As expected, it looks as though News Corp is all set to acquire Italian pay-TV group Telepiù, in a deal worth E1.5 billion, according to reports. The deal would see Rupert Murdoch’s media empire become the sole pay-TV operator in Italy, according to a report in the Financial Times. At the end of last month… Continue reading News Corp Set To Take Telepi

In the words of Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine, an advertising recovery is ‘brewing’, but it is only ‘percolating’ slowly. This seems to be the general opinion of analysts and media companies alike during May. A similar picture of a slow, but palpable upturn in the media economy appears to be taking place in… Continue reading Insight Analysis: Media Healthcheck – May 2002

US media spend is set to be flat in 2002, according to new, revised forecasts from Jack Myers Report. Myers Report has slightly reduced its figures 2001, 2002 and 2003 in the quarterly update published in June. Total spend is set to hit $151.2 billion in 2002 and $156.0 billion next year, down from the… Continue reading 2002 US Media Spend To Be Flat, Say Revised Myers Forecasts

According to a new report from Gartner, GPRS networks will struggle to match the expectations of mobile operators until the application gap has been bridged to allow universal use of the technology. Analysys had previously indicated that General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), allowing consumers and business constant access to the Internet, would have 6 million… Continue reading GPRS Set To Miss Targets, Says Gartner

Commercial Radio needs to face up to “serious issues” if it is to raise its profile in the UK, according to a new report from media consultants, Billetts. In a review of the industry, commissioned for JP Morgan, it is acknowledged that radio experienced significant growth during the 1990s and its share of display advertising… Continue reading Commercial Radio Must Be Upwardly Mobile, Says Billetts

Video on-demand (VOD) will generate more than $1.9 billion in revenues worldwide by 2006, according to a new report from In-Stat/MDR. As the number of cable modems and digital subscriber line (DSL) services continue to increase throughout the world, VOD services over internet networks will grow to a total of more than 17 million users… Continue reading Global Video On Demand Revenue To Reach $1.9bn By 2006

A new report on global entertainment and media (E&M) spend published by PricewaterhouseCoopers has found that the industry will enjoy a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2% between this year and 2006, eventually reaching $1.4 trillion (see Entertainment And Media Spend Set For 5.2% Growth To 2006, Says PWC). The report also makes a… Continue reading PricewaterhouseCoopers Predicts Global Media And Entertainment Sector Growth

Merrill Lynch analysts have cut their European advertising growth forecasts for 2002 and 2003, as economies remain relatively weak. The forecast for this year has been reduced from -2.0% to -3.0%, whilst 2003 is downgraded from 3.5% to 1.5-2.0%. The broker has made similar reductions to its US and global ad forecasts (see Merrill Lynch… Continue reading Regional Forecasts Nudged Down By Merrill Lynch

The high interest of under 25s and up scale consumers will drive demand for 3G mobile services, much as these groups drove the growth of the overall mobile phone market. This is one of the findings of the Wireless and Internet Technology Adoption By Consumers Around The World report from Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS). The… Continue reading Young, Up-Market Consumers Will Drive Mobile Internet, Says TNS

Revenue from interactive television (iTV) has been slow to materialise and underneath the high expectations there is a sense of disappointment. This is according to a new outlook report from analysts at Accenture. Interactive services were first launched in Europe in the late 1990s, but so far the medium has pretty much failed to live… Continue reading Interactive TV: Disappointingly Slow Start, But Potential Is There, Says Accenture