BSkyB is to raise $600 million (£399 million) in a bond issue to institutional investors to fund possible activities such as acquisitions and the refinancing of debt. Late yesterday the satellite broadcaster launched a private placement of 10-year bond notes, with investors paying 9.5% interest. The offer closes on November 24. In a statement, Sky… Continue reading BSkyB to raise $600m in bond issue

Jerry Yang, co-founder and CEO of Yahoo!, is to step down from his post once a successor is found. In a statement released last night, Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock said that Yahoo! was “deeply grateful” to Yang but would be searching for a new CEO who could “take the company to the next level”. He… Continue reading Yang steps down as Yahoo! CEO

Clear Channel Outdoor has unveiled a new banner site at music venue the Astoria, on Tottenham Court Road.US agency Gibson Media booked the first campaign on the banner, for action game Left 4 Dead, published by video game company Valve.The outdoor giant said that the banner site – which is 16m wide by 6m high… Continue reading Clear Channel Outdoor unveils new banner site

UBC Media has reported a 15% decline in revenue to £6.4 million for the six months to September 30. The radio group blamed an “extremely challenging” few months for the fall. UBC, one of the shareholders of 4 Digital, invested £150,000 into the digital radio consortium which was abandoned by Channel 4, its majority shareholder,… Continue reading UBC Media reports 15% decline in revenue

The twenty largest cable and telephone providers in the US – representing about 94% of the market – acquired approximately 1.3 million net additional high-speed internet subscribers in the third quarter of 2008, according to new figures from Leichtman Research Group. These broadband providers now account for nearly 66.7 million subscribers – with cable companies… Continue reading 1.3 Million US broadband additions in Q3

More than three-quarters (78%) of adult online consumers in the US made some type of online purchase in the past six months, according to a new study from Nielsen Online. Nielsen said that the top transaction categories were travel, credit-card management and online banking. The top online transaction category was travel, with 38% of adult… Continue reading Almost 80% of US adult online consumers made web purchases in past six months

Centaur Media has reported a 16% year on year fall in group revenues for the four months to October 31. Centaur, which owns titles such as Marketing Week and New Media Age, warned of an “uncertain” outlook for the year ahead, adding that the “visibility of future market conditions is poor”. The company said in… Continue reading Centaur Media suffers fall in group revenues

Reed Elsevier is on track to meet its target of £15 million in cost savings in 2008. In a trading update released today, the publisher said that it is well placed to defy the tough economic outlook. Crispin Davis, Reed Elsevier chief executive, said: “The business is on track for a very successful year and… Continue reading Reed Elsevier on track to meet cost savings target

Havas, the French holding company that owns creative group Euro RSCG and media agency MPG, has reported organic revenue growth of 1.5% for the third quarter of 2008. This was down from 9.5% growth for the same period last year, which Havas blamed on the loss of the Dell account in Asia Pacific and a… Continue reading Havas reports Q3 organic revenue growth of 1.5%

Trinity Mirror has reported a 20.1% decline in its group ad revenues since the end of June in a trading update today, with property ad income falling by almost 50%. The newspaper group’s property ad revenue fell by 46.4% year on year, while recruitment ad income dropped 27% in the 17 week period from the… Continue reading Trinity Mirror reveals 20% ad revenue decline