The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken steps to boost the widespread adoption of digital television (DTV) in the country by requiring that new TV sets have a digital tuner built in to them. The FCC has imposed a deadline on electronics manufacturers to include the receivers in new sets by 2007 at the… Continue reading FCC Imposes Deadlines For DTV Sets

Global market research company, Ipsos Group, has acquired the assets of ACNielsen’s US-based strategic marketing research and product development consultancy, ACNielsen Vantis. Upon completion of the sale, the company will be known as Ipsos-Novaction & Vantis. Ipsos says that the Vantis suite of marketing products and services complements the product and service portfolio of the… Continue reading Ipsos Acquires US ACNielsen Division

Insolvency advisers have selected TF1 and Sony to enter the final stage of bidding for KirchMedia, the bankrupt broadcast and sports rights owner. It had been anticipated that the original list of seven bidders (see Seven Bids In For KirchMedia) would be reduced to three but a collaboration of German publishers, led by Axel Springer,… Continue reading Two Bidders To Compete For Kirch Assets

US advertising expenditure increased by 1.4% last month but total expenditure for the first five months of the year was still down on the 2001 level, according to the latest figures from CMR. Adspend in May totalled $902 billion bringing the cumulative total for the year to $4029 billion. This represented a 1.2% fall on… Continue reading CMR Proclaims Healthy Adspend Growth

Total US magazine advertising revenue for July increased by 8.6% year on year, closing at $1.1 billion, according to the latest data from the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). Ad pages for July totalled 15,125, up 0.5% from last year. In the calendar year to date, ad revenue closed at $8.8 billion, a decline of 0.3%… Continue reading US Mags Revenue Rise In July Supports ‘Cautious Optimism’

Cable subscription revenues are set to escalate in the next few years, according to a new report by New York-based research firm Allied Business Intelligence. The research predicts that video-on-demand (VOD) will experience annual growth of 79% between now and 2007 and enable US cable revenue to surge from $36.1 billion to $67 billion. ABI… Continue reading US Cable Revenues To Hit $67 Billion By 2007

At the beginning of the year MediaTelINSIGHT took a look at the problems facing the much-touted interactive television (iTV) market (see Insight Analysis: The Struggle For Interactive Television). The analysis highlighted a number of key issues that the sector faces and which, in combination, are responsible for the slow start which iTV has experienced in… Continue reading Insight Analysis: Interactive TV Outlook – August 02

Reed Elsevier today reported a dip in profits for the first half of 2002 but remains confident that it can reach full-year targets of above market revenue growth. A drop in advertising income led to pre-tax profits falling 3% to £398 million. However, this figure was at the upper end of analysts’ estimates and overall… Continue reading Reed Profits Down 3%, But Outlook Remains Promising

Advertising revenues at the Telegraph Group continued their downward spiral during the second quarter of 2002 as the ailing recruitment market showed no signs of recovery. The Hollinger International Group, which publishes the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, announced that advertising income between April and June had fallen 3.8% to £52.7 million, compared with £54.7… Continue reading Telegraph Revenues On The Slide

UK cable group, Telewest Communications, is understood to be meeting with its bank this week to discuss the expected restructure of its £5.3 billion debt burden (see Telewest Moving Closer To Debt Swap Agreement). The Times today reports that £2.25 billion of debt could waived as early as next week, in the first step toward… Continue reading Telewest Debt Waiver Is On The Cards