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New Zealand indie-pop band the Beths visited CBS Mornings to showcase tracks off their 2022 album Expert in a Dying Field for the “Saturday Sessions.”

Currently in the midst of a U.S. tour, singer Elizabeth Stokes and company’s three-song mini-set featured the album-opening title track, “Your Side” and “When You Know You Know.”

The Beths followed up their acclaimed 2018 debut album Future Me Hates Me with 2020’s Jump Rope Gazers, an LP that slowed down the Beths’ usual uptempo output and turned off some fans. The album’s arrival...

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and Fox Corp. have signed 20-year renewals of their leases in their longtime shared headquarters in New York at 1211 Avenue of the Americas.

The updated agreements with Ivanhoé Cambridge, a real estate subsidiary of a Québec investment firm, span 1.2 million square feet of office space. Together, they represent the largest commercial lease deal of 2022 as well as the biggest in Manhattan since 2019. Along with the interior space, the renewals call for renovations of the plaza and outdoor spaces where Fox Sports and Fox News have hosted broadcasts. There will also be a new tenant lobby on 47th Street. Renovation work is due to start later this year.

In a time of deep uncertainty about the state of office life in general across the U.S., the renewals offer hope for a number of stakeholders, including New York City officials, commercial landlords and local businesses. Companies...

“We Started Jamming in 2014,” Elizabeth Stokes says on a Zoom one afternoon in August, trying to trace the formation of her band. “Jamming,” she repeats, chuckling as she puts up air-quotes. “I don’t feel cool enough to use that word.”

This is the kind of self-deprecation Stokes is notorious for — a defining feature, as much or more so than her slick, straight-across bangs that evoke Reality Bites-era Janeane Garofalo. When the 31-year-old combines that sense of humor with instant-singalong power-pop hooks and glowing verse melodies, you get the Beths,...

“I’m not getting excited,” Elizabeth Stokes vows on the opening track to the Beths’ new album, Jump Rope Gazers. “‘Cause the thrill isn’t mine to invite in.” She keeps her word throughout the record: “I know,” she later acknowledges. “I’m kind of a bummer.”

Stokes’ self-deprecating and vulnerable lyrics, backed by Jonathan Pearce’s delicious, hook-laden riffs, is what made the Beths’ debut Future Me Hates Me one of the best indie releases of 2018. For their follow-up, the New Zealand outfit stuck to the same formula, but...

A wonderful little record that never lets up, piling on unassumingly buzzy fun until you start realizing you might be in the presence of a true power-pop monument. The Beths are from New Zealand, so singer-guitarist Elizabeth Stokes’ accent might make you think of Courtney Barnett a little – especially when she’s firing off auto-critical logorrhea like “you’re in my brain taking up space / I need for remembering pins and to take out the bins / And that one particular film that that actor was in I see your face...

Louisa Mellor Dec 7, 2017

UK kids wouldn’t have survived the 90s without The Crystal Maze, Knightmare, Gladiators and more…

Remember boredom? Boredom was to a nineties childhood what stress is to modern adulthood – a constant and inescapable presence, relieved only by television.

See related Gotham season 4 episode 7 review: A Day In The Narrows

The difference is, even television could be boring in the nineties. Grown-ups exclusively watched One Man And His Dog, The Budget and Ballykissangel, the sort of programmes that gave you Sunday-night-dread any day of the week. Try as you might to escape border collies, Kenneth Clarke and priests having harvest festival scrapes in picturesque Irish villages, it simply wasn’t possible. There were no streaming services to come to your rescue. Video rental was a birthdays-only treat. What else were you supposed to do? Read?

Every so often, a bright light would shine through, illuminating the murk of Ground Force and Oh,...

Kirsten Howard Oct 9, 2017

What are you doing Sunday week at 8pm? A brand new series of Robot Wars is about to start...

Robot Wars fans, rejoice! We're about to get a brand new series of the show, starring Dara Ó Briain and Angela Scanlon (and, of course, commentator Jonathan Pearce), starting on the 22nd of October at 8pm on BBC2.

