David Montgomery’s venture capital-backed bid for SMG’s Herald and Sunday Herald publishing business is understood to be out of the running, possibly because the tabled offer was too low. If the reports are correct, the 3i Group-backed bid from former Mirror Group chief executive Montgomery will be the third major bidder to drop out of… Continue reading Montgomery May Be Out Of Herald Papers Bid

Shares in Reuters, the financial information group, plunged to a twelve year low this morning after the company revealed disappointing results for the third quarter. Total revenue fell 7% from £924 million to £857 million, with Instinet, the group’s electronic share trading service suffering a 25% drop in sales in the three months to September… Continue reading Reuters Stock Sinks Following Profits Warning

The creation of a single ITV company took another step forward this morning, as its proponents, Carlton and Granada, announced further details of an agreed merger plan (see Carlton And Granada Enter Advanced Merger Talks). The two companies claim that a single ITV entity will “help to create a virtuous circle of maximising investment in… Continue reading Carlton/Granada Move Closer To £2.6bn Single ITV Company

Granada, which last week announced plans to merge with fellow ITV powerhouse, Carlton (see Carlton And Granada Enter Advanced Merger Talks) has indicated its intention to take full control of Ireland’s TV3, according to a report in today’s Independent. The Irish commercial broadcaster is part-owned by Granada, CanWest Global Communications and a group of investors… Continue reading Granada Seeks To Increase Influence In Ireland

The quarterly Bellwether report from the IPA has dampened hopes that the marketing communications industry might see an early recovery by revealing that the majority of advertisers surveyed revised down their marketing budgets during the third quarter of 2002. The report, which gauges the opinion of more than 200 of the UK’s top advertising agencies,… Continue reading IPA Report Dampens Hopes Of Early Recovery

Stronger than expected TV upfronts have encouraged Jack Myers to issue a slightly more positive forecast for advertising growth in 2002. However, the recovery is predicted to be slow and protracted. Jack Myers Report calculates that US adspend will total $155.6 million this year, an increase of 1% on the 2001 total. Spot TV is… Continue reading US Advertising Forecasts From Jack Myers Report

Online advertising revenues are projected to decline 8% in 2002 according to new forecasts to be released next week by Jack Myers Report. Myers says that the figures reflect a move by analysts to conform to a standardised set of reporting data, following “years of using inflated industry figures that have resulted in exaggerated forecasts… Continue reading Online Ad Forecasters Overinflate Figures, Says Myers

Permission-based mobile advertising is, on average, 50% more effective at brand building than television and 130% more effective than radio, according to the results of new research commissioned by wireless communications company Enpocket. The brand awareness figures, which are based on comparable data from ICM, Neilson and Millward Brown, were compiled from post-campaign interviews with… Continue reading Mobile Advertising Is Better Brand Builder Than TV Or Radio, Says Study

Analysts at Merrill Lynch are looking set to downgrade their advertising forecasts, describing the current 2003 figures of 4.0% US growth and 3.0% global growth as more optimistic with each passing day. In an advertising and marketing sector round-up, the broker says that it is continuing to monitor spending across major advertising categories and media,… Continue reading Advertising Prospects Falter, Says Merrill Lynch

The US took a step closer to the roll-out of digital radio at the end of last week, as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a technology that will allow broadcasters to transmit digital signals along with their standard FM and AM broadcasts. These simultaneous broadcasts of digital and analogue signals – called in-band, on-channel… Continue reading US Digital Radio Gets A Boost With ‘Hybrid’ Broadcast Technology