An agreement has been reached between representatives from the entertainment and consumer electronics industries and US legislators on a system to prevent digital television broadcasts from being pirated over the internet. Executives from companies such as AOL Time Warner and News Corp have participated in the talks with the House Energy and Commerce Committee. They… Continue reading ‘Pirating Pact’ Brings US Digital A Step Closer

Massive first quarter losses at AOL Time Warner, $54.24 billion or $12.25 a share, were partially offset by gains at Warner Bros thanks to films such as Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings, enabling the company to beat analyst projections. The weak online advertising market contributed to a fall of 13% in total… Continue reading Box Office Success Offsets AOL Time Warner Losses

Highbury House Communications released a trading statement this morning ahead of its AGM which revealed that the company is on target to achieve market forecasts for 2002. The company said that trading had improved “progressively after a slow start to the current year, reflecting a significant improvement on the trading conditions that we experienced in… Continue reading Highbury House On Target To Meet 2002 Forecast

I Feel Good (IFG), the magazine publishing group run by former Loaded editor James Brown, has narrowed its pre-tax losses to £1.4 million for 2001, down from £1.8 million in 2000. Sales for the period were £4.2 million, compared to £0.7 million last time. Jack launched today The group has launched a new men’s title… Continue reading Loss Narrows At IFG As New Mag Is Launched

In a statement released this afternoon, the administrators of ITV Digital have confirmed that they are offering the business and assets of the company for sale with immediate effect. They confirmed that they have not been able to secure additional funding “on terms that would enable them to commit to a long-term sale process”. In… Continue reading Administrators Confirm ITV Digital Sale

Viacom has reported Q1 revenues of $5.67 billion as compared with $5.75 billion for the same period 2001. The company’s first quarter 2002 performance was led by higher results in its Cable Networks, Video and Entertainment segments. Viacom chairman and CEO, Sumner Redstone said; “ViacomÂ’s first quarter results highlight the breadth and diversity of our… Continue reading Viacom Predicts Q2 Revenue Growth

Vivendi chief executive Jean-Marie Messier survived his company’s AGM meeting yesterday afternoon, despite calls from minority shareholders and staff at Canal+ for his resignation (see Troubled Times For Vivendi’s Messier). As expected the Vivendi board backed Messier and it is thought that he was able to convince shareholders that he has full control of company.… Continue reading Messier Holds Position At Vivendi As Figures Beat Expectations

Sweden leads the way in online shopping across Europe, with 27% of internet users using the web to buy products and services. This compares to 22% of UK users, accordint to figures released this month by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young.

European countries are overtaking the USA in the race to roll out broadband DSL (digital subscriber line) to homes and businesses, according to data released this month by UK-based Point Topic. DSL is a broadband system of high-speed communications which uses standard phone lines to deliver internet access at speeds ten times faster than a… Continue reading US DSL Growth Starts To Lag Behind Europe

According to New York media analyst Jack Myers, the demand for TV advertising in the 2002/03 season will remain flat with advertisers spending around $10.9 billion on advance purchases, the same as was spent last year. US TV Revenue Forecasts ($ billions)     2001  2002 (F)  % Change  Total Broadcast 6.93 6.70 -3.3% Total Cable… Continue reading US TV Revenue Forecasts Fall Flat