Virgin Media has unveiled its first television ad campaign for mobile since the company formed in 2007.The 60-second ad, which will air on June 24 and run for a five week period, aims to highlight the power of the internet on a Virgin Media mobile phone handset.The new campaign forms part of Virgin Media’s ‘Powerful… Continue reading Virgin to air its first TV ad for mobile

BBC Two’s all-new Top Gear kicked-off with a bang last night, pulling in an impressive 7.7 million peak viewers.The first episode of the new seven-part series, with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, attracted almost 7 million average viewers and a 30.1% audience share during the 8pm to 9pm slot.BBC Two’s new one-off documentary,… Continue reading Overnights: All-new Top Gear is a hit

Google is testing commission-only search ads that “feature product specific information directly in the ad”.The search giant has invited advertisers to test the new ad format, which aims to show more product and price information, according to reports.The new ads will include an image to accompany the product, which differs from Google’s current text-only ads.“Through… Continue reading Google tests new commission-only search ads

ISBA is set to advise a new consultation on behavioural targeting and online privacy issues led by the Information Commissioner’s Office.The advertiser body plans to guide the ICO on a number of issues from July, including a statutory code of best practice to cover collecting online information, according to reports.The code, which will be known… Continue reading ISBA to advise on online behavioural targeting code

UKTV completes its 18-month portfolio rebrand today with the launch of its final channel Good Food.Formerly known as UKTV Food, the channel relaunches following an agreement with BBC Worldwide to license the ‘Good Food’ name.It is UKTV’s tenth and final channel to be relaunched after an 18-month-long overhaul of the broadcaster’s entire portfolio, assisted by… Continue reading UKTV completes portfolio rebrand with launch of Good Food

Twitter is planning to let advertisers target consumers with direct branded messages in a bid to generate new revenue streams.The micro-blogging site will allow brands to automatically reply to users’ questions, such as “What treadmill should I buy?”, with discount vouchers and coupons, as well as e-commerce links, according to reports.A Twitter investor told the… Continue reading Twitter to offer advertisers direct branded messages

BBC One’s three-part war drama ended on a high last night with 3.4 million peak viewers during the all-important 9pm to 10pm slot.Occupation, starring James Nesbitt and Warren Brown, attracted 3.3 million average viewers and a 15.4% share over the course of the hour, a slight increase on its ratings from Wednesday night.Elsewhere, BBC’s rival… Continue reading Overnights: Final Occupation secures the top spot

News International has cancelled its £30 million contract with newspaper distributor Dawson Holdings.The newspaper publishing group is the latest company to terminate its deal with Dawson Holdings, forcing the firm to close its magazine and newspaper distribution arm.News International’s multimillion pound-contract is due to be cancelled “almost immediately”, according to Dawson Holdings.Dawson is also expected… Continue reading News International terminates Dawson Holdings contract

Online gadget site Firebox.com is set to launch a pilot digital consumer magazine for its subscribers next week.Genius, which is the first project to be produced by Insider Consultancy’s new digital publishing arm, will be sent out to all of Firebox’s 600,000-strong mailing list.PR and marketing consultancy Insider was founded by Mike Peake and Simeon… Continue reading Gadget site to pilot new digital magazine

Online behavioural targeting company Phorm claims it has enough funds to continue running despite a pre-tax loss of $48 million.The ad firm reported a pre-tax loss of $48 million for the year ending December 31 2008, compared with a pre-tax loss of $32 million in 2007, but says it will continue to trial its controversial… Continue reading Phorm’s pre-tax loss reaches $48m