Following the demise of ITV Digital, Merrill Lynch has downgraded its revenue forecasts for BSkyB. Full year revenue at BSkyB is now expected to come in at around £2,785 million, a decline of 0.4% on previous forecasts. Merrill says that conservative forecasts assume that BSkyB will pick up only 200,000 of ITV Digital’s 1.2 million… Continue reading Merrill Lynch Downgrades BSkyB Forecasts

Net loss at French media group Vivendi soared from E183 million in Q1 2001 to E17.0 billion for the first quarter of this year, according to the company’s financial results. Revenues came in at E13.2 billion, up from E11.3 billion last time. The results follow better than expected figures at Vivendi’s Media & Communications last… Continue reading Vivendi Universal Losses Soar In Q1 2002

Advertising agencies and media revenues are forecast to experience a slow, U-shaped recovery to the ad market, rather than a fast V-shaped one, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. The broker says that it continues to expect revenues to be down for most media during the first half of the year, with only ‘muted’ gains… Continue reading Ad Agencies Stock Weak As ‘Muted’ Recovery Is Predicted

Online classified ads will grow faster than any other form of online advertising this year in the US, Jupiter Media Metrix reported yesterday. Spending is projected to increase from $1.2 billion in 2002 to $2.3 billion by 2007 according to a new Jupiter report, Online Advertising Through 2007: Is the Worst Over?. The strong performance… Continue reading US Online Ad Spend Will Reach $16 Billion By 2007, Says Jupiter

Revenue from magazine newsstand sales in the US fell by 1.2% to $4.4 billion in 2001, according to figures just released by Harrington Associates LLC and reported by the Wall Street Journal. The report says that this revenue is the lowest since 1996 and represents the first time that sales have fallen for two consecutive… Continue reading US Mags Industry In ‘Parlous’ State As Sales Dip For Second Year

Channel 4 has revealed the extent to which it was bitten by the advertising downturn last year. Its Annual Report and Financial Statement for 2001 reveals a year on year group loss after tax of £20.6m, despite the fact that group turnover increased by 2% to £731m. The statement points out that with 85% of… Continue reading Ad Downturn Hits Channel 4 Revenues

The administrators of ITV Digital have today confirmed that they will be closing the pay TV operation of the company this evening. In a statement released this afternoon, Deloitte & Touche said that “Insufficient interest has been shown from prospective purchasers to justify a continuation of the operation”. It is thought that the free to… Continue reading Administrators Switch Off ITV Digital

The Wireless Group has this morning posted pre-tax loss for the year ended 31 December 2001 down by 70.5% to £10.1 million, adding that its bank debt has now been paid off. Operating loss at the group fell by 31.4% to £10.5 million on turnover up 5.6% at £31.1 million. Demand begins to pick up… Continue reading Local Revenues Help Buoy Wireless Group Figures

The online advertising market continues to be difficult to predict, causing web companies to struggle with revenues, according to analysis by GartnerG2. Net giants such like Yahoo!, DoubleClick and AOL Time Warner are feeling pessimistic about the outlook for online advertising as AOL’s results this week show (see Box Office Success Offsets AOL Time Warner… Continue reading Online Advertising Will Pick Up In Q3, Says GartnerG2

Cautious, weak recovery seems to be the current advertising and economic outlook for the US and Europe, with the first signs of a lift now beginning to filter through. The global economy will grow by 2.8% this year, according to the latest outlook forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This prediction is more optimistic… Continue reading Insight Analysis: Media Healthcheck – April 2002