Three former Carlton directors could be ousted from the ITV board by a group of shareholders angry over the directors’ decision to authorise a controversial £15 million payoff to Michael Green. It is understood that Sir Brian Pitman, the most senior former Carlton director, will visit shareholders this week to explain why the broadcaster approved… Continue reading Former Carlton Directors Could Be Ousted From ITV Board

Pre-tax profits at global market research company, Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), jumped by 33.8% to £65.3 million during 2003, as the integration of NFO progressed ahead of plan during the year. Excluding joint ventures and integration costs, pre-tax profits were up 13.3% to £32.4 million. Operating profit, including joint ventures, was up by 35.1% at… Continue reading TNS Sees Profits Jump In 2003 After NFO Acquisition

The continued growth of digital media will cause a fundamental shift in media planning by the end of the decade, according to Jerry Buhlmann, chief executive officer of Carat International. Buhlmann predicts that advertising is about to significantly change, with emerging technologies such as the internet, digital television and 3G mobile phones expected to account… Continue reading Digital Media Will Cause Major Planning Shift

Global media inflation is rising faster than economic growth, with Central & Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific currently being the driving regions. It is television, which for the last few years has seen significant deflation, that will bounce back to show the strongest inflation during 2004. According to figures from Initiative Media, even weak… Continue reading Media Inflation Outpaces Economic Growth, Finds Initiative

Britain’s cinema industry remains on track to deliver 200 million cinema-goers and £1 billion at the box office by 2008, according to a new report from Dodona Research. The optimistic outlook comes despite a decline of 8.5 million in admissions during 2003. Dodona says that this fall was due to the exceptional film line-up of… Continue reading UK Cinema On Track For £1bn Box Office By 2008

Hollinger International, the parent company of the Daily Telegraph, has confirmed that it is pressing ahead with the auction of its newspapers and will welcome any offer from the Barclay brothers.The announcement follows a final order from a US court that prevented Lord Conrad Black from selling his majority stake in Hollinger Inc to the… Continue reading Hollinger Invites Barclays To Join Telegraph Auction

ITV’s chief executive of broadcasting, Mick Desmond, outlined a seven-point plan for future strategy at the annual ISBA conference this week. Top of the list was building strong partnerships with advertisers and he pointed to the arrival of Justin Sampson as ITV’s first head of customer relationship management.The ITV strategy included:Delivering commercial impacts to common… Continue reading Desmond Outlines New Strategy For Post Merger ITV

Hollinger International, the parent company of the Daily Telegraph, has confirmed that it is pressing ahead with the auction of its newspapers and will welcome any offer from the Barclay brothers. The announcement follows a final order from a US court that prevented Lord Conrad Black from selling his majority stake in Hollinger Inc to… Continue reading Hollinger Invites Barclays To Join Telegraph Auction

The UK has entered the top ten global ranking for DSL broadband penetration, having notched up 1.8 million subscribers to DSL services by the end of 2003. This makes Britain the tenth biggest market for broadband connections via telephones in the world, according to data from analysts Point Topic. Across the world almost 28 million… Continue reading UK Enters The Global Top Ten For DSL Broadband

The total number of WAP page impressions viewed in the UK reached 1.2 billion during January, according to new figures from the Mobile Data Association (MDA). This is an increase of almost 200 million compared to December and is the highest monthly figure yet recorded. There are now a total of 38 million WAP page… Continue reading WAP Page Impressions Reach Highest Monthly Figure