Mars brand Pedigree is to fund the new ITV1 series Dog Rescue, making it the first fully advertiser funded programme to be developed and produced by ITV.The observational documentary is set in two of the UK’s busiest animal re-homing centres, The Dog Trust in Harefield and Manchester Dog’s Home and follows the dedicated team of… Continue reading ITV1 To Launch First Fully Ad Funded Programme

Sir Martin Sorrell has said that 2008 should be a pretty good year for the advertising industry, with 2009 looking less certain.Sorrell, WPP chief executive, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, said: “We see 08 as still being a pretty good year, in fact better than 07, Beijing Olympics, fantastic Olympic Games in China,… Continue reading Sorrell Predicts Strong 2008 For Ad Industry

Reports in the trade press have linked UTV with a potential bid for Virgin Radio, owned by Scottish Media Group (SMG). Earlier this week SMG announced that it had received renewed interest in Virgin Radio, thought to include GMG Radio, Global Radio and Vitruvian, the private equity firm which last year bid for Emap’s radio… Continue reading UTV Could Bid For Virgin Radio

GCap Media’s Xfm has today signed a second major promotional deal with Paramount Pictures, this time to support the premiere release of sci-fi action thriller Cloverfield.Launching on January 28, the multi-media campaign will run across Xfm London, Xfm Scotland and Xfm South Wales during Breakfast and Xfm Manchester during drivetime and will include a mix… Continue reading Xfm Signs Second Major Promotional Deal With Paramount Pictures

ITV1’s new series of Ladette To Lady was beaten in the ratings last night by BBC One’s Mistresses and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on Five.The ITV1 reality show could only manage a peak audience of 3.2 million adults (a 14.3% share of the audience) in its 9pm timeslot.Over on BBC One at the same time… Continue reading Ladette To Lady Loses Out To Mistresses

The managing director of the National Readership Survey, Roger Pratt, has said that he is to step down this year.Pratt said: “I am now 62 and am looking ahead to the point at which I shall want to retire from a full-time role. I have now been managing director for 12 years and have thoroughly… Continue reading Roger Pratt To Step Down As NRS MD

The government is to spend £75 million on a marketing campaign aimed at helping parents to “make changes to their children’s diet and increase levels of physical activity”.The ad campaign is part of a £372 million healthy living initiative, unveiled today by health secretary Alan Johnson and secretary of state for children, schools and families,… Continue reading Government To Launch £75m Anti-Obesity Marketing Campaign

A new report from Juniper Research forecasts that music, games and mobile TV will be the major contributors to the global entertainment market which will rise from just over $20 billion in 2006 to more than $64 billion by 2012. The report says that mobile music will remain the largest single sector of the mobile… Continue reading Music, Games And Mobile TV To Grow

European mobile search and display revenues will together reach €1.3 billion by 2012, according to a new report from JupiterResearch. The Mobile Advertising in Europe: Achieving Search and Display Revenues in the Long Term report says that beyond SMS marketing, most mobile marketing tactics are still in their infancy and will struggle to meet initial… Continue reading European Mobile Search And Display Revenues To Reach €1.3bn

One million DAB digital radios were bought in the fourth quarter of 2007, with more than 550,000 sold in December alone, a 22% rise on December 2006.According to the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB), best sellers were portable kitchen radios, MP3/DAB personals, DAB hi-fi systems and, with a particularly strong result, DAB clock radios.At one… Continue reading Strong Christmas Sales For Digital Radios