee forced PA to recognize the National Union of Journalists as the official union representing PA's editorial employees. As of May, the bargaining unit was composed of 274 workers. PA Training is Europe's biggest journalism and media training company. It was formed in 2006, when
651-440: The sale of its finance publications divisions, which included TelecomFinance and SatelliteFinance. In September 2018 it was announced that the news agency was renamed from Press Association to PA Media, and the umbrella company from PA Group Limited to PA Media Group Limited. This coincided with a move from their Vauxhall Bridge Road offices to a new space that would accommodate the move toward digital media. The editor-in-chief of
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#1732787947156682-679: The stories. Pilkington created many features for the broadcasts, including Monkey News, Rockbusters, Educating Ricky and many others. Rockbusters garnered the most attention, with regular emails being sent to the station from listeners in the hopes to win prizes. These prizes were often mundane and low quality and were often referred to as things Pilkington "picked up from around the office". In December 2005, Pilkington stood in on two BBC Radio 6 Music shows for Nemone , co-presenting with Russell Brand . Pilkington's presence on The Ricky Gervais Show podcasts significantly increased his fame. He has often been mentioned in interviews given by Gervais and
713-663: The television production company RiSK Productions alongside Gervais and Merchant. He also co-created, co-wrote, and starred in the comedy series Sick of It . Pilkington was born on 23 September 1972 in Sale , Cheshire (modern day Greater Manchester ). He grew up in the Racecourse Estate in Sale, and has an elder sister and brother. He has discussed having a close relationship with his parents, and has shared stories about his mother and father holding multiple jobs. However, he
744-466: Was always seen in make-up. Her creators described her as a 28-year-old "girl about town" who stands at 173 cm (5.7 ft) tall and loves the band Oasis and the TV show The Simpsons . Ananova's creators stated the original incarnation of the character was a prototype, and in the future they intended "to allow every individual to customize Ananova, right down to age, race and gender." The character
775-554: Was going to earn." At the age of 15, he dropped out of school to work as a cassette and disk printer through a Youth Training Scheme programme. Pilkington moved to London to work as a producer at Xfm , where he was later promoted to head of production. While there, he unintentionally caused Gail Porter to leave the station in tears after only one show; he criticised her performance, which Pilkington defended as an attempt to encourage improvement. After several years, he began work on The Ricky Gervais Show . Initially, Pilkington
806-520: Was known for its collection of unusual news stories, which it featured in its Quirkies section. The site was frequently referenced by Karl Pilkington during the Ricky Gervais Show . The character of Ananova was given a distinctive look and personality based on celebrities Victoria Beckham , Kylie Minogue , and Carol Vorderman . She appeared as a white female with a thin, toned body. Ananova sported short "unnaturally green" hair and
837-527: Was launched in April 2000 from a press conference in London. A significant portion of Ananova's official website was dedicated to detailed fictions regarding the character's personality. The speech synthesis used by Ananova was developed using patented methods that applied human inflections to extend the rVoice solution from Rhetorical Systems (now Nuance Communications ). Bibliography Karl Pilkington Karl Pilkington (born 23 September 1972)
868-496: Was never close to his siblings, which he attributed to being 10 years younger than them; he once said that it had been "years" since he had last talked to them. He attended Ashton-on-Mersey School in Sale. He said that he never liked school and struggled with the system, at some point losing all interest in it. He has said he attended school only to sell items to his schoolmates, usually video games that he had purchased and made copies of. He said, "I wasn't going to school to learn, I
899-451: Was solely the programme's producer and rarely spoke on-air, but as Gervais and Merchant began to frequently invite him to make cameo appearances , Pilkington's eccentric personality and unconventional views came to prominence and his popularity increased. He was eventually included as a main presenter on the broadcasts, with large amounts of airtime devoted to his controversial opinions on various subjects: often due to his misunderstanding of
930-668: Was transmitted. The agency's first Editor-in-Chief was Arthur Cranfield, appointed in 1926. In 1995, PA moved from Fleet Street to Vauxhall Bridge Road, enabling the company to rapidly expand its output particularly in the sports and new media divisions. The Press Association launched the Ananova news website in 2000. Ananova was then sold to Orange . In 2005, the company changed its name to PA Group. In December 2013, PA Group sold its weather business MeteoGroup, Europe's largest private sector weather company, to global growth investment firm General Atlantic. In February 2015, PA announced
961-508: Was unavailable from 2004, though the Ananova website was still operational and providing written news items until 2009. In April 2010, Orange decided to scrap the name Ananova. Users entering the site ananova.com are now redirected to a Web Hosting Service Directory. Between April 2010 and April 2015 Ananova was known as Orange News. The Orange version of the news service finished with the end of Orange on-line identity. The Ananova news service