MediaTel Limited is pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Kirkham – the former CEO of FTSE 250 company TNS – as its non-executive chairman, with immediate effect.Mike has spent over 35 years in the research business, and was CEO of TNS from 2001 until his retirement in mid 2006, by which time the company… Continue reading Ex TNS CEO Joins MediaTel as Chairman

IPC’s Look magazine is to launch a bus advertising campaign covering all key UK conurbations, including West Yorkshire, Tyne & Wear, Belfast, Strathclyde, East Midlands and Greater London.The creative for the campaign has been developed by Hurrell & Dawson and the activity has been planned and bought by MediaCom.Sue Coffin, Look marketing consultant, said: “Look… Continue reading Look Launches Bus Ad Campaign

The NatMags digital magazine which has been developed under the name Project Celia will launch on March 20, with the name Jellyfish.The digital magazine, aimed at teenage girls, is based on the same technology as the Dennis digital only men’s mag Monkey.The magazine, which will run to around 35 pages each issue, will be emailed… Continue reading NatMags Names Digital Magazine

ITV has suspended all premium rate phone-ins and interactive services, and has taken digital quiz channel ITV Play off-air.This comes after the commercial broadcaster admitted to overcharging red button users by a combined total of £200,000 on eviction votes for The X Factor (see ITV Joins Vote Scandal List For X Factor Overcharging).It also follows… Continue reading ITV Suspends Premium Rate Phone-Ins

Five’s Controller of features and entertainment, Ben Frow, is to leave the broadcaster.During his three years at Five, Frow created and launched some of the channel’s most popular series with shows such as The Hotel Inspector; Diet Doctors; How To Be A Property Developer and Build A New Life In The Country.Five’s managing director, content,… Continue reading Frow Leaves Five

Julian Bellamy, controller of BBC3, has returned to Channel 4 as head of programmes, whilst Kevin Lygo has been promoted to the new role of director of television and content at the channel.Bellamy, who joined BBC3 in 2005 following two years with Channel 4, will report directly to Lygo and have commissioning responsibility for programming… Continue reading Bellamy Returns To Channel 4

The BBC and IBM have made a strategic alliance which follows the signing of an agreement for a framework outlining several joint projects between the two companies.The BBC says that one of the first projects will focus on applying state-of-the-art image/video search technologies to CBeebies and CBBC programmes.This IBM research system, code-named “Marvel”, has the… Continue reading BBC Strikes Deal With IBM

The latest episode in the ongoing saga between Virgin Media and Sky has taken place today, with Virgin Media saying that it will take the satellite broadcaster to court if the carriage dispute is not resolved.Virgin Media customers are unable to receive Sky’s basic channels after talks between the two companies broke down over the… Continue reading Virgin Media Threatens Legal Action Over Sky Channel Dispute

Each week, NewsLine brings you a round-up of the latest news from the City affecting the media industry.There were several big financial releases, with Virgin Media announcing that its revenue increased to £1,081.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, up from £1,024.9 million in Q3.Of course, Virgin Media has been in the news for… Continue reading Media In The City

Virgin Media has said that it will give its customers until the end of the month to cancel their agreements after the transmission of Sky’s basic channels was stopped for Virgin cable customers last week.However, Sir Richard Branson’s company insists that not offering the channels, which includes flagship Sky One, does not constitute a breach… Continue reading Virgin Promises To Cancel Subs For Unhappy Customers