The BBC is to ask the Independent Television Commission to force BSkyB to guarantee it the top two slots on its electronic programming guide, following the breakdown of talks between the two broadcasters (see BBC And BSkyB Set To Take Digital Disagreement To ITC). The BBC’s decision not to renew its digital encryption deal with… Continue reading BBC Appeals To TV Regulator To Resolve BSkyB Dispute

NTL has admitted paying more than £100 million to employees and advisers as it sought to maintain stability during its recent refinancing operation. The UK cable firm yesterday reported a pre-tax loss of £1.65 billion for 2002, compared to a loss of £8 billion in 2001. Earnings were up by almost 50% (see NTL Sees… Continue reading NTL Counts The Cost Of Restructuring

The UK telecoms, media and technology (TMT) sector is being held back by a lack of funding, restrictive legislation and over-caution on the part of content owners. That is the verdict of city media analyst, Neil Blackley, who had some harsh words for industry executives at last night’s Royal Television Society Dinner in London. In… Continue reading Black Tidings For Advanced Television Sector

AOL Time Warner has confirmed that it has devised a new service, akin to TiVo, that will enable subscribers to skip through TV programming without the need to install new hardware. It was first revealed last month that AOL was testing a digital recording service, called Mystro TV, that would be available to cable subscribers… Continue reading AOL To Enter PVR Market With Mystro TV

The proposed £2.6 billion merger of Carlton Communications and Granada (see Ad Industry Welcomes Scrutiny Of Planned ITV Merger) may be subject to Competition Commission-enforced remedies and restrictions, according to an article in the Financial Times. The paper reports that Sir Derek Morris, the Commission’s chairman, is looking to test new Enterprise Act proposals which… Continue reading Competition Commission May Attach ‘Remedies’ To ITV Merger

UK cable operator, NTL, has increased its earnings by 48.2% to £661 million in 2002, after finally emerging from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy process (see NTL Emerges From Bankruptcy). Reporting the full year results, NTL says that churn – the proportion of people leaving the home cable service – declined from 21.3% in Q4 2001… Continue reading NTL Sees Earnings Up 48% In 2002

Market research company, Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), has this morning confirmed that it is in discussions about the potential acquisition of NFO WorldGroup from its owner, Interpublic Group. The statement from TNS follows press speculation about a deal for NFO, which is a research division of Interpublic. Aegis (see Aegis Heartened By Positive Annual Results)… Continue reading Taylor Nelson Looks At NFO WorldGroup Acquisition

UBC Media, the commercial radio broadcaster and programme producer, this morning said that trading in the final six months of its financial year has been better than expected, with profit now predicted to be around £75,000. Previously, the group had expected only to break even. UBC says it now expects to report reduced losses for… Continue reading UBC Media Has Better Than Expected Second Half

More than 80 million European consumers will be banking online by 2007, according to a new report from Datamonitor. Internet banking has been a qualified success with the number of customers expected to reach 60 million this year, up from 23 million in 2000. The UK and Germany are Europe’s largest online markets, although Scandinavia… Continue reading Sixty Million Europeans To Bank Online In 2003

The impact of the war and general economic uncertainty has forced Merrill Lynch to revise its newspaper ad revenue growth forecast for the first quarter from 4% to 2-2.5%. Strong December results from the newspaper companies monitored by Merrill Lynch resulted in 4.5% growth in the US newspaper sector during the final quarter of 2002.… Continue reading US Newspaper Industry Holds Breath Over Conflict