BT is merging its Openworld high-speed internet service into a new joint venture with Yahoo! The move, which comes as BT pledges to put broadband at centre of its strategy, will see the creation of a new endeavour called BT Yahoo! Broadband. The co-branded service will give BT Openworld users access to a range of… Continue reading BT Goes Down Broadband Road With Yahoo!

The number of active internet users worldwide will rise to almost 725 million in 2004, according to the latest forecasts from eMarketer. Recent studies have indicated that North America is no longer the world leader in terms of number of users (see Global Internet Population Tops 600 Million). This is supported by the eMarketer research… Continue reading Double Digit Internet Growth Continues

While Carlton and Granada go to greater and greater lengths to push through their long-awaited merger, analysts have warned that the second half of 2003 is likely to bring only ‘minimal’ growth for UK TV advertising. Further down the line, there are fears that PVRs could lead to greater fragmentation in the TV industry. A… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Broadcasting Chiefs Look To The Future

Troubled Cordiant Communications has announced that it is on the verge of reaching a deal that will ensure its survival in the advertising marketplace. In a statement yesterday, the global marketing group, which is more than £200 million in debt, said that talks with unnamed companies were progressing and details of a deal should be… Continue reading Crisis At Cordiant Nears Resolution

Advertisers have warned that proposals from Carlton and Granada to link advertising rates with audience figures in an attempt to secure approval for their planned £2.7 billion merger, would not go far enough to address their competition concerns. The Institute Of Practitioners In Advertising believes that a behavioural remedy, thought to have been put forward… Continue reading Advertisers Wary Of Revised ITV Merger Plans

Growth in advertising and media expenditure will be modest this year, although somewhat higher than in 2002, according to the latest Global Entertainment And Media Outlook report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The report predicts that global media and entertainment spend will top $1.1 trillion in 2003, a 3.7% rise on last year. Following this, in the… Continue reading Media & Entertainment Spend To Show 4.8% Growth Over Five Years

Consolidated figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers show that US online adspend was slightly higher in the fourth quarter of last year than announced in preliminary results in April (see US Online Adspend Drops 17% In 2002). The restated figures put Q4 internet spend at $1.6 billion, up from the previously reported… Continue reading IAB Revises US Q4 Internet Spend To $1.6bn

In three years time, most of the mobile phones sold in Western Europe will be camera-embedded devices, says a new report from Gartner Dataquest. The research firm estimates that by 2006, sales of camera-capable phones across the region will exceed 70 million. Some 66% of mobiles will come with an in-built camera, up from 9%… Continue reading Camera Phones To Galvanise European Mobile Market

The relative cost of using outdoor advertising has risen more quickly than all other media over the last seven years, according to media inflation figures. The data shows that it is more than twice as expensive than in 1995 to reach a given number of people using outdoor advertising. A standard measure of the cost… Continue reading Outdoor Media Inflation Outstrips Other Sectors

There is likely to be a slowdown in broadband growth in the US unless providers take steps to persuade dial-up users that it is beneficial to upgrade. This is one of the main conclusions of a new report on the subject by Ipsos-Insight. It is estimated that around 19 million US households had a high-speed… Continue reading Service Providers Look To Combat Broadband Slowdown