Bidders are now lining up to make offers on Vivendi Universal’s entertainment assets, even though the group has so far maintained that they are not for sale. According to US press reports this week, Vivendi is being approached by at least for suitors for its US entertainment assets, which include Universal Pictures, USA Cable, Studios… Continue reading Bidders Move On Vivendi For Entertainment Assets, Say Reports
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Premiere, the German pay-TV operator, said yesterday that takeover talks were proceeding smoothly and it expects to have a new owner confirmed by the end of March. Last month, a deal was brokered by which the private equity house Permira will take a 70% stake in Premiere, which was formerly part of the fallen Kirch… Continue reading Premiere Deal Nears Completion
Spain’s Auna Operadores de Telecomunicaciones SA has been forced to buy back a 6% holding in its liquidated digital terrestrial TV business, Quiero TV (see Forecasts), from Carlton Communications, according to a report from AFX News. The story is sourced from La Gaceta de los Negocios, which claims that Auna was obliged to return the… Continue reading Carlton Pockets €7.3m Quiero TV Reimbursement
After compiling and analysing a broad selection of other high-profile predictions, eMarketer is forecasting that US advertising spend will grow by 4.7% in 2003. These comparative figures are shown below. It should be noted, however, that forecasters do not necessarily produce their figures on the same basis. In this selection all the data include TV,… Continue reading US Advertising Growth Comparisons From eMarketer
Despite the confidence emanating from high-ranking decision makers at the UK’s top companies, there is as yet little concrete evidence to support claims that the marketing and media sectors are on the road to recovery. The latest IPA Bellwether report showed that of those setting new budgets for 2003 in the fourth quarter, twice as… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Bellwether Brings Mixed Message For Marketers
There was a 9% rise in the number of internet subscriptions in the UK between November 2001 and November 2002, according to the Office of National Statistics. The latest monthly update to the survey of ISPs revealed that total subscriptions increased by 0.4% in the space of a month and the index of internet connectivity… Continue reading Broadband Stimulates UK Internet Market
Oftel’s director general of telecommunications, David Edmonds, today confirmed the Competition Commission’s ruling that the UK’s four mobile phone operators will be have to dramatically reduce their call charges. The move, which has prompted a number of telephone companies to threaten a judicial review over prices, will require Vodafone, Orange, O2 and T-Mobile to cut… Continue reading Mobile Phone Operators Ordered To Cut Prices
Graham Wallace, the man largely blamed for the recent travails of Cable & Wireless, is to step down following pressure from shareholders. Wallace has been at the telecoms group for five years and became chief executive in February 1999. He was in the forefront of attempts to establish C&W as a leading carrier of internet… Continue reading Beleaguered C&W Chief To Exit The Fray
Didier Bellens, chief executive of pan-European broadcaster, RTL Group, yesterday painted a fairly flat picture of the European broadcasting marketing, saying that conditions remain tough and that there is little visibility on future advertising trends. In the trading statement covering the year to 31 December 2002, ahead of the group’s results in March, Bellens also… Continue reading No ‘Sustained Recovery’ In European Broadcasting Markets, Says RTL
The Bellwether report, issued today by the IPA, has dampened hopes for a recovery with one in four of the UK’s leading companies revising their budgets downwards during the final quarter of 2003. According to the report, total current marketing budgets were revised down for the second consecutive quarter. However, the drop was not as… Continue reading IPA Bellwether Report: Down But Not Out