Each week, NewsLine brings you a round-up of the latest news from the City affecting the media industry.The main media City news this week was all financial, with RTL, the owner of Five, announcing that it recorded growth in earnings of 12.3% in 2006 (Full Story).United Business Media saw revenues grow by 17% to £739.1… Continue reading Media In The City

Virgin Media will launch its own Freeview box, which could be a “stop gap” measure to provide digital TV ahead of its IPTV service to be launched next year, according to reports in the trade press.The company is thought to be considering several options, including a Freeview box combined with PVR, similar to its V-Plus… Continue reading Virgin Media Close To Launching Own Freeview Box

ITV has appointed Rick Mitz as senior vice president, American programming for ITV Channels.In this new role Mitz will be working as part of director of acquisitions, Jay Kandola’s team to bring the best of US acquired programming to ITV’s portfolio of channels.Mitz, who is based in Los Angeles, has spent the last 13 years… Continue reading ITV Appoints Head Of American Programming

A range of measures have been announced in response to the premium rate phone-in debacle, with ICSTIS saying that it will introduce systematic monitoring of broadcasters and a licensing regime for premium rate service providers.The ICSTIS chairman, Sir Alistair Graham, said his priority was to ensure viewers got a “fair deal” from broadcasters, after the… Continue reading ICSTIS Outlines Plan To Tackle Phone-In Controversy

The Guardian is to invest £15 million in its websites over the coming 18 months, as it aims to ensure its digital services keep pace with change.Speaking at the Online Publishers Association conference, the Guardian Media Group chief executive, Carolyn McCall, announced the planned investment and said that it was imperative if the organisation was… Continue reading Guardian To Invest £15 Million In Its Websites

Consumers in the Asia-Pacific region will increasingly opt for higher-end set-top boxes that support personal video recorder (PVR) and high-definition features, according to a new study from ABI Research. This trend will be driven to a large degree by China, which will see the region’s largest increase in subscriber numbers. Serene Fong, broadband research analyst,… Continue reading Asia-Pacific Set For Growth In High-End Set Top Boxes

US internet advertising revenues for 2006 are estimated at $16.8 billion, a 34% increase over the previous record of $12.5 billion in 2005, according to new figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The 2006 Q4 revenues totaled just under $4.8 billion, making it the highest quarter reported. Fourth-quarter revenues for 2006… Continue reading 2006 US Internet Ad Revenues Increase

Five made a €1 million (£680,000) loss in 2006, with its owner, RTL, putting this down to the slowdown in the advertising market and the cost of launching the two digital channels, Five Life and Five US.Five’s revenues were down to £318 million in 2006, from £324 million in 2005, whilst its share of the… Continue reading Five Makes €1 Million Loss

On ITV1 last night, the shocking truth about size zero models was revealed when Louise Redknapp went on a strict diet to see if she could make her frame even smaller.The Truth About Size Zero, on for an hour and a half from 9pm, attracted a peak audience of 5.4 million adult viewers, a 26.2%… Continue reading Millions Tune In To Shocking Size Zero Show

Channel 4 has announced its Spring 2007 schedule, which includes US imports, comedy and some home-grown drama.The broadcaster will be airing Studio 60, the US show which fared rather badly Stateside (see US Imports – The Hits & Misses), starring Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, as well as the new Calista Flockhart vehicle Brothers and… Continue reading Channel 4 Unveils Spring Schedule