Last night saw the final of Masterchef on BBC Two, with the show grabbing a peak of 5.5 million adults, or a 23.8% share of the audience.On at 8pm, an average of 4.9 million adults stayed with the programme for its hour duration, with James Nathan finally triumphing.It beat both Waterloo Road on BBC One… Continue reading 5.5m Watch Masterchef Final On BBC Two

Heat editor-in-chief Mark Frith is leaving Bauer Consumer Media in mid-May, having recently signed a deal with Ebury Press to write a book.Frith’s departure comes after Bauer acquired Emap’s consumer magazine and radio divisions for £1.14 billion (see H Bauer Buys Emap’s Magazine And Radio Divisions).Frith became Heat editor in 2000 and reinvented it as… Continue reading Frith To Step Down As Heat Editor

GCap Media has rejected a revised takeover bid from Global Radio which values the company at £333 million.Global offered 202p a share, a 6% increase on the 190p per share bid it made in December, and ahead of the Takeover Panel’s March 5 deadline for bids to be tabled (see Media In The City: Microsoft… Continue reading GCap Turns Down Revised Global Radio Takeover Bid

Building on the success of its “Future of…” media seminar season, MediaTel Group is launching a new event, giving the industry a unique chance to see a number of new media technologies and debate the business models and opportunities they offer.The Media Playground Exhibition will showcase new media opportunities in IPTV, mobile, ad-serving, behavioural targeting,… Continue reading MediaTel Group To Host Media Playground Event

WPP has reported 2007 like-for-like revenue growth in line with forecasts, with the company saying that despite predictions of a slowing economy in 2008, this year should be even better.The full year results, to December 31 2007, show a 5% year-on-year increase in revenue to £6.18 billion and an adjusted pre-tax profit increase of around… Continue reading WPP Predicts Strong 2008

WPP’s full year 2007 results show like-for-like revenue growth in line with forecasts, adding that 2008 should be better. The full year results, to December 31, show a 5% year-on-year increase in revenue to £6.18 billion and an adjusted pre-tax profit increase of around 7% to £817 million. 2007 also saw WPP increase its “broadly-defined… Continue reading WPP Confident About Year Ahead

GCap Media has rejected a revised takeover bid from Global Radio valuing the company at £333 million. Global offered 202p a share, a 6% increase on the 190p per share bid it made in December. The renewed bid comes ahead of the 5 March deadline given by the Takeover Panel in January (see Global Radio… Continue reading GCap Turns Down Revised Global Radio Takeover Bid

Online market research firm eMarketer projects that 154 million people in the US will download or stream video content on the internet at least once a month in 2008. This year, 80% of internet users are expected to watch video, accounting for 52.5% of the total population. David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst, and author of… Continue reading Online Video A Big Hit In US

A new report from eMarketer forecasts that 42.8 million Britons will go online in 2012, accounting for about 70% of the population. The UK Internet Users and Usage report says that although the UK is a mature broadband market, penetration is still increasing steadily, with survey data suggesting that 90% of at-home users will enjoy… Continue reading 70% Of UK Will Go Online In 2012

Channel 4 has said that its video-on-demand service, 4oD, has served more than 100 million programme streams and downloads since its launch in December 2006.The broadcaster said that its most popular programmes have been Hollyoaks, Skins, Shameless, Big Brother and Peep Show.It has seen rapid growth since January 1, with six million full-length PC programme… Continue reading 100m Programme Downloads For 4oD