Five continued to perform well in December, adding an impressive 13.7% to its revenues year on year, following an announcement in November that the broadcaster would invest £17 million to boost its programming budget (see Five Boosts Programme Budget By £17 Million).The broadcaster, currently Britain’s smallest terrestrial operator, clearly has plans to increase its profile… Continue reading TV Market Round-Up – December 2004

Broadband internet and on-demand TV provider HomeChoice has announced upgrades to customers’ broadband connections across the board, making its services more competitive in the light of recent on-demand TV launches by rivals Telewest and ntl.HomeChoice parent company, Video Networks Ltd, has announced that all three tiers of its broadband internet services will receive a speed… Continue reading HomeChoice Boosts Broadband To Fight Competition

Radio ratings body RAJAR has published the much-anticipated findings of its consultation period on the future requirements of electronic measurement, stating that any new system must be demonstrably better than that which currently exists.The consultation period, launched in April 2004, attracted hundreds of responses from the BBC and commercial radio, advertisers, agencies and system providers.… Continue reading RAJAR Publishes Findings Of Measurement Consultation

Ofcom has announced the award of the new FM local radio licence for Ashford, in Kent, selecting Kent Messenger’s Lark FM, broadcasting as KM-FM Ashford, from the six applications it received.Lark FM is owned by Kent Messenger, Barretts and Hobbs Parker Partnership, with the balance of the shares held by 10 individuals. The new station… Continue reading Kent Messenger Scoops Ashford FM Licence

Cable TV provider Telewest Broadband has put itself head to head with satellite superpower Sky with the creation of a dedicated cable personal video recorder, seemingly designed to tempt customers away from Sky’s premium Sky+ service.Today’s announcement will see Telewest work with Scientific-Atlanta , who will create and supply the PVR set-top boxes, due to… Continue reading Telewest Targets Sky With PVR Set-Top Box

London mayor Ken Livingstone has told a radio station in the capital that the value of an exclusive distribution deal for newspapers on London’s underground train network could be worth up to £4 million, a massive 400% increase on the value of the Metro‘s current distribution deal.Furthermore, Livingstone is confident that a second deal, worth… Continue reading Livingstone Seeks Increased Newspaper Revenue From Tube

Capital Radio-owned indie music station Xfm has hired creative agency Mother to deliver the station’s above-the-line activity following an impressive pitch to the station’s marketing team at the end of last year.The appointment follows the decision from Capital Radio to inject more money into its development brands, a move which the company hopes will capitalise… Continue reading Xfm Signs Mother To Handle Promotional Push

Cable providers Telewest Broadband and NTL have launched their first fully fledged on-demand services today, allowing Telewest’s digital cable customers in Bristol to view films provided by FilmFlex, while NTL customers in Glasgow will be the first to try its on-demand TV service, dubbed NTL On Demand.Telewest’s new service is initially available to around two… Continue reading Cable Giants Launch On-Demand TV And Movie Services

Radio measurement body, RAJAR, will announce the long-awaited results of its audiometer tests in February, but brief overviews of the meters’ performance given by the ratings body’s research director suggest that the all-important tests may prove inconclusive.In a presentation to the Media Research Group last night, Sally de la Bedoyere, RAJAR’s managing director, and Paul… Continue reading RAJAR Lifts Lid On Audiometer Tests

Record Christmas sales of Freeview receivers have given a massive boost to the digital TV system, pushing the number of Freeview-equipped households up to the five million mark and delivering extra channels to at least one million more homes than at the same point last year, according to initial sales figures.According to estimates from the… Continue reading Christmas Shoppers Push Freeview Into Five Million Homes