EMAP says that its consumer magazines division is trading ahead of expectations with advertising up 7% and circulation revenues up 10%. The company, which presented to a Lehman Brothers media conference earlier in the week, also said that radio revenue is in line, down by 7%; business to business is up 2%. It also confirmed… Continue reading EMAP And Capital Update On Trading, Merger Mooted

Vivendi Universal, the heavily indebted media giant, has secured a loan of E3 billion which will give the group breathing space in its ongoing asset disposal programme. Jean-René Fourtou, the company’s chief executive, is committed to reducing Vivendi’s E19 billion debt and has already agreed the sale of the Vizzavi internet portal and the Express-Expansion… Continue reading Vivendi Buys Time With E3 Billion Loan Deal

AOL Time Warner has appointed Michael J. Kelly as its new president of global marketing solutions, with responsibility for developing and implementing cross-platform marketing solutions across its portfolio of products. Kelly will report to Dan Logan, chairman of AOL Time Warner’s media and communications group, who commented: “His experience and skills are ideally suited to… Continue reading AOL Appoints New Marketing Supremo

Lastminute.com has reached a pivotal point in its history with the announcement that it will post its first pre-tax profits in the current quarter. Last month, the high profile online retailer revealed that pre-tax losses had narrowed to £3.9 million in the three months to June (see Lastminute Strives To Get In The Black). It… Continue reading Lastminute Issues Profits Promise

The prolonged saga of talks between News Corp and Vivendi over the future of Telepiù is set to reach a conclusion with Rupert Murdoch’s organisation prepared to acquire the Italian pay-TV operator for almost one billion euros. News Corp now seems likely to merge Telepiù with its own pay-TV operation Stream to create a single… Continue reading News Corp Closes In Deal To Take Telepiu

Advertising volumes at the Wall Street Journal declined by 14.8% during August, the newspaper’s parent company, Dow Jones, has announced. This puts Q3 figures down by 16% to date, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. General advertising volumes at the paper were down by 22.4%, according to the broker, with declines in auto, healthcare and… Continue reading Revenues Remain Weak At Wall Street Journal

Northcliffe Newspapers, a subsidiary of Daily Mail and General Trust, has been fined £1.3 million by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for predatory pricing by its Aberdeen Journals division. John Vickers, director general of OFT, commented: “Aberdeen Journals deliberately incurred losses in a persistent campaign to remove its only direct rival from the market.… Continue reading Northcliffe Receives £1.3m Fine For Predatory Pricing

The proportion of UK households with a broadband internet connection is the lower than any other country in Europe, according to a new survey from Nielsen//NetRatings. Just 9% of UK households use a high-speed system to connect to the Net, as compared to 39% in Germany and 33% in Sweden. Even France, which has a… Continue reading UK Lags Behind Europe In Broadband Uptake

Only 35% of internet users in the European Union have purchased products or services online for personal use according to a new report on eMarketer. Data collected by EOS Gallup Europe for the European Commission reveals that internet shopping habits have changed little in the past year and only 4% of respondents admitted to being… Continue reading Online Shopping Remains A Minority Activity, Says EU Report

Almost 30% of US households with incomes over $100,000 have access to broadband internet services at home, according to a new report from the Leichtman Research Group. A further 37% of households in this income group have expressed an interest in subscribing to broadband in future. The study shows a clear correlation between household income… Continue reading Affluent Americans Have A Need For High Speed