The European Commission has opened an investigation into the proposed takeover of Reuters by Thomson, the Canadian financial information company. In a statement, the Commission said: “The initial market investigation indicates that the proposed merger would raise serious doubts as regards adverse effects on competition in several markets of the financial information sector.” The planned… Continue reading European Commission Investigates Reuters Takeover

The latest UK economic estimate from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) suggests that the growth rate in the third quarter of the year was 0.7%, slightly slower than the second quarter figure of 0.8%. A study last month by NIESR as part of the Euroframe Group pointed to a growth rate… Continue reading UK Economic Growth Rate Slows

Rupert Howell, ITV’s new MD of brand and commercial, will aim to get the broadcaster “into some sort of virtuous cycle rather than the vicious circle that there’s been in recent times”. In his first public appearance since the appointment, at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of Television’ seminar in London this morning, Howell told the BBC’s… Continue reading Howell Reveals His Vision For ITV’s Future

A new report from ABI Research has forecast that mobile broadband enabled consumer electronics devices will expand in 2008. There is a new class of devices emerging on the horizon: a convergence of everyday consumer electronics and mobile broadband, says ABI. Consumer electronics increasingly will include Wi-Fi for connectivity within the home and to the… Continue reading Mobile Broadband Consumer Electronics To Grow In 2008

US internet advertising revenues for the first six months of 2007 were nearly $10 billion, setting another new record and representing a nearly 27% increase over the first half of 2006, according to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). US internet advertising revenue totaled nearly $5.1 billion for the… Continue reading US Online Adspend Sets New Record

Hearst Corporation, owner of the UK’s third largest magazine publisher The National Magazine Company, has made a &pound:700 million indicative offer for Emap’s consumer magazine division. Emap is the second largest magazine publisher behind IPC Media, with a range of magazines including women’s weeklies Grazia and Closer and men’s monthly Arena. Emap recently sold its… Continue reading Hearst Bids £700m For Emap’s Consumer Magazine Division

The big ratings winner last night was Who Do You Think You Are?, which followed Alastair McGowan as he traced his roots right back to the 18th century.With a name like McGowan it was no surprise to find that the TV funny man thought he had a fair bit of Scottish blood in him, but… Continue reading Who Do You Think You Are? Continues To Bring In The Viewers

Paul Cleghorn, co-founder of TIOTI (Tape it off the Internet) will join the panel for MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of TV’ seminar next Tuesday in London.Until early 2006, Paul ran boutique design agency Neuromantics, where he led R&D projects on broadband TV, social networking around TV and post-schedule TV EPG’s for the BBC as well as… Continue reading TIOTI Founder Joins MediaTel ‘Future Of TV’ Seminar Panel

O2, the mobile phone network operator owned by Spain’s Telefonica, is launching its residential broadband service on October 15.The company, which expects one million broadband users by 2010, is to offer heavily discounted internet deals to its monthly subscribers.The deals available to O2 mobile subscribers will range from £7.50 per month for an eight megabit… Continue reading O2 Launches Broadband Service this Month

BSkyB is to stop launching new channel slots on its satellite platform, citing finite set top box memory capacity.Sky said that it will “proceed with extreme caution” in the launch of the 100 or so TV and radio channels already on the electronic programme guide (EPG) launch queue.Nicola Bamford, director of channels and operations at… Continue reading Sky To Turn Down New Channel Applications