Bertelsmann, Germany’s largest media company, today announced third quarter losses of E384 million but has expressed confidence that business will pick up in the last few months of the year. Bertelsmann, whose interests include Channel 5 owner RTL, made an operating profit of E102 million but accounting write-downs meant that the company’s net debt had… Continue reading Bertelsmann Upbeat Despite Mounting Debts

Carlton and Granada are poised to take the plunge and propose a single ITV sales house to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), according to reports today. It is understood that the submission will arrive at the OFT at the end of the month. However, it is widely expected that any merger will be referred… Continue reading ITV Ready To Push For Single Sales House

Net losses at debt-laden cable operator, Telewest Communications, fell by 34% to £397 million during the third quarter of the year, the company announced in its interim financial results this morning. Whilst turnover rose by 4% to £1.0 billion and operating loss dropped by 25% to £187 million, the company’s debt has risen by 9%… Continue reading Telewest Reduces Losses Ahead Of Restructure

UK radio advertising revenues are set to grow at a slight higher rate than the overall advertising market between now and Q2 2004, according to the latest quarterly advertising forecasts from the Advertising Association (AA). The figures show an average quarterly growth of 4.6% between Q1 2002 and Q2 2004 for radio, whilst the overall… Continue reading UK Radio Advertising Forecasts From The AA

The mobile industry has been urged to concentrate on targeting young women and business orientated men in the battle to convince the public of the merits of GPRS and 3G services. According to analysts at Forrester Research, only 20% of European mobile users will adopt 2.5G and 3G applications in the next two years. This… Continue reading Next Generation Mobile Still A Turn-Off, Says Forrester

New research unveiled at the Easy TV Event, organised by the ITC in association with the Consumers Association and the Design Council, has recommended a more user-centred approach to the design of digital television. The Easy TV Event, which is part of an ongoing initiative to promote the need for easier to use digital television… Continue reading Digital TV Urged To Be More User Friendly

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

BSkyB is expected to post a 205,000 net subscriber gain in its first quarter results, taking the number of customers for its digital satellite service to 6.3 million, according to Lehman Brothers. The broadcaster had 6.1 million subs as at June this year (see BSkyB Results Beat Expectations With 6.1m Customers Now Signed) and the… Continue reading Good Growth Expected In Sky’s Q1 Results