ITV is no longer interested in buying cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean, which SMG had hoped to sell for up to £20 million. According to reports in the trade press, ITV has pulled out of a possible deal as it was worried that a purchase would be blocked by competition authorities. ITV currently owns… Continue reading ITV No Longer Interested In Pearl & Dean

Fru Hazlitt, who resigned as the chief executive of SMG’s radio business last week, could be about to sign a deal with GCap Media which will see her take on a key board role. According to a report in today’s Guardian, Hazlitt looks set to become managing director of GCap London, taking responsibility for Capital… Continue reading Fru Hazlitt Could Become GCap Board Member

Simon Duffy, who left NTL yesterday after they did not renew his contract, is to receive share options worth £9.4 million and a £1.5 million pay-off from the cable giant. According to a report in today’s Telegraph, NTL will pay Duffy £1.5 million in compensation and has given him a deadline of March to exercise… Continue reading NTL Gives Duffy £1.5 Million Pay-Off

Geoff Unwin, chairman of United Business Media, is to leave the business information company at the end of 2007. Unwin has been chairman of United Business Media since November 2002, having been first appointed to the board in 1996. Unwin said: “UBM has a clear strategy and a first rate management team who are executing… Continue reading Chairman To Leave UBM

Dominic Stead, currently joint managing director at Media Planning Group, has joined InviseoMedia, the in-flight media company as its new CEO. Stead takes over from Andersen Cheng, currently acting CEO at Inviseo Media, and will be responsible for taking the InviseoMedia proportion global and building on the recent deal to supply Ryanair’s fleet with tray-table… Continue reading Stead Leaves MPG

Richard Addis, the former editor of the Daily Express and FT Weekend, is to launch a free daily newspaper in London at the end of March.The new paper, called Newsstand, will be delivered each weekday morning to 30,000 upmarket London homes.According to reports in the trade press, the paper’s content will come mostly from third… Continue reading New Free Paper For London

Sky is to launch a large scale marketing campaign to promote a triple-play offering of broadband, TV and telephone.The new package, called See, Speak, Surf, has a £20 connection fee and customers will also have to pay BT line rental of £11 per month.The TV package will include all of Sky’s basic channels, including Sky… Continue reading Sky To Launch Triple Play Bundle

David Pemsel has been appointed as ITV’s group marketing director, following the departure of Clare Salmon at the end of last year.Pemsel, who joined ITV in October 2005 as marketing director, will be responsible for ITV’s overall marketing strategy including on and off-air marketing for the broadcaster’s branded channels, trade marketing, media planning and programme… Continue reading New Marketing Boss For ITV

Online activities will be the direct marketing spending priority of 2007, according to Alterian’s fourth transatlantic annual survey of over 500 direct marketers, marketing service providers and agencies. The survey found that 85% of respondents expect their online direct marketing expenditures to increase in 2007. This spending projection is the largest expected increase since the… Continue reading Online To Be Main Marketing Spending Priority Of 2007

A new report from JupiterResearch claims that Freeview will be the big digital switchover winner in the next five years, with pay-TV companies such as Sky and NTL:Telewest set for a struggle to win customers. The report estimates that there are 5.3 million households in the UK which are still only able to receive analogue… Continue reading Freeview To Be Digital Switchover Winner