Revenues at News International’s UK titles have plunged 50% in the last three months as a result of the high profile tabloid tussle with Trinity Mirror. Figures out today show that The Sun lost more than £20 million in revenues after cutting its cost nationwide in a bid to compete with the Daily Mirror. “Slightly… Continue reading Price War Drives Down News International Income
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The European Commission has cleared the way for RTL Group to complete the acquisition of a 47.3% stake in German news broadcaster n-tv. Back in August, RTL agreed to buy the TV and radio assets of publishing group Georg van Holtzbrinck, including the stake in n-tv, for E170 million (see RTL Acquires German Media Group).… Continue reading RTL Cleared For N-TV Acquisition
Telewest Communications has sold its 16.9% shareholding in SMG to institutional investors for 85p per share, the group confirmed this afternoon. The sale, which was given the go ahead by shareholders in September (see Telewest Set For SMG Disposal, Denies More Redundancies), raised £45.1 million for the UK cable operator. This money will be put… Continue reading Telewest Raises £45m From Sale Of SMG Stake
UK display advertising is set to grow by 1.8% in Q3 this year, after which growth should steadily, if not dramatically, rise. This is according to the latest set of forecasts from the Advertising Association (AA). The figures show increases in quarterly growth throughout 2003, followed by a gentle dip moving into 2004. Throughout the… Continue reading Advertising Association Long-Term And Quarterly UK Ad Forecasts
New figures from GartnerG2 have established that SMS is now more popular than email and it is claimed that the industry is missing a trick by ploughing so many of its resources into 3G technology. The latest consumer research was presented at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Cannes. In particular, it was found that 62% of… Continue reading Mobile Industry Too Obsessed With 3G, Says GartnerG2
BSkyB’s increasingly dominant position in the UK pay-television market looks all set to strengthen, as this Friday’s first quarter results are forecast to show a net rise in subscribers of 205,000 (see Good Growth Expected In Sky’s Q1 Results). This will take the number of customers to its digital satellite service to 6.3 million. If… Continue reading BSkyB Takes Increasingly Dominant Position In UK Pay-TV Market
A consortium of German magazine group, Bauer Verlag, and Bavarian bank, HVB Group AG, has emerged as the successful suitor to the KirchMedia business, following months of bidding (see Kirch Move Prompts World Cup Rights Auction). KirchMedia, the insolvent arm of the now-collapsed KirchGruppe empire (see Kirch Investors Abandon Rescue Plans), is now in exclusive… Continue reading Bauer Consortium Takes KirchMedia
Vivendi Universal, the troubled media giant, admitted yesterday that it is under scrutiny in the United States over its accounting practices. The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York has opened a criminal investigation and will work in conjunction with the Miami office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is carrying… Continue reading Vivendi Facing US Probe
New research from comScore has revealed that online sales of recorded music fell sharply in the first nine months of 2002, rekindling fears that consumers are flocking in droves to online file-sharing services (see Fall In US Music Sales Blamed On Internet Downloaders). comScore recently found that US e-commerce revenues totalled $18 billion in the… Continue reading Online Music Sales Hit A Low Note
Advertising revenues at many major US newspaper groups have just seen their first quarterly gain after six consecutive quarters of decline, according to estimates by Merrill Lynch. This is consistent with the pattern of recovery that was seen following the recession of 1990-1991, say analysts. Total advertising revenues fell by 9% during the full year… Continue reading US Newspapers Show First Positive Quarter Since Q4 2000