The tough market conditions affecting UK business over the last year have hit advertising and marketing budgets more than other areas of expenditure, according to a new survey from Continental Research. The report finds that two-thirds of the UK’s 1.1 million businesses have made cutbacks on their original spending plans over the past year, with… Continue reading Advertising & Marketing Hit Most By UK Business Downturn

Regional newspapers are the most popular medium for UK businesses to market themselves, according to Continental Research‘s Autumn 2002 E-Commerce Report, which is launched today. The survey shows that over half a million businesses currently use the regional press for their advertising and that it is especially favoured by small and medium-sized businesses, as shown.… Continue reading UK Business Favours Regional Press For Marketing

Richard Freudenstein, chief operating officer of BSkyB, has warned that the group may slow the take-up of digital TV in the UK by ending decoder promotions if the government orders a reduction in carriage fees. Speaking at yesterday’s Royal Television Society (RTS) dinner, Freudenstein claimed BSkyB could scupper government plans to switch off analogue TV… Continue reading Sky Threatens Government Over Carriage Fees

The Department of Media, Culture and Sport has moved to dismiss speculation that the Government is planning to bring in restrictions on the content of newspapers, claiming that “the free press will remain free.” Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell described as ‘highly misleading’ reports in a number of newspapers which suggested that changes in media ownership… Continue reading Ofcom Is No Threat To Press Freedom, Insists Jowell

The number of worldwide internet users will top 665 million by the end of this year, an increase of 22% on the 2001 figure, according to a new report from eTForecasts. The research firm estimates that 121 million new users have come online in 2002 and the global internet population is predicted to exceed 1… Continue reading Global Online Population Increases By A Fifth

By the end of this year, over 50 million Europeans will be banking online and this number is set to increase gradually in the next five years, according to a new report from Jupiter Research. The Online Financial Services Forecast 2001-2007 examined activity in seventeen European countries and found that almost 40% of the total… Continue reading Mounting Interest In Online Banking, Says Jupiter

An official report from the telecoms regulator, Oftel has revealed that UK consumers are taking up broadband services at a faster rate than users in key markets such as France, Germany, Sweden and the United States. According to the International Benchmarking Study Of Internet Access, UK broadband connections have now reached 28,000 a week as… Continue reading UK Gaining Ground In Broadband Arena

Turnover at international consumer magazine group, Future Network, rose by 18% in the four months to 31 October 2001, up from the 14% rise reported for the six months to 30 June 2002 (see Future Network Moves Into The Black In First Half). In a trading statement released this morning, Future said that earnings for… Continue reading Future Says Earnings Will Beat Market Consensus

WPP’s Ogilvy and Young & Rubicam advertising agencies have agreed to acquire a 35.2% stake in LG Ad, Korea’s second largest advertising agency. LG Ad employs over 500 people and its major clients include LG Electronics, LG Telecom and Korean Air. The business reported revenues of KRW57.3 billion for the year ended December 2001 and… Continue reading WPP Takes Stake In Korea’s LG Ad

Anglo-Dutch publishing group, Reed Elsevier, this morning said that it is on track to deliver double-digit earnings for the full year 2002 and expects to achieve the same in 2003. The positive trading statement comes despite very tough market conditions, particularly in the business to business publishing sector. Business publishing accounts for 27% of Reed’s… Continue reading Reed Elsevier On Target For Double-Digit Earnings