Vivendi Universal, the France-based media and entertainment group, moved into the black in its third quarter, for the first time in two years. Net profits at the company came in at €131 million, up from a loss of €1.2 billion in Q3 2002. Vivendi said that the performance of its various media business units has… Continue reading Vivendi Universal Is Back In Black

New research from Reuters Business Insight and TNS has revealed that advertisers are ignoring older consumers, despite the fact they are set to become the mainstream market. This is the latest in a long line of studies to focus on consumers’ growing disquiet with advertising’s obsession with youth. Reuters claims that by 2006, the over-55s… Continue reading New Research Urges Marketers To Target Grey Pound

Advertising inserts are the publicity tool most likely to influence a consumer’s buying decisions and are the most popular medium used by shoppers when looking for help with a purchasing decision. This is according to a new survey by Vertis, a US-based marketing services provider. The Customer Focus 2004: Ad Inserts Study found that 85%… Continue reading Inserts Top Advertising Effectiveness Poll

The global advertising recession has forced newspaper groups to become more intuitive in the search for income and new revenue strategies are likely to be the main topic at the forthcoming World Newspaper Advertising Conference. The event, organised by the World Association of Newspapers, brings together publishing executives from across the world. Despite the slowdown… Continue reading Newspapers Respond To Changing Advertiser Demands

Future Network, the international magazine group, has acquired the US’ second best-selling guitar magazine, Guitar One, from Cherry Lane Magazines for £1.5 million in cash. This is Future’s second acquisition of a US guitar magazine business this year; in September the company bought Guitar World and related titles for £10 million (see Future Network Profits… Continue reading Future Buys Second US Guitar Magazine Group

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on shareholders to vote against the election of James Murdoch as a non-executive director of satellite broadcaster BSkyB. The TUC says that James Murdoch cannot be seen to be a sufficiently independent director of a company of which his father, Rupert Murdoch, is chairman. The move is the… Continue reading Murdoch Faces Pressure From TUC Over Son’s Appointment

Conditions in the US advertising markets are starting to look ‘a little brighter’, according to Initiative Media’s CEO, Alec Gerster. In a conference call with Merrill Lynch analysts, Gerster said that although the ‘tone’ of the ad market is improving, it remains uneven and there does not appear to be a swell in demand prior… Continue reading US Ad Market Looks A Little Brighter, Says Initiative Chief

Contrary to received wisdom, advertising revenues are becoming a less significant factor in the financial performance of global advertising and media agencies, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. In an industry overview report, the broker advises investors that agencies have become decoupled from the advertising revenue cycle. This is a result of changes in the… Continue reading Agencies Decoupled From Ad Revenue Cycle, Says Morgan Stanley

The mobile games market will be worth â‚Ź1.65 billion in 2006, up from just â‚Ź0.46 billion in 2003, according to a new study from the Wireless World Forum (W2F). The forecast is at the conservative end of the range of recent figures from other groups, which have predicted revenues as high as â‚Ź38.1 billion over… Continue reading W2F Produces Conservative Mobile Gaming Forecasts

Free digital television and radio service, Freeview, has celebrated its first year of sales by revealing that between 1.7 and 2.1 million households now receive the service. Since January this year sales of Freeview boxes have been running at an average of 100,000 per month, placing it amongst the fastest-growing consumer electronics product ever. The… Continue reading Freeview Celebrates First Birthday With Record Sales