Ofcom has appointed Colette Bowe as its new chairman, to replace David Currie.Bowe, who joined the Ofcom board in January, will start in the new £200,000 three-day-a-week role in the new year.Andy Burnham, culture secretary, said: “Colette has the right mix of skills and experience for this role and I’m confident she also has the… Continue reading Ofcom appoints new chairman

Business leaders are optimistic about 2009 despite the current economic climate, according to new research from Mindshare.A survey of 5,500 business decision makers, across a number of countries including the UK, France, Brazil, Russia, India, China, Mexico and the US, found that 96% are “optimistic about the future”.However, 73% of the participants claimed that “economic… Continue reading Mindshare: “Business leaders are optimistic about the future”

Phorm’s UK chief executive Hugo Drayton is stepping down just weeks after four board members left the behavioural targeting company due to differences over its future strategy.Drayton, who was previously marketing and new media director at The Telegraph Group, is set to leave Phorm at the end of the year, according to reports.Earlier this month,… Continue reading Phorm’s chief steps down

The UK could switch from analogue to digital radio as early as 2017, according to the Digital Radio Working Group’s (DRWG) final report.The group set out three key criteria that it believes must be met in order to trigger digital migration – which includes making sure at least 50% of total radio listening occurs on… Continue reading Digital radio switchover by 2017

MTV has launched a new ad-free high definition TV channel on Sky with 300 hours of original HD content.The new international channel, named MTVNHD (MTV Networks High Definition), will be available on the Sky platform at channel 384, which carries no advertising.MTVNHD, which is set to be the first music-based entertainment channel on Sky’s HD… Continue reading MTV launches ad-free TV channel

Lord Carter is expected to make four proposals to solve Channel 4’s funding crisis at the end of January to coincide with Ofcom’s public service broadcasting review.The new minister for communications, technology and broadcasting will outline his suggestions when the interim report of his Digital Britain panel is published, with similar recommendations to Ofcom, according… Continue reading Channel 4 could face privatisation

Fat food ads seen by children has fallen by around a third since Ofcom placed restrictions on TV advertising, according to the regulator’s HFSS interim review today.Ofcom started phasing in restrictions on TV ads that featured high in fat, salt or sugary food and drink products (HFSS) in April 2007, in a bid to combat… Continue reading Ofcom finds fewer fat food ads

More than 88% of households now have digital TV on their main sets, up from 84% year on year, according to Ofcom’s digital progress report for Q3 2008.Ofcom’s report found that the total number of homes with DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) reached 17.2 million, with an extra 2.5 million DDT devices sold in the third… Continue reading 88% of households now have digital TV

Top magazine and newspaper websites saw their unique users in the UK increase over the last year, according to Nielsen Online’s latest survey.Auto Trader is by far the most popular magazine website with 1.8 million unique users, while the Guardian remains the most visited online paper with 3.5 million unique users, despite having the lowest… Continue reading Nielsen Online: Top magazine sites up 30%

Top magazine and newspaper websites saw their unique users in the UK increase over the last year, according to Nielsen Online’s latest survey.Auto Trader is by far the most popular magazine website with 1.8 million unique users, while the Guardian remains the most visited online paper with 3.5 million unique users, despite having the lowest… Continue reading Nielsen Online: Top magazine sites up 30%