Emap is forecasting a 3% increase in revenues when first-half results are issued in November but claims that it is premature to suggest that market conditions are improving. In a trading statement today, the cross-media group said that there had been revenue growth across all four of its divisions with Emap Consumer Media making the… Continue reading Emap Circumspect In Spite Of H1 Revenue Gains

City investors have offered a gently positive reaction to the announcement of the departure of BSkyB’s chief executive, Tony Ball, with shares up slightly by 1.5% to 630.5p by mid-morning today. Sky’s chairman and head of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, is reportedly planning to install his youngest son James as Ball’s successor at the satellite… Continue reading Sky Shares Show Small Rise On News Of Ball’s Exit

Some of BSkyB’s largest institutional shareholders have warned the satellite broadcaster that they will not accept the unchallenged appointment of James Murdoch as chief executive. Reports suggest that ten of BSkyB’s biggest shareholders have urged its board of senior independent directors to ensure an ‘impartial’ succession to Tony Ball, who is stepping down after four… Continue reading BSkyB Shareholders Express Concern Over Ball Successor

Freeview, the digital terrestrial television service, is expected to have been adopted by two million homes in the UK by the time it celebrates its first birthday at the end of next month. The free-to-air platform, which replaced the beleaguered ITV Digital last October, has been warmly received by consumer and it is believed to… Continue reading Freeview Could Be In 2 Million Homes By First Birthday

Audience figures at ITV are starting to show signs of a turnaround, with adult commercial impacts in the calendar year to August up by 6.6%, whilst average share of viewing is down just 0.7% points over the same period. BARB data from MediaTel.co.uk show that the turnaround in impacts for the adult audience began at… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: ITV Arrests Audience Decline, But For How Long?

At present, penetration of personal video recorders (PVR) is low but a new report from the Yankee Group suggests that this will not be the case for long and the advertising industry will feel their impact from 2005 onwards. Ever since it was introduced as a concept, advertisers have lived in fear of PVR technology,… Continue reading PVRs Threaten 30-Second Ads, Says Yankee Group

Rupert Murdoch could step aside as chairman of BSkyB in an attempt to calm shareholder unease over plans to appoint his son chief executive of the satellite television company. Shareholders have expressed concern over proposals to put 31 year-old James Murdoch, the current head of Asia’s Star TV satellite network, in charge of BSkyB after… Continue reading Murdoch Could Step Down As BSkyB Chairman

Daily Mail & General Trust, publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper, today said that its most advertising-reliant businesses have continued to experience difficult trading conditions over the last twelve months, most notably at the Associated Newspapers division. Associated has seen ongoing weakness in the national display advertising market, as well as in the London classified… Continue reading Daily Mail Sees Ongoing Weakness In National Advertising

ITV giants Carlton and Granada have rebuffed advances from two US media groups that have expressed an interest in buying a single ITV group. According to reports, Viacom and Saban Capital Group have both indicated that they might bid for ITV if Carlton and Granada’s planned £4 billion merger gets the go-ahead. Reports from last… Continue reading ITV Groups Reject US Takeover Approaches

Global online music sales will reach $3.9 billion in 2008, but the market potential is limited because of illegal file sharing, according to a new study from Informa Media Group. The report, Music On The Internet, claims that the share of music sales online will rise from 4.5% this year to 11.9% in 2008. Hard… Continue reading Unknown Downloaders Threaten Online Music Ambitions