An attempt by Vivendi to reduce its debt level by selling off 55 million shares held in treasury stock failed yesterday when more than a third of the stock was left unsold. The offer was backed by Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs and aimed to raise E3.3 billion for Vivendi Universal. Its announcement, however, precipitated… Continue reading Bankers Count The Cost Of Vivendi Flop

AOL Time Warner offered a conservative outlook for 2002 as it revealed preliminary results for 2001 which failed to meet expectations. For the full year 2001, AOL Time Warner said it expects to post EBITDA growth of around 18% to just under $10 billion. Revenues for the full year are expected to grow approximately 5%… Continue reading AOL Time Warner Assumes No Recovery In 2002

Following the ‘the deepest advertising recession in living memory’, Aegis has revealed in a pre-close trading update today that new business wins for 2001 amount to over $1.5 million. This success, coupled with cost-cutting measures imposed in September, means that Aegis will deliver profits growth in 2002 despite heavy losses brought about by the crisis… Continue reading New Business Wins Will Boost Aegis In 2002

According to a report in the Observer yesterday, Anglo-Dutch publishing giant Reed Elsevier is considering a merger with its closest rival, Amsterdam-based Wolters Kluwer. Following Reed’s acquisition of Harcourt last year (see Reed Elsevier Completes Harcourt Acquisition), a merger with Wolters would produce one of the largest publishing groups in the world with an estimated… Continue reading Reed Elsevier Considers Merger With Wolters

Jupiter Media Metrix today released the final instalment of its weekly Holiday 2001 E-Commerce Series which revealed that, on average, 51.3 million users visited online shopping sites during the holiday period (w/e 25.11.01 – w/e 23.12.01). This was up 50% on the comparable period in 2000 and 95% on 1999. “With the holiday-buying season behind… Continue reading Online Holiday Shopping Up 50% On Last Year, Says Jupiter

The advertising market is expected to move once again into positive growth during the course of this year, according to a consensus of forecasts compiled by MediaTel Insight. It is generally recognised that the first half to three quarters of the year will see a continuation of the decline that hit 2001 so hard, but… Continue reading UK Advertising Forecasts 2001/2002 Round-Up

According to the latest data from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), Q3 revenues for US outdoor spending were up 1% over a year ago, despite the weak advertising market and the events of 11th September. Net revenues for outdoor are 2.5% when compared to the same period last year, total revenues for 2001… Continue reading US Outdoor Expected To Show Gains For 2001

According to new research from the Yankee Group, local content such as news, weather, cinema and events information will play a key role in helping multichannel video operators retain digital subscribers. The report TV Portals: Opening the Door to Interactive Television also found that TV portals will help to bring together multiple iTV applications as… Continue reading TV Portals Will Reduce Digital Churn, Says Yankee Group

As a difficult 2001 drew to a close a number of media analysts and forecasters made last minute adjustments to their advertising predictions for the year and for 2002. Below is a comparison of the most recent set of ad growth forecasts for 2001 and 2002, by country and region, taking into account revisions made… Continue reading Global Advertising Forecasts 2002 Round-Up

Multi-channel viewing has grown dramatically over the past five years acheiving 20% of veiwing share in 2001, according to data from BARB, twice the share it had in 1996. Over the same period of time, ITV’s share has decreased from 35% to 27% and BBC’s from 44% to 38%. UK Share Of Viewing Trends, 1996… Continue reading UK Viewing Trends Show Gains For Pay TV