The Italian Government has said that it is not concerned that the merger of pay-TV operators Stream and Telepiù will created a monopoly in the market (see News Corp Completes Telepiu Transaction). Telepiù is being acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation for E920 million and will be merged with News Corp’s Stream division to form… Continue reading Italian Government Sees No Problem With Murdoch Monopoly

AOL Time Warner chairman, Steve Case has vowed to become more involved in the running of the corporation as it looks to emerge from a difficult year. There had been widespread speculation that the falling share price, allegations of accounting malpractice and the slowing growth of the America Online internet unit had made Case’s position… Continue reading AOL Chief To Take More Active Role

Deutsche Telekom has received four bids for its cable television assets, all of which are below the troubled company’s expectations, according to an article in today’s Financial Times. The paper reports that the values of the bids range from E2.0 billion to E2.3 billion; Deutsche Telekom had hoped to raise between E2.5 and E2.8 billion… Continue reading Deutsche Telekom Cable Offers Are Below Expectations

Recent political and economic events have conspired to create an air of uncertainty in the media and advertising industries according to Lauren Rich Fine, a media analyst at Merrill Lynch. She says that negative earnings announcements, volatile share prices, confusing economic forecasts and the ongoing threat of war are resulting in advertisers becoming ever more… Continue reading Insight Analysis: Media Healthcheck – September 2002

UK consumer magazines’ share of total advertising spend is set to increase over the next 12 years according to the Long Term Advertising Expenditure Forecast from the Advertising Association, to be released this week. According to a report from the PPA, the AA figures predict that consumer mags’ share of adspend will rise from 6.1%… Continue reading UK Consumer Mags To See Rising Share Of Adspend In Long-Term

BSkyB will be able to secure the rights to Premiership football for a significantly reduced amount when the current deal comes up for renewal. That is the conclusion of a study from business information providers Sportcal out this week. The report predicts that Rupert Murdoch’s satellite broadcaster will be the only bidder for live matches… Continue reading BSkyB Is The Only Winner In Football Recession

In a bid to attract advertisers, the IAB, which represents the interests of interactive media companies, is to rebrand streaming media as “interactive broadcasting”. Research among more than 500 executives, 70% of whom work for ad agencies with primary responsibility in the media buying, planning and supervisory categories, found that 79% agreed that the change… Continue reading IAB Reveals New Name For Streaming Media

Germany is still the leading European internet power, with approximately one-quarter of the continent’s online population, according to a report from Information et Publicité. The research firm also found that German surfers spend an average of 522 minutes a month online. The Spanish and French are also keen surfers averaging 495 and 476 minutes respectively.… Continue reading Germany Is Top European Internet Market

New research claims that the newspaper industry has underestimated the threat posed by the web, reports Mediapost. A study, conducted by Gordon Borrell of Borrell Associates and Clark G. Gilbert of the Harvard Business School, has warned US newspapers that they have become complacent and need to adapt to the changing media landscape. “They’re not… Continue reading Newspapers Must Face Up To Challenge Of The Net, Says Report

Deutsche Bank will next week auction off a 40% stake in Axel Springer which publishes the prominent German newspapers, Bild and Die Welt. The bank has taken responsibility for the stake from Kirch Media which has been unable to repay loan debts after falling into bankruptcy earlier this year (see KirchMedia Files For Bankruptcy Signalling… Continue reading Axel Springer Stake Up For Sale