The majority of advertisers and media buyers fear that the creation of a single ITV sales house will drive up the cost of airtime, according to a new poll carried out for the Financial Times. The study shows that around 70% of respondents believed that advertising rates at ITV would increase following the merger of… Continue reading Advertisers Fear ITV Sales House Will Push Up Airtime Costs

Conrad Black, chairman and chief executive of Hollinger International, is set to announce a “comprehensive reconstruction” of parts of its parent firm, according to press reports. Hollinger Inc, which controls Hollinger International, publisher of the UK’s Daily Telegraph and the Chicago Sun-Times faces a potential funding shortfall after a profits warning in August (see Financial… Continue reading Hollinger Chief Plans Reconstruction

Carlton and Granada have announced a 7% increase in ITV1’s network programme budget after the Government cleared the way for their £4.2 billion merger. The £57 million year on year increase to £849 million for the current financial year, from 1 October to 30 September 2004, could increase once cost savings from the merger a… Continue reading ITV Merger Leads To Increase In Programme Budget

US online retail will hit $88.1 billion by 2005, whilst total US business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce revenues will hit $133.3 billion by this time, according to a new report from eMarketer. The report predicts that by 2005, 66.7% of the population aged 14-plus will be online and 78.0% of these will be using the web for… Continue reading US Ecommerce Forecasts From eMarketer

Internet users now spend more time online than watching television, according to new research commissioned by the recently launched BT Yahoo! Broadband service. The NOP survey makes grim reading for TV advertising sales chiefs by revealing that the average internet user now spends 3.5 hours a day online, compared to just 2.8 hours watching television.… Continue reading Consumers Are Spending More Time Online, Says Study

Wireless email has boosted the amount of time that employees can put into their work and its effect will become increasingly obvious in the next few years, according to a new study from The Radicati Group. The report claims that despite the shaky economy and relatively unstable carrier networks, almost 2 million business professionals will… Continue reading Wireless Email To Benefit Productivity

Independent News & Media has announced the sale of its stake in a Portuguese newspaper group as it continues to dispose of non-core assets. The publisher has sold its 19.1% stake in Lusomondo Media to the Lisbon-based Cofina Group for £17 million. Cofina owns several of the biggest titles in Portugal including Correio da Manha,… Continue reading INM Accepts Offer For Portuguese Stake

ITV has unveiled a wide-ranging seven point plan for growth that will help it stave off any American take-over through the launch of a series of new digital channels and a new commitment to produce more format-based television programmes. The strategy has been unveiled in an interview in the Sunday Times with Charles Allen and… Continue reading ITV Unveils Growth Plan And Vows To Fight Off Takeover Bid

A new poll has found that more than two-thirds of broadband users would happily pay a premium for a guaranteed quality of service (QoS) from their provider. The survey of Broadband4Britain members commissioned by the network platforms company net.com found that 79% would like a new service that promises a minimum bandwidth performance level and… Continue reading Broadband Users Willing To Fork Out For Quality Services

Online shopping is becoming a way of life for an increasing number of UK consumers and the Interactive Media in Retail Group estimates that more than £4 billion of goods and services will be bought over the internet in November and December. Royal Mail and Parcelforce, which deliver 60% of all goods ordered online, expect… Continue reading E-Tailers Look Forward To Bumper Christmas