See related Matthew Warchus and Stephen Beresford interview: Pride

Series 9 will feature a new competition format, which is set to include both Robot Redemption and a magnificent-sounding Ten Robot Rumble - a fight to the death between ten robots, with no time limit, which will decide who'll snatch the wildcard for the Grand Final.

The Robot Wars arena in Glasgow will also see old and new bots alike duke it out in fresh settings, such as The Fog Of War, where the robots will struggle to defend - and also...

Louisa Mellor Mar 26, 2017

Few robots are left standing in the latest, ultra-destructive episode of Robot Wars…

This review contains spoilers.

See related Marvel Studios movies: UK release date calendar Thor: Ragnarok - Natalie Portman's absence explained Guardians Of The Galaxy 2: 7 new international posters land

It’s somewhat in the lap of the gods, the entertainment value of any given episode of Robot Wars. If they smile upon the arena, the spinners spin and the crushers crush and we all have a jolly old time of it. Every so often though, things just never quite get going. Drive motors burn out, bots are immobilised after a single collision, and it all ends not with a bang but a whimper.

When that happens, it’s the job of the production team to string out the pre and post-bout interviews and make up for the thrills absent in the arena...

Louisa Mellor Aug 28, 2016

In the revived Robot Wars grand final, can anyone beat the mighty blade of Carbide?

This review contains spoilers.

I think I finally get boxing. Endurance, tactics, grudge matches, underdogs coming back from the brink of failure to pound opponents into paste after their drive motor fails and they start venting CO2… No wonder Stallone made all those movies about it.

The final had a touch of the sports movie genre about it. The seemingly undefeatable champions—Team Carbide, who built a robot so tough it didn’t only tear through its competitors like tin cans but also through the arena’s much-vaunted steel walls—was bested by a plucky flipper. Apollo, star of episode four, concluded its sterling work by launching Carbide into outer space.

Not quite outer space admittedly, more a few feet off the floor. The hyperbole of the final is obviously catching. The...

Louisa Mellor Aug 21, 2016

The final heat in the revived Robot Wars doesn't quite live up to last week’s excitement…

This review contains spoilers.

It strikes me that the Robot Wars arena would be a good place to weather a nuclear apocalypse. While the outside world poofs into hot dust, the collective engineering expertise inside that Glaswegian warehouse could probably whip up a new civilisation inside the timeframe of a two hour repair window.

That thought was prompted by a sound, specifically the siren whirr of Pulsar’s spinning weapon, the sort of powerful noise you could imagine being used to signal the four-minute warning and just the thing to psych out your opponents. That, or hypnotise the judges. Either way it worked and Pulsar was eventually awarded the place in next week’s grand final.

Being awarded a victory isn’t the same as winning one outright. So much...

Louisa Mellor Aug 14, 2016

Robot Wars episode 4 was the series’ best yet, thanks to a thrilling performance from an impressive flipper…

My friend Julie getting a Snes for Christmas 1992. The Incredible Hulk Roller Coaster at Universal Studios, Orlando. David Tennant sitting two rows behind me at a play.

Hitherto the three most exciting moments in my life were just eclipsed by an episode of Robot Wars. Specifically, the moment in an episode of Robot Wars that Team Apollo went on a flipping rampage. That’s not just a Britishism, Apollo literally flipped its way around the arena on a flipping rampage. It was flipping brilliant.

It’s not for nothing that Team Apollo shares its name with the space missions that put man on the moon; that performance, which left House Bots Dead Metal and Matilda as helpless and paralysed as upturned woodlice and booted the series’ most expensive robot out of the arena,...

Louisa Mellor Aug 2, 2016

Fun and frivolous, Robot Wars continued this week with another shock exit and some unforgiveable showboating…

This review contains spoilers.

I’ll tell you who’s doing well out of the Robot Wars revival, those print shops you drive past on the outskirts of towns that make custom hoodies. You’re no-one on this show if you’re not wearing a lightweight, breathable polo shirt embroidered with a word that probably sounded like a good idea when you made it up in your shed. Those guys must be raking it in.

Viewers at home, as it goes, aren’t doing badly out of it either. The second episode of Robot Wars was just as much frivolous fun as the first, even if it did feature what judge Professor Noel Sharkey called “the worst fight I’ve ever seen on the whole of Robot Wars”.

