BSkyB has announced details of its new service that it hopes Ofcom will approve, bringing together TV, broadband and telephony services for DTT viewers.‘Picnic’ is said to build on the success of its broadband offer to DTH satellite subscribers that is capable of reaching 70% of the UK through Sky’s unbundled telecoms network.Despite the announcement,… Continue reading Sky Announces Details Of Proposed New Service

Channel 4 is to celebrate its 25th birthday by giving viewers the chance to watch hours of their favourite shows.The hit programmes, including Father Ted and Brookside, will be aired each night on More4 from September 30 until the channel’s birthday weekend on November 2.Classic episodes of shows such as Brookside, Comic Strip, Queer As… Continue reading Channel 4 To Air Classic Shows For 25th Birthday

New research published today by Informa Telecoms & Media shows that digital TV penetration of Western European households will break the 50% mark by the end of this year. The 11th edition of Informa’s Western European TV report forecasts that digital homes in the region will total 135 million by 2012, equivalent to an 86%… Continue reading European Digital TV Penetration To Break 50% Mark

A new forecast from ZenithOptimedia predicts that the 2008 Olympic games will help lift television’s share of the global ad market to a record 38.2% in 2008. Online video and local search will drive 30% growth in internet ad expenditure this year, to nine times faster that the rest of the ad market. Between 2006… Continue reading Olympic Games To Lift TV’s Share Of Global Ad Market

Trinity Mirror has announced that it will not be selling its regional news titles in the Midlands and South East, adding that it has agreed the sale of the Racing Post for £170 million. Trinity Mirror said that it had failed to secure high enough offers for its regional titles. In a statement released today,… Continue reading Trinity Mirror Abandons Regional Paper Sell-Off

Future has sold its French operations to WM7 for €18 million, as it continues its strategy of only investing in English language content. Of the €18 million, €13.2 million is payable in cash and up to €4.8 million is payable in 2010 dependent on the achievement of certain revenue targets by Future France. The group… Continue reading Future Sells French Business

SMG is understood to have postponed plans to float Virgin Radio this autumn, adding that there is significant interest in the business. The group has also appointed Richard Huntingford as executive chairman of Virgin Radio. SMG revealed plans to float the radio business in April (see SMG To Float Virgin Radio), however, this has been… Continue reading SMG Postpones Virgin Radio Floatation

Next week will see the Evening Standard undergo an £8 million relaunch of its street vending operation.The money will be spent on rebranding street furniture, new uniforms for vendors and the Eros cashless payment card that launched on Monday (see Evening Standard Gets Cashless Payment Card).It is understood that £3 million of the money will… Continue reading Evening Standard To Relaunch Street Vending Operation

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), has released mobile advertising guidelines for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.The MMA says that the guidelines are designed to foster the uptake of mobile advertising by global brands as well as enhance and protect the customer’s experience.Laura Marriott, president of the MMA, said: “As marketers embrace the… Continue reading New Mobile Ad Guidelines Published

ITV2’s Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, starring Billie Piper, brought in a peak of 1.8 million adults last night, an 11.7% share of the audience.The raunchy new series, on at 10pm, had an average audience of 1.6 million adults glued to their screens watching Piper lead a seriously saucy double life.Over on BBC One… Continue reading Almost Two Million Tune In To Secret Diary Of A Call Girl