Pre-tax profits at GWR Group fell by 70.2% during the six months to 30 September 2001 to £2.8 million, the company announced this morning. The decline is clearly a result of the deteriorating advertising market that has hit virtually all media companies over recent months. GWR said that advertising revenues were down by 5.9%, but… Continue reading GWR Profits Drop 70% On Poor Advertising Market

Publishing group, Highbury House Communications, has acquired Millennium Magazines for an initial sum of £1.47 million. Millennium publishes Satellite TV Europe, which had generated revenues of £1.4 million and a pre-tax profit of £274,000 in the 11 months ended 31 October 2001. The current monthly circulation is 75,000 copies. Highbury House may make further payments… Continue reading Highbury House Acquires Millennium Magazines

ITV is now close to sealing a deal with BSkyB that will see the Network’s channels broadcast via the digital satellite platform, according to a report in today’s Financial Times. The paper reports that the year-long wrangle between the two broadcasters (see Sky Will Not Sell ITV Sport Channel To Subscribers) may be settled in… Continue reading ITV Close To Securing Sky Digital Carriage, Says FT

The FT reports this morning that the government may soon act to abolish the media ownership laws brought into place in order to prevent Rupert Murdoch from expanding his media empire to include terrestrial TV in the UK. Murdoch, who controls more than 30% of the UK newspaper market with his News International titles, was… Continue reading Government May Relax ‘Murdoch’ Ownership Regulations

US business to business (B2B) advertising revenues declined by 23.6%, according to figures from the Business Information Network (BIN), quoted by analysts at ABN Amro yesterday. The data shows that advertising volumes fell by 21.7%. The technology and telecommunications sectors continue to suffer the most substantial declines, with Computers down by 18.9%; software down 23.9%… Continue reading US B2B Ad Revenues Fall By 24% In August

Online adspend in the US fell by 17.1% year on year during the first three quarters of 2001, according to the latest figures from CMRi, the internet division of CMR. “As many look to the holiday season to alleviate the slowdown in online activity, we may see a bright spot in spending post-holiday, especially as… Continue reading US Online Adspend Falls 17% In First Three Quarters

In 2000, online retail failed to make any kind of impression in Italy, Austria or Spain, with online sales reaching just to $560 million in Italy and $240 million and $120 million in Austria and Spain respectively, according to Datamonitor. By 2005, the Italian market will have outstripped the Austrian and Spain markets, says the… Continue reading Online Retail To 2005 Set To Boom In Italy

Forrester Research have revealed that results of the latest Forrester Online Retail Index. According to figures for October, total spending online in the US decreased from $4.0 billion in September to $3.6 billion in October. The number of households shopping online decreased to 13.7 million in October, from 15.2 million in September and consumers spent… Continue reading US Online Spending Falls In October

WPP has announced the acquisition of US strategic research and polling consultancy Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates, known for its work on Bill Clinton’s successful 1996 re-election campaign. The company had revenues of $31.4 million in 2000 and net assets of $4.3 million as at 31 December 2000. Commenting on the acquisition, Howard Paster, CEO… Continue reading WPP Back On The Acquisition Trail

US newspaper group Gannett, owners of Newsquest in the UK, have revealed that revenues for the period to 4th November 2001 fell by 9% when compared to the same period last year and said that “results for the period reflect a continued difficult and uncertain domestic advertising environment, further exacerbated by the tragic events of… Continue reading Gannett Sees September Revenues Fall By 9%