BBC One’s Ashes to Ashes drama secured the highest ratings during the all-important 9pm to 10pm peak-hour last night.Over 5.7 million peak viewers tuned in to see the fourth episode in the eight-part series, starring Philip Glenister and Dean Andrews, banking a 24% average audience share for BBC One.At the same time, the third episode… Continue reading Ashes to Ashes triumphs with 5.7 million viewers

UKRD have finally secured the controlling share in The Local Radio Company, despite facing a higher offer from rival bidder Hallwood Financial.The radio investment group UKRD now own 50.09% of the existing issued share capital of TLRC after a renewed bid of 4p per share, up from its previous bid of 3.35p per share.Hallwood also… Continue reading UKRD wins battle for The Local Radio Company

Global Radio’s chief executive Ashley Tabor has said he expects the radio group to hold its underlying operating profits flat for the 12 months to the end of March, despite a slump in ad revenues.Tabor said Global, which owns stations including Classic FM and Capital, will report underlying profits of around £31 million despite seeing… Continue reading Global Radio chief predicts steady profits

BSkyB has criticised the BBC Trust’s decision not to conduct a full market impact review of Project Canvas and said the proposed service is “likely to qualify” for an OFT investigation.BSkyB argued that the BBC’s proposals for the joint broadband TV venture with ITV and BT are not clear enough for a proper consultation, which… Continue reading BSkyB criticises handling of Project Canvas

Britain’s Got Talent remained the highlight of the weekend with a peak audience of nearly 12 million viewers on Saturday evening.Over 11.1 million average viewers tuned in to see more hopefuls audition for a chance to perform at the Royal Variety Show in front of judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan, securing ITV1… Continue reading Britain’s Got Talent hit a high of almost 12m viewers

Blinkx has signed a deal with the digital TV software company Miniweb that will see its search and interactive services added to set-top boxes across the UK.The deal will give the online video search service a chance to integrate the diversity of web video and the functionality of web search with TV sets in homes… Continue reading Blinkx signs new set-top box deal

The Wall Street Journal is set to start charging casual users for access to individual online articles following owner Rupert Murdoch’s plans to expand the pay model.WSJ‘s managing editor Robert Thomson said the micro-payment system will apply to non-subscribers who want to read individual articles and will give existing subscribers access to premium niche markets,… Continue reading Wall Street Journal to implement new payment system

BBC Radio 5 live has unveiled its new weekend schedule with a fresh new look to its Saturday and Sunday morning slots.Danny Baker is set to host the Saturday 9-11am programme, with a focus on the day’s sport, which will include listener stories, comedy, fans on the road, interactive games, special guests and supporters’ issues… Continue reading BBC Radio 5 live unveils new weekend line-up

The Evening Standard will be distributed across London for free on Monday in a bid to promote its relaunch.The newspaper, which usually runs with a coverprice of 50p, is set show off its new-look with 650,000 free copies, which will be handed out across the capital.The freebie move follows a teaser ad campaign that has… Continue reading Evening Standard to go free for a day

Discovery’s Quest channel is set to be the first solus website sponsor of Freeview during May.Quest will be the first of the Discovery channels to air on the digital terrestrial TV service when it launches on May 14.As part of the new partnership, the Freeview website will feature a number of adverts on the homepage,… Continue reading Quest to sponsor Freeview website