National TV networks and local broadcasters are increasing their use of addressable advertising products, and are also expanding their plans for addressable advertising on their internet portals, according to new research from In-Stat. In-Stat said that with the explosion of video, especially broadcast TV programming, flooding onto the internet, national networks and local broadcasters have… Continue reading Addressable Advertising To See Growth

The market value for massively multiplayer online games in the West hit $1bn for the first time in 2006, according to a new report from Screen Digest. Screen Digest says that the North American subscription market was worth $576m, while Europe was worth $299m. Subscription services dominate in the West, accounting for 87% of the… Continue reading Multiplayer Online Games Market Sees Value Grow

Apple TV is launching this week in the US for $299, allowing users to wirelessly transfer downloaded video content to their TV from their PC.Steve Jobs, Apple founder unveiled Apple TV in January, alongside the iPhone, a touch-screen handset that combines a mobile phone, internet access, and iPod music and video playback features (see Apple… Continue reading Apple TV To Launch

Ofcom has officially announced an inquiry into the use of premium-rate telecoms services (PRS) in television programmes.The inquiry will be lead by Richard Eyre, non-executive member of the Ofcom Content Board, and will include input from ICSTIS, the premium rate phone line regulator, which is already investigating some cases (see ICSTIS Outlines Plan To Tackle… Continue reading Ofcom Announces Phone-In Investigation

Virgin Media and Setanta Sports are in senior level talks about launching a rival channel to Sky Sports News, according to reports in Broadcast.A source at Setanta told the publication that talks had begun between the companies and that teaming up would be an obvious strategy.“It makes a lot of sense,” said the source. “Setanta… Continue reading Virgin And Setanta Join Forces For Sky Sports News Rival

Telecoms giant Vodafone has admitted that 11,500 text votes for Saturday’s Dancing On Ice final on ITV1 were not counted due to a technical error.The votes were not delivered to ITV until Monday morning and customers involved will be refunded the cost of their texts this week, the company said.ITV has said that these delayed… Continue reading Dancing On Ice Finale Misses Out On 11,500 Text Votes

Consumer awareness of digital switchover is still low, with a “drastic boost” needed, according to the head of communications at price comparison website uSwitch.com.Steve Weller’s comments follow last week’s announcement by Ofcom suggesting that less than half of Britons are still using the traditional analogue technology on their televisions.Research carried out by uSwitch suggests that… Continue reading Consumers Not Switched On To Switchover

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, stood up at 12.30pm to reveal his tax and spending plans for the next year, in what is likely to be his last budget presentation. Key points of Iron Gordon’s eleventh budget are as follows…Inflation will fall to 2% this year. In 2008 and 2009 inflation will also be… Continue reading Budget 2007 Coverage – The Chancellor’s Speech Live

A large part of US video game usage is taking place when people would traditionally be watching television, according to a new report from Nielsen.The State of the Console report shows that penetration of video game consoles in the US grew nearly 19% during the fourth quarter of 2006, with consoles now in more than… Continue reading US Console Usage Mirrors TV Peak Times

The Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice has proposed new regulations that could signal the end of noisy television advertising.BCAP is set to launch a consultation with broadcasters, advertisers and the public to examine whether to introduce a standard means of monitoring the sound levels of ads.Broadcasters are not allowed to raise the volume of broadcasts… Continue reading Noisy Ads Could Be A Distant Whisper