In an overview of the worldwide market, sixteen companies have been named as the main drivers of digital media and entertainment. In-Stat/MDR set out to produce a report that identifies those organisations at the vanguard of digital broadcasting development. Twelve corporations were classified as Media Mega Companies including AOL Time Warner which despite its recent… Continue reading In-Stat/MDR Reveals ‘Media Megas’ And ‘Influencers’

The BBC may have hit a ‘high watermark’ of commercialism over the last few years and could be set to return to a stronger public service policy, ahead of its charter renewal in 2006. According to a new report from analysts at Lehman Brothers, a failure by the BBC to move away from the alleged… Continue reading BBC’s Commercialism May Have Peaked, Says Lehman Brothers

BSkyB added 244,000 new customers to its digital satellite pay-TV platform in the final three months of 2002, taking the total to 6.6 million, slightly ahead of broker forecasts (see BSkyB Subs To Grow 14% In Q2, Say Merrill Lynch Forecasts). The half-year was a good one financially for Sky, with tight cost controls paying… Continue reading BSkyB Shows Strong Half-Year Figures, On Target For 2003

The US advertising market is currently performing much better than Europe’s, where Germany – already weak – has started to deteriorate further. These are some of the findings of Merrill Lynch, which hosted an advertising dinner earlier this week. The broker says that the greater confidence of Q4 2002, which came from advertisers and consumer… Continue reading European Advertising Conditions Weakening, Finds Merrill Lynch

America Online, the world’s leading ISP faces an uncertain future as US consumers switch to high-speed internet services. That is according to a new study from Strategy Analytics. The report entitled Can AOL Bridge Its Broadband Gap claims that the troubled internet service provider will haemorrhage hundreds of millions in revenue even if it manages… Continue reading AOL Faces Up To Growing Broadband Threat

The South Korean mobile operator KTF is to start broadcasting television channels direct to 3G mobiles, according to a report by Europemedia. Viewers will have access to nine channels, including a music channel and a news channel. The service will start in March and be available at a cost of approximately £13 per hour.

At the end of 2002, 53% of the population in the 35 largest US markets subscribed to a mobile phone service, according to a new report from Telephia. The company, which provides wireless market information, found that one in four non-subscribers plans to sign up for mobile services in 2003 with young adults and Hispanics… Continue reading US Mobile Penetration Continues To Rise

Havas, the world’s sixth largest advertising group, has reported that revenues fell by 11% during 2002 as austerity measures continued to bite. The company managed to attract more than a €1.6 billion of new business last year but the worsening state of the European market contributed to negative organic growth of 5.8%. Overall revenues were… Continue reading European Downturn Hits Havas Revenues

Revenues at Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire, News Corporation, rose by 14% to $4.7 billion in the group’s second financial quarter, ending 31 December 2002. Net profit at the group jumped by 58% in the quarter to reach $320 million; this is despite the media and advertising downturn. Operating income rose by 48% to $729… Continue reading News Corp Profits Surge By 58% In Q2

The UK is battling the economic and advertising downturn pretty well, according to a new European outlook report from media auditing company Billetts. The report says that there was growth in GDP in 2002 and that this likely to increase in 2003 by just over 2%. Advertising spend stabilised in 2002 and is expected by… Continue reading European Media And Economic Outlook From Billetts