Granada has hired John Bridgeman, a former director general of the Office Of Fair Trading (OFT), to advise it on the tricky regulatory path to its proposed merger with ITV partner, Carlton (see ITV Merger Set For Competition Commission Referral). It is understood that Bridgeman is one of a number of influential figures to have… Continue reading Former OFT Director To Advise On ITV Merger

Trinity Mirror is due to release its full-year financial results on 27 February and analysts at ABN AMRO are forecasting that pre-tax profits (before exceptionals) will be down by 3.0% at £148.1 million, whilst total sales will fall by 3.7% to £1.1 billion. New chief executive, Sly Bailey, will give her first presentation for the… Continue reading Analysts See Trinity Mirror Profits Down By 3% In 2002

Pre-tax profits at advertising and communications giant, WPP, tumbled by 50% to £205.4 million in the year ended 31 December 2002, indicating the severity of the worldwide recession and its impact on advertising and marketing services. The group this morning said that conditions are to remain tough throughout the remainder of this year. Budgets are… Continue reading WPP Profits Fall 50% In The Face Of Recession

UK consumers continued to spend freely on the internet during January, according to new figures from the Interactive Media in Retail Group. After a bumper December during which online sales topped £1 billion for the first time (see Internet Shopping Is A Billion Pound Industry, Says IMRG), spending remained constant at £999.85 million. This is… Continue reading E-Retail Sites Avoid New Year Hangover

The world’s internet population increased by 3% in the final quarter of 2002, according to the latest Global Internet Trends Report from Nielsen//NetRatings. The number of individuals worldwide with access to the web via a home PC increased from 563 million in Q3 (see Internet Population Increases By 10 Million) to 580 million at the… Continue reading Internet Usage Still Growing Worldwide

According to new research from Parks Associates, wireless is the preferred technology of US consumers planning to purchase a home network. The latest installment of the ongoing Broadband Access @ Home III study reveals that 50% of internet households who expressed an interest in adopting home networking in 2003 said they would choose a wireless-based… Continue reading Wireless Home Networks Win Consumer Backing

The success of the new digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, has hit ITV harder than expected and is hastening its loss of audience share, according to a report from influential broker, Morgan Stanley. In its latest guidance note, the broker states that the new digital terrestrial platform is having a negative effect on ITV, which is… Continue reading Freeview Launch Hits ITV Harder Than Expected

The planned formation of a dominant satellite television group in Italy looks set to go ahead without regulatory obstruction, according to an article in the Financial Times today. It is the merger of News Corp’s Stream division with Telepiù, the pay-TV arm of Vivendi Universal, that will create the country’s largest satellite operator – Sky… Continue reading News Corp’s Telepi

The UK’s top ten advertising agencies saw their combined billings revenue fall by 1.1% – or £27.1 million – in 2002, according to the new top 300 table published by Campaign. The figures, compiled by Nielsen Media Research, show that whilst the advertising downturn has pushed the top agencies’ revenues into negative growth for the… Continue reading Top 10 Ad Agencies See Billings Drop, Whilst Media Agencies Rise

Top City media analyst, Neil Blackley, has told the Times newspaper that the ‘dire’ decline in the media markets is ‘easily as bad’ as the 1971-2 recession, with little prospect of any ‘quick-fix’ solution. In an interview with the paper ahead of his departure from Merrill Lynch, Blackley said that the only ‘crumb of comfort’… Continue reading Neil Blackley Sees ‘Dire’ Decline In Media Industry