The head of troubled media corporation, Vivendi Universal has sought to reassure investors after heavy share price falls in the second half of last week. In an open letter to staff and shareholders, chief executive Jean-René Fourtou admitted that the company was in difficulty but claimed to have “identified a strategy for getting out of… Continue reading Vivendi Chief Attempts To Allay Debt Concerns

Radio advertising sales continued to mirror the recovering US economy for the month of June, rising by 3.0% year on year, according to the latest data from the US Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). Local adspend grew by 2.0% during June, while national sales fared better, showing a 7.0% gain. In the calendar year to June… Continue reading ‘Steady And Strong’ Recovery Predicted In June US Radio Figures

A new study by analysts at Datamonitor has painted a grim picture of the European 3G landscape and there is growing speculation that telecoms companies will be forced to cut their losses and hand back the licenses. At the peak of the hi-tech boom, third generation services were seen as the way ahead for mobile… Continue reading Insight Analysis: 3G Promises Unfulfilled

European cinema admissions and box office revenues are set show significant growth over the next four years, with ticket sales forecast to reach E4.7 billion by 2006, according to the latest Cinemagoing Europe report from Dodona Research. Despite the rise in attendance, the report also predicts that growth of new screens will slow when compared… Continue reading European Cinema Sales To Hit €4.7bn By 2006, Says Dodona Research

The extent of the media slowdown was highlighted on Thursday when Liberty Media, the US cable giant, announced a first half deficit of $4.6 billion. This compares with losses of $2.3 billion in the first six months of last year. Liberty, which is owned by John Malone, has an 18% share in News Corporation which… Continue reading Reality Bites As Liberty Reveals Losses

Growth of the worldwide internet population has begun to plateau according to the latest data from Nielsen//NetRatings. The second quarter 2002 edition of the Global Internet Trends survey found that there are now 553 million people worldwide with internet access. This is up just 4.0% on the first quarter of the year when the population… Continue reading Global Online Population Growth Flattens

ITV’s advertising revenues are looking set to be up by 6.0% in August, better than Merrill Lynch analysts’ expectations, which had put the growth at 3.0%. Early figures for September show ITV up 0.5% in a strong TV market which will be up by 7.0% to 9.0%. ITV says that it had very few cancellations… Continue reading Second Half Forecasts Put ITV Revenue Down 1.4% In 2002

Consumer uptake of the personal video recorder was overestimated and will remain slow until the introduction of integrated PVR technology, according to a new report from Screen Digest. The number of European homes with a PVR system is set to increase from 100,000 to 5 million in the next five years. However, this is equivalent… Continue reading PVR Penetration To Remain Low, Says Screen Digest

AOL Time Warner has admitted for the first time that some of the revenues at its America Online division could have been wrongly attributed. The company said in a statement that three payments totalling $49 million may have been “improperly recognised” as advertising revenue. The transactions took place between the last quarter of 2000 and… Continue reading AOL Identifies Accounting Irregularities

Net loss at News Corp hit $1.7 billion for the fourth quarter, up considerably on the $265 million loss of the same period the previous financial year; full year loss rose from $445 million to $6.3 billion. Net profit fell by 8.0% to $636 million for the year. Excluding write-downs, revenues increased 10.0% to $15.2… Continue reading Write-Downs Hammer News Corp Figures