Publicis’ chairman and chief executive Maurice Levy predicts an upturn in advertising spend in the second half of 2009.Speaking at Publicis’ annual general meeting yesterday, Levy said the ad spend decline is almost “over” and the market should pick up in the second half of the year, after a difficult Q2.“The fall of advertising expenditures… Continue reading Publicis chief forecasts increase in ad spend

Phorm hopes to secure £15 million in order to continue its behavioural targeting operations in the UK and South Korea.The company plans to sell a 19.4% stake through a new share offering in a bid to raise the capital needed to continue trialling its controversial technology with BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media.So far, Phorm has… Continue reading Phorm aims to raise £15m to continue trials

Channel 4 and Clear Channel have both developed new ad packages in a bid to encourage advertisers to capitalise on the summer sun.Clear Channel has set up five ad packages, which include a client bonus if temperatures reach more than 30° in the expected hot weather this summer.As part of the outdoor firm’s summer packs,… Continue reading C4 and Clear Channel unveil new hot ad packages

Sport Media Group has managed to turn around its plummeting circulation for the first time in six months and claims its advertising revenue is “holding steady”.SMG, publisher of the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport, said its circulation figures for May are back up to the same levels of last November.Earlier this year, the publishing firm… Continue reading Sport Media Group says ad revenue is “holding steady”

The last in the series of Ashes to Ashes pulled in more than 6.7 million peak viewers last night during the all-important 9pm to 10pm slot.BBC One’s popular drama series, starring Philip Glenister and Dean Andrews, ended on a high with 6.4 million average viewers and a 29.1% audience share during the peak-hour.At the same… Continue reading Overnights: Last Ashes to Ashes secures 6.7m viewers

Television advertising rates have fallen to the lowest levels since the 1980s, according to a new report by Billetts.The media and marketing consultancy firm also warned that UK TV ad spend is unlikely to recover next year after two consecutive years of decline, following a slump in the cost of TV ad slots.Billetts said the… Continue reading Billetts: Lowest TV ad rates in over 20 years

Channel 4 is set to make all of its rights-cleared archived content available on the Channel4.com catch-up TV service 4oD.The broadcaster plans to add around 4,000 hours of archived content, including classic series such as Trigger Happy TV and Queer as Folk as well as old episodes of popular programmes like Grand Designs, to its… Continue reading C4 boosts website with free archive content

Mobile advertising may be an emerging market but it is certainly generating a lot of interest, according to Matthew Hester, research director at Ipsos MediaCT.In a presentation before the Mobile seminar at Thursday’s Media Playground conference, Hester said the potential of mobile advertising is gathering pace.Incentivated’s Robert Thurner, who also presented at the Media Playground… Continue reading Mobile Advertising is creating “a lot of interest”

The final episode of this year’s eventful Apprentice series pulled in over 10.4 million peak viewers last night.More than 9.8 million average viewers tuned in to see the two finalists, Kate and Yasmina, battle it out to become Sir Alan Sugar’s apprentice between 8pm and 9pm, securing BBC One with an impressive 38% average audience… Continue reading Overnights: The Apprentice final steals the show

Mobile fits for all marketing campaigns as long as advertisers pick the right target audience, according to Todd Tran, managing director of Joule.Speaking at last week’s Media Playground conference in London, Tran said: “We can achieve lots of marketing objectives on mobile. Mobile fits for all but advertisers need to pick the right people and… Continue reading Mobile Marketing “fits for all”