French broadcaster TF1 has confirmed that is interested in acquiring Kirch Media, following speculation in yesterday’s Financial Times newspaper (see TF1 Offers Low-End Bid For Kirch Media). The group says that it has sent a preliminary and non-binding letter to UBS Warburg, Kirch’s bankers, expressing interest in the acquisition of some of the group’s assets.… Continue reading TF1 Confirms Preliminary Interest In Kirch Media

EMAP chairman, Adam Broadbent, today delivered a confident trading update to the company’s AGM, saying that trading expectations for the full year are achievable (see Consumer Mags Advertising Resilient, Radio Still Down At EMAP). The company has seen a resilient performance in its consumer magazine advertising levels, with good underlying growth. Circulation revenues are well… Continue reading EMAP Ad Revenue Forecasts From Merrill Lynch

Robert Coen, director of forecasting at Universal McCann, has revised down his advertising predictions for 2002. He said that spending would increase by 2.1% to $236.2 million in the US this year as against his previous forecast of 2.4% (see Forecasts). The respected prognosticator cites the weakness of the stock market as the main reason… Continue reading McCann Expert Revises Ad Forecasts

The number of visitors to local newspaper sites in the United States is rising faster than the total internet audience, according to a report by comScore Media Metrix. The study examined newspaper sites in ten major markets between December 2001 and May 2002 and found only a few examples where the growth in internet usage… Continue reading Traffic To US Newspaper Sites Soaring, Says comScore

Total US magazine advertising revenue increased 6.1% year on year in June, closing at $1.4 billion, according to the latest data from the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). However, the number of advertising pages fell by 1.2%, to 18,905. In the calendar year to date, advertising revenue closed at $7.7 billion, a decline of 1.6%, and… Continue reading US Mags Revenue Grows, But Volumes Decline In June

French broadcaster TF1 has tabled a bid for the insolvent Kirch Media of around E2.0 billion, according to reports in the Financial Times. Kirch Media has been teetering on the brink of full financial collapse (see KirchMedia Files For Bankruptcy Signalling The Demise Of The Kirch Empire) and has already seen the closure of Premiere… Continue reading TF1 Offers Low-End Bid For Kirch Media

Liberty Media has disclosed that it is to extend an offer to acquire bonds of the UK cable operator, Telewest after a group of bondholders filed a lawsuit claiming that the offer was illegal. Telewest, which is £5.3 billion in debt, announced last week that it was to begin refinancing negotiations (see Telewest Agrees To… Continue reading Liberty Extends Telewest Tender

The first round exit of the French team from the World Cup has hit advertising revenues at French broadcaster, TF1, which had set in place a pricing model based on the team’s expected progress through the competition. Analysts at ABN Amro are now expecting H1 ad revenues to be down by 1.9% at E818 million,… Continue reading TF1 Revenues Hit By France’s Early World Cup Exit

UK press advertising revenues may be showing signs of an upturn, albeit patchy, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. At Trinity Mirror, struggling national revenues have begun to recover in May and June, turning positive after a 10.3% decline in the first five months of the year (see Trinity Mirror Sees Very Little Visibility, Poor… Continue reading UK Press Advertising On The Up?

US national radio advertising revenue jumped by 11.0% during May, whilst local spend rose by 1.0%, according to the latest data from the US Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). The combined total revenue was up 3.0% year on year. In the calendar year to May, local revenue remained flat, whilst national rose by 4.0%; this gives… Continue reading US Radio Shows Strong National Advertising Growth In May