Reed Elsevier has scrapped the sale of its Reed Business Information unit, which includes the magazines New Scientist and Farmers Weekly. The publisher said it had ended talks with potential bidders because the worsening state of the economy and poor credit market conditions meant that it could no longer make a disposal “on acceptable terms”.… Continue reading Reed Elsevier scraps sale of trade magazine division

US ad spending declined by 1.7% year on year in the first nine months of 2008, according to new data from TNS Media Intelligence. Ad spending during the third quarter of 2008 was down 2.0% versus last year, despite a positive stimulus from the Summer Olympics and political elections. Jon Swallen, SVP Research at TNS… Continue reading US ad spend declined 1.7% in first nine months of 2008

More than one in 10 (11%) young adults age 18-34 in the US now watches TV online at least once a week, and these internet-TV watchers also spend an extra hour each day with media compared with their same-age counterparts, according to new data from Knowledge Networks. Specifically, the 18-to-34 ‘leading-edge media group’ – defined… Continue reading Watching online TV growing in popularity in US

Advertisers in the UK are complying with rules governing junk food marketing aimed at children, according to an Advertising Standards Authority compliance report.Of 927 ads surveyed by the ASA across media including TV, cinema, online and posters, just 10 breached the advertising code – a compliance rate of 99%.Eight of the 10 breaches were in… Continue reading Majority of junk food ads complying with advertising code

The BBC, ITV and BT are joining together to work as partners to deliver on-demand TV over broadband. The initiative is open for all public service broadcasters, device developers and other ISPs.The proposals, which form part of the BBC Executive’s wider partnership proposals, would see the development of a standards based open environment for broadband… Continue reading BBC outlines proposal for broadband TV partnerships

A new ITV survey into changing TV habits saw 40% of respondents claim to watch TV on a computer, laptop or handheld device.Some 33% of respondents to the GfK survey said they will be staying in and watching more TV this Christmas.In terms of where people watch TV, the living room came out on top… Continue reading 40% of online adults watching TV on a computer

Merrill Lynch has lowered its global ad forecast to 0.4% growth this year, with a fall of 1.6% expected in 2009. The financial services firm previously forecast growth of 1.9% and 1.2% in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Merrill Lynch has also lowered its US advertising forecast, with a fall of 4.2% expected this year and… Continue reading Merrill Lynch lowers global ad forecast

UK ad spend is expected to drop 0.8% this year, the first annual drop since 2001, according to new forecasts from ZenithOptimedia. This 0.8% drop is a large downward revision of the Publicis Groupe agency’s forecast of 4.9% growth made earlier this year. Ad spend is expected to rise to 1.5% in 2009, buoyed by… Continue reading UK ad spend forecast to fall 0.8% this year

Total worldwide advertising is expected to rise by just 0.5% to $642.8 billion this year, with the UK forecast to see 0.1% growth this year and next, according to a new forecast from Magna. Magna now expects US advertising in 2008 to decline 3.2% to $270.8 billion, with a fall of 4.5% expected next year.… Continue reading Worldwide advertising to grow 0.5% this year

Global advertising spending in measured media is expected to fall 0.2% to $458 billion in 2009 compared to the previous year when spending was up 2.6%, according to a new study from GroupM. The projected decline is the first retreat in global advertising since the 3% fall recorded in 2001 after 2000’s dotcom-driven ad growth… Continue reading Global ad spend to fall 0.2% in 2009