SMG has announced that it its television airtime revenues are expected to decline by 7% for the first half of 2007, owing to a weakness in interactive TV revenues. Virgin Radio revenues have grown by 8% also outperforming the market, and displaying particularly strong online revenue growth, said SMG. Pearl & Dean has also seen… Continue reading SMG Announces TV Revenue Decline

UTV has announced that operating profits for 2006 were broadly flat at £24.8 million. The group said that increased profits from its continuing radio operations were offset by reduced revenue in its television division and start-up losses at its new radio stations in Edinburgh and Belfast. In the first six months of the current year,… Continue reading UTV Reports £24.8 Million Operating Profit

The merger between satellite radio companies Sirius and XM might not occur, after Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin said to shareholders that regulators are unlikely to approve it. On Wednesday, senate subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI), concluded that satellite radio was its own market and a merger to consolidate… Continue reading XM And Sirius Merger “Unlikely”

A new report from Verdict Research reveals the fastest rate of growth in the online retail sector since the busting of the dotcom bubble in 2001. Verdict says that in 2006 online retail spending in the UK grew by 33.4%, to a record £10.9 billion, almost 13 times faster than the retail sector overall. It… Continue reading Online Sales In The UK To Almost Triple Over The Next Five Years

A new report from Informa Telecoms & Media shows that digital TV will make major inroads in Latin America over the next five years. Digital TV households will more than treble in that time – from 5.9 million at present to 22.8 million by 2012. The 11th edition of Informa’s Americas TV report discovered that… Continue reading Digital TV To Take Off In Latin America

A peak of 9.2 million adults watched Milan exact revenge for the miracle of Istanbul last night, as they ran out 2-1 winners over a Liverpool team that played its heart out.The Champions League final, shown live on ITV1, had an average of 6.8 million viewers glued to their screens throughout its running time, as… Continue reading 9.2 Million Adults Watch Football Final

Emap Advertising has announced the winners of its competition to find the UK Young Creative Team to represent the UK in the print competition at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival Young Creatives Competition.Art director Jay Phillips and copywriter Neil Clarke from McCann Erickson in London have been chosen as the UK representatives at the… Continue reading Emap Advertising Announces UK Cannes Lions Print Team

Social networking site and MySpace rival, Facebook, now reports more than 3.5 million users in the UK, after a massive surge in popularity in the past six months.Londoners make up the website’s second largest regional user group worldwide, with around 450,000 in the capital.Figures compiled by comScore for MediaGuardian.co.uk showed a steady increase in unique… Continue reading Facebook Records Surge In UK Users

Multichannel TV, broadband and 3G mobile take-up in rural areas is lower than in urban areas in all of the UK’s nations apart from England, according to Ofcom’s Communications Market Report for the nations and regions of the UK.The survey found that interest in obtaining access to many new communications services was greatest in Wales… Continue reading Digital Take-Up Lowest In Rural Areas

BSkyB’s 17.9% stake in ITV has been referred to the Competition Commission by the Department of Trade and Industry.The decision to refer the case to the Competition Commission follows recommendations from Ofcom (see NewsLine) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) (see Sky’s ITV Stake Raises Significant Competition Concerns)that the matter should be referred.In an… Continue reading Sky’s Stake In ITV Referred To Competition Commission