Jay Hunt, the BBC’s controller of daytime and early peak, has been announced as Five’s new director of programmes.Hunt will take up her new post overseeing programming for the broadcaster’s core channel later this year.Lisa Opie, Five’s managing director, content, said: “I am thrilled we have been able to appoint an executive as creative, dynamic… Continue reading Five Announces New Director Of Programmes

Sony Ericsson has announced a major new deal with Emap2 to focus on activity to promote its Walkman range of handsets.The year-long exclusive project, beginning in June, follows on from last year’s Soundtrack To Your Life campaign.It sees the creation of three tailored campaigns working across all of Emap’s print, radio, TV and online platforms.The… Continue reading Sony Ericsson Extends Deal With Emap2

London’s Magic 105.4 has signed an exclusive partnership with George Michael to celebrate his landmark Wembley concerts.The singer with the voice like melted chocolate will be the first artist to play at the rebuilt iconic stadium, and Magic 105.4 is the official radio partner.Magic will be running exclusive ticket giveaways from June 4, with pairs… Continue reading Magic 105.4 Signs George Michael Partnership

Ofcom is to delay two of its spectrum auctions, for television and mobile phone spectrum, due to prolonged discussions over terms of sale and a backlog of responses.The auction of the mobile phone spectrum was due to go ahead by the end of the year, but it has now been put back to early 2008.It… Continue reading Ofcom Delays Spectrum Auctions

Duncan George, commercial director at GCap Media, is to leave the company on 8 June 2007.Following the merger of Capital Radio plc and GWR plc in 2005 (see Capital And GWR Name Merged Group), George became commercial director for GCap Media plc (see Duncan George Appointed Commercial Boss At GCap) and played a pivotal role… Continue reading Duncan George To Leave GCap

Channel 4 has said that it will not profit from phone votes for Big Brother 8, after cutting the price of eviction voting from 50p to just 25p.The reduced charge will cover all the costs to Channel 4 of administering the eviction votes, including a 10p donation to charity for each vote cast.The move comes… Continue reading Channel 4 Will Not Profit From Big Brother Phone Votes

IPC Southbank has launched its new, much-hyped standalone homes portal, in a bid to revive its home interest portfolio and bolster the publisher’s digital output.www.housetohome.co.uk is “designed to be a one-stop shop for every home design and decorating need”, according to the publisher, enabling visitors to “develop their homes ideas and dreams with its wide… Continue reading IPC Unveils New Homes Portal

Google is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its purchase of online advertising company DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. According to a report in the New York Times, the FTC has opened a preliminary antitrust investigation into the purchase after concerns were raised about the merger of the two companies. Google bought the… Continue reading Google DoubleClick Acquisition Under Investigation

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) has welcomed the decision of European governments to adopt a new ‘Audiovisual Media Services’ directive, which will introduce new advertising rules for all TV and TV-like services, including interactive TV, video-on-demand, IPTV, and mobile TV.The directive will replace the 1997 ‘Television Without Frontiers’ directive, and is expected to enter… Continue reading WFA Welcomes New Ad Rules

A new plug-in device is set to come on to the market in late autumn which will enable consumers to listen to DAB digital radio and FM radio through their iPods.Roberts Radio and Frontier Silicon are working together to bring the device on to the market, at a retail price of around £50. All leading… Continue reading FM And DAB Radio To Be Available Via iPods