That was a...

Louisa Mellor Jul 24, 2016

Robot Wars has rejigged its bots and presenters for a hugely entertaining return to BBC Two...

Whatever Robot Wars got up to during its twelve year absence from TV, it evidently wasn’t a period of deep, meditative reflection and personal change. The revived series is back on BBC Two with barely a hair different.

Well, the hair’s different. Returning original series teams who never stopped battling robots in the interim have lost some of theirs, while the ‘dos of Dara O’Briain and Angela Scanlon replace those of the previous presenters.

The pair conduct this latest symphony of TV nostalgia with welcome pep and an even more welcome sense of the show’s inherent folly. O’Briain hypes the crowd over the increased ferocity of the ‘biggest, baddest’ house bots and lists engineering statistics as if he were introducing The Beatles at Shea Stadium, but...

Louisa Mellor Jul 25, 2016

We chat with one of the new Robot Wars presenters about carnage and camaraderie behind the scenes on the revived BBC Two show...

Read our review of the first episode of the revived Robot Wars, here.

Irish broadcaster and journalist Angela Scanlon makes up one half of the new Robot Wars presenting team. For the next few weeks, she and Dara O'Briain will be talking viewers through the hyper-competitive world of flippers, pushers and spinners at 8pm on Sundays on BBC Two as the destruction-happy show counts down to its final battle.

Move over Top Gear, there's a new sheriff in town...

We love Robot Wars. I think because it showcases the best and worst of humanity, our ingenuity and our bloodthirsty desire to destroy things.

[Laughs] Me too! That is a perfect, perfect summary of the show.

Tell us about the relationships between the teams. You’ve...

Aaron Birch Jul 22, 2016

Ahead of the return of Robot Wars to BBC Two, we revisit the classic original run of the show...

3. 2. 1. Activate!

In early February 1998 a new TV game show surfaced on BBC Two, one that was about as different as anything we'd ever seen. It didn't feature general knowledge questions or sprints around a super market, it was equal parts testosterone and techno-geek chic. It was, of course, Robot Wars and it would quickly become one of the most popular programmes on TV.

Before appearing on UK TV, Robot Wars was first dreamt up over the pond. The story goes that a Lucasfilm-employed toy designer by the name of Marc Thorpe came up with the idea in 1992 while failing to build a remote control vacuum cleaner. The results ended up being less about cleanliness, and more about carnage. This unexpected turn out made Thorpe realise that radio controlled...

★★★☆☆ It would take a very hard-hearted soul not to well up a little upon seeing stalwart football commentator Jonathan Pearce recount, with tears in his eyes and half-time orange-sized lump in his throat, the last words he ever exchanged with the late, great Bobby Moore. Fans across the country may have endured half a century of hurt, the anguish of critical red cards and missed penalties, but Bobby tells the astronomical highs and many lows of a shy East End lad who knew the true meaning of fame through hard graft, and reaped both its rewards and ill-effects. Unlike the treatment he would receive at the hands of the Fa - not to mention his beloved West Ham - later in his career, Ron Scapello's loving biopic is a respectful and fitting tribute to the only Englishman to ever lift the Jules Rimet trophy.

Louisa Mellor Rob Leane Jul 12, 2016

The BBC has given us our best look yet at the new Robot Wars, with a four-minute preview clip...

Please note: we've moved the comments for Robot Wars here

The BBC has released a whopping four-minutes-long trailer to get us all hyped up for the new series of Robot Wars. Unfortunately, because this preview clip is hosted on iPlayer, it's not yet possible to embed it here.

You need to click here to see the mammoth new Robot Wars trailer.

The BBC has also released this tantalising text about the show...

"Back in the days when the internet was a little baby, and we had to make our own entertainment… we all watched a programme called Robot Wars. Full of clever people who made robots in their garages that smashed each other up for fun. In the arena keeping order were a team of angry robots called the House Robots.

The FIFA Women's World Cup is getting thorough coverage this summer, with the BBC broadcasting every game.

All 52 matches from Canada will be shown live across BBC Two, BBC Three, BBC Red Button or online.

