Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp may back out of a deal that would see it become the dominant pay-TV operator in Italy, according to a report in today’s Financial Times. News Corp is all set to acquire Italian pay-TV business Telepiù from Vivendi Universal and merge it into its own pay-TV operation Stream (see News Corp… Continue reading Murdoch May Ditch Italian Pay-TV Deal, Says FT

Audience measurement company, Arbitron, has announced plans to work with the US outdoor industry, through the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), on a research programme that will create the market’s first audience ratings service. Tests beginning this summer will explore methods that will allow the provision of a ratings system that conforms to the… Continue reading Arbitron To Offer US Outdoor Audience Measurements

Advertising revenues at SMG are expected to be up by 4% in the second quarter, following a Q1 decline of 5%, the group’s chairman, Don Cruickshank, told the AGM today. Cruickshank said that the advertising market has now become more stable, following a downturn that has lasted more than 18 months. The World Cup has… Continue reading SMG’s Ad Revenue Shows 4% Growth In Q2

United Business Media (UBM) this morning indicated that overall trading and outlook remain similar to the position outlined at its AGM in May (see Tough Conditions In US Hi-Tech Continue, Says UBM) and at the full year results in March (see UBM Shares Fall As Profits Are Halved By Hi-Tech Ad Slowdown). UBM says its… Continue reading Technology Ads Still Tough For UBM

Advertising revenues at SMG are expected to be up by 4% in the second quarter, following a Q1 decline of 5%, the group’s chairman, Don Cruickshank, told the AGM today. Cruickshank said that the advertising market has now become more stable, following a downturn that has lasted more than 18 months. The World Cup has… Continue reading SMG Sees Beginnings Of Advertising Stability

Online advertising impressions increased by 77% year on year, as the market showed further signs of recovery, according to the latest data from Nielsen//NetRatings. Impressions totalled 94.2 billion in May, a leap from 53.2 billion impressions a year earlier. Retail goods and services was the leading industry advertising on the web, issuing nearly 34 billion… Continue reading Retailers Driving Online Ad Revival, Says Nielsen//NetRatings

Global advertising agency, Interpublic Group (IPG), has indicated that its revenue will be down in the high, single-digit percentages for the second quarter of the year, indicating that the slow recovery may not yet be wide-reaching. IPG had previously forecast that its revenues will be flat year on year for the full year 2002. However,… Continue reading Interpublic Says Ad Revenues Remain Down, Visibility Poor

Outdoor advertising has grown steadily across Western Europe in the past decade, with its share of all advertising increasing by 15% between 1988 and 2000, according to a new study from Media Intelligence. Growth is often stronger in regions where television advertising is weak or waning, the report says. The report shows that outdoor achieved… Continue reading Outdoor Advertising Grows Strongest Where TV Is Weak, Finds Study

The printed press needs to reduce its dependency on advertising if it is to maintain its influence in the media marketplace, according to Publishing In The Knowledge Economy, Pira International’s new analysis of the publishing industry. The report, presented to the Department Of Trade and Industry (DTI) and UK Publishing Media (UKPM), does acknowledge the… Continue reading Publishers Directed To Meet Challenge Of New Media

The digital terrestrial television (DTT) licence bid by ITV and Channel 4 may just have the edge over rival proposals, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. The Independent Television Commission (ITC) has received four applications for the licence to operate the DTT multiplexes freed up by the demise of ITV Digital earlier in the year.… Continue reading ITV/Channel 4 Digital Bid May Have The Edge, Says Merrill Lynch