The advertising industry must bring online ads fully under the remit of its voluntary code or face the threat of legislation.This is the warning to the industry by the Government, as ministers stepped up the pressure on the industry to act as they expressed concern about the number of online ads aimed at children.“It cannot… Continue reading Ad Industry Must Bring Online Ads Under Remit Of Voluntary Code

Ofcom has revealed it is to facilitate a major technology upgrade of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), in order to enable UK viewers to have greater access to more channels and HD programming.The changes mean that viewers using new receiving equipment should be able to get up to four new high definition channels as digital switchover… Continue reading Ofcom DTT Technology Upgrade To Give Viewers Greater Channel Choice

SMG, owner of Virgin Radio, has reported a fall in total revenues for 2007, down £7.2 million to £184 million. SMG said that this fall was mainly due to the sale of its outdoor advertising division Primesight (see SMG Confirms Primesight Sale). The company reported a near doubling in profits for Virgin Radio, up 87%… Continue reading SMG Sees Total Revenues Fall

A new report from the Nielsen Company reveals that 23% (58 million) of all US mobile subscribers say they’ve been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days. Half (51% or 28 million) of all data users who recall seeing mobile advertising in the previous 30 days said they responded to a… Continue reading 28 Million US Mobile Subscribers Responded To At Least One Mobile Ad

March saw the publication of the Advertising Association’s (AA) Advertising Forecast, researched and compiled by the World Advertising Research Center (WARC). The AA forecast that advertising expenditure in the UK will rise by 3.2% this year with outdoor & transport and the internet leading the growth (see UK Adspend To Rise 3.2%). In separate research,… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Media Healthcheck – March 2008

Five is understood to be on the verge of scrapping its red-button interactive TV service.Five, owned by RTL Group, has decided to pull the service after realising that the technology is too expensive, according to a report in Media Week.The removal of the service will mean that viewers will be unable to interact with certain… Continue reading Five To Scrap Red Button Service

Manchester United’s win over Roma in last night’s UEFA Champion’s League quarter final brought over 5.9 million adults on average to ITV1 between 7.30pm and 10pm.The victory gave the channel a 27.2% average viewing share over the period. However, the game’s preamble couldn’t compete with Albert Square and the return of Ricky and Bianca to… Continue reading Manchester United Triumph Proves A Winner For ITV1

Blinkx, the video search engine, has launched a free online movie channel.The BBTV initiative includes a partnership between Blinkx and UK indie film distributor Dogwoof, which will offer consumers a library of independent and world cinema films to choose from, as well as TV programmes provided by Blinkx’s existing partners.BBTV goes live today and uses… Continue reading Blinkx Launches Free Online Movie Channel

Interactive television is the best way to generate direct purchase, ahead of field marketing and email marketing, according to a recent survey conducted by the Direct Marketing Association.Meanwhile, TV and radio ads are the most effective means of generating retail traffic, closely followed by consumer magazines, the DMA found. Telephone calls, followed by interactive TV… Continue reading Study Finds Interactive TV Drives Consumer Purchase

The European Commission has opened an investigation into a planned government grant worth £14 million, intended to help Channel 4 complete the switch to digital TV.A report on MediaGuardian.co.uk says that Channel 4’s subsidy will be investigated by the commission to see whether it breaches European Union rules on state aid and would distort competition.In… Continue reading EC Investigates Channel 4 Switchover Grant