Interactive television retail (tRetail or t-commerce) is in trouble in the UK, according to a new report from Forrester Research. The company says that return on investment (ROI) is currently a distant possibility and that dozens of retailers are chasing tiny revenues. Rather than struggle on, retailers must reassess their opportunities now – the majority… Continue reading UK TV Retail Is Struggling According To Forrester

Recent declines in the share price of Carlton Communications (see Brokers Cut Carlton And Granada Forecasts Following Ad Deterioration) have caused it to fall out of FTSE100, the top 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. At 1:30pm today Carlton’s shares stood at 235p, given the company a market capitalisation of £1.6 billion. The… Continue reading Carlton Falls From FTSE100 List

Merrill Lynch has this morning downgraded its advertising forecasts for ITV companies Carlton Communications and Granada, causing stock in each to fall during the morning’s trading. Carlton was down 14p at 229p by 11:00am and Granada, after an earlier fall, had regained its opening price of 113Âźp by this same time. “The woeful performance in… Continue reading Brokers Cut Carlton And Granada Forecasts Following Ad Deterioration

Publishing group PCM, owner of four of the five main Dutch national newspapers, is to close down the majority of the online activities of these newspapers, according to a report on Europemedia. The article claims that PCM views the web portals as marketing activities that do not yield sufficient revenue. This move mirrors the actions… Continue reading Dutch Newspaper Publisher Culls Online Versions

Whilst advertising forecasts for the near-term future were already largely negative, this week’s tragedy in the US is likely to see levels drop even further. Newspaper and television stations are in many cases offering almost blanket coverage of the disaster in New York and Washington. Whilst this means that audiences levels will understandably rise as… Continue reading Advertising Unlikely To Pick Up Following US Disaster

Pan-European free to air broadcaster, RTL Group, is postponing the announcement of its interim financial results from this Friday until 19 September due to the disaster which struck the US on Tuesday this week. Friday has been designated as a European day of mourning.

Global advertising and communications group, Aegis, has posted lower than expected profits in its interims results today, as the advertising recession continues to bite at media companies. Pre-tax profit down 21.6% at £27.2 million is below house broker ABN Amro’s forecast of £30.8 million. Sales growth of 8% was also below the 10% anticipated by… Continue reading Aegis Profits Hit By Ad Slowdown, Good Performance From Carat

Following a week of volatility (see Economy Rallies Following Worldwide Slump) the stock markets suffered what may prove to be a fatal blow yesterday as attacks were made on financial and military targets in the US. The New York Stock Exchange ceased trading shortly after the crisis struck, 9am local time, and some experts believe… Continue reading Markets Stabilise In Wake Of US Attacks

Media planning and buying agency, Carat, has released its own advertising growth forecasts today which paint a familiarly gloomy picture. The figures come as parent company Aegis reports interim profits down 21.6% following the advertising and economic recession. Carat adspend forecasts          2001  2002  North America -2.3 -0.2 Europe -0.4 2.8 Asia-Pacific… Continue reading Carat Forecasts Show 0.6% Decline In Global Adspend This Year

New research from Gartner suggests that businesses are likely to underestimate the costs of Customer Relationship Management projects by between 40 and 75% between now and 2006. Gartner forecasts that large firms could spend as much as $30 million to $90 million over three years on technology, training and services relating to CRM projects. In… Continue reading Gartner Forecasts Underestimates In CRM Project Management