Virgin Media could be subject to a £7.5 billion bid from a private equity consortium headed by US group Providence Equity Partners. A report in the Observer says that Providence Equity Partners is considering taking advantage of Virgin Media’s share price of £24. Last summer, Providence Equity Partners held talks with the cable group over… Continue reading Consortium Could Bid For Virgin Media

New figures from the Advertising Association (AA) reveal that advertising expenditure in the UK passed £19 billion in 2006. According to the AA figures, the press accounted for by far the largest share of total advertising expenditure (43.7%), with television the second largest medium (24.1%), followed by direct mail (12.2%), internet (10.6%), outdoor (5.7%), radio… Continue reading UK Adspend Passed £19 Billion In 2006

New research from comScore reveals that males represented a significantly larger share (63%) of the podcast download audience on iTunes in the US than did females (37%). In addition, 18-24 year olds represented a substantial share of the audience (29%) and were more than twice as likely as the average internet user to download podcasts.… Continue reading US Males Twice As Likely As Women To Download A Podcast

A third of British teenagers have at least four social networking profiles on sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook, according to research conducted by Q Research for MediaGuardian.co.uk.The survey of 11 to 20-year olds showed that more than 90% of UK teenagers have used a social networking website and more than half use them… Continue reading Social Networking Sites Appeal To 90% Of British Teens

IPC Inspire has announced the promotion of Nicola Ponting to the role of digital sales director with responsibility for driving IPC Inspire’s consumer digital revenues.Ponting will working with IPC Inspire’s core teams to develop online advertising and representing the division’s digital advertising both internally and externally. In addition, Ponting will retain her responsibility for the… Continue reading New Digital Sales Director For IPC Inspire

WPP has purchased digital marketing firm 24/7 Real Media for $649 million (£329 million) in a move intended to strengthen its position in the digital market sector. The deal follows Google’s acquisition of Doubleclick for $3.1 billion (see Google Acquires Doubleclick For £3.1 Billion) and Publicis Groupe’s purchase of the US digital marketing company Digitas… Continue reading WPP Acquires 24/7 Real Media

Microsoft has bought global digital marketing company aQuantive in a deal worth $6 billion (£3.04 billion). The deal, following on from Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick (see Google Acquires Doubleclick For £3.1 Billion) and WPP’s purchase of 24/7 Real Media (see WPP Acquires 24/7 Real Media), is part of Microsoft’s attempt to build its own global… Continue reading Microsoft Buys aQuantive For $6 Billion

Last night saw Ghazal fired from The Apprentice with a peak of six million adults watching the contestants trying to schmooze their way into Sir Alan’s good books.The BBC One show had an average audience of 5.4 million adults (a 24.5% share) across its hour long running time.On at 9pm, The Apprentice went head-to-head with… Continue reading Ghazal Gets Booted Off The Apprentice

ITV is likely to announce today that Dawn Airey, ex-Five and Sky boss, is to join the broadcaster in a senior management role.Airey is understood to be in advanced negotiations with Michael Grade, ITV executive chairman, about a new job with responsibilities including overseeing the company’s UK and international production business.A report in the Guardian… Continue reading Dawn Airey Could Join ITV

Advertisers may soon have a new tool to boost click-throughs from search ads, after the announcement that Microsoft has started testing a new platform which turns standard search ads into full-blown display ads.The new technology means that when a user hovers the cursor over a paid search ad, the ad expands into a large display… Continue reading New Technology Could Boost Click-Throughs For Search Ads