Jacqui Oatley will lead the coverage and will be joined in the studio by former England internationals Rachel Yankey and Rachel Brown-Finnis.

Joining Jonathan Pearce in the commentary box will be Fa International Player of the Year Sue Smith.

Match of the Day's Steve Bower and former Leeds United Ladies player Lucy Ward will be broadcasting from Canada.

Director of BBC Sport Barbara Slater said: "This promises to be another exciting World Cup and we are delighted to be bringing audiences live coverage of every match.

"Our TV offering alongside the wealth of radio, online and digital content means the BBC will be at the heart of the action as the tournament unfolds.

"Just...

Barry Davies will make a one-off return to the BBC's Match of the Day.

The legendary broadcaster is scheduled to call the Crystal Palace vs West Ham match on Saturday (August 23) in honour of Match of the Day's 50th anniversary.

Davies began covering football for Match of the Day in 1969, and remained on the programme for the ensuing 35 years.

He made his last appearance on the show back in 2004.

Though most known for his football coverage, Davies has also covered the Olympics and the Boat Race for the BBC prior to his departure a decade ago.

Davies's return to Match of the Day will also feature coverage from Jonathan Pearce, John Motson, Alistair Mann, Steve Wilson and Guy Mowbray when the action gets under way at 10.30pm on BBC One.

A documentary titled Match of the Day at 50 airs tonight (August 22) on BBC One at 10.35pm.

Match of the Day will add Phil Neville, Ruud Gullit and Rio Ferdinand to its punditry team for the 2014/15 season, it has been revealed.

The trio will replace Alan Hansen, who retired from BBC Sport after the Brazil World Cup.

Neville lands the role despite criticism of his performance at the World Cup, which sparked a huge amount of jokes and mockery on Twitter.

Alan Shearer, Robbie Savage and Danny Murphy will remain as the core punditry team as the show celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Gary Lineker also returns as the host for his 16th year at the helm, delivering augmented reality graphics, Opta statistics and live social media votes.

Commentators for the new season are Guy Mowbray, Steve Wilson, Jonathan Pearce, Simon Brotherton, Steve Bower and John Motson, who has been with the programme for over 40 of the 50 years.

Match of the Day's 50th anniversary will be celebrated...

The BBC is easily winning the battle of the pundits at the 2014 World Cup, according to poll results.

The survey reveals that - despite getting complaints over its commentary and mocked on social media at various points during the tournament - fans still prefer the BBC's team to ITV's offering from Brazil.

Digital Spy's poll of nearly 4,000 fans had an overwhelming 73.90% backing the BBC as their favourite, while ITV lagged behind with 17.64%.

8.46% said that they opted to stick the TV on mute to avoid TV pundits altogether.

In defence of ITV Sport's World Cup coverage

The BBC came under fire earlier in the tournament over Phil Neville's debut as a co-commentator in England's match against Italy and lead commentator Jonathan Pearce was also ridiculed for failing to get his head around the use of new goal-line technology.

DS reader Hendo9 said: "The pundits who have been in place across both channels,...

The battle of the pundits between the BBC and ITV at recent major tournaments has been something of a one-sided competition.

Poor old ITV. A bit like watching England taking part in a penalty shoot-out - no matter who they tried giving the ball to, they always ended up fluffing it on the big occasion. However, in 2014, something seems to have changed.

In Defence of.... ITV Sport's World Cup coverage

Pundit Watch: Chiles and ITV get a frosty reception

Jonathan Pearce gets Twitter ridicule

Pundit Watch: Whispering Neville, Thierry's cardie and Pearce's bungle

Ever since Gary Lineker took the helm at the BBC, his mix of cheeky-one liners, cracking tan and affable charm have smoothed over the cracks of the occasionally stiff and one-dimensional coverage.

But in 2014, thanks to a couple of gaffes (booking Phil Neville's first game as a commentator as England v Italy, letting Jonathan Pearce run...

I never thought I'd ever say this, but ITV aren't as bad as everyone makes out when it comes to live football. Hear me out - it's not as crazy as it may first sound.

For years, I've been baffled that anyone would choose to watch ITV over BBC One if given the choice. However, as this year's World Cup has proved so far, both channels have had their fair share of gaffes and errors.

The BBC is pretty stellar when it comes to live tennis, snooker, athletics and many other sports, and Match of the Day is clearly light years ahead of ITV's The Premiership, but has ITV suddenly gained back some ground this year?

There's probably two words that you're thinking which throws out my argument: Adrian Chiles. The former BBC man has become the face of ITV football, possibly because they're stuck with him and don't know where to plonk him.

With the United States topping Ghana 2-1 on Monday, it seems like a good a time to unveil our inaugural Wrap FIFA World Cup soccer player power rankings. The unique and secret proprietary formula — which is less scientific than it hopefully sounds — took into consideration a player's salary, endorsements, social media footprint and World Cup, Premier League, Eufa and Olympic championship accomplishments. Salary and endorsement data come courtesy of Forbes. Also read: World Cup Announcer Jonathan Pearce's Gaffes Set Off Twitter Storm Here are the rankings of the 20 highest paid footballers in the world. Feel free to duke it out in the comments.

Have you heard the one about Phil Neville's World Cup commentary. I Said Have You Heard The One About Phil Neville'S World Cup Commentary!

The BBC's World Cup coverage launched in full over the weekend and despite having approximately 456 pundits flown out to Brazil, somebody, somewhere thought it was a smart idea to give Phil Neville his first big co-commentary gig in the England v Italy game.

Don't worry, Phil, there's only 15 million people watching. Nobody will notice if you get off to a shaky start. Oh, hang on.

Barely registering above a whisper, Neville sounded like he'd come straight off the set of Jamaica Inn. Throw in a staccato presentation manner, which meant that he barely broke into sentences longer than half a dozen lines long (Was he actually being really smart and speaking in Haikus?), and you've got a recipe for one the most simultaneously snooze-inducing...

Former “Robot Wars” commentator Jonathan Pearce had a tough time telling goals from non-goals during the TV broadcast of Sunday's France-Honduras World Cup matchup in Brazil, and he caught major heat from the Twitter-verse over it. Despite slow-motion replays which showed the Honduras goalie inadvertently pushing the ball over the line and into the net for a goal, the British commentator seemed befuddled by the officials’ tech-aided call. Also see: Hollywood Kickin’ It at the World Cup: Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, Leonardo DiCaprio (Photos) “First they're saying it's not a goal, then they're saying it's crossed the line. Which is it?...

The BBC has announced details of its 2014 World Cup coverage.

Gary Lineker will lead the presenting team during the football tournament, which includes Rio Ferdinand and Thierry Henry.

The TV studio will feature the backdrop of Rio de Janiero's Copacabana Beach, with 31 live games to be broadcast.

Live matches will be shown on BBC One, BBC One HD and the BBC Sport website. There will also be simultaneous games on BBC Three and BBC Three HD and the red button.

BBC Two and BBC Two HD will also air a daily morning highlights programme and full match replays of the day's best game after midnight.

There will be a total of over 160 hours of TV, which is over 50% more than the previous World Cup in 2010.

Four World Cup-related documentaries will also be shown across the BBC channels, featuring David Beckham and Gary Lineker.

Gary Lineker will host the first programme on Wednesday,...

The list of celebrities taking part in the latest Pointless specials has been announced.

Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman will be joined by famous faces for six new primetime episodes of the hit game show, kicking off on Saturday, April 12.

The first special will have a 1970s theme, with Wizzard and Yes stars Roy Wood and Rick Wakeman facing actors Paul Henry and Madeleine Smith, and Sally Thomsett and Anna Karen, and children's television stars Ed Stewart and Sally James.

Elsewhere, Sir Geoff Hurst and George Cohen MBE will team up in the World Cup special, facing Peter Shilton and Steve Bull, Hope Powell and Casey Stoney, and Graeme Le Saux and commentator Jonathan Pearce.

The Eurovision Pointless special is a thing to behold, with Bucks Fizz's Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan trying to prove their wits against Martin Lee and Sonia Evans, Dana and Johnny Logan, and Jemini's Chris Cromby and Gemma Abbey.