This week will see Sky launch its appeal against the Competition Commission’s ruling forcing it to reduce its 17.9% stake in ITV to under 7.5%. The news comes three weeks after business secretary John Hutton followed the Competition Commission’s recommendation, leaving Sky until next Monday to lodge an appeal (see Sky Told To Reduce ITV… Continue reading Sky To Launch ITV Stake Appeal This Week

New figures from Nielsen Media Research show that BSkyB’s total advertising spend has increased more than 30% year on year, to as much as £160 million in 2007. Nielsen said that BSkyB spent £115 million on above-the-line media, a 60% year on year increase. Agency estimates put BSkyB’s total media spend for 2007 at close… Continue reading Sky’s Media Spend Could Be As High As £160m

Following on from last week’s ABC results, MediaTel Group is to host the ‘Future of Consumer Magazines’ in early March, looking at what’s next for the industry.The session, which will take place in London on Thursday 6 March, boasts the likes of Mike Soutar, chief executive of Shortlist Media, and Duncan Edwards, chief executive of… Continue reading Seminar To Examine Consumer Magazine Market

The BBC and ITV’s nationally available free-to-view satellite platform, Freesat, will have problems getting off the ground when it launches due to Sky’s dominance in the sector.According to Top Up TV chief executive officer Nick Markham, who was speaking at the Broadcast Building Audience Loyalty conference last week, the service, which is set to launch… Continue reading Sky Could Prove Problematic For Freesat

Digital UK, the body in charge of the digital television switchover, is putting almost £3 million into a scheme to support viewers not covered by the existing targeted help scheme.The group is setting up a new organisation, Digital Outreach, bringing together the charities Age Concern England, Help the Aged and Community Services Volunteers, as well… Continue reading Digital UK To Put £3m Into New Switchover Help Scheme

Scottish Media Group has now received four offers for Virgin Radio, of between £60 million and £70 million, pushing the group’s share price up. A surprise bid has come from Malaysia’s largest media company, Astro All Asia Networks, with other bidders including Global Radio, which recently offered £313 million for industry leader GCap Media (see… Continue reading SMG Gets Four Offers For Virgin Radio

Yahoo! has restarted talks with AOL about a deal designed to help it avoid a takeover by Microsoft. AOL is believed to have held discussions with Yahoo!’s advisers in recent days to see if an agreement between the two companies is possible. Yahoo! and AOL have held discussions in the past, but failed to team… Continue reading Yahoo! Reopens Talks With AOL

The global broadcast market is expected to experience significant revenue growth, from US$284.1 billion in 2007 to US$326.2 billion by 2010, according to Datamonitor. However, it is expected that growth will only be secured through revenue diversification from value-add and bundled services, including internet service provision, HD content, on-demand solutions, interactive applications and multi-platform distribution.… Continue reading Global Broadcast To Grow To US$326.2bn By 2010

Despite the column inches devoted last year to the rise of Facebook, new figures from Nielsen Online reveal that the fastest growing website in 2007 was actually Beat That Quote. Across 2007, Beat That Quote grew 1,165%, from 31,000 Britons in December 2006 to 392,000 in December 2007. Facebook was the second fastest growing property,… Continue reading Price Comparison Site Growing Faster Than Facebook

The second instalment of new BBC One series Ashes To Ashes had a peak audience of 5.8 million adults (a 26.3% share of viewers) last night.Although this was down from last week’s peak of 6.7 million adults, it was still the most viewed show in the 9pm timeslot.It was up against ITV1’s slightly grittier portrayal… Continue reading 5.8m Tune Into Ashes To Ashes