US advertising spend is forecast to grow by 4.3% this year to reach $124.7 billion, according to a new set of figures from TNS Media Intelligence/CMR. Unveiling its mid-year AdWatch: Outlook 2003 report at a conference in New York yesterday, the group upgraded its January prediction of 3.3% growth for the full-year. “The first quarter… Continue reading TNS/CMR Upgrades US 2003 Ad Growth To 4.3%

Mobile messaging stands at an industry crossroads and decisions and actions taken over the next twelve months will determine the direction and potential of the medium, according to a new report from Analysys. If the development of the mobile phone industry was chronicled, text messaging would be regarded as the surprise success story. It remains… Continue reading Mobile Operators Seek Road To Messaging Riches

BSkyB seems set to retain its dominance of televised football in the UK, despite the announcement last week that live Premiership rights are to be split into three packages when the current broadcasting contract expires next year. Rupert Murdoch has held a ten-year monopoly on live top-flight soccer, an arrangement which has benefited TV executives… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: BSkyB In The Box Seat In Premiership Rights Chase

Active Value, the majority shareholder in Cordiant Communications, this morning again increased its stake in the company. The group purchased an additional 2.5 million shares in Cordiant, taking its holding to 24.5%. This is just shy of the 25% that Active Value needs to make a blocking attempt on Cordiant’s proposed £266 million takeover by… Continue reading Active Value Bumps Up Cordiant Holding To 24.5%

The chances of the Government’s Communications Bill becoming law in its current form looked increasingly tenuous yesterday as opposition to the proposed legislation gained momentum in the House of Lords. A group of peers, headed by Lord Puttnam, chairman of the Joint Scrutiny Committee have already successfully tabled two amendments on the Bill, which is… Continue reading Lords Flex Muscles In Communications Bill Debate

The Daily Mail & General Trust has failed to overturn a ruling by the Office of Fair Trading that one of its Scottish newspaper divisions was guilty of predatory pricing against a rival. The OFT ruled last September that Aberdeen Journals, owned by DMGT subsidiary Northcliffe Newspapers, had been guilty of anti-competitive conduct (see Northcliffe… Continue reading DMGT Fails In Predatory Pricing Appeal

RTL, the pan-European broadcaster, plans to retain its stake in UK terrestrial station, Five, despite the Government’s plans to clear the way for non-EU investors to acquire the business. The relaxation of the media ownership regulations has prompted fierce speculation that RTL may decide to sell its 65% stake in the channel to Rupert Murdoch’s… Continue reading RTL Not Interested In Selling Five Stake

The rate of growth of the number of women online in Europe is so slow that if current patterns continue, it will be 2010 before there are as many women as men using the internet. According to new research from Nielsen//NetRatings, 42% of European internet users were women as of May 2003; this represents a… Continue reading Gender Parity Of Online Europeans Will Take 7 Years

The belief that movie downloading is doing significant harm to the film industry is wide of the mark, if a new report from The Yankee Group is to be believed. Unlicensed downloading is one of the reasons cited by recording companies for the current demise in music sales (see Fall In US Music Sales Blamed… Continue reading Downloading Poses Little Threat To Movie Business

One in five digital households in the UK takes free-to-air services, according to the latest figures from the Independent Television Commission (ITC). Over the last six months, the uptake of free-to-air (FTA) digital services – including FTA satellite – has accounted for 60% of the growth of the UK’s digital TV (DTV) market, according to… Continue reading One In Five UK Digital Homes Receives Free-To-Air Services