Media regulator Ofcom has fined ITV £220,000 for failing to meet its regional programme production quota for ITV1 in 2006 and 2007.Ofcom ordered ITV to pay a fine of £20,000 against each of its 11 regional licences in England and Wales after it failed to hit its minimum level of expenditure.ITV1 managed to comply with… Continue reading Ofcom fines ITV £220,000

ITV1 stole the show last night, holding on to the peak audience all evening, starting off with Emmerdale at 7pm all the way through to the end of the Live FA Cup football at 10pm.Around 5.7 million peak viewers tuned in to see Southend take on Chelsea in the third round FA Cup replay, which… Continue reading ITV1 ratings score highly

The Economist Group is set to make a number of job cuts in the UK, despite a restructure of its commercial activities that will create a new sales unit.Around 13 redundancies will be made from the businesses’ conferences, Economist Intelligence Unit and commercial services, as the group looks to provide a more integrated sales solutions… Continue reading Economist Group set to make job cuts

Former KGB agent Alexander Lebedev is set to buy London’s Evening Standard today, in a deal that will see him become the first Russian oligarch to own a major British newspaper.Lebedev is reportedly poised to take a controlling 76% stake of the struggling title, while the Evening Standard‘s parent group Daily Mail & General Trust… Continue reading Former KGB agent to buy Evening Standard

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today published its consultation document, recommending that the Competition Commission relax ITV’s Contract Rights Renewal (CRR).ITV’s CRR, the mechanism that protects advertisers from ITV1 abusing its dominant position in the UK TV ad market, was introduced in 2003 during the merger of Carlton and Granada.The OFT said it has… Continue reading OFT recommends relaxation of CRR

UKTV, the pay-TV joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media, is set to extend the reach of its male-focused channel by launching Dave+1 on Freeview next week.The broadcaster plans to extend its Dave portfolio from January, following the acquistion of an 8am to 4am daily slot on the digital TV platform, according to reports.The… Continue reading UKTV is set to launch Dave+1 on Freeview

An extra four national newspapers are expected to raise their cover prices this month, in a bid to battle it out with each other and beat the credit crunch.Following ABC’s disappointing December release, which saw all the national newspaper’s – bar one title – report circulation declines, newspapers are being forced to increase their price… Continue reading Four more newspapers set to up cover prices

Channel Five kicked-started the ninth series of CSI:Crime Scene Investigation with almost 4 million peak viewers last night.More than 3.8 million average viewers tuned in to see the first of 24 episodes of the ever-popular US crime drama, securing Five with a significantly larger audience share than its rival channels – ITV1, Channel 4 and… Continue reading Five’s new CSI starts on a high

The Mail on Sunday has hired former Bauer executive Marcus Rich as managing director, replacing Stephen Miron who left last November to join Global Radio.Rich will also take on the additional role of deputy managing director of Mail Newspapers after the company integrated its daily and Sunday sales departments, according to reports.He will report directly… Continue reading Mail on Sunday appoints new MD

In light of the recent advertising downturn, Ad Age’s editor Jonah Bloom suggests a shift back to the paid model as a means of moving forward in today’s market.Bloom predicts an “incredibly tough” 2009, with newspapers and magazines continuing to struggle and the possibility of more consolidation, foreign investment and even closures, particularly in the… Continue reading Ad Age editor: “Respect the paid model”