The jury is still out on afternoon freesheets, according to Stuart Taylor, commercial director at Guardian News and Media, panellist at today’s MediaTel Group seminar on the future of newspapers. Taylor said that whilst morning free paper Metro has now formed strong relationships with readers, the same cannot yet be said of the afternoon titles.… Continue reading Jury Still Out On Afternoon Freesheets

The newspaper industry must work harder to promote itself, increasing marketing and research to change the primarily negative perception of the sector that has developed since the influx of digital technology. This was the view of panellists at this morning’s ‘Future of National Newspapers’ seminar, held in London by MediaTel Group. The selection of top… Continue reading Newspaper Industry Must Focus On Marketing Itself To Succeed

Mark Thompson, director general of the BBC, has accused commercial rival ITV of plagiarising successful television programme formats such as Any Dream Will Do and The Apprentice.Speaking at the launch of the BBC 2007 annual report, Thompson attacked the “copycatting” policy of rivals, which he said was flattering but showed that the BBC was leading… Continue reading BBC Director General Accuses ITV Of Plagiarism

Current director of strategic insights at ZenithOptimedia, Andrew Green, will leave the agency to join Ipsos Global Media as chief marketing officer next week.At Ipsos, Green will focus on developing the Ipsos Media approach to ROI, engagement and mobile.Before his role at ZenithOptimedia, Green previously held senior positions at OMD and Zenith in the US… Continue reading Green To Join Ipsos From Zenith Next Week

Channel 4’s managing director of digital content, Andy Grumbridge, has been appointed director of digital media at Virgin Radio.Grumbridge replaces James Cridland to lead Virgin Radio’s in-house 13-strong digital team.Virgin Radio has been at the forefront of digital, becoming one of the first stations in the world to broadcast online in 1996.Grumbridge will be expected… Continue reading Grumbridge Leaves Channel 4 For Virgin Radio

This year’s MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival will see increasing focus on digital developments in the media, and will stick with its long-winded title despite suggestions last year the festival would re-brand to reflect the converging landscape.Festival chair Tim Hincks said today at the event’s programme launch in central London that organisers were keeping their… Continue reading Television Festival To Focus On Digital Future

Sky is reportedly in discussions with Microsoft about making its proposed digital terrestrial pay-TV service available via PC.Sky is planning to take its three free-to-air channels from Freeview and replace them with a pay-TV service available through a new specification set-top box (see New Sky Service To Lure Consumers From Free TV).According to a report… Continue reading Sky Could Make Pay-TV Service Available Via PC

Michael Grade, ITV’s new executive chairman, has said that broadcasters must work to eradicate lapses in editorial programming standards, at a speech today at the Royal Television Society in London.Grade said there was a “casual contempt” for audiences, which has crept into UK broadcasting, and this must be stamped out.He added that recent events, such… Continue reading Broadcasters Must Work To Restore Viewers Trust

ITV is to launch a film download service next month following a deal between ITV’s DVD division and video download specialists BiBC.The deal will see 500 hours of content owned by ITV DVD and its Rank Film subsidiary added to BiBC’s download service.It will begin with 300 hours of library films, such as Carry on… Continue reading ITV To Launch Film Download Service

Online was a big theme in June, and the month began with the news that the UK has the most active online population in Europe, with the highest average number of daily visitors (21.8 million). The research, from comScore, showed that the UK also has the highest usage days per month (21 per user), and… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Media Healthcheck – June 2007