The BBC Trust has provisionally approved proposals for a BBC HD channel but has delayed making a decision on launching the service on the Freeview platform.The proposed BBC HD channel, which would cost £21.5 million a year, would broadcast for a nine-hour period from 3pm to midnight.The Trust said that it would delay the launch… Continue reading BBC Trust Provisionally Approves Plans For HD Channel

Ofcom could increase the amount of advertising terrestrial broadcasters are permitted to show by as much as two thirds.The regulator is understood to be considering increasing the current limit of seven minutes an hour to as much as 12 minutes, according to reports.Such a change would allow ITV, Channel 4 and Five to earn far… Continue reading Ofcom Could Increase TV Ad Minutes

Facebook and MySpace are now both visited by one in five Britons online, with the sites receiving 6.5 million and 6.4 million unique users respectively in August.The latest figures from Nielsen//NetRatings show that since December 2006, Facebook’s audience has grown by 541% compared to 20% for MySpace.Almost half (48%) of Britons online (15.3 million people)… Continue reading Facebook And MySpace Visited By One In Five Online Britons

On Friday night ITV1 viewers were treated to a very exciting match between host nation France and an Ireland team with it all to prove.Although the game was relatively tight up to the break, the second half saw France take control and their superior kicking proved to be Ireland’s downfall.The match, which France won by… Continue reading Mixed Fortunes For Home Nations At Rugby World Cup

Premium rate phone regulator Icstis today imposed a maximum fine of £250,000 on GMTV competition phone service provider Opera Telecom for selecting potential winners before competitions had closed.Icstis found that all correct entries submitted after a certain time each day had no chance of winning, despite consumers being charged for entering.The fine is the highest… Continue reading Maximum Fine For Opera Telecom Over GMTV Phone-In Scandal

Aegis Group has acquired Metra Seis, Spain’s largest independent full-service market research agency. The gross assets of Metra Seis are valued at €3.4 million. Metra Seis will eventually be integrated with Synovate’s existing Spanish business to create scale advantages and a broader client offer in a top 10 market for market research. Metra Seis was… Continue reading Aegis Buys Spanish Market Research Firm

Household penetration of DAB digital radio in the UK is set to reach 58.5% by the end of 2011, according to new research by the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB). The DRDB’s new five-year forecast puts household penetration at 21% by the end of 2007, and 30% by the end of 2008, rising to 40%… Continue reading UK DAB Household Penetration To Reach 58.5% By 2011

A new forecast from IMS Research predicts that the hybrid set-top box (STB) market, although still small today, will account for over 25% of worldwide STB unit shipments in 2012, translating into nearly $2.9 billion in manufacturer revenues. Based on leading satellite TV operators’ strategies to strongly position themselves against competitors, satellite hybrid STBs are… Continue reading Hybrid Set Top Box Market To Grow

US advertising spending for the first half of 2007 was down 0.5% year on year, with internet spending showing the strongest performance (+23.6%) of any category, according to a new report from the Nielsen Company. According to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, categories apart from internet advertising that showed an increase during the first half… Continue reading US Adspend Down 0.5% Year On Year

More than two-thirds of US adult mobile users can send and receive text messages, according to new research from InsightExpress. The company found that while Gen Y (18-34) texts the most, three-quarters of 45-to-54-year-olds can also text. Joy Liuzzo, director of mobile research at InsightExpress, said: “”Mobile technology is pervasive, impacting the lives of consumers… Continue reading New Research Looks At US Text Messaging