Media journalist Ray Snoddy believes that the magazine industry now has the freedom to plan and invest in launches, in preparation for when the recession ends.Speaking at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of Consumer Magazines’ seminar yesterday, Snoddy said the magazine industry is in a good position because “the entire sector is in private hands, which is… Continue reading Snoddy: “Publishers should be planning launches”

ShortList‘s chief executive Mike Soutar rebuffs claims that the publisher is set to launch a new women’s weekly title to rival the likes of Grazia magazine.Speaking about the reports, which are thought to have surfaced a “few weeks ago” and suggested that ShortList Media planned to launch a free celebrity and fashion title aimed at… Continue reading ShortList’s chief exec denies rumours of new mag

Up to 300 jobs are likely to be cut at local weekly paper owner MEN Media and regional newspaper publisher Observer Standard Media Group.Around 150 jobs are under threat at the Observer Standard Media Group, which currently has the administrators in, after it announced that it is looking for a buyer for nine of its… Continue reading Regional publishers to cut up to 300 jobs

Carat’s press director Dominic Williams predicts an ad revenue decline of as much as 15%, saying that the industry needs to work harder to maintain revenue.Speaking on the panel at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of Consumer Magazines’ seminar this morning, Williams said he expects the market to fall lower than previously forecast – Group M predicted… Continue reading Magazine Seminar Keynote: Press director predicts 15% ad decline this year

Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB has launched an attack on Channel 4, saying it has wasted £270 million on poor investments.In response to Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report, which will shape the future of British broadcasting, BSkyB wrote a letter claiming that Channel 4 has wasted millions of pounds on failed business ventures and would still be… Continue reading BSkyB launches attack on Channel 4

Telegraph Media Group has appointed former Absolute Radio commercial director Nick Hewat as its new sales director.Hewat joins TMG after 17 years in radio, which saw him head up agency sales at GCap Media and most recently work at Virgin Radio, which relaunched as Absolute radio after its takeover by Times of India Group.Hewat will… Continue reading Telegraph appoints former Absolute chief Hewat

ITV1’s British re-make of Law & Order with Bradley Walsh continues to draw in the peak-time viewers.Last night, the crime drama attracted more than 6.4 million peak viewers and a 26.2% average audience share during the all-important 9pm to 10pm slot.Law & Order:UK pushed ITV1 well ahead of its rival terrestrial channels during the hour,… Continue reading Law & Order: UK races ahead in the ratings war

YouTube has blocked premium music videos on its UK site after failing to reach an agreement with the Performing Right Society (PRS).Google started blocking videos on its user generated video site yesterday evening following a disagreement over how much it was paying the PRS for music content.YouTube currently pays a licence to the PRS, which… Continue reading YouTube blocks music videos on UK site

ITV1 secured the highest ratings all evening yesterday with a peak run of Dancing on Ice, Wild at Heart, Piers Morgan’s Life Stories and the FA Cup Football Highlights.Dancing on Ice, which saw the five remaining couples battle it out for a place in next weekend’s semi-final, attracted more than 10 million peak viewers and… Continue reading ITV1 pulls off a peak run

Northcliffe Media is set to cut up to 95 jobs and close or merge a number of its weekly papers across Essex, Kent and Surrey in a bid to centralise regional production.The publisher issued a statement earlier today to say that they have been forced to restructure to “reduce costs in the current challenging trading… Continue reading Northcliffe Media to slash 95 jobs