First half revenues fell by 3% at Pearson, partly as a result of continuing weak advertising conditions at its Financial Times newspaper, the group said today. Reporting a decline in pre-tax profits from £26 million in H1 2002 to a loss of £1 million this time, Pearson said that there were ongoing tough trading conditions… Continue reading Pearson Revenues Drop As Ad Bite Continues At FT

Telewest shareholders can expect to receive only 1.5% of the firm’s equity once restructuring is completed, the cable company said today. Following in-depth negotiations, it has been agreed that bondholders will get 98.5% of Telewest shares. A deal by which they would have received 97% of the equity was previously rejected as insufficient (see Bondholders… Continue reading Telewest To Reduce Shareholder Stake

US newspaper advertising revenues rose by approximately 2% in the second quarter of the year, according to an analysis of newspaper publishers’ results by Merrill Lynch. All but one newspaper group have reported figures for the quarter to June and the consensus of 2% growth shows a marginal improvement over the Q1 rise of 1.5%… Continue reading US Newspaper Advertising Shows Slow Growth

The next five years will see global Wi-Fi usage grow at a record pace, exceeding 700 million users by 2008, according to a new report from Pyramid Research. As mobile penetration reaches saturation point in many markets, wireless operators are committed to finding new revenue streams and Wi-Fi is seen as the next big thing.… Continue reading Wi-Fi Growth To Accelerate But Challenges Remain

European digital television set-top box (STB) manufacturers need to move away from production of the stand-alone STB and start manufacturing personal video recorders (PVRs) and integrated digital TV sets if they are to maximise revenues in the developing markets. This is according to research and consulting company Strategy Analytics. The group forecasts that the European… Continue reading Digital TV Equipment To See Growth Recovery In Europe

The decline in advertising revenues at the Financial Times is not expected to show any recovery until 2005, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. The FT‘s parent company, Pearson, announced in April that the paper’s ad revenues had plummeted by 18% over the preceding twelve months, with the FT Group as a whole falling by… Continue reading Weak Advertising Expected At FT In Pearson Results

The continued recovery of the US advertising market has helped to boost revenues at media giant, Viacom, by 10% to a record $6.4 billion during the second quarter of the year. The strong performance was led by a 22% jump in the cable network, with a 10% rise in revenues at the television and video… Continue reading US Ad Pick-Up Boosts Viacom Revenues

The wave of cost cutting and redundancies in the media sector has left employee morale at an all time low, according to new research from recruitment agency TMP/Hudson Global. The survey, which analysed the current and projected recruitment plans of 3,100 companies in the UK, shows that one in five respondents believe employee morale is… Continue reading Morale Amongst Media Employees Hits All Time Low

Prevailing economic uncertainty has failed to permeate the UK’s online retail market, with sales set to top £14 billion this year, according to the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG). In a report issued to coincide with the UK’s first National Internet Home Shopping Day (24×7 Day), the industry body sings the praises of internet… Continue reading UK High Street Sales Fall As Online Commerce Doubles

US business to business (B2B) print advertising spending fell for the first time in six months during April, according to the latest figures from American Business Media (ABM). Advertising dollars were down 10%, whilst pages were down 8.4%. “Due to recent global events, we anticipated this downturn,” says Gordon Hughes, CEO of ABM. Hughes says… Continue reading US Business Print Advertising Drops In April