Shares in advertising and public relations group, Cordiant Communications, had plummeted by a hefty 62% by 11:00am this morning, after one of its largest clients announced that it is to terminate its contract with the agency. Drinks group Allied Domecq has said that it will end its relationship with Cordiant as of October this year.… Continue reading Cordiant Shares Nose-Dive As Major Client Walks

Future Network’s £3.5 million acquisition of French magazine group, Hachette Digital Press (HDP), has been cleared by the French authorities, the group announced this morning. HDP is the computer games magazine division of Hachette Filipacchi Presse and publishes four titles in France: Official PlayStation 2 Magazine, Joystick, Joypad and DVD Magazine. Future directly publishes over… Continue reading Future Gets Regulator Approval For French Acquisition

WPP’s wholly-owned global market research subsidiary, Millward Brown, has acquired UK qualitative research group, Sadek Wynberg Research, for an undisclosed sum, the group announced today. Sadek Wynberg employs 28 people and had gross revenues of £5.6 million for the year ended 31 December 2002 and net assets of £142,000 as at the same date. Its… Continue reading WPP Buys UK’s Sadek Wynberg Research

US television advertising levels have rebounded on both a national and local level, with indications that the upfront trading market is likely to be healthy, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. TV network scatter prices are up by 20% or more in Q2, with few cancellations, says the broker. TV station advertising is up in… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: US TV Advertising Rebounds, Radio Lags

Following a period of rapid growth in digital television (DTV) uptake in the UK, penetration is set to reach 72% of all households by the end of 2007, according to forecasts from Datamonitor. The group points to Freeview’s successes in creating an alternative to pay-TV which is clearly understood by consumers and which may ultimately… Continue reading UK Digital TV To Reach 72% Of UK Homes By 2007, Says Datamonitor

UK consumer expenditure on electronic media and entertainment passed the £10 billion mark in 2002 and is forecast to add a further £2 billion by 2010, according to new figures from Informa Media Group. Television subscription and pay-per-view (PPV)/video on-demand (VoD) revenues, mainly from cable and satellite operators, provide the bulk of the revenues –… Continue reading UK Entertainment Spend To Hit £12bn By 2010, Says Informa

Chrysalis Group is set to sell its television division to a management buy-in (MBI) group led by a trio of former ITV heads. Chrysalis today confirmed that a sale has been agreed in principle with debt and equity providers, although the exact terms have yet to be finalised. The MBI group is led by Steve… Continue reading Chrysalis To Sell Television Group To Former ITV Heads

Pearson, the international media company which owns the Financial Times, today said that the increased economic uncertainty caused by the war in Iraq has had an impact on current trading, especially at its business newspapers, where advertising revenues have fallen significantly in recent weeks. The company’s FT Group, which accounts for 17% of revenues, has… Continue reading FT Ad Revenue Drops 18% In Twelve Months, Says Pearson

First quarter revenues at global advertising and communications group, WPP, dropped by 3.9% to £908.5 million, slightly ahead of analysts’ expectations. The regional variations showed North America up by 1.4% in constant currencies, whilst in Europe, the UK was down 3.5% and continental Europe up 3.5%. Revenues from the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and… Continue reading WPP Sees Weak UK Revenues, But Improving Outlook

Broadband revenues generated from sport-related content are set to increase from $344 million last year to $6.4 billion globally by 2008, according to a new forecast from Screen Digest. The Global Business of Sports Television report says that consumer use of broadband services to access data, play sports-related games or watch additional coverage of sport… Continue reading Broadband Sport Content To Generate $6.4bn By 2008