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

The number of people conducting banking transactions over the internet has increased by almost 80% over the last two years, according to a new report from Nielsen//NetRatings. Analysis of the research firm’s Fall 2003 @Plan data shows that the number of US adults carrying out banking tasks online has grown from 13 million to 23… Continue reading Online Banking Paying Dividends, Says Report

Despite growing confidence in broadcasting circles, the weakness of the local advertising market is mitigating against accelerated growth in the sector as a whole, according to analysis from the US. Merrill Lynch concurs with other organisations which are eulogising national advertising in the second half of 2003 (see Nielsen Confirms Upturn In TV Adspend). In… Continue reading Sluggish Local Market Hits Broadcast Revenues

Independent News & Media is reported to have made a £40 million bid for Trinity Mirror’s Irish titles but the offer does not include the Belfast News Letter. The publishing group, headed by Tony O’Reilly, already owns the Belfast Telegraph and had been seen a strong contender for the newspapers, which were put up for… Continue reading O’Reilly Submits Bid For Trinity’s Irish Titles

Granada chairman, Charles Allen, has conceded that he could accept the double divestment of ITV’s sales houses to save the broadcaster’s £4 billion merger with Carlton. Allen has so far been fiercely opposed to the idea that Carlton and Granada might be forced to sell-off their sales house in an attempt to calm fears over… Continue reading Granada Chief May Accept Divestment To Save ITV Merger

The number of broadband lines worldwide rose by 24.3% to 77 million during the first six months of 2003, with the fastest growth coming from the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region, which jumped by 34.5%. According to the latest data from Point Topic, the Asia-Pacific region has the largest share of global broadband… Continue reading Worldwide Broadband Lines Grow 24% In First Half