Arqiva has announced the signing of a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with BT to acquire the full-time service components of BT’s satellite broadcast services business for £25 million in cash. The deal will include long-term customer contracts, operations and personnel located in the USA, France, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as the UK.… Continue reading Arqiva To Acquire BT’s Satellite Broadcast Business

Clear Channel Communications has been sold for $19 billion, to private equity firms Bain Capita and Thomas H Lee. Last week it was rumoured that JCDecaux was on the verge of making a bid for Clear Channel Outdoor, which would have seen it become the world’s largest outdoor advertising company, worth an estimated £12 billion… Continue reading Clear Channel Sold For $19 Billion

The owners of digital music players (DMPs) in the US represent an attractive audience for consumer electronics advertisers, according to new research from comScore Networks. ComScore says that 27% of all US internet users currently own one or more DMPs, with online DMP owners slightly more likely to be male (53%) and more than one… Continue reading Owners of Digital Music Players Have High Affinity For Online Shopping

A new study on product placement in the US from Nielsen Media Research has found that 57.5% of television viewers recognised a brand when viewing a product placement in combination with a commercial, as compared to 46.6% of those viewers exposed only to a commercial for that brand. Nielsen Media Research adds that the reinforcement… Continue reading US TV Ads Get 20% Boost In Brand Recognition From Product Placement

Most leading ad executives in the US expect a significant proportion of broadcast and cable TV ad dollars to shift to online video by 2010, with 33% predicting that switch will be between 10% and 19%, according to new research from the American Advertising Federation (AAF). In addition, 2007 budgets for online advertising are expected… Continue reading US TV Ad Dollars Expected To Shift Online

Internet advertising revenues reached an estimated new record of $4.2 billion for the third quarter of 2006 in the US, according to a new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The 2006 third quarter revenues represent a 33% increase over $3.1 billion in Q3 2005 and a 2% increase over the… Continue reading US Online Ad Revenues Reach Estimated $4.2 Billion

The chief executive of Bollore Investissements, the company through which Vincent Bollore own his 29% stake in Aegis, has held meetings with investors in Aegis, in order to explain Bollore’s intentions ahead of next week’s shareholder meeting (see Aegis Announces EGM For Bollore Board Bid). Cedric de Bailliencourt met with investors in London on a… Continue reading Bollore Emissary Lobbies Aegis Investors

The Office of Fair Trading could intervene in the proposed merger between NTL and ITV owing to NTL’s 50% stake in pay-TV provider UKTV. Flextech, wholly owned by NTL, could be required to sell its stake in UKTV, which is a joint 50/50 venture with BBC Worldwide, according to a report in the Telegraph. Because… Continue reading OFT Could Intervene In NTL/ITV Merger

Emap has reported a 4% half year increase in profits to £93 million, although revenue for its UK consumer magazines division was down 4% to £185 million from £193 million in the same period in 2005. Revenue from Emap’s B2B division grew strongly, up 11% to £134 million, with Emap saying that it benefited significantly… Continue reading Emap Revenue Increases 4%

In the first half of 2006 there were nearly 26.2 million VOD capable homes, according to new a new report from Kagen Research. This equates to 86% of the 30.4 million digital cable homes in the US, says Kagen in its Video On Demand: A Strategic and Economic Analysis report. According to the report, growth… Continue reading US VOD Capable Homes Reach 26.2